Sorrento and Amalfi Coast with Kids

Just back from an amazing trip to the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast....wow! This was our second time visiitng Italy, and on the first trip we did the must-see list...Rome, Venice, Milan and Lake Como. (skipped Florence for Lake Como because we thought our kids had enough art in Rome) I think we enjoyed Sorrento more than anything except Venice. I do love Venice.
We travel as a family of four, with kids aged 13 and 10. So of course this affects much of what we do. I really want to add these details because although many family are big fans of Rick Steves and his advice, there is little on this site regarding traveling with kids.
We are Americans but living in Israel with my husbands job right now. So we found cheap flights to Rome from Wed-Sun. We flew into Rome Wed evening, and made it down to Sorrento by midnight. The Frecciorossa from Rome Termini to Napoli was awesome, and since I bought tickets early they were so cheap! And less than 10E to upgrade us all to Preminum. This is worth it for the little bottle of water and pack of cookies alone, besides the nicer seats. But we were too late to catch the Circumvesuviana from Napoli to Sorrento, so our hotel booked us a transfer. At 140E is was hard to swallow, but it is part of the cost if you arrive after trains are running. And it is a long distance by car. We have learned to get to your hotel the easiest way possible after your flight. Especially with kids in tow!
We stayed at the Palazzo Starace. It has a fabulous location, and the staff go beyond expectations to make your stay pleasant. Be aware, if you stay in the family suite for 4, it is across from the breakfast room so you get a 7am wakeup call! It turned out to be fine, as we had early mornings anyway and had to get going.
Our first day we visited Pompei and went to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. We signed up for the Mondo guided tour that Rick recommends, because he (and others) mention how large the site is and not that well signed. Well this was an interesting and informative tour, but we now have decided no more tours with our kids! They are not old enough to enjoy being in group and listening to a guide for 2 hours. I wish we had simply followed Rick's information and saw the site ourselves. Honestly, we would have gotten almost the exact information. And 2 hours is really plenty to see the top sights.
After that we had lunch at the Bar Sgambati restaurant in the train station. Our food was excellent. I think it was the best pizza I had on our trip. It was worth the slightly inflated cost. (but we aware that you're in Italy! Our server tried to charge us more than the bill required. My husband corrected him and he acted like it was a mistake, but then tried to give us incorrect change. Hmm, fishy.
We took a bus from Pompei to Vesuvius. The bus company told us to meet at 2:45 at the station. They had us wait in a balcony in the direct afternoon sunlight. By 3:15 we were wondering what was happening. A few of us asked questions and they said things were running behind, and led us to a coach bus. (I had bought tickets for the Busvia del Vesuvio, which is a bus/monster truck thing that I thought my kids would like. They didn't tell me when I bought the tickets that because of a recent fire those vehicles were not in use. So bummer there.) The coach bus driver promptly turned the bus off and went to chat and smoke with his friends for a while. We were now sweating on the bus instead of the balcony! After 15 min of this, and now about 30 min past the time we were supposed to leave, my husband asked the driver to start the bus for us. Finally we got under way. I understand delays, but there was no consideration of those waiting by the company. It was frustrating.
But the bus ride up was efficient and an adventure in itself. We had some steep drop off views and narrow misses with local bull dozers doing work. After our initial delays, the bus service was great.