Finding these places on your own and fitting in the interests of both kids and adults can be taxing for even the most experienced vacation planner.

Help is on the way through a novel vacation planning service called Kids-Go-Too Travel, headquartered in Winter Park, Colorado. Kids-Go-Too was the idea of DiAnn Butler, a mother of two daughters, ages 8 and 4. Butler realized the difficulties involved in planning vacations for her own family and noticed that other families traveling with children encountered many of the same challenges.

Butler watched families check in for vacations through Destinations West, a property management company she owns with her husband Denis. "They check in after traveling all day, then have to go grocery shopping or figure out where they are going to eat in a strange town, get their ski rentals and coordinate a lot of other things," Butler says.

"I have been coordinator of our family's vacations, and they were unique enough that our friends urged us to offer a vacation planning service for other families traveling with children."

Taking the need further, Butler began developing vacation packages that not only are creative and fun for families with kids, but that also provide all the extra care, services, activities and attention to details that make family trips enjoyable. Butler brings her education and background in recreational therapy to the program to make sure the families do not have to worry about the logistics of the trip.

"We put all those pieces together before the family gets here. If they need grocery service, we can provide it," she says. "We can even include their first meal catered and waiting in the fridge. They do not have to think about what they will cook the first night or make their kids go to a restaurant and sit still after they have been confined for a long time, in a plane or a car."

John and Laura Phelps, from Scottsdale, Arizona, and their children Rachel, 10; David, 7; and Daniel, 4; took advantage of the Kids-Go-Too Trains and Teepees vacation package. It is a 7-day trip that includes a stay in Denver, a train ride over the Continental Divide, a 4-Wheel driving tour, rafting down the Colorado River, horseback riding, sleeping in Indian Tepees, fishing and lots of good food and fun.

"I do not think we would have been able to design the trip ourselves," says Laura Phelps. "It would have been too time consuming and difficult to do. I like the idea of a vacation where everyone knows ahead of time that you have children, and they are coming with you. The restaurants suggested to us were kid-friendly, they had kids' menus, and that really made a difference."

Molly Ramsey and daughter Claire, 11, from Conroe, Texas, accomplished everything they wanted to do in just three days. "Claire likes different things and we got to pick and choose the activities we wanted," Ramsey says. "We chose wilderness type activities, and she especially enjoyed the river rafting trip. We were able to do our rough stuff during the day, then go back to the condo and crash."

A Day With The Group
We joined the group for a one day 4-wheeling tour, with Mad Adventures, up to Colorado's Rollins Pass at an elevation of 11,600 feet. The Ramsey and Phelps families joined us as we climbed aboard a huge "safari" truck with benches on the back that gave us all a great view. During the ride our tour guide, nicknamed Laser, pointed out historical sites along the way. As we drove the old wagon toll road built by John Quincy Adams Rollins, we saw remnants of the abandoned Denver Northwestern and Pacific Railway built in 1903 by David H. Moffat and the site of the abandoned gold mining town of Arrow, built during the heyday of the Colorado gold rush.

At the top of Rollins Pass, Laser set out a sumptuous lunch of roast beef, ham, turkey, cheeses and all the fixings along with chips and dips, soft drinks and lemonade and cookies for the kids. We enjoyed our lunch under cloud filled skies surrounded by great views of the mountains and valleys. After lunch we explored the remnants of a hotel, railroad station and a restaurant that had been in operation at the top of the Pass until 1928 when the Moffat tunnel through the Pass was completed. We photographed the wild tundra flowers and the magnificent scenery while the kids played in the snow field that was a reminder of the difficult conditions that plagued the early settlers of Colorado.

A Personal Approach
To ensure that everyone's vacation needs are met, Butler gathers background information about the family by sending a comprehensive questionnaire, sample theme packages and prices. The confidential questionnaire covers the activities of interest to everyone in the family, their level of experience in those activities and the family's vacation budget. She encourages parents to help the younger children fill out their own questionnaire to let them be part of the family's vacation planning process.

"We are dealing with individuals as well as families,"Butler says, "and we need these details to create a relationship with the family. We envision ourselves as the extended family that they do not have in Colorado - but wish they had."

The activities can be as strenuous as hiking in the back country to relaxing in a hot spring or curling up in front of a fireplace with a good book or a good friend. Butler includes information on each activity, the skill and fitness level required and what age groups are appropriate for such activities.

After the vacation packages are developed and reserved, the family receives a book on Denver, a map highlighting the trip plus any additional information they need based on the questionaire, their interests and their planned activities. Everyone gets Kids-Go-Too T-shirts and the family receives a survival kit containing sunscreen, adhesive bandages, packets of stain remover and other useful items to have readily at hand.

Kids-Go-Too focuses on preschoolers up to teenagers, but babies can also be accommodated with the help of a local baby sitting service. For example, in Winter Park Go-Baby-Go program, a Kids-Go-Too service professional can help the family with everything from safety approved strollers, backpacks and cribs to full babysitting services.

Kids-Go-Too offers summer and winter vacation packages as well as trips with an educational or adventure theme to them. Kids and their parents can have their own separate activities and interests. For example, on a rafting trip, if the parents want to do the whole river and the kids do not, there are put-out spots along the river where the rafting company driver picks up the kids and takes them to the end point of the trip while the parents finish the trip.

All the adventure packages and the service professionals who are part of the Kids-Go-Too team have been checked out, in person, by Butler and her family or by the families of the Kids-Go-Too staff. This ensures that they are familiar with the serivces and that the activities are suitable and safe for everyone in the family.