great ideas, 12:54. thanks.

Anonymous wrote:PP here. Southerners always call New England "cold". Its funny to me, because New Englanders don't notice it! In the dead o summer, do you want to be south? I am averse to it because it is not what I am accustomed to, and it is uncomfortable to the point I would not call it vacation for myself. You know what the Cape has to offer, so why not? You can go elsewhere during different points in the summer, if you feel you must divide.

BTW, we have been in the New England Atlantic for days at a time throughout the summer - May through now - it is NOT cold, seriously!

Spoken like a true New Englander! I am another CC poster, we love it so much we bought a house there, but I will admit the ocean water can be super cold. Of course the lakes, bay and sound are usually much warmer.

We have 4 kids, now 14-23 y.o., and we have many happy memories of family vacations. This summer I was bracing myself for the possibility that our oldest wouldn't join us for vacation, but he did and we all had a blast. Since childhood I've always wanted to spend every summer vacation at the same place -- Cape Cod -- and we've done that often, but you know, not everyone wants that. My DH and 2 of our kids are much more adventurous travelers, while the other 2 are like me -- happy to return to the Cape every summer. We've had to compromise and branch out -- with great results. Our kids are all active, so boardwalk arcades, amusement parks and shopping are less of a draw than swimming, surfing, boogie-boarding, kayaking, sailing, cycling, hiking, tennis, and skiing in the winter. We still return to the Cape some years, though this year we did not, and we always make a point of doing something with extended family -- even if just a long weekend, but exploring new places together is also fun and brings out different aspects of kids' personalities. Even my 2 "returners" have become more adventurous, and as a returner myself, I admire that in them.

PP here. Southerners always call New England "cold". Its funny to me, because New Englanders don't notice it! In the dead o summer, do you want to be south? I am averse to it because it is not what I am accustomed to, and it is uncomfortable to the point I would not call it vacation for myself. You know what the Cape has to offer, so why not? You can go elsewhere during different points in the summer, if you feel you must divide.

BTW, we have been in the New England Atlantic for days at a time throughout the summer - May through now - it is NOT cold, seriously!

Anonymous wrote:OP, where did you go during the summer growing up?

OP here --

Cape Cod!

But my husband says the water is too cold so we go to the place he spent his childhood summers -- Hilton Head. We also spent some time at Kiawah.


Cape Cod has lots of great stuff for older kids.

Another older mom here - in my mid fifties with a pre-k and older kids. We love tent camping. We go to different places, but camp. Also, we also take a trip to a new place each summer and they love that too. Our favorites are to national parks.

OP, where did you go during the summer growing up?

Another Cape Cod native summer person here who wants to pass it on to their kids. ITA with PP. Pick a place with DH and decide that is where you want to be. Maybe you can retire there? Then the kids will be familiar with the place, and you will be comfortable there as well. It would have to be a place that is amenable year round, perhaps.

It is Cape Cod for us! We love what others have mentioned - the people, the sports, the children and dogs everywhere, the cleanliness, the activities, the gorgeous beaches that are each different, the amazing fresh variety of healthy seafood, the list goes on! GL, OP. Don't over think it too much. It should feel like a natural choice to you.

We've been coming to the Cape since before the kids were born. They are high school/college age now and still love it. No cheesy boardwalk but sailing, kayaking, beaches, biking, etc. They've been to boardwalk beaches in NJ and DE and while those are a fun diversion they definitely don't prefer them. So vacation in someplace you enjoy. make your own memories.

All great thoughts!! And good point about crabby teenagers. Nothing will probably make them happy!

12:54 poster -- where is your place?

To the Cape Cod poster -- I went there most summers growing up. It is a great place for all kinds of kids. Wish I could convince my husband to go there. It is a bummer. He hates the cold water!

I wouldn't deny my kids their current fun for the sake of their older, crabby teenage selves!

Same boat, OP. We have a beach place at a quiet beach resort and have been going annually with our kids, now 8 and 5. I want them to always want to go there, at least for a few weeks, each summer, even when in their teens. So I'm working now to build it up as a "but we ALWAYS go there" spot that they will want to visit, not feel forced to when they are older. Some thoughts:

-- I've put them in local sports camps and Bible school at a local church, so they begin to at least meet some kids who live in the area. The older one found a pen pal last year that he sent post cards to and actually looked forward to seeing again this year.

-- We make a big deal of the local foods/ restaurants/ recipes we have there. We make blackberry smoothies with local berries we pick nearby and that's the only time all year we have them, for example.

-- We try to include extended family in the visit, so it becomes a time to visit with cousins that they wouldn't ordinarily have.

-- We put an emphasis on the sports things that are hard to do in DC where we live: lots of bike riding, scooters, plus the beach activities, etc.

You wont want to do cheesy boardwalk stuff, either. Keep your current place, if you're enjoying it. You're already creating memories, OP. Enjoy yourself and know that your kids will look forward to it each year and look back on these years fondly. I miss similar vacations by the lake with my family.

My tween wants to go kayaking so we are heading to Cape Cod in 12 days and my 8 year-old wants to go fishing, so we'll do that on Cape Cod as well. Neither of them want to do cheesy boardwalk stuff.

Enjoy your vacation!

I am currently on vacation with my 6, 4, and 2 yos. (Yes, I am an older mom!)

We have been coming to the same place for 6 years.

We are thinking about changing next year, bc I want to start a long tradition of going to the same place for summer vacation so my kids will have great memories.

The problem with our current place is that, while we love it now, I am concerned that it will be boring for tweens and teenagers.

So my question to the folks with older kids, what do your kids want out of summer vacation? Where do you go? I assume tween and teenagers want some cheesy boardwalk place!