A Family Vacation

Family vacations lasted one day when I was young. Dad and Mom would take us on a whirlwind tour of both Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. The adventure would begin at the Lunch Counter Rapid on the Snake River where we would watch the whitewater rafts and kayaks come down the river. We would lunch on sandwiches made from Ritz crackers, squeeze cheese and pimento loaf bologna. An hour or so later, my father would announce "Look, the majestic Tetons!" and we would cruise into Grand Teton National Park for a dip of the toes into Jenny Lake and a challenging Name-the-Teton game. Next, we would zoom into Yellowstone National Park to watch Old Faithful erupt and sometimes-depending on what time it was-we would swim in Firehole. Then as Dad drove back to the ranch, we would fall asleep listening to a late night radio show, the Midnight Cowboy.

What vacation memories are you making with your kids? Research by Susan Shaw, a sociologist at the University of Waterloo, shows "that parents treasure their memories of the vacations their own parents took them on, and that this inspires them to try to create similarly happy memories for their children." The Family: A Proclamation states, "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." In my experience, a family vacation puts all of those principles into practice.

With the price of gas and food, a one-day vacation may be the only possibility this year, but one day is better than none. Need some ideas?

• Elder L. Tom Perry shares an interesting "vacation" in his hometown of Logan, Utah. "I designated nine stops in Logan that I wanted my family to see. With each stop I selected a scripture to teach a lesson on the importance that particular location had in my life." (Ensign, Sept. 2006, p. 8-11) Where did you learn important lessons? What particular locations changed your life? Perhaps your children need to learn more about you and the events that shaped you. Where would I take my kids? My childhood home and ranch, the cafe where I worked as a teenager, my high school, USU (Go Aggies!), Aix-en-Provence, France, Clearfield High School, the University of Utah, and the home we now live in. France is not a realistic destination at this time, but a scrapbook, a bottle of Perrier, a croissant and a stop in Paris, Idaho would create some atmosphere!
• Visit local attractions. For a ward youth conference, we visited the local Church sites. I was surprised at the number of youth who had never visited the Beehive House, Church History Museum, or Temple Square (in the summertime). What local attractions have you and your children missed? Explore and enjoy!
• Book a hotel in a neighboring city to spend the night and go swimming. My sister and her family have done this for years and it is one of their favorite activities. On this vacation the focus and fun is the swimming.
• Load up in the car and make sure you have a coin. At each intersection, flip the coin. Heads turn right and tails turn left and see where you end up for lunch.
• Volunteer. Find a local charity that could use some free labor and elbow grease for a day. It may become a family tradition.
• Get physical. Several years ago, my roommate and I decided to try a new sport each season. That was the year I learned how to snow ski and how to dodge a racquetball. What activities would your family like?
• How about a week of vacation at home? Melanie from Utah structured a week where each family member was assigned a day and a budget. The person of the day chose the meals and activities. They finished with a day that included mini-golf, swimming at the local Aquatic Center, take-out for dinner and a silly string war with cans and cans of string. And-no friends, no phone, no door, no email, no texting; after all, they were on vacation.

My sisters and I like to give Dad a lot of grief for the one-day vacations of our youth and now we take our own families together on this vacation every year. Why, the grandkids have even talked Grandpa into spending three days-Yahoo!