Costa Rica Review Coming Soon!

Spring Break our family spent a week in Pura Vida paradise. I am working on the review now, but will have it up soon. Costa Rica is an amazing country and very family friendly- perfect for children of all ages.

Vacation Mama in Family Travel Magazine

Check out the latest edition of Family Travel Magazine to see one of Vacation Mama's tips for flying with infants.

Pack 3 extra diapers and an extra outfit in a separate ziploc bag. Carol Aubin of http://www.vacationwithkids.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much Family Travel Magazine for quoting Vacation Mama in your article!

Westin Kierland

Westin Kierland in Scottsdale, AZ was wonderful! The kids had so much fun with the kids camp and kid friendly activities. The hit of the week was 'Kids in the Kitchen". My children donned aprons and chefs hats and used the hotel's commercial kitchen to make cookies as "big as their face". There was a nominal fee for this activity. This program gave my husband and I some adult time to explore the beautiful hotel.Kids Camp was fun for this kids. Located in a converted hotel room, the Kids Camp had a lot of toys and activities to keep my kids entertained for the day. Animals to pet, arts and crafts, bins of legos and train tracks, my children seem happy and exhausted by pick up. Price was $80 per child for full day, including lunch and snacks.

While Kids Camp and Kids in the Kitchen cost money, there are plenty of Family Fun activites that do not cost money. Two big hits were the Kierland Scavenger Hunt and petting zoo. At check in kids receive Kierland Passports and a map of the hotel. The kids are encouraged to follow the map and collect stamps and pins on their passport. This was a great way to see the entire hotel and get acquainted with the hotel layout.

The Petting Zoo was so fun for us as a family. Well, except the python. I hate snakes. . . A fun one hour show and tell from the Phoenix Zoo, several animals including a hedgehog, hawk, hissing cockroach and python made an appearance. Also in the evening, a Scottish Bagpiper plays during sunset and complimentary s'mores are roasted in the firepits.

Let's not forget the big highlight of the Westin- the pool! The pool has a water slide, lazy river and shallow kids area. During our spring break, there were many free activities around the pool including volleyball and limbo. There is a kids menu (quesadillas, chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, etc.) with enough variety for a 5 night stay. Food can add up quickly though, especially with eating out every meal. Another nice touch was the store located at the front of the pool. Upon showing your key to get in to the pool, there is a store with pool necessities for parents. Water wings, intertubes, and sunscreen, and other emergency item are for sale at a mark up. You can always drive across the street to the grocery store and save a few dollars.

Rooms were nice and basic- your typical hotel room with two double beds, double vanity and separate shower, toilet and bathtub. It was a sweet surprise to see our kids names in the bathtub as a warm welcome. Overall, this was a wonderful family friendly vacation. I loved having family time and adult time. The Westin Kierland has so many family focused activities for all ages, a wide variety of restaurants, a fun pool, and a lively bar for the adults. We will definitely visit again!

It's been awhile!

I apologize. It has been over 2 years since I updated this blog. Life with 2 children got in the way of my free time. But with summer coming to an end, I have more time to dedicate to one of my favorite hobbies- vacation with my family! I promise I am back and have great reviews to share!

Spring Break is booked!

After days of research, I finally decided to book our Spring Break at Westin's Kierland Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. Winning factors were the kid's club, the pool, and the spa. I am excited to review this beautiful resort. Photo Credit: Starwood Hotels Westin Kierland

The Wigwam Resort in Arizona

FYI - I just spoke with The Wigwam Resort in Arizona and they no longer offer Camp Pow Wow for kids.

La Costa Resort and Spa Carlsbad, California

Sadly to say, our next vacation was almost 2 years later. After our wonderful vacation to Grand Velas, we added to our family a daughter, K. At this time C was 36 months old and K was 14 months old. We just put our house (back) on the market and the weekend of our first open house we decided to get out of Los Angeles and head south to La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad. I don't recall how I booked the hotel, but I assume Travelocity or Orbitz. I do remember the rate was $199 per night for 2 nights. See, my mommy brain isn't complete mush . . . yet.

