How We Wednesday {Plan Summer Vacations}

Recaps
February: How We Take Care Of Ourselves
March: Mom Fail
April: Spring Cleaning

I am linking up with my favorite bloggers Shay and Erika for their monthly How We....Wednesday post. Today's topic is how we plan summer vacations.  Let me tell you this, I LOVE planning vacations. Honestly, it is one of my favorite things to do. I have planned many vacations we never take. I love finding good deals, looking at flights and hotels, and pretending I am going somewhere. HA! If only it were that easy {and cheap} to pick up and take a vacation.

Boys running on the beach in Florida

This summer, we are headed to the Wisconsin Dells! We don't need to fly, just drive...for a long time..but we are looking forward to the time together. We are planning on traveling with family and so we are looking forward to that as well. We would also like to head to the Black Hills next summer and I am all about a nice warm, adult only, vacation this winter! The hardest part now: arrangements for the kids while we are gone. We have no family in town, our parents work, and the kids have to stay in town to go to school. It makes it really hard to sneak away for a vacation for a week (or any length of time for that matter). Having said that, the boys are at great ages to travel WITH. No matter where we go, I feel like they would have a fun time. Dan and I have talked about many trips and they usually include our kids.

SeaWorld in 2014

How do I plan the trip? For the Dells, we are staying at a resort that really has almost everything we need. I researched so many different hotels, different room options (with 3 kids, we have to make sure we will be able to move in our rooms), and the water parks offered at each hotel. We decided on the Kalahari resort. We will probably leave to do a few excursions or to eat (any recommendations?) but other than that, we will be enjoying the water park, arcade, bowling, and theme park.

2008 Honeymoon in Jamaica

As for other trips, I usually make a spreadsheet (I love a good spreadsheet) of all the flight costs with travel date options (you can save a lot of money by choosing your travel dates wisely), a spreadsheet with hotels (or VRBO's) and associated costs plus amenities, and then all the other things we would like to do while we are on a vacation. When traveling with our kids, I always like to have a few days of relaxation. They need it. We need it.

I am always thinking about our budget when we plan trips. I wish we could pick up and go wherever we wanted at a moments notice, but we have to save. I am also thinking about travel times. If we go during the school year, I have to think about time off of work and when that would work best. I always try to plan trips when we already have a planned school day off. I also look at weather where we are traveling. If we plan a winter trip, I like to go somewhere warm because...HELLO MINNESOTA WINTERS. Although, a winter ski trip with the boys is in our near future :)

Washington DC 2017

So, that is how I plan a vacation. How I plan to travel with the kids (or make arrangements for them while we are gone) and pack is another story!

And remember, vacations don't have to be an ocean away!

Duluth (we go here every fall)

Where should we go next!?!?

Don't forget, tomorrow I will be posting stories on Instagram all day! Don't forget to check them out!