Has traveling with small children ever been an enjoyable experience?

I'm not a parent but I've flown a few times this year and every time I'm at the airport I see families with 2-3 small toddlers and it looks absolutely miserable. The amount of screaming and sheep herding and just general crap to keep track of (toys, wrappers, messy snacks, etc) cannot possibly be fun for the parents. If I were a parent I cannot fathom wanting to fly to a vacation spot with my kids until they're at least like 7 or 8. How do parents do it?