It was an easy drive and the resort provided us with great directions. Despite a long valet line, we checked in with our 2 large suitcases, pack n play, and Phil and Ted's stroller. If you are keeping up I have left the swing and baby bjorn at home for good and am becoming less of a pack mule. Sadly to say I did pack floaties, inflatable tubes, beach balls, blankets, and snacks (gotta have Goldfish!). FYI- the resort has inflatable tubes and sand toys for the kids to use. Unfortunately I did leave the baby monitor at home but luckily there was a Target near by. lol.

At check in they had a separate welcome for the kids with face painting and a cute overnight gift for them (mainly toiletries). It was a nice touch. La Costa also upgraded our room to a suite which was a wonderful way to start our vacation. The hotel is set up in beautiful Spanish style villas with several units in a circle facing a hot tub. It's very quite and peaceful and you do not feel like you are in a large resort. Our room had a nice size living area with a sofa and tv and a separate bedroom with two queen beds. Our patio opened up to the hot tub which is why we bought a monitor. After the kids went to sleep we would sit in the hot tub with our ears close to the monitor while our children slept about 15 feet away.

In the evening they had a fun party with the kids and made s'mores along with live Latin music. My son loved listening to the music and dancing under the stars.

But let's talk about what La Costa is known for in the parent world - pools and the kid's center, Kidtopia. The pools were great! There was a sandy beach area by the kid's pool that was located right next to a nice bar with typical bar food (hamburgers, nachos, french fries, etc.) My kids loved playing in the sand. There is also a water park with smaller slides for the little kids and shooting water fountains for the toddlers. For the bigger kids, they have larger water slides.


Kidtopia is a wonderful kids club that is open to children as young as 6 months old. They offer full day (for $80) and half day ($55) sessions and honestly, it looked like a lot of fun. However, we did not take advantage of the kid's club. We were having too much fun with the kids at the pool to use their services. But the facilities looked up to date and most importantly clean. The next trip I will send the kids.

As far as food, it was, um, blah. I don't know another way of describing. All I know is that we were not impressed. C's mac n cheese had no flavor and lucky for K, I brought her food. Service was also slow. I don't know about you, but when I am eating with a 3 year old and a 1 year old at a family friendly resort, I expect to be out of there in under and hour and a half. Actually 45 minutes would be ideal. The next night we drove to Outback and had a fabulous fast dinner.

There are several other things to do at La Costa besides swim. They have a spa and a gold course as well. It is a beautiful facility and I would go back again.

Vacation Mama

Welcome to Vacation With Kids!

Hello out there and welcome to Vacation With Kids! I am a mom of two wonderful ,90% of the time, kids ages 5 and 4. And like most parents, I miss the days before kids when you could just pack a carry on in about 10 minutes and hop on plane to paradise with your husband at a moment's notice. Before kids we traveled about every month to exciting, and not so exciting, destinations. Mostly in the United States and Mexico, but there were some fun European and Carribbean adventures as well.

Now, it is a completely different story. Packing takes a minimum of 2 nights. My printed list of things to pack is about 2 pages. My carry on has turned into two large suitcases, car seats, stroller, pack n play, swing, baby bjorn, sound machine, baby monitor, diaper bag, backpacks of snacks, quite toys, crayons, dvd player, dvds, leapsters, etc. Well you get the picture - I look like a pack mule walking through the airport.

But even with the added luggage I love to vacation with our kids. Each trip I pack smarter, lose an article (this year - it's the stroller!!) and make lasting memories with my family.

So you maybe wondering why I am starting this blog or maybe you didn't even make it this far. For those that did- I promise I have a point. I am going to blog about the resorts we have gone to and write honest reviews. I promise my reviews won't be based on advertising ( I HATE that), but based on how nice the kid's club was, how the staff treated my children (even during mid meltdown), the cleanliness of the rooms (pee stained mattresses and all!), kids menus, easy of travel, cost, etc.

If I can help out one family, then I feel that I am making a difference.

- Vacation Mama