We finally told our kids about our next vacation! We've had this booked for nearly 2 years and have managed to keep it a secret from the kids. Even though it's still over 4 months away, I wanted to tell them so that they can learn about the finances behind the vacation. We still have to save some money over the summer for this trip, and I want my kids to understand that these big trips just don't happen without some financial planning and sacrifices. We are going on a 7-night Disney Cruise and will celebrate our 10 year anniversary and my daughter's birthday on-board.
For the big reveal, I sent the kids on a scavenger hunt around the house with clues about our vacation. The final clue was a puzzle that revealed our cruise.
The first clue was an aerial view of the Orlando airport with its airport code.
The next clue showed a photo of something we would do on our trip...
Airplane watching at Maho beach in St. Maarten!
A few more clues revealed information about the language spoken at our port destinations and a photo of the Halloween tree. (Our cruise will have special Halloween-themed activities).
And then of course the final puzzle.
My kids have never had the surprised, screaming, over-the-top reaction you see on many videos--but they were excited and have talked about the trip non-stop for the past 2 days. We've started watching some YouTube videos about the ship and our destinations.
So it's nice to have this secret revealed and out in the open at our house. Although I'm running out of ideas on how to surprise them with our next vacation.
How far in advance do you tell your kids about your vacations? How do you prepare them and get them excited?
Love your blog!! I found it while researching family and disney cruise :). My kids are all excited for out October cruise too! Southern carribean! Enjoy your and I can't wait for you to blog them!
ReplyDeleteRachel
Thanks, Rachel! My parents, brother, SIL and their kids are also going on one of the Southern Caribbean cruises this Fall, that will be a blast!
DeleteWe did the Disney Eastern Carribean cruise during Halloween in 2005. It was before we had kids, but still just as fun. Thanks for the comment on my blog! One thing we did before our trip was a countdown chain. I started it at 100 days out and we would take off a link every night at dinner. It helped to give a visual for my son to see how many more days we had.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely need to get a countdown chain going! We are so looking forward to this cruise, as we've never been on a 7-night before!
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