Labor Day is coming up…do you have getaway plans? We typically like to scoot out of town on this long weekend before our school year is in full swing. It’s such a great way to celebrate the end of summer.

And if you’re like me, your long-weekend plans might involve the grandparents, too. We often travel with my mom or my mother-in-law, both of whom are the most easygoing travelers! But if your parents or your in-laws aren’t used to spending vacation time with you and your family – or perhaps, ahem, you sometimes butt heads – here are some tips to make your Labor Day Weekend sail smoothly.

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A long summer has ended, and the children are finally back in school. As has been done for generations, one of their first assignments is to write the good ol’ “what I did for my summer vacation” essay. Do you want your kid to hand in an essay extolling the fun had playing video games, going to a generic day camp, and hanging out in the backyard? A summer vacation spent (in part) engaged in interesting family travel experiences will provide not just meaningful memories and help promote family closeness, but also make for a more exciting “what I did for my summer vacation” essay; the kind that ends up on the fridge along with good grades, creative drawing, and other artifacts of childhood that decorate refrigerators across the country.

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If you read my recent post about staying cool in this red-hot summer travel season, you saw my suggestions about heading to waterparks and jungles, planetariums and evening fireworks displays.  But where are the best places to stay cool this summer?  This traveling mom offers some of her favorites.

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If you live in the Mid-Atlantic region (like I do), and you have kids (like I do), you’ve spent most of the summer trying to figure out how to keep your kids from melting faster than a grape popsicle under a broiler.  From what I hear, the rest of the country’s been like that, too, heating pools to bathwater temperatures and making the beach a hazard for reasons other than encroaching oil.

Even tougher?  Lots of family vacation destinations are in super-hot spots.  Take Disney, for example.  Florida?  In summer?  Or Southern California?  ‘Nuff said.

Sure, you can still have fun on vacation without visiting the park’s first aid station.  But savvy travelers will plan ahead to beat the heat – and stay cool in the season when travel is red hot.

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