Family Road Trip - Olathe,KS

i highly reccomend Ha Ha tonka Statte park just near Lake of the Ozarks. It is the most beautilful place in the world (in my opinion :) )and then to elephant Rock Park and Johnson's Shut In. Google them for images. Have a fun summer.

Look into Wisconsin Dells. We went there a few years ago and had a great time! We are actually loking into going back. Its great for families and if you kids like water parks then this is the place for them. They call it the Las Vegas of Water parks!

Not sure where you live but Gatlinburg Tennessee is a fun place with lots of things to do and see.

We lived in St. Louis for 11 years. It is a wonderful place for family vacations. The Zoo is wonderful - the best we've been to and we've been to MANY zoos all over the country. City Museum is lots of fun. Magic House, Grant's Farm, and the Botanical Gardens are all wonderful too. Your kids are at a good age to go up in the Arch.

Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO is a fantastic place too and not a bad drive from St. Louis. We stayed in a great condo just over a mile from Silver Dollar City and an easy drive to the Branson strip. The Village at Indian Point http://thevillageatindianpoint.com/. The condo we rented was owned by the Tindall family. Beautiful and reasonably priced. Plenty of things to do right there at the condo - fishing, game room, pool, etc...

If you drive from St. Louis to Branson, you have to stop at Lambert's Cafe for lunch/dinner on the way. It is always a bit of a wait there but well worth it. You can't beat the "throwed rolls".

Hope that helps!

The St. Louis idea is great...just moved to the area myself last fall. Very kid friendly, and LOTS to do. Also about 2-3 hours south are the Meramec Caverns...huge cave complex that has a ton of history (used as an ammunition storage during the civil war and by the James gang as a hideout)...guided tours and just all around very cool for the whole family (I'd say boys especially but I'm female and the spelunker in the family ;) so I actually chose to do this for a birthday present)...there's also a camp-ground nearby so accomidations are a breeze (it's actually a state park). Oh and also, since it's a cave, it stays blessedly cool in there in the summer...really nice when it's mid-90s out and 85% humidity...bring a sweater even! Aaaaaaahhhh... :)

Two words: City Museum! Awesome place for kids and parents. We have been to St. Louis several times and we always have a great time. The zoo is great and they have sting rays now. Drury Hotels are a great place to stay with a free hot breakfast (a real hot breakfast) and have always been kid-friendly to us. There are a ton of things to do in St. Louis.

Have a great vacation wherever you go.

I am pretty shocked at your question! There are countless places in the United States to have a great vacation...Disney is not the only answer.

How about a cowboy ranch in Tucson, AZ (Tanque Verde Ranch), how about San Francisco with endless things to see, how about Chicago...great museums, shopping, food, everything, how about St. Petersburg Beach, FL with some of the greatest coastal beaches in the US, how about NYC...anything you could imagine, how about Boston with terrific history for your kids to absorb, how about MN w/ Mall of America, how about northern Arizona with Sedona, Flagstaff & THE GRAND CANYON...my personal favorite, and there is always a cruise that can be packed with tons of activities for your boys. And ok, St. Louis is fine and Colorado is great too, but there is a giant country out there for you to see. Save the gas and find a cheap air fare and go.

St Louis is a great place for a family vacation! In addition to the places the other answers mentioned, we have this great place called The Magic House. They recently doubled the size of their facility, and it was already huge! Lots for kids to do there.

I've been to Estes Park twice and I love it! Once, we stayed at a dude ranch outside of the park. (Loveland? I think). That's a fabulous, wonderful vacation. You can go horseback riding, but there's also a pool and other activities. You can go 4wheeling, hiking, etc.
The other time I was there was when my sister and her hubby got married on the side of the moutain! Ok, maybe more like a big hill, but it was beautiful! We stayed in a condo next to the golf course. The elk will literally, graze in your backyard. It was crazy. The golfers had to suspend play to let the elk "play through". The kids were young (9 mos,2 and 3). They loved that. There are fabulous shops, etc. The hotel where "The Shining" was filmed is there. I think they do tours, but we didn't have time. I know there's a lot more to do. My sister and her in-laws go there at least once a year and they all have kids ranging in age from 3 to 16.
We have also done Disney and it's a wonderful vacation! Something that would be less intense would be a nice change of pace. I would really encourage you to do more of a nature-type trip. My kids love nature and finding different types of fish and animals than what they see here in Ohio. One more thing about the dude ranch..... They'll usually offer a breakfast ride where you ride the horses out to a place where they cook you breakfast out on the range, so to speak. I've been to two different dude ranches and both offered this. It's a blast. For both places, the minimum age to ride was 5, so both your kids would be good to go. I hope you find a great trip for your family......have fun!!!

I vote for Estes, Co. You can go up into the Rocky Mountain Forrest. It is beautiful, we took our kids there a couple of times. The Elk can be seen downtown. There are places you can stop and they can climb around. I am not sure but Winter Park, Co(other side of the Forrest) used to have an Alpine Slide. That was fun, but it has been a long time. There is a YMCA of the Rockies between the Forrest and Winter Park, they had trail rides if you like horses. Another fun vacation is to Yelowstone, but it is a long drive

I live just outside St. Louis and just wanted to add that the museums and the zoo inside Forest Park are free. If you're budget-conscious at all, then this is a great plus! There is also Grant's Farm (free admission but pay to park) and the arch which is especially fun for first-timers. You might be able to snag a few tickets to a Cards game if your kids like baseball at all. (Check online for good deals on tickets.) And of course, Six Flags is always fun - they've added some fun new stuff the last 10 years.

