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Kurt

Admin
Oct 15, 2004
2,322
5,020
SoWal
mooncreek.com
Please add to this post - I know there's a lot of parents out there.

Here's a few ideas, but I know there's a lot more ideas for kids - both locals and visitors.

I'm thinking more of tours, classes, events, programs - rather than the obvious things like - waterparks, go to the beach, the pool, movies and concerts at Seaside or Baytowne, biking, etc.

A wilderness tour of bay and rivers by motorboat would be fun for all:
http://www.sowal.com/bb/showthread.php?t=25

Contact Yellowfin in Grayton for fishing, kayak and canoe guides, surfing lessons etc. They have classes for kids sometimes or will do it one on one.
http://graytonbeach.com/fish.html

Also on that page is "Fishing with Bob" - he's great with kids.

Eden State Gardens and some of the other parks have guided tours and nature classes.
http://www.sowal.com/parks.html

Seaside has a kids' camp in the summer open to all, and WaterColor offers a camp for owners and guests. These are daytime programs (not extended summer-camp type programs) with all kinds of activities for pre-teens.
 

chrisv

Beach Fanatic
Nov 15, 2004
630
75
Freeport, Florida
Hey Kurt, here's one for the local boys.

Cub Scout pack 562 will be signing up new boys in grades 1-5 on Monday, August 22, at 6:30pm. The sign-up will be at Good News United Methodist Church, across from Bayou Bill's on 98 in Santa Rosa Beach. For more information, call 683-0330. For more information about Cub Scouts, visit www.joincubscouting.org .

I'm not affiliated with the Girl Scouts, but I do have a contact number for parents of girls to call. I don't want to publish it here without her knowledge, so call me and I will get you the number.
 

Landlocked

Beach Fanatic
May 16, 2005
3,216
24
48
Alabama
I noticed the words "Kahuna" and "Woody" aren't involved in this thread.

WAY TO GO!!!!

Get those kids outside!

No offense to those who go to those places. I'm sure I'll wind up there once or twice with my little one some day. I just like to see kids fishing and enjoying the outdoors.
 

chrisv

Beach Fanatic
Nov 15, 2004
630
75
Freeport, Florida
kurt said:
It seems like only yesterday I was proudly wearing the blue uniform and learning all about the wonderful world of knots. :lol:

Was this your fearless leader?
 

newyorker

Beach Lover
Jul 18, 2005
147
15
Los Angeles, CA
I'd be interested for ideas for older teens? We love our annual trip to SoWal, but my now college-age teens declared "boredom". In part, this is because they can't drive the rental car and thus they're stuck "with mom and dad." They love the beach--so that's not a problem, but they would like to find other young adults their age, and the mobility to get to see them.
Any ideas on activities/places to go/rental agencies that might rent a car to a 19-yr-old driver?

I know one answer is to allow them to bring friends--but then we'll have 3 or even 4 of them to deal with (and I won't even discuss bringing "the boyfriend"...dear god!)
 
newyorker said:
I'd be interested for ideas for older teens? We love our annual trip to SoWal, but my now college-age teens declared "boredom". In part, this is because they can't drive the rental car and thus they're stuck "with mom and dad." They love the beach--so that's not a problem, but they would like to find other young adults their age, and the mobility to get to see them.
Any ideas on activities/places to go/rental agencies that might rent a car to a 19-yr-old driver?

I know one answer is to allow them to bring friends--but then we'll have 3 or even 4 of them to deal with (and I won't even discuss bringing "the boyfriend"...dear god!)
I hear ya. When they get that age, all of the young teeny-boppers seem to annoy them for some reason. There really aren't many college kids around 30-A.

When our daughter doesn't bring a friend, she likes to cook because we don't have good seafood at home. So she can experiment with cooking things that she can't at home. She also likes to shop; it's a totally different experience than ATL. She also likes to read because there's such a good selection of books at Sundog.

But she normally brings a boyfriend. Spring break when she was in-between boyfriends, she was with some of her sorority sisters. To find other college kids, they drove to PC every night and cruised, like thousands of other spring-breakers (I wasn't too thrilled about that). That's how she met her current boyfriend. Coincidentally he lived in the frat house across the street from the sorority house where she lives.
 

Paula

Beach Fanatic
Jan 25, 2005
3,747
442
Michigan but someday in SoWal as well
Our kids who are much younger really enjoy bringing their friends. Sometimes we travel with their friends' families (who are our friends, too) and we're planning to have each of our kids invite a friend on more trips to the cottages in general. Since we'll have these cottages for a long, long time (we hope), we want the kids to have wonderful memories and photos of their childhood here, and they're at an age when their friends are more and more important. We still get to be with the kids much of the time (especially meal time because we're still their meal ticket), and we get to read quietly at the beach, porch or pool as well while watching the kids frolic. Sometimes, we even get them to to puzzles with us.

It does get expensive flying and travelling to the cottages for us, but I figure the kids are only living under our roof 5-7 more years before college and this is great money spent (rather than paying down the mortgage or doing something else with the money right now -- there will be time for that after they leave). Right now, we're enjoying their company and building memories that will bring them back to the cottages for decades to come!

Regarding bringing boyfriends on vacation, my parents invited my boyfriend on a vacation once when we were teenagers and that worked out well. It kept my boyfriend feeling like a member of the family -- I think that's important and we plan to do the same with our girls' boyfriends someday -- and that was most appreciated. And my father watched him -- and me -- like a hawk anyway. When my dad died when I was 30, a few old boyfriends came to the funeral, so it was a good sign that they felt like family and certainly showed their respect and appreciation!
 
Paula said:
I figure the kids are only living under our roof 5-7 more years before college and this is great money spent (rather than paying down the mortgage or doing something else with the money right now -- there will be time for that after they leave). Right now, we're enjoying their company and building memories that will bring them back to the cottages for decades to come!
You are so right! Cherish those years because, I promise you, they fly by like a blur. I still haven't gotten used to not having my daughter bounce in from school every afternoon. We miss her SO much, but we have no regrets. We took every vacation with her, drove to every basketball game (even missing work during tournament time), went to every violin lesson, etc., so we made the most of our time with her at home. It still went by too fast.
 
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