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A few weeks ago, we headed north to South Haven, Michigan, for our annual family vacation trip. Any “vacation” with children is a trip. Now that my left eye has stopped twitching and my blood pressure has lowered back to the normal range, I can look back on the pictures fondly ;).
We chose South Haven for it’s relatively quick travel time (only 1.5 hours from Chicago), mild temps, and family friendly activities. Totally didn’t disappoint, we had plenty of stuff to do with the kids. We rented a house for the week – more on that in a future post – with my parents, sister, husband and the kids.
My goal on any family vacation is to make memories – I want my kids to look back someday and think, “Yah, my parents tried really hard to make my life good and they did a pretty good job.” Wishful thinking, right? No matter your destination, here are 5 things to do on a family vacation with little kids:
1. Something totally local. South Haven is known for it’s blueberries and we visited during u-pick season so we grabbed a couple buckets and picked (and ate) a ton of straight off the vine blueberries.
2. Make something together. We had to do something with all those berries, so making homemade blueberry muffins it was. I am SO not a baker but these were seriously delicious.
3. Hit the beach – or the mountains, or the city, or the forest. You get the picture; get outside and enjoy the beauty and uniqueness of the place you’re visiting. In South Haven, we hit South Beach almost every day. White, soft sand, mostly gentle water, and a short walk from the house – perfect combo when taking little ones to the beach. Quinn loved playing in the water, Cooper loved eating snacks.
4. Something *just* for the kids. One day, my sister and I took the kids to a mini amusement park/petting zoo/Dutch village. Totally for them – feeding goats and petting chickens isn’t really my thing – and they loved it.
5. Take a break. Simply calling a new place “home” for a few days is going to throw kids for a loop. Add traveling, adjusting to a new time zone, a new setting, and all the fun activities that go along with a vacation and your kids are bound to be hungry, tired and overstimulated. Honestly, we spent a lot of time at the rental house relaxing in between outings.
We also threw water balloons, saw a movie, ate way too much ice cream, and went on a sailboat ride. Heading on a trip with your kiddos? Pin this for later:
Is there anything you LOVE to do with your littles on vacation? Tell me in the comments!