I know it sounds weird, but Vegas is a great family place.
There are so many things to see there, family friendly shows at Ceasars, The pirate show atTreasure Island, Mandalay Bay has the Shark Reef, Luxor has the King Tut tomb exhibit, there is dueling and a joust at the excalber, there is a Star Trek Experience, and most of all, Circus Circus has acts that go off every half hour all over the casino,.Not to mention all the roller coaster rides all over town. You can do day trips to red rock canyon and the grand canyon. And when you want some alone time with hubby, the Orleans casino has a chucky cheese type daycare area that you sign your kids into and they can play for a couple of hours while you have dinner and do a little gambling.
We took a family vaca there when my daughter was 9, she loved every minute of it. We stayed at a condo rental (which you can book online), and we had our own little house there, with a pool and hot tub, so when we didn't feel like "seeing the sites" we just cooked at the condo and spent the evening swimming and relaxing.
It was a wonderful trip, and we barely gambled, spent most of the time showing the kid around town.

Well. M.,
I was born and raised in Missouri and have lived many places(even Florida). But we love Colorado and so do my children(who are now grown).
Colorado is a wonderful place. We vacationed there 7 years in a row. They have hiking trails, gorgeous lakes and in Breckenridge they have the Alpine Slide. You sit on this toboggan type sled with a brake and ride down a mountain. But there is a cut out concrete place where the toboggan type sled rides down. It is so much fun and is safe for the whole family. The landscape is just breathtaking. We would love to live there again. But alas we live overseas in a desert climate. Whatever you choose at least you are with your family and enjoying your time together. My best to you and your family. Have a great summer!! K.

You MUST find some time to go to the Omaha zoo if you haven't already been. I'm not a big zoo person, but after a woman I worked with went several times and kept raving about it, we gave it a shot. It is like the amusement park of zoos. You can literally reach out and touch some of the animals (though you shouldn't). In the rain forest, the tiny monkeys are out in the same area as the people, in the desert dome the rabbits run across your path. It is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! If you only have a day to spend, don't try to see everything. Just be sure to take your time going through the Desert Dome, Aquarium, Rain Forest, and Kingdom of the Night (you walk through a swamp with alligators and a cave with bats). I recommend going on a Friday or weekday-- we went on a weekend once and it was pretty crowded.

You really have got to see this! Have fun!

Our kids were 14 and 9 last year when we went to Denver. There are numerous things to do in Denver. There is the Denver Mint, the Denver zoo and National History Museum, there is an awesome aquarium, a Children's Museum. We traveled about 45 minutes west of Denver and took them to Idaho Springs to a Silver Mine. We also went a little further to GeorgeTown and we toured the town and took a ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad, which also takes you to a Gold Mine. There are probably many more things to do in the area. We ate picnic lunches everyday and tried to find a neat place to eat and hike. My girls loved the vacation and still talk about it today.

Shona

M.,
We have gone to Estes Park twice with our family, and we LOVE it. We have also done the "grand circle", as it is called, going to the Petrified Forest Ntl. Park, the Grand Canyon, up to Utah doing Arches and Canyonlands, then ending in Colorado with Mesa Verde. Feel free to e-mail me privately if you'd like more info - ____@____.com
Barb

Our family loves baseball (GO CARDS!!) so our vacation last year was visiting the surrounding baseball parks and catching a game in each city along with enjoying the city around the game. We started with the St. Louis Cardinals game, we went to Milwaukee (6 hours), then to Detroit (6 hours) and then to Cleveland (3 hours). We thought about adding in Cincinnati but the schedules didn't work out. So it was 9 hours back home. It was a fun and fairly reasonable trip and it didn't feel like we were in the car the whole time!!

We're in the same boat, we've decided to take the family to Branson, MO and do Silver Dollar City, the water park and a couple of shows. The SL Zoo is awesome, personally, I prefer SDC over 6Flags anyday, hands down. Whatever you decide, enjoy your trip and remember to take car chargers for the electronics...:)

Black Hills in/near Rapid City, SD. Mount Rushmore - they do a lighting ceremony at night. Keystone is nearby. Caves you can tour. Bear Country. Great camping.

St. Louis has a lot to offer. The Zoo, the City Museum (which is totally awesome-google it), The Butterfly House, Incredible Pizza (more than ust pizza), Six Flags which has the waterpark too, Forest Park which has the paddle boats and other things to do, The Mills Mall which is huge and has an iceskating rink, bowling alley and mini gold inside . . . . . . Google things to do in St. Louis. Have fun!!

The trip to Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico sounds find. Or plan a trip to Mt. Rushmore and Yellow Stone. The key thing to think about is you're spending time with your family. You shouldn't focus on how long the drive is and besides, it will be a great experience for your children to visit different states and places. You can go up the road to St. Louis any given day or time.

How about a few days in St. Louis and then head south for a few days in Memphis? It's about 4.5 hours straight south on I-55. There is more to Memphis than Elvis! (Although that is a fun way to spend a few hours in the afternoon.)

They have lots of BBQ festivals and Beale Street is family friendly during the day. Then take a trip over to Mud Islande and of course, you have to see the ducks at the Peabody Hotel. Google things to do in Memphis.

Getting home will be a full driving day of about 9-10 hours if you go in one straight shot.

Whatever you decide, have a great time and safe travels!

One of our memorable trips when i was a kid was one where we did the Colorado, Arizona loop. We were 7, 9, 11 at the time. We drove to Colorado and camped in the rocky mountains. We hiked up Pike's Peak and a couple other beautiful mountain hikes. We did Mount Rushmore. I can't remember what else we saw but we stayed there about a week. Then we drove to Arizona and did the Grand Canyon and whatever else is around that area (also camping). It was twenty one years ago, and while I may not remember all the specific things we saw and did, I do remember having a BLAST!!!