1. Traveling by car provides numerous benefits for family travel. With small children it allows for packing up all the items required such as a pack n’ play, stroller, car seat and toys. It also provides the freedom to leave when everyone is ready without having to rush, and allows for stops along the way as needed. But the biggest benefit is that it presents a great opportunity to spend quality time dialoguing with your children while on a long car ride.

 
2. Vacationing with Extended Family allows for much needed bonding time as everyone’s life is so busy, and most families are scattered across the country. Many people have purchased vacation homes specifically for family gatherings and creating a special place to come together. But if you don’t have your own vacation home, there are wonderful houses for rent in prime locations across the U.S. These houses become extremely affordable when the expense is split between siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins or grandparents; and what better way to reconnect than over late night talks in the living room, early breakfasts in the kitchen, or while getting ready to go out.
    
3. Picking Destinations with Activities Everyone Loves creates an environment for learning about everyone’s passions and relating through those experiences. There are so many choices when planning a get away, whether it is around sporting events, swimming, hiking, golfing, skiing, amusement parks, sailing or just sightseeing, that everyone has an opportunity to do what they love with the people they care about the most.
    
4. Leaving work at the office is the most important ingredient to a successful family vacation. Since there is not enough time spent with family throughout the year, due to outside obligations, vacations should be considered sacred time spent totally focused on the most important aspect of life. So leave the laptop at home, make sure the office can’t reach you, and let your kids know that you are totally there for them. They will respect you for it. Work should support your life; your life shouldn’t support your work.
    
5. Avoid Distractions by not allowing technological advances such as a cell phone to interrupt your time away. For every day that you are away, be ‘in the moment’ with your kids. This is prime time for catching up on what you have been missing. When life is busy and time is scarce, kids are not free flowing with their thoughts and feelings because they know they are on a time limit. They also tap into the pressures and responsibilities that their parents are feeling and figure their problems or situations are not as important. But providing a whole day, weekend, or week, totally dedicated to being there for your kids will create “talking time.”
    
6. Slow Down and go with the flow of the day by losing your watch and the agenda. Too often life is regimented, with every minute of the day being accounted for. By not having to be somewhere at a specific time, for days on end, becomes a stress reliever in itself. Kids require more down time than our society has allowed for, and parents need down time as well. Take advantage of having a whole week without a schedule and be open to what your family needs, it will provide the recharge necessary for everyone.
    
7. Enjoy Meals Together every day that you are away. No matter how you spend the time, food and fun always go hand in hand, whether it be cooking together or relaxing in a restaurant. By sharing a house, the kitchen becomes the gathering spot for everyone, as food and drink are shared, and conversation becomes easy and free flowing. Eating out also provides an environment for being together, catching up, and a mutual exchange of ideas.
    
8. Explore and Learn by venturing to new places. This will allow you to show your children the sights and let you experience venues from their perspective. By doing activities together you get an opportunity to hear what their thoughts are and gain information about the inner workings of your children. Having knowledge about your child’s strengths and weaknesses will help you to advocate for your child in the future. This time together is priceless.
    
9. A Fresh Viewpoint is gained about your life and family by getting away from the daily grind. Sometimes people can get caught on a ‘hamster wheel’ going through the same cycle day after day, unable to see what is going on around them. But by jumping off that wheel and pulling oneself away, a fresh perspective can be acquired; possibly providing answers to how life can be better for oneself and one’s family.
    
10. Treasure Private Time with your Children, and with your Spouse through quiet moments that can be found in the daylight, or late evenings. These brief encounters will become the memories that are cherished for years to come.

Life is so short, with time speeding past at a lightning pace. Without even realizing it children go from babies, to toddlers, to middle schoolers, teens and than high school graduates. Make the most of your time together and plan more vacations throughout the year to reconnect and build that every lasting bond that can be so fragile.

©2007 Tracey T. Serebin
 

While there are babymoon packages in all areas of the country and abroad, one example is found at the waterfront Inn at Harbor Hill Marina, located in the coastal community of Niantic, Connecticut; twenty minutes from Mystic Seaport. Upon arriving at the Inn guests are greeted by warm, inviting innkeepers, ready to cater to your needs. The Inn is surrounded by water and flowering gardens. Bright sunlight floods into the numerous wall-to-wall windows, and the wrap around porch invites guests to pull up a comfy chair to enjoy the view.

