Recycled Tyke Blog

How to Take a Vacation With Your Kids (Yes, you can!)

There comes a point for every parent, whether their child is a newborn or a teenager, that each day is more exhausting than the one before it, and your brain is screaming one thing: VACATION!!!!  Today I’m going to tell you about my two favorite places to travel, one domestic, one international, both perfect for any couple with small children.

When my oldest was 13 months old, my husband and I hit the wall.  We were just tired, and no amount of sleep or babysitters could help. We needed to get away from the monotony of our day, we needed to relax, and we needed to reconnect. We were not, however, prepared to go anywhere for any extended amount of time without little Maxie in tow.  I was reminded of a family friend’s recent trip to and raves about Club Med Sandpiper in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.   After doing some extensive research, and after liking nearly every review I read, I booked a one week vacation.  My mother is a travel agent, and directed us to the Marina Family Suites, one of many room options the hotel has. The Suite features two rooms separated by a wall thick enough to mute your baby merely rolling over, but thin enough that you won’t worry about missing your baby’s cries.   The child’s room comes equipped with a refrigerator that is stocked by housekeeping each day with water, milk, yogurt, and whatever else you specify, a high chair, a bottle warmer, a baby bath tub, a crib, and lots of other gear you and your baby may need and want. The “parent’s” room also has a refrigerator stocked with treats for mom and dad (cookies!), a king sized bed, and a DVD player.   The room is ideally situated on the property and is ground level, so there is no need to worry about stroller troubles.

Florida family fun...escape and chill out at Club Med Sandpiper

The best part about this particular hotel was the Baby Club Med.  The hotel houses a facility strictly for children ranging from 4 months old to 18 years old. Baby Club Med is for infants 4 months to less than two years old. Petit Club Med is for two year olds through four year olds, and mini club med is a camp for children 4 and over.  There is a full day camp program divided into smaller groups for children 5 thru 18.  Because Max was 13-months-old and still not walking, he was placed in the Peanut Room of Baby Club Med, which was mostly indoor play.  Had he been walking at the time, he would have been taken out for walks in those really cute strollers for 8,  and  participated in outdoor play, but for what we wanted to use the camp for a that point, the Peanut Room was perfect.

We would wake up in the morning, have breakfast, take Max for a swim in one of the heated pools, and when it was time for his nap, we would bring him to the Peanut Room where the qualified G.O.s (I’ll call them nannies) would entertain him until he passed out, or would soothe him if he was having trouble falling asleep.  They had a room full of pack ‘n plays for sleeping babies, and then another room with toys, games, books, etc. for children who were there to play, about to nap, and anything between.   This worked out perfectly for us, because as Max would nap (sometimes for 3 hours) my husband and I had the vacation we needed; massages, power boating along the St. Lucie River, swimming, whatever it was, it was just us as a couple again.  Usually, we’d return to the Peanut Room after 3 hours and Max had woken up minutes before; we’d find  him playing with one of the nannies and he was neat and clean, his diaper was changed, and he was fed.  Just in time for some mommy and daddy time on the playground.

It's not the Four Seasons, but Max and I are happy campers at The Sandpiper

Now, Sandpiper is not 4 star-luxury. There are two restaurants; one is buffet at every meal, which while fresh and delicious with great variety, can still cause some uneasiness by day 4; the other restaurant is for adults only, which we never used because we preferred to have Max with us at meals.  The rooms are clean, the property is well maintained and the staff was extraordinarily gracious, but you will not confuse Sandpiper with the Four Seasons.

We had a great “vacation” at the Sandpiper, which says a lot, because normally we call any time away with the kids a “trip.”  The Sandpiper, if done properly, can be an actual vacation for you, your spouse and your children.

The past two winters have been particularly cold on the East coast, and while Club Med Sandpiper is great, the weather is not always guaranteed in Florida.  We decided that we needed a tropical vacation, similar to what Club Med had to offer, but it couldn’t be too far away because we had a 16 month old and a 4 year old; while they’d always been terrific travelers, we’d still worry about the “what ifs.”

