Every year, we try to take a family vacation. But as the family size has grown, it has become more challenging to do so.
The venue we choose needs to fulfill certain criteria such as :
1. be a destination that has wide range of activities that can cater to both teens and pre-schoolers.
2. suit our budget (after all not every year is a year of abundance like 2012!)
3. must have accommodations that have flexible rooming rules. Rooming is always a problem – many hotels allow 3-4 persons per room.
Then there are logistical issues we grapple with such as packing! Everyone is only allowed minimal stuff. And if we are away for a longer stretch than 5 days, 4 nights, I would wash and dry some pieces of clothing in the hotel room.)
Then there is the change of mindset that a vacation equals rest 😀 Dh and I have grown to accept that a vacation with many children is not going to be restful, especially if cost is a factor. There’s laundry to be done, meals to be cooked even and definitely people to be entertained – otherwise how to create memories??? 😀
Actually when all we had were small children it was easier because we could just plonk down everyone by the beach or the pool and everyone is happy. The children have a splashing time and mom and dad can space out even while keeping an eye on them. But when you have teens and pre-schoolers, the teens find just lazing by the beach boring and so they want more challenging activities. So we end up in 2 groups. Dad plays hard with the older ones. Mom lazes by the pool/beach. 😀
But despite the fact that dh and I end up as tired or more tired than before we leave for the vacation, we wouldn’t exchange it or stop the tradition. It does bond the family together and we do make memories. So year after year we plan our family vacation. And being a homeschooling family means that we can take off on our schedule and enjoy off peak prices and little or no crowds! And now we are wondering where we can go this year!