What do you do for your summer vacations as a family?

[CalicoKat]

Other than staying home, which is what we always do because it is traumatic to think about vacation with young children, this year we want to do something different, fun, inexpensive, and no truama in the planning process (I'm not able to wrap my brain around vacation planning).

 

Soooo . . . what do you do? Can I borrow a few ideas?

 

So far I think that a week at a summer camp that is all inclusive would work best for us. There is one in Maryland called Sandy Cove on Chesapeake Bay. But it is quite distant for us. I'm looking for one that is more in the midwest.

 

Or, perhaps there is a tour that has a max. $$ for families? :)

 

Please share your ideas.

[Janet in WA]

Nothing. The nature of dh's career has never allowed us to vacation in the summer. However, the nature of his job has provided us with many travel opportunities at other times of the year (for professional meetings, etc.). Homeschooling has allowed our children to accompany us on those trips. We have rarely taken a true "vacation" for vacation's sake, though.

[Karenciavo]

No help, just wanted to say Sandy Cove is nice. :)

[Kate in VA]

We're suppose to take a vacation? .... hhhhmmm can you tell that to my budget b/c it just wouldn't understand......:(...... We have never taken any type of vacation..... However I would love to go camping (as simple as that my be) ....

 

On the up side, my brother called me last night to see when he can fly my dd and I out to visit him for a week or so.... He lives in San Francisco and I wouldn't need to worry about the cost... nice treat hun? Now I need to think if I can really survive a week with my big brother with out it ending in his death!:D (we are completely two different people) so it looks like we might get a little vacation after all..... but my dh couldn't go so not too excited about that...... my dd and I will use it more for sightseeing and learning about the area....

[Mom2jnb]

We go camping every year. This year we are doing the Mammoth Cave, KY area for a week. The camping itself for 6 people will be under $200. But, then we have to do food and such.

 

Not sure where you are in the midwest. There are camps around here that are all inclusive. I would just google family camps or something along that line.

 

Good luck and have a great time!!

Alison

[Harriet Vane]

This year we are going to family camp to our old InterVarsity camp. I have no idea how the family camp programming will be--I am just really looking forward to going to a familiar, very beloved place that just happens to have gorgeous hiking.

 

We also usually go for a long weekend with dh's family to a cabin. A friend does this with her family as well--they really like Door County, WI.

 

We also love camping/hiking in the area around Sleeping Bear in Michigan.

 

This year we are also going to go backpacking/canoing to the Boundary Waters (Minnesota/Canada border).

 

I think a family camp or cabin rental somewhere could work well for you. The nice thing about family camp is that the kids have programming (read--babysitting) and you don't have to cook.

[mommylaw]

I'm fortunate that my parents have a vacation house that we are free to use whenever. It's less than 100 yards from their front door to the ocean. Unfortunatly, it's in Florida and we live in Colorado. So we don't get to use it very often.

 

We love camping. Every summer we do it at least once, even with tiny babies. :)

 

We are in the process of planning a European cruise for the fall of 09. It's taken a few years to ssave up but we're super excited!

[Serendipity]

Last summer we took our first summer vacation *ever*. It was a blast! We, and two of our neighbors, took our families to Puerto Penasco. We drove there and took all of our own food. We stayed in a beach house right next to the largest pool at the resort. The total cost for our family of five was $800.

 

We're planning on going again this summer...with the same neighbors.

 

Of course, we live in far west Texas which makes driving to Mexico via Arizona feasible for us...

 

:)

[Whisperlily]

I like to spread out the "vacation" by spending our money on memberships to fun places we can visit all year. Also, with only a tiny bit of planning, you can turn every weekend into a fun mini-vacation that doesn't even have to cost you anything but your time (and maybe some gasoline.)

 

When we lived in Vancouver, WA, we had a membership to OMSI (Science Museum), the Zoo, and did as many day trips as possible to local attractions. Of course when we lived there, the ocean was a day trip. ;)

 

Living in a more isolated area last summer, we had a membership to a waterslide park, and went as often as possible. Day trips to the lake, hiking, nature trails, museums, etc.

 

We moved here in December, and we've already scored free tickets to Six Flags for our family (useable during the summer season only). We will also be able to visit Sea World once this summer for free (other than the gas to get there). We've scouted out the lakes and scoured the internet for local gems that are sometimes overlooked for the bigger attractions. We can fill an entire weekend with sightseeing/touring and activities that don't cost a dime.

 

If I'm on the ball, I'll make a list on the computer of all the fun places nearby that we like to visit, and activities that we enjoy. When we get tired of being at home, we'll pick something from the list (otherwise we might forget some wonderful options.)

 

In the summer, it's nice for us to take day trips with DH (weekends or 3-day weekends.) Then we usually do 2 days per week where we try to do something fun outside the house during the day. That way we have a balance of days "off" to regroup and some downtime instead of wearing ourselves out by planning too many activities back to back and needing the "vacation from the vacation."

[Mom0012]

Well, I don't know how old your children are, but we did something like this when the kids were 2 and 4. We went on a week long, all-inclusive vacation to the Poconos for about $1000 and it turned out to be great. The accomodations were decent and there were lots of activities for the kids - paddle boats, pool, miniature golf, game room, and many other activities. It was nice to have everything right there and we got into a routine that made things easier with the kids.

