Family Camp. Deer Valley in Pennsylvania is great:

http://travelwithkids.about.com/od/pennsylvania/a/family_camp_dv.htm

Other options:

http://www.familytravelnetwork.com/articles/summer-family-camps.asp

Club Med Sandpiper Bay in Florida

http://sandpiperbay.clubmed.us/kids/services

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no interest in vacationing without my kids, especially if they are nearby. It's one thing to do a weekend getaway w/DH (no kids), but I have no interest in going on a "family vacation" that entails the kids being with some stranger(s).

How is this at all responsive to OP's question???

+1

I guess her/his point is stop spending the extra money to bring kids along and then pay for child care just so you can call it a "family vacation" and you won't have this problem. Go on getaways just you and your husband/wife and leave the kids at home or go for a family vacation that doesn't involve parents alone time (it's a FAMILY vacation after all...) DH and I are going away for 10 days with DC in July and then for 5 days in August just the two of us. You don't have to have it all crammed into one trip. I would not like to have to explain to DC why mommy and daddy are going to leave them for a while while we're all supposed to be on vacation together.

Sorry, but since when are we supposed to follow your either/or solution? I don't like to separate "family time" vs. "couple time" the way you do. I would miss my children if i were away for 5 days and feel bad they are spending so much time with strangers/relatives. At the same time, if I am to spend 24 hours with them in a hotel room I would get insane. I am not the OP, but I am interested in the constructive responses as well because this looks like a good solution for my own vacation.

If you google Parents Magazine top 10 you will get several different lists of recommended kid friendly vacation spots. One place that I visited for DH's work had onsite babysitting that you could use while you were at the pool, gym or spa but not golf or beach (if I remember correctly): Ponte Vedra Inn and Club. The cost was $5 an hour but it's probably not as much coverage as you want (limit of a couple hours a day).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no interest in vacationing without my kids, especially if they are nearby. It's one thing to do a weekend getaway w/DH (no kids), but I have no interest in going on a "family vacation" that entails the kids being with some stranger(s).

How is this at all responsive to OP's question???

+1

I guess her/his point is stop spending the extra money to bring kids along and then pay for child care just so you can call it a "family vacation" and you won't have this problem. Go on getaways just you and your husband/wife and leave the kids at home or go for a family vacation that doesn't involve parents alone time (it's a FAMILY vacation after all...) DH and I are going away for 10 days with DC in July and then for 5 days in August just the two of us. You don't have to have it all crammed into one trip. I would not like to have to explain to DC why mommy and daddy are going to leave them for a while while we're all supposed to be on vacation together.

Great. You can afford multiple weeks away from work and happily disappear for a week at a time and you want to judge others.

I have to say that my 7 year old for at least the last year looks for friends wherever we go. She enjoys doing things with us, but she needs social interaction her age. We have never done a kids club, we have done babysitting during naps and when we go out to dinner. I can, however, see the appeal of a kids club type actitives on a vacation. We were at a resort over Memorial Day weekend and my DD said when she saw the kids club sign "maybe next year I can do that."

So at older ages part of this is also making sure the trip is enjoyable for the kids and having family time.

Nemacolin has a kid's club that takes kids for various parts of the day. They take the kids on outings that are so much fun my kids don't care that I'm not there.

Check out kiawah island (NC) and sea Island (georgia)

Just wanted to say that the Tyler Place has been doing these programs for years and I have several friends who went when their kids were small and had great experiences. The resort is usually written up in Family Fun and similar family-oriented magazines. TripAdvisor also likely has plenty of reviews about it. Good Luck OP.

Anonymous wrote:
I guess her/his point is stop spending the extra money to bring kids along and then pay for child care just so you can call it a "family vacation" and you won't have this problem. Go on getaways just you and your husband/wife and leave the kids at home or go for a family vacation that doesn't involve parents alone time (it's a FAMILY vacation after all...) DH and I are going away for 10 days with DC in July and then for 5 days in August just the two of us. You don't have to have it all crammed into one trip. I would not like to have to explain to DC why mommy and daddy are going to leave them for a while while we're all supposed to be on vacation together.

Wow. Very judgmental post here.

Listen, not everybody can afford (either b/c of finances or not being able to take the time off) two summer vacations. What is wrong with wanting a nanny for a few hours/day to watch your young children? Especially during times when they are napping/asleep?

I have 3 kids (6 and under). I'd love to have a nanny and/or kids club. Kids clubs can be tons of fun for young (like 5-6 yo) children. They spend a couple of hours hanging out with kids the same age and doing really fun kids stuff. And then, for those of us who also have young kids still napping, what is so wrong with wanting a nanny so you or your spouse aren't stuck inside a hotel room for 2-3 hours just watching your child sleep? Same thing goes for nights.

It is beyond obnoxious to imply that parents are trying to pawn their children off or simply don't want them around all b/c they want a few hours in the evening for an adult dinner. Geez....

Just hire local nannies from a good local firm where ever you want to go. We have done it all over the place. About $18-28 per hour depending on where we went

This is definitely a good idea for a younger child, but the 3 and up set would probably have more fun at a kid's club where there are other kids to play with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP from the "best vacation with kids under 5" thread. The mountain and lake options in the U.S. sound great except for the lack of childcare. The Caribbean options have either built in vacation nannies or kids clubs. Are there any places in the U.S. with either of those two options for kids under 5?

The Homestead
http://www.thehomestead.com/explore-our-activities/kidsclub/kidsclub

7 springs
http://www.7springs.com/page/category.detail/nav/5721/Kids--Fun-Zone.html

These look very fun.

We'll explore one of these next year. They have a set-up that a lot of places have, which is the kids club is only for three and older.

If you like horses and a little bit of a more rustic feel, you might like Ridin' Hy. There isn't really a kids program where the kids are separate from the adults, but there are so many distractions for the kids, that you get a similar type of break. We also opt for an hour or two a day of babysitting so that we can do something with just the two of us (like ride together), but usually by the end of the week, we skip the babysitting as by then we have become friends with parents who can just trade off for the time (it becomes silly to get an extra person when your kid is just going to be hanging out with their kid anyway). We ran across it a couple years back when we were thinking of Tyler Place and this seemed to be a better fit for us.

(Ignore the people that say that you shouldn't do kids' clubs; they clearly never got the chance to do them when they were younger. Some of my best memories were from those types of trips because I got to play with cool kids, eat with kids sometimes, dress up and eat with parents occassionally, and do a lot of very fun, stress-free activities with my newly-relaxed parents.)