Family Fun: Trying to Please Everyone

My family has done a lot of traveling together and no matter where we go, we try really hard to make each trip a family fun trip. That isn’t always easy to do when you have kids AND adults to please. My husband and I really like to go to museums and exhibits. The problem is, while we are trying desperately to read every inch of the explanations and descriptions we see, the kids are whining and fighting and pulling on our legs and rolling on the floor and… well, you get it. It isn’t very pleasant.

On the other hand, the totally kid-friendly places make us adults want to throw a hissy fit. I hate arcades and kid-themed restaurants and toy stores. They make me whine and complain and start searching Yelp for the closest Starbucks.

So, in all our travels together, we definitely have come up with a few attractions that make us ALL happy.

Family Friendly Attractions

1. Outdoor Attractions. We live in Southern California and any place we can go where we can have a good time outdoors is usually a win-win for us. Beaches, hikes, parks, and zoos are all places we choose to go that the entire family can get behind. There is something about being out in the fresh air that keeps everyone pretty calm and gives us all enough to do and see so that we aren’t tearing each other’s hair out.

2. Buffets. I admit, we’ve been to Las Vegas a lot with our kids and we usually head straight for the buffets when we need to eat. We’ve gone the sit-down-dinner route and it always ends up miserable. My kids LOVE being able to get their own food… whatever they want. The best part is they don’t have to order off the kid’s menu, which they absolutely hate doing. They can get as much mac & cheese and sushi as they want… and we can feed our more grown-up tastes. Or… we can load up on mac & cheese too. Buffets keep the kids quiet. And happy.

3.Unusual Museums. Art museums aren’t always the best bet for the kids, but there are a ton of really “unique” museums that showcase unusual items that are fun for the whole family. One of our favorite places was Ellis Island in New York City. There is also the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. We took our kids to the Liberace Museum (when it was still around) and they had a great time. Wax Museums are always popular and there are several in the U.S. We’re actually planning a little day adventure to the Hollywood Wax Museum. Hard to believe we have never been there.

4. Factory Tours. We love factory tours, especially the ones of the candy variety. The Hershey Tour in Pennsylvania, the Ethel M Tour in Las Vegas, and the Jelly Belly Tour in California are not only educational, but they are fun. And you get to eat candy afterwards. What can be better than that?

5. TV and Movie Sets/Studios. Most of the big movie studios in Los Angeles have tours you can sign up and take that will show you popular sets and props that everyone will recognize. Universal Studios Tour is a blast for everyone, as is simply visiting some familiar movie locations that happen to be real cities and places. FYI… parts of “Twilight” were filmed in our city and we love pointing them out to visitors.

Tell me what kinds of attractions your family enjoys together.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.