Me and Bob have been married for 8 years. We have had children for 5 of those years. As a family unit, we have never gone on vacation! Of course, we have gone camping and such with my large extended family. We’ve taken the boys to the Sequoia’s and the desert. But never have we gone on vacation. Just us. Until now.
I am one of the lucky bloggers being given the opportunity to participate in Country Inns & Suites, Road Trip promotion. On August 21st, we will be hitting the road and heading to Santa Barbra/Ventura for four fun filled nights!
Country Inns & Suites has made it super easy for busy mom’s to plan short, fun filled adventures for their families. They have created special itineraries based on specific locations. They list fantastic, kid friendly locations and sites to see.
Since we are visiting Santa Barbara, we were given the “Ocean Drive” itinerary to help plan our trip. The Ocean Drive itinerary has spots picked out all along the Southern California coast, from San Diego to Santa Barbara. Spots that are actually local to me, like the Oceanside Pier and Legoland, to those that I am looking forward to visiting, like the Ventura Oceanfront and the Condor Cruise.
Money is tight with us. As always. So I don’t really know how many of the fun touristy suggestions we’ll actually get to do. I’m really just looking forward to hanging out on the Ventura beach. My boys LOVE the beach and this would just be heaven for them by itself.
Or, maybe, I’ll just be hanging out at the heated pool for 4 days. That actually sounds really nice to me, too.
I only know for sure that we are heading up on the train. I’m SUPER excited to take the boys on their first train ride. And the train station is only a 10 minute walk to the hotel (wish me luck). We will be snacking on the complimentary cookies, maybe I’ll grab a book from their lending library, eating complimentary hot breakfasts, and relaxing. Can you say “aaaahhhhhhh!?”
And this should be about what our room is going to look like? We are booked in their “Executive Suite.” Yeah, baby! I may never come home! Really. If you don’t ever hear from me again after August 25th, it’s because I’m hiding in this room and laying on the beach.
Have you taken your family on a vacation? I’m really excited. I feel like a “grown up.” Never mind that I am 36 years old! Where would you go if you could take a last minute trip? I am already looking for ideas for next time. 
Welcome to OhRheally?, My name is Rhea and I share stories of life raising 3 sons, my experiences as a (recently retired) 
Wow aren’t u lucky to win that trip! The hotel, and especially the suite, looks beautiful! I, like you, haven’t had a vacation in years! Mainly because I’m divorced and have full custody of my two children, but also because I’ve been medically retired from work due to neck/spinal surgeries that have made taking trips pretty much impossible. But, a few weeks ago, I traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area where I grew up for my 25th high school reunion. It’s about a 3 1/2 hour car ride. Since I had no babysitters for my kids at home, I decided to take them with me and have my brother and sister-in-law babysit them the night of the reunion. We opted to stay in a hotel during our stay because my brother’s house is already way too full and this was my 3 year old daughter’s first time in a hotel. My 12 year old son is an old pro (from his younger days!). Even though I really couldn’t afford it either, it turned out to be a short, fun, little vacation for me and the kids. One of the greatest parts of the trips was totally unplanned. They had a “kite festival” right next door to the hotel at the Berkeley Marina that was free and a blast! All the colorful HUGE kites that were flying around and people just sitting and watching was a nice end to our vacation. Plus, there were vendors that were selling inflatable characters so of course I had to drive home with HUGE inflatable Sponge Bob and Dora in the car with me! So the trip that I thought was going to be stressful and a pain, ended up being fun for everyone and I actually came home with some money left over!! I hope u enjoy your free vacation!