Their Babymoon package includes two night accommodations in a water view room, a $50 dining gift certificate at a local restaurant, a “Romancing the Sax” CD, a bottle of chilled sparkling cider, a special treat of cookies, their classic breakfast buffet each morning, and complimentary refreshments. Also thrown in are discount coupons to nearby Tanger and Clinton Premium Shopping outlets, to shop for baby clothing.

This location provides numerous outside activities to partake in at ones own pace, such as Wine Tours, walks along the one mile boardwalk, lounging by the ocean at a nearby beach, strolling through Mystic Seaport, or gambling at the two nearby casinos. Or if this Babymoon is all about relaxing, Harbor Hill is a wonderful place to enjoy the views of the Marina while sitting on an Adirondack chair soaking up the sun. Or a pregnant mother-to-be may be interested in lounging around in a comfy, bright and airy guest room and enjoy a leisurely nap. Whatever ones desire is, Harbor Hill Marina has it, and their Innkeepers are very knowledgeable and accommodating.

Not only is a Babymoon a wonderful retreat for any couple, before the arrival of a baby into their lives; it is also the perfect opportunity for a couple to take advantage of quality time together, to talk about the changes their life will go through once their baby arrives. While couples prepare for the baby by getting the nursery ready and gearing up for the baby’s birth, they don’t really prepare for how this birth will affect their relationship. This getaway provides the perfect backdrop to discuss specific questions about raising a child; such as how a couple’s relationship may be affected after the birth of their baby, the emotional concerns of a new mother, and the shared duties of the new father.

Becoming a parent is for life, and while it is often said that life will change once a new baby arrives on the scene, what those changes really are and how they will affect a couple’s life, on a daily basis, is rarely discussed. So take the opportunity that a Babymoon offers and talk through what those changes may entail and how you will handle them together, as new parents.

© 2008 Tracey T. Serebin

Looking back now I wish we had known about this trend before booking our vacation because hotels, bed and breakfasts and Inns across the United States and abroad are all starting to cater to this market with specially priced packages to pamper expectant moms and dad. The most popular packages, according to Ashley King, creator of the website BabymoonFinder.com is something for both mom and dad such as spa services, special romantic ambiances, gifts for baby, and tokens of the trip to take home.

The website BabymoonFinder.com was even launched in June, 2005 because the founder had been searching for her own babymoon package to take with her husband before the birth of their daughter. She discovered that there were packages available but it took a lot of research to find them and decided they all needed to be in one place. Since that launch the site has received over 1,000,000 hits and they now offer over 200 babymoons all over the world. She hopes to have 500 babymoons listed on the site by next summer.

My husband and I love to travel and have enjoyed wonderful vacations together over the years. While on vacation we get to explore new places, get out of the day to day pace and not only recharge but reconnect as a couple. Before our trip to Puerto Rico we had been trying for two and one half years to get pregnant, we went through a stressful year negotiating to buy our house, and experienced six months of intense fertility treatments before finally becoming pregnant.

It had been a challenging time in our lives and we needed a break away from reality. All we wanted to do was rejuvenate at a resort located on the ocean, to sleep late, lay by the pool, take walks on the beach, relax all day and then go out to a leisurely dinner at night. We knew it may be our last chance to take advantage of these quiet moments before our lives would change with a baby. Plus, we weren't sure how long it would be after the baby's arrival, before we would be able to start traveling again.

We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel and Resort in Isla Verde, a 4 star hotel located outside of San Juan. We had never been to Puerto Rico before and the hotel appeared to have what we were looking for. It is located on two miles of white sandy beach, has luxury accommodations, an oversized oasis pool area with waterfalls and a swim up bar, as well as three restaurants on the resort property. The pictures on their website enticed us with sunshine, blue water, palm trees and lounge chairs in the sand.

During our stay we spent all of our time at the pool and beach area, as we desired, but were disappointed in the lack of quality restaurants near by. We were not in the mood to venture too far from the resort and most of the interesting restaurants were located in San Juan, which was a twenty minute cab ride away.

We did; however, have a memorable dinner at this tucked away restaurant located right on the beach - with the tables actually sitting in the sand. It was small and quaint, and required reservations in advance. The food was very good, but the atmosphere with the secluded beach as a backdrop, ocean waves beating against the shore, dining by candlelight and sea gulls walking by our table, made for a Babymoon experience.