 

Lisa

[Danestress]

My parents have a beach house and we have always spent time there in the summer. The kids and I spend at least 10 days a month there. Sometimes more. My husband less (being the working person is sometimes a bummer!)

 

I think my parents will sell the house after this summer, though, because my father has Alzheimer's Disease and is having a hard time with the transitions.

 

It's been forever since we just took a family vacation that we actually had to pay for. We camp together. Last year we went to Philadelphia for a long weekend.

 

I think when we have to actually start paying for vacations, I will have a hard time with forking over the money. I wil probably want our vacations to be educational. I have a mental list of places I want to take the boys - Washington D.C., Gettysburg, various places in Virgina, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon .... I could go on and on. I think I will spend our money on some more extensive adventure/educational type vacations rather than rent a beach house.

[Beth in Central TX]

We use our free Six Flags reading tickets and go to Fiesta Texas in San Antonio for the weekend. Each boy gets a ticket, and we usually get a free teacher ticket too, so we end up only buying one ticket. We purchase this ticket on-line before we leave which is cheaper than buying one at the gate. I find a mid-price hotel to stay for 2 nights so that we can get to the park early and stay late. We tour the free missions on our way home. It's a fun weekend that doesn't cost a fortune.

[Mamagistra]

We rent a beach front house for a week, right before the summer season starts. It's so relaxing...I can't wait! :D

[RoughCollie]

I used to take my kids camping at Jellystone Park a couple of times each summer for a week at a time. Boy, did they love it, and I had a great time too.

 

http://www.campjellystone.com/

 

Until last year, when they quit allowing dogs in the cabins, we used to go to a state park a couple of hours' drive away, for a couple of weeks every summer.

 

I don't know what we'll do now.

 

DH doesn't go on vacations with us because he is to busy working.

[Kate in Arabia]

Dh is a professor, so we have summers "off"; but our summers are always split between visiting my family (US) and his family (Saudi Arabia). I feel like we haven't had a proper "vacation" in ages; but I think it would really upset everyone if we took time away from either set of grandparents to go somewhere else.

 

One problem with living so far away from family...

[TammyinTN]

Honestly...I feel like I've been on vacation for 3 years. Living in Europe has given us some wonderful weekend opportunities. You don't have to drive far before you find something you haven't discovered here. We do lots of town walking, hiking the vineyards, check of the churches. Two summers ago my parents treated our family to a cruise. We did Spain, Italy, France...it was awesome. We have been so lucky to have seen so much of the world..lived in Korea for 2 years. Driven across the US about 10 times. The military sure affords you some unique opportunitites. :D

[Friederike in Persia]

when not seeing family (I understand Kate's comment!) we've been to the Arabian Gulf, Thailand, Turkey, France,....most of it connected with work or seeing friends. I love experiencing such different places.

 

Friederike

[Sasharowan]

Most of our family vacations involve going to visit family in IL or TX(just once). The kids and I and sometimes Grandma go camping in various parks within a 5 hr drive from here. We also have cub scout camping 3-4 times a year that Dad can even go to. We often plan stops along the way with vacations to visit family such seeing the Alamo when we went to TX and Ruby Falls on the way home from IL.

[hsmamainva]

We don't go on vacations in the summer -- that's half the joy of homeschooling!!

 

We take our vacations in the spring or fall -- this year, we're going to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina the last week of this month -- last year, we went to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

 

Off season, we can rent a 4 bedroom house for the week around $500. We bring our own food and make breakfast and dinner in the vacation house and we eat our lunches out, as that's when we're sightseeing or at the beach, etc.

 

My hubby and I have the benefit of having a built-in babysitter (our 16 year old), so we usually go out "on the town" once or twice during that week.

 

We've been doing this for years -- we just vary the location (we've been all over the east coast -- from Pennsylvania all the way down to Florida)

 

When our children were younger, we sometimes took my MIL along to help with babysitting -- we've also rented a house with another family several times -- then we can trade off babysitting services. We need a bigger house then, but it doesn't cost us anything more than what we pay now, because the cost is divided between the two families.

[Kay in Cal]

Oftentimes I feel bad that we always spend our vacation visiting family--not that I don't want to see them, just that it seems so... dull! But truly, they all have great homes in great locations, and we are always on a tight budget so the price can't be beat. When I actually wrote it all out, it doesn't seem that bad... but I do long for the days of new cities and hotels. I love hotels.

_________________

 

My in-laws are in Williamsburg, VA--a great vacation destination, and we have our own rooms in their home--other guests may use them, but we have stuff there. Plus they have a pool!

 

My mom and step dad are in Arlington, VA. DC is great for visiting with kids. We don't actually have our "own" rooms with our things in them, but they have two guest rooms we use. Plus, they just broke ground on a new house on the Delaware shore--I'm looking forward to visiting there next year when it is completed.

 

My dad and step mom are in Tampa, FL. They only have one guest room so there isn't a lot of privacy (which can be stressful for my dh), but there is so much to do in Florida-- Disneyland. Beach. My brothers both live in FL too.

 

Sister in law lives in Chicago, and is almost done building a new apartment--it's huge, is directly across the park from the lake, and has a nice guest suite for us to stay in. Chicago is an awesome place to visit with museums, etc.

 

Other than that we drive to San Diego or Las Vegas for an inexpensive outing. No camping here--my dh wouldn't do it. Ever. Really.