Planning Your Family Staycation

Whether you have time this summer or are looking ahead to fall plans, consider Jake Frost's ideas that made for a great staycation for his family of seven. 

We had a great staycation this summer. The main thing with any vacation — at home or abroad — is spending time together as a family. And we were able to do that, and have fun!  

A staycation is also a great time to finally say “yes” to things the kids have asked to do, but we never seem to have time for. 

Many times we’ve gotten requests, like: “Can we go to the lake today?”  

But we already had sports practices or work schedules or piano recitals and had to say, “Sorry, we’re already booked.”  

The staycation is a time to say, “Yes!”  

Planning All Together  

The first thing we did for the staycation was to ask everyone: “What would you want to do on our staycation?” 

We drew a chart on a piece of art paper with an empty box for each day of our staycation, inviting the kids to list what they’d like to do and think about how to start filling in those open days. We also talked about it at dinner as the staycation was approaching. 

There were a lot of great ideas. 

Some wanted to go to the big lake, Superior. 

Some wanted to go to the little lake, our county park that has a wonderful swimming beach. 

And you can rent paddle boards at the county park, which we’ve never tried but some of the older kids wanted to experience. 

And kayaking. 

Bike riding on some of the nice, long trails in our area. 

Camping in the backyard! With a fire and s’mores and No Bears Out Tonight! 

It didn’t take long to fill our dance card.  

Setting Expectations and Making Choices  

We also wanted to have a schedule set for four other reasons.  

First, to set expectations, so everyone knew what types of things we were doing for the week. This is a way both to build excitement (for what we do get to do) and to avoid disappointment (so it’s no surprise that climbing the water-tower isn’t on the list).  

 Second, we wanted to avoid delays from debating every morning: “What do you want to do today?” With a schedule, we already know what we’re doing every day, more or less.  

Third, related to avoiding debates and delays, we knew we had to make choices: once you start looking at all fun things you can do in your own area, you’ll quickly see that you don’t have time to do them all. By talking about it in advance, we were able to set priorities and make choices. Then we were ready to go when staycation time arrived.  

Fourth, we wanted to be sure we treated the staycation as a vacation, and not fall into the trap of: Here’s the chance to finally clean out that closet like I’ve been meaning to for the last three years. Yes, the closet will have to be cleaned out sometime, but not during staycation! That time is reserved for family and fun!  

Restful and Peaceful  

It seemed to work. We had a great experience and kept it in vacation mode by reminding ourselves, “Happy Staycation!” as we embarked on new adventures each day.  

We ate our meals all together — breakfast, lunch, and dinner — which we don’t normally get to do.  

We worked together to pack bikes and coolers and set-up tents and chop wood and build fires.  

We spent a lot of time just “hamming around,” as the kids call it: talking, being silly, doing a whole lot of nothing, but doing our nothing all together. 

We prayed Rosaries in the park together under a shady tree. 

And we got in all the things we had planned to do, from big lakes to small lakes, bike rides to days down at the river. 

Plus, the vacation was actually restful! 

Sometimes our vacations on the road, as fun as they can be also, have left us all exhausted at week's end. Not so with our time off this year. We ended this vacation feeling rejuvenated and peaceful. 

The staycation was a great option for us, so I offer it as a suggestion to consider in case it fit in with your family’s schedule.  

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Copyright 2025 Jake Frost
Images: Canva