How to Spend a Fun Summer Vacation Both Inside and Outside

Summer vacation is a time of year people look forward to during the droll winter months, during busy school sessions, during the height of the frigid blizzard season and through power-outages caused by violent storms. When planning the summer vacation, we plan an exodus of our existence to an oasis away from our ordinary lives. Vacation ideas include resort destinations, amusement parks, family reunions, and new adventures. Some vacation trips can mean growing closer to those we love and care for or exploring our own identities and understanding ourselves more than before.

Family vacations usually include an idea that appeals to a wider age-range than for the single sojourner. In planning this type of trip, the family must consider some key points and factor them into the planning process:

• Will naps or early bedtimes be necessary for the sanity of some family members? If so, do the plans need to be adjusted to accommodate this need and, if so, how?
• Do certain family members have a disability or medical factors to consider, such as set times to take medication? If yes, how will this be planned for in advance?
• Does the family, on a whole, enjoy physical pursuits such as vasts amounts of walking, hiking, swimming, or sports or would the family prefer a more leisure activity, one that doesn't require great physical expenditure?

So, Inside or Outside Activities For Your Family?

Some family vacation ideas depend on the type of family you have:

• Active Families: Amusement parks, nature preserves, safaris, or expeditions.
• Physically Limited Families: Museum tours, boat excursions, hired drivers or bus tours.
• Leisure Families: Beach resorts, such as tanning on the beach, watching films at a film festival, sailing and fishing excursions.

Some key ingredients for a successful recipe to a cool family vacation:

• A positive attitude: If everyone is looking forward to the trip, everyone will feel positive towards it, even if it includes a long, twelve hour drive to get there.
• Excitement and energy: What things are there to look forward to? Build excitement for each other by discussing what you'll each be looking forward to. The dinner table is a great place to talk about what every person hopes to do or get from the vacation.

We all know that the top of the list for kids might include Disneyland, Legoland or a nearby beach boardwalk with amusements and rides but if you're taking an adult-style vacation, there's still room for the kids. At many resorts, there are "kid clubs" where the young ones are watched by staff while their parents enjoy the day off from parenting with adult pursuits. Most of the time, these resorts have a full day care staff, who have completed early childhood education courses, cpr/first aid, and have been criminally background checked. While this is generally the case, it's prudent to ask before using the service in question just what screening and training the staff has had. Early childhood education courses are the very same courses that teachers are required to take and they teach childcare staff to understand cognitive differences in different aged children and how best to handle child-related challenges, particularly in group settings.

Consider these locations when deciding on a kid-friendly location, with adult size fun, because they often offer childcare or child-size fun programs:

• major casinos
• skiing / snowboarding resorts
• five star hotels offering saunas, massages and spa treatments
• resorts in travel hot spots, such as Club Med

No matter what you do, make sure you ensure a good time by packing your positive attitude along with your realistic expectations!