This trip also provided a great opportunity for us to discuss baby names while sitting by the pool, talk about our new role as parents as we walked on the beach, and contemplate the ways we want to bring up our child, as we watched other people with their children.

I would encourage all expectant couples to go off on a Babymoon before the arrival of your first child, whether it is for a quick getaway or a week long vacation. And if you are pregnant and looking for that ultimate getaway with your partner, before tackling baby duty and parenthood, I would research all the available packages out there and add being pampered to your itinerary.

©2007 Tracey T. Serebin

When thinking about the New Jersey Shore, towns such as Point Pleasant and Belmar come to mind, with noise, crowded beaches and a party atmosphere.  But Spring Lake is the best kept secret.  It is a small family focused beach town located a few miles off the Garden State Parkway, reminiscent of the movie Pleasantville with large sprawling homes, immaculately maintained lawns, a quaint un-commercialized downtown, and very little traffic.

The innkeepers, Donna and Mary Celine were friendly, accommodating and filled with a wealth of information about the area.  They were very happy to provide whatever service we needed - from a basket full of menus to peruse of local restaurants, to beach chairs, towels, boogie boards and beach toys for an afternoon outing; as well as homemade lemonade and hand prepared peanut butter treats in the afternoon. I am sure any child would love to have a few of those after a busy day in the sun!

On our first morning at the Inn, the smell of bacon cooking waffled its way up to our room and had my husband jumping out of bed to get downstairs to enjoy a gourmet breakfast of banana pancakes, homemade bread, a cheese omelet, orange juice and rich, flavorful coffee. The spacious dining room also made for a relaxing start to our day with ten seating areas, allowing each family to sit amongst themselves without having to share space with other guests.

Over the next two days we loved strolling the two mile boardwalk, which overlooked the ocean and sandy beach, as well as meandering our way through the neighborhoods, towards the downtown area for lunch and window shopping.  It provided a great opportunity to catch up on our lives and connect with one another without having interruptions such as work to get to, and cell phones that required answering.

       As far as activities for the kids, Spring Lake not only has the ocean for swimming and water sports, but there is a lake that is stocked for fishing, a few parks scattered along its shore and a playground  nearby, providing the perfect outlet for children to play all day and fall fast asleep at night. But if you find yourselves visiting on a rainy day, the Inn has a library that houses overstuffed couches for reading, several tables and chairs for playing board games, and a big screen TV for watching movies.  And as the owners of the Inn, Andy and Barbara Seaman have two small children themselves, they are experts in the best places to take children for fun and enjoyment.

Plus, with several Zagat's rated restaurants nearby such as the Black Trumpet, Island Palm Grill and Whispers, parents can enjoy a fabulous dinner out before heading back to the Inn at night.  However, check with the restaurant beforehand to see if they are a B.Y.O.B. as most restaurants in Spring Lake do not have their liquor license.

We had an outstanding dinner one evening at Union Landing, located a few miles away in Brielle.  We dined in a rustic, nautical feeling dining room, overlooking the Yacht Club on the Manasquan River.  Booster chairs are available for kids and infant car seats, allowing our son to sit at the table and experience dinner with us. While feeding him a bottle, I sipped on a glass of white wine, and perused the many tempting items listed on the menu. If you love seafood this is the place to go.  Our mouths were watering over the appetizers. Having a hard time deciding on just one or two, we finally agreed upon cherry stone clams and crab wontons.  The wontons were lightly fried, not greasy and the insides were succulent and gooey.  I ordered pan seared sea scallops for my main course and fell in love with the tasty mustard sauce that it was served in.  My husband chose the Pecan Crusted Mahi Mahi in honey chive butter and we finished off our dinner with the large brownie sundae.

  After eating dinner, and arriving back at the Inn for the evening, an entry table is set up in the lobby area with wine glasses and bottle openers for your use. Once settling your children into bed for the night, you can slip downstairs to lounge on the expansive Victorian Porch, sip on a cocktail and spend quality time with your partner.

I totally recommend Spring Lake and the Spring Lake Inn for a quick weekend getaway, or a week long beach vacation to reconnect with family.  Both will be enjoyed by everyone and remembered for years to come.  www.SpringLakeInn.com

©2007 Tracey T. Serebin

Today so many families are scattered across the country, it is rare to find siblings, parents or grandparents living close to one another. And with life so hectic, finding time to spend together with family for a week long vacation is priceless. With us living in New Jersey and most of our relatives living in Florida it is not always easy to get together. So when my mother-in-law began raving about Seabrook Island, located 30 minutes outside of Charleston, with its cobbled stone streets, historic architecture and southern hospitality, I knew we had go on vacation there together!