Beaches Turks and Caicos seemed like a perfect option. It’s an “ultra-inclusive” property, which means that everything from kids activities to top-shelf cocktails for mom and dad are included in the price. And with three “Villages” to choose from, it is easy to pick a vacation in your price range. There is The Italian Village, which is ultra-ritzy, with multiple bedroom suites, and both butler and concierge service.  The next village down is The French Village, which is reminiscent of the French Quarter in New Orleans; it has well appointed rooms, daily housekeeping, and a central location on the property.  There is also the Caribbean Village, which is part of the original main hotel, and also has very nice, clean rooms, and comes with the added advantage of being right on top of the beach, close to the kid’s programs, and is probably the quietest village on the property.  We have stayed at both the French Village and the Caribbean Village, and our philosophy for future travelers is that if you are not staying Italian, stay Caribbean.  The prices are more affordable, the location is more central for what you will need, and the French Village doesn’t really offer much more, if anything, than Caribbean does.  That being said, if you can afford to stay Italian, by all means, do so.

Beaches Turks & Caicos, aka Parent Heaven

Like Sandpiper, Beaches Turks and Caicos has multiple age-appropriate children’s programs. For little ones, newborn up to 5 years old, there is Club Sesame, which is sponsored by Sesame Street, and just how you would imagine something run by Sesame Street would look and be run.  There is a character breakfast with 5 favorite characters offered twice a week, Storytime with Elmo, Baking cookies with Cookie Monster, Dancing with Zoe; it is just amazing for your littlest Sesame Street fan. The room for infants is air-conditioned, and the nannies are naturals; we have seen them be warm and understanding with even the most difficult of children. The infant room is equipped with high chairs and cribs, and fun activities and age-appropriate toys for babies.   There is a kiddie pool at Club Sesame and a playground, and both are carefully supervised by the staff. If you don’t feel like traveling with a stroller, single and double strollers/wagons can be rented through Club Sesame at a nominal fee.

The Character Breakfast at Beaches. One man's terrifying morning nightmare is another's entertaining breakfast.

We were just at Beaches this past February, and Max was one of the older children in Club Sesame as he was one month shy of 5.  After breakfast each morning, we would drop Max and Ben off at their respective programs.  Packed with a change of clothes and sun block, both would eagerly run off to start their day.   Each morning, the hotel provides you with a schedule so that parents can plan when to have their children with them, and when to have them at camp.  Max’s favorite activities were shell collecting on the beach, and a motorized Pirate themed boat ride, while Ben’s were baking with Cookie Monster, a scavenger hunt, and swimming in the kiddie pool with his new friends.  We mostly had the kids in camp in the morning, took them out for lunch, and then spent the rest of the day with them at either the idyllic white-sand beach or at the super fun water park.  The hotel is not just child-centric at Club Sesame. The entire property is kid-friendly; there is a a boardwalk that offers face painting, tattooing and hair braiding, as well as an ice cream shop and a kid’s dream of a diner; there are non-motorized boat activities that are suitable for young children, as well as motorized sports for an additional fee.  Every night, there is a Sesame Street stage show and another show that follows that most of the time, calls for audience participation.   The kids love it and my kids made most of their “Beaches” friends at the show the first night we arrived, and were happy to see a familiar face at camp the next morning.   There is even out of room babysitting each night after 6 p.m., or in-room babysitting available for a fee.   We used the out-of-room babysitting twice during our week long stay, but those two nights were magical, as the hotel offers a private couples meal on the beach which we did one night, and on the other night, we just walked around the property, took in one of the shows, and even had a cocktail (or three) and didn’t have to worry about paying a sitter or who was going to drive home.   By the end of our vacation, our kids were happy, tanned, and tired, and we were more relaxed, calm and ready to take on whatever the world was sure to throw at us. Once you go to Beaches Turks & Caicos, it is hard to imagine booking a family vacation anywhere but there.

I could literally go on for pages about these fantastic family vacation spots, but there’s dinner to be made.  If you have any questions about either property please don’t hesitate to ask away in the comments section. With Summer just around the corner, it’s time to get booking!

PS – I’m not paid to endorse either of these resorts nor do I have any affiliation with them. I’m just dead serious about sending you on the best family vacation possible. You’re welcome.