Can't stay mad

My son is too smart by far. He was being something of a "pill" this evening, not listening, doing things he should not do and he knows he shouldn't, and various other pre-school behaviors. I ask him what is going on, why is he acting so wild. He hits me with the following:

"I am just so excited to be at home with you dad."

Game. Set. Match. No serve and volley, he served up an ace and I took a moment to watch it's beauty as it flew by, and no one was happier than me.

Planning a family vacation

My wife and I are starting the arduous process of planning a family vacation. And by family vacation, I mean something other than taking time off of work and staying at home (not that there is anything wrong with that). We are both leaning towards going to the beach (we live in NC, so a beach is always a 4 hour drive away) since we have not taken our son yet and we both love the beach. This family vacation would be in roughly April of next year (got to save money and all). I would like some feedback on the following topics:

1. To dog or not to dog- we have a 100+ pound Rottweiler (thank you tadpole) that we feel we should take because she is part of the family, but do we want to have her possibly suffer for 4+ hours in the car even though she would probably enjoy the beach as much as the rest of us? We have been told she's a water dog, so taking her to the beach is like taking me to Nestle's Toll House Morsel Manufacturing Plant and Chocohalics Crea-torium....
   
2. Rental property, or hotel- it seems as if there are more pet-friendly accommodations via rental property, and pricing is equivalent. However, never renting a beach condo before, not sure what things we should look or ask for, and what things we should be aware of. Should I look for nanny cams in all the AC vents, or just the ones where I plan to act like I am working out? Do I need to bring cleaning supplies, or should I just give fake information up front to avoid the fees?
   
3. Family as in extended, or family as in just the Chaos Crew- this is the tough one, mainly because how do you ask someone if they want to go on vacation with you? Does that create an awkward situation where they feel like they should go with you even if they would rather go to a bomb disposal class with real bombs?
4. How long should we go? I am thinking three days, enough to get sand in our underwear without being exhausted, but am I cutting it short and missing out on further relaxation just to get home in time to wash all that sand out of said undies?
5. OCD- seriously, I have it about certain things, one being my house getting broken into while I am away. Can I request to have my local police department swing by to make sure everything is okay? Does ADT have weekly rates? I hate to think I would not enjoy my vacation because I became obsessed that someone had broken into my house and was perusing my t-shirt collection (work thing, need to be here to understand).
6. Saving money- what are little short cuts to planning vacations that I may not realize that would help me maximize this first vacation with my wife and little man? Can I get by with having our dog pull our car down hills without running the engine to save gas (just kidding SPCA...)? Should I offer to grounds keep during the vacation (mow grass, trim hedges, etc)?
   

Realizing that I have tried to keep your interest with various injections of humor, my questions are quite serious. If you have any vacationing tips, I would love to read them.