Vacation

First off, are you permitted to take the children out of state? In some fostering situations, you need special permission before taking the kids outside your state overnight, for any reason.Second, it is highly unlikely that you will get the agency to pay for tickets. The agencies tend to be woefully underfunded; many have huge caseloads for each social worker because they can't afford to hire more people. Any funds they have must go for essential services -- and vacations just don't qualify.You may have to cancel your vacation plans, if you want to keep the new children. Remember, however, that if you bought "restricted" tickets, you may lose some or all of the money you paid for them.If you do have permission to take the children out of state, check to see if the airlines permit "lap children" to fly at a discount. I know that, on international and some domestic flights, a child who is under age two (and birth certificates or passports are checked) can pay about 10% of the adult fare, if you have him/her as a lap child. A lap child does not get a reserved seat; while the airline may move people around so that there's an empty seat next to you, that is not guaranteed. You may wind up holding the child on your lap for the entire flight, especially if the plane is full. You will not be able to bring a car seat on board, unless there is an empty seat next to you; you will have to put it in checked luggage. While traveling with a child on a lap ticket can be uncomfortable, it's doable. I know. I adopted my daughter from China when she was 18 months old. I flew home from China with her as a lap child, a total of about 24 hours of air and airport time. I was lucky that the flight attendants were very helpful, and that international flights sometimes have bassinets that screw into a bulkhead, which can be used, except for takeoffs and landings. Sharon