Can you enjoy a vacation with extended family?
My husband and I love to travel and we are Disney junkies! So it makes sense that we are Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members. We tend to stay at DVC resorts using our membership. However, we do NOT always go to Disney parks. DVC has a lot of resorts in Orlando, but they also have ones at Hilton Head, Vero Beach, Florida and Oahu, Hawaii. In fact, those are our three favorite destinations along with Disney Cruise Line!
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Our kids are grown now, but they have had their share of Disney vacations! Now we try to take one of the 3 grandchildren as they get old enough to enjoy it. One at a time – I am too old to wrangle 3 children at a time 🤣
This year we had the wild idea to take all the family on a beach vacation. How did we do it?
It’s In The Planning
If you have read any of my other posts, you know I am a detailed list builder. When we decided to take a full family vacation, we started planning when and where. The group included my husband, me, our 2 kids and their spouses and 3 grandchildren. The 9 of us stayed in a 3 bedroom (and 3 BATHROOM) beach-side cottage at Disney Vero Beach Resort. Until a few days before we left for vacation, our traveling party also included my 81-year-old mother-in-law. Unfortunately, she hurt her back and could not go. We were going to have 10 people aged from 4 to 81!
After we were able to get reservations complete, everyone secured vacation time (this started over a year ago). I created a Facebook messenger group (we live within 80 miles of each other but don’t see each other as often as I would like). We used the group so that everyone could easily stay informed of plans and questions.
Then I started meal planning. We are frugal people and don’t eat out all vacation. Also, the kids needed to be able to save for travel food and gas and other vacation expenses. So – I created a spreadsheet and shared with Google Drive. I asked everyone to add to the spreadsheet the foods they would like for each meal and snacks. Of course my son added lobster and filet mignon. I promptly deleted that.  😀
We wanted foods that were easy to prepare (it was vacation) and that everyone would eat. After much prodding and nudging, we ended up with a feasible menu. My kids are not as planner friendly as I am. haha! I used another page on the spreadsheet to create a grocery list of things we needed to buy when we got there.
I used the WalMart grocery pickup application before leaving home to order everything on the menu grocery list and scheduled a pickup for the day we arrived. It worked like a charm and was super convenient.
Planning After You Get There
After we got all our supplies and settled in, I asked everyone out on the back deck for a “family meeting”. My grandchildren were a little nervous because they didn’t know what a family meeting was!
Before heading out on the trip, I created a “House Rules” poster. I laminated it and added a magnet to the back so it could be put on the refrigerator. During the family meeting, I read the rules to everyone and stressed their importance.
The beach cottage was large and two floors with 4 decks. (You can see a photo tour here). My husband and I are the Disney Vacation Club members and were responsible for the property we use. Also, with 9 people, there were also rules about privacy and personal possessions.
Needless to say, the grandchildren were happy that the meeting, although still serious, was not anything to be worried about!
Be Ready To Share – Not Share – And Compromise
Although I did most of the meal preparations, I got a lot of help. Everyone worked together in cooking and cleaning and it worked out very well. We also decided that we would eat meals together, with a few exceptions.
Another thing we did was agree that everyone did not have to do everything together! We did do a lot of activities together, but we all had the freedom to do our own thing. My thing is a nap 😀 The resort has a lot of crafts and activities and I enjoyed doing things with my grandchildren. You can see some of the many things to do in this post.
Another thing that kept us sane is that we did things with just our immediate family, such as my husband and I ate at the resort restaurant one night and some went to the bar for karaoke one night.
There were a few times we had to compromise, especially when it came to the nightly movie or which family game to play.
So, the best advise is share, don’t share, and compromise!
Handle Any Differences When They Happen
Vacations can sometimes be stressful and nerves can be on edge. Thankfully, we only had one time when a couple of us fussed. The only way to keep things going smoothly is to talk them out and move on. Easy to say and not always easy to do, but if not handled quickly, it could have caused a very uncomfortable few days! Just remember you are family that loves each other 😀
Baths and Laundry
Having a bathroom for each bedroom (family), was a lifesaver. We have all stayed in another 3 bedroom with 2 bathrooms. Sharing a bathroom is not a deal breaker, but it certainly was easier that each family had their own bathroom.
People close to me know I love to do laundry. Yes, that may be weird, but it’s true. But instead of offering to do laundry for everyone, I decided each family could do their own. This gave me a much-needed break. I hate taking dirty clothes home so this worked out well.
Memories
For us, this vacation gave us all memories we will never forget. If properly planned and everyone agrees to the “house rules” an extended family vacation can be a lot of fun!
So plan yours today!
Make lasting memories by taking an extended family vacation! #Vacation #Memories #ExtendedFamily Share on XThe form you have selected does not exist.
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