My mother-in-law had been anxiously awaiting her first grandchild and when Zack finally arrived, the time between visits cannot come soon enough for her. By staying together in a three bedroom, two bath villa, a few blocks from the beach, Leigh and Jay were able to wake up and spend the mornings with Zack as he was having breakfast and playing on the floor with his toys. Then by lunch time we would split up to spend our day separately; whether it be going to the beach club to hang out by the pool or ocean, going shopping in Charleston, or exploring the area. Before dinner we would all meet back up for a cocktail and catch up on the day's activities. The evenings were spent going out to several different restaurants close by, or cooking together at the villa.

This trip became a bonding experience for Zack and his grandparents, especially when they babysat a couple of times. It also gave Jeff and I an opportunity to go out to dinner alone (which we hadn't done in 8 months), and allowed us to all spend quality time together rather than rushing our visit.

Zack had also experienced many firsts that week that they were able to be a part of. He began sitting up on his own, he sat in a high chair when we went out to restaurants instead of sitting in his baby carrier, and began sampling real food from our plate. He bobbed in the ocean in his tube and loved putting his feet in the mud along the ocean's edge. There were pictures taken, laughs shared, and precious moments experienced.

Seabrook Island Resort is a quiet escape from the real world, comprised of salt marshes, a lush forest and 3 miles of sandy beach. It is a private residential 2200 acre island and club with only luxury homes, golf villas, and cottages. During our stay we enjoyed walks on the beach, strolling down to the beach club to spend the day relaxing by the ocean, and eating lunch at the outdoor café. Even in high season we didn't feel crowded or encroached upon, and at times we felt like we had the place to ourselves. In addition to several beaches on the island, there are also 2 championship golf courses, tennis, an equestrian center, and a full service marina village with shops, restaurants and nature tours.

In between Seabrook and its neighboring town of Kiawah Island there is an outdoor shopping area called Fresh fields Village with specialty shops, a coffee house, a few cafés and a gourmet grocery store. We shopped there upon our arrival to the island to stock up on breakfast items, hors d'oeuvres, a few dinner items, snacks, wine, beer and bottled water for the beach. It was wonderful not having to go out to breakfast and having the flexibility to stay in and cook dinner, instead of needing to go out to get something.

One night my husband had bought tickets for all five of us to attend a minor league baseball game with the Charleston River Dogs. We are a very sports oriented family and we try to include professional sporting events in our vacations and introduce our son to the various stadiums and arenas. However, the night of the game it was pouring rain and the game ended up being cancelled, but not before my son managed to garnish a kids Charleston River Dogs baseball and two professional baseballs from adoring members of the staff.

So instead of sampling the various food vendors in the stadium as we planned, we ended up stopping at Newton Farms Market and picking up a few items to cook for dinner. With Leigh and Jeff in the kitchen whipping up a gourmet meal, we spent a rainy evening indoors, laughing and reminiscing.

On one of the evenings that Zack stayed with his grandparents we drove over to Kiawah Island and went to the Sanctuary Hotel, which is ranked as the # 1 Family Resort in the U.S. and Canada, according to Travel and Leisure Family and is the only hotel on both islands. It opened in 2004 and is a 5 star luxury hotel located along ten miles of sandy coastline. We had a drink in their expansive lobby bar overlooking the ocean and experienced an unforgettable dinner at their restaurant, Jasmine Porch.

The food was impeccable and the atmosphere was upscale but relaxing and comfortable. Our waiter was knowledgeable about the food and wine list, extremely professional and very personable. By the end of our evening we felt like we had gained a new friend. We enjoyed the experience so much that before leaving we made reservations for two nights later when our waiter would be working again.

There are so many activities to enjoy on Seabrook, Kiawah and in Charleston, or you can do nothing at all, depending on how you want to spend your time away. I treasured not having an agenda, going at our own desired pace, visiting with my in-laws, as well as spending time by ourselves. And with a couple of spectacular picture perfect days, it was a week filled with fond memories that will be cherished for years to come.

©2007 Tracey T. Serebin