From staycations to road trips, activities around town or just trying to keep track of all the events, Family Entourage joins us with tips and ways to make the most of your summer.
PLAY IN TOWN: PARK HYATT AVIARA STAYCATION
If you want to retreat from the daily grind without having to actually leave town, it’s time to plan a day or stay-cation! Whether you want to stay the night or just getaway for the day… key factors that go into our family decision-making include: waterslides at resort pool, pickleball and tennis courts, top golf or gorgeous greens, spa services, nightly s’mores and more. And our favorite family spot has all of the above — The Park Hyatt Aviara!
It’s a AAA Five Diamond resort in Carlsbad, that offers a luxurious retreat in a paradise setting. With spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, the resort features a beach-entry family pool complete with two waterslides, an adult pool, hot tubs, private cabanas, and the 15,000 square-foot Miraval life in balance spa.
Kick off the season in style with Summer at Aviara. Check out their daily activity schedule ranging from lively poolside dance parties and classic lawn games to crafts, trivia and sunset s’mores, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Whether you’re soaking up the sun by the pool or embracing wellness at the spa, every moment is crafted to create lasting memories.
We choose to stay in our own city because we love the feel when we step onto the Park Hyatt Aviara‘s 250 private acres because the stress of daily schedules dissolve and vacation-mode rises to the top. We take in the panoramic coastal views from our private balcony within the spacious and newly renovated rooms and suites. All the details for families are thought of before you have to even ask.
Plus, don’t forget tennis, pickleball and golf! Ranked among the Top 25 Tennis Resorts in the world by Tennis Resorts Online, Park Hyatt Aviara Racquet Club offers five state-of-the-art tennis courts and four pickleball courts with stadium seating for events and tournaments. Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad is San Diego’s only course designed by Arnold Palmer and recognized as one of Best Resort Golf Courses in Country by Golf Digest. The fairways are stunning as the course features a memorable coastal layout.
ROAD TRIP: MOUNTAINS OR LAKE
Hit the road for a short 2 1/2 hour hour trip to Big Bear Lake for family water sports including jet skiing, pontoon boating, fishing and just about every freshwater aquatic sport. Known for it’s fish-filled lake, boutiques, restaurants that line the Village and family-friendly activities, Big Bear is the perfect getaway. Sitting at 6,752′ elevation, Big Bear Lake is considered the jewel of the San Bernardino National Forest.
If you love tubing in the snow, now you can tube the mountain without all your snow gear! Same thrill, without the snow for tots through teens. Big Bear Snow Play has Summer Tubing. Riders can go down summer tubes on durable-tube slides that are 300 feet in length. There are three open tubing lanes to enjoy the same sliding sensation snow tubing provides. Plus, we love that the Magic Carpet lift will bring you and your tube comfortably and quickly back up the hill so you can do it again and again!
You can’t come to Big Bear in the Summer and not spend at least one day on the Lake. And, there’s no better way to experience the lake than from the comfort of your own private boat. So we turned to Holloway’s Marina to set us up with a Pontoon Boat for our families or if you are looking for a bit of adventure on the “high seas,” Big Bear also has a Pirate Ship “Time Bandit,” which is a 1/3rd scale replica of a Spanish Galleon.
After the lake, why not hit the trails! Big Bear Lake is home to more than 100 miles of trails. From single track paths to Forest service roads, there are trails for all types of riding levels. Big Bear Mountain Resort also offers 57 miles of trails within its park and 20 miles of adjacent Forest service roads. For beginners or even families looking for a more leisurely ride, we recommend the Alpine Pedal Path, which is paved.
From the road, the Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain captured the attention of our family. And once we entered the park, it’s even more exciting to see the authentic bobsled experience up close. We had try… not once, but multiple times! It starts off with a scenic chairlift ride to the top, from there, we grabbed individually controlled sleds (parents and kids can ride together) each with Teflon runners and ball bearing wheels, and then we got the choice of two quarter-mile long cement tracks filled with high-banked turns and long straightaways. Whoosh! Whether you’re racing, or just enjoying the sights in a unique and fun way, the Alpine Slide is an absolute must.
DROP STRESS NOT THE BALL: SCHEDULING WITH SKYLIGHT
Between, activities, sports, trips, mom and dad work schedules, joint calendars get confusing and messy super fast. We got the whole family organized with scheduling, meal planning, chore charts and customizable lists — all on one beautiful display with The Skylight Calendar.
It’s a WiFi-connected digital display that showcases your family’s schedule with extraordinary clarity, color, and brilliance. Its HD touchscreen — combined with the free mobile app for on-the-go updates — helps the whole family easily plan and manage events across different views and features. We love all the customization from toggling between day, week, month, and schedule views to color coding where we assign each family member their own color, making it simple for everyone to see who needs to be where and when. Custom lists can be created to manage tasks, to-dos, and groceries with lists that the whole family can access directly on the device or on the go in the free mobile app. Plus we are encouraging our kids’ independence and healthy habits with a fun, interactive checklist for daily routines and chores.
With Calendar Plus we especially like that the calendar can become a beautiful photo frame when it goes into sleep mode, as it will then display your favorite photographs whenever the calendar isn’t in use. You can even organize photos into albums to choose what gets featured! A summer resolution — we’re making it a thing — is better meal planning, so the feature that allows us to design breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack plans and add them to the calendar for the whole family to see is amazing. Plus, that we can upload or manually input favorite recipes, and create new ones with Smart technology is a game changer!
We of course had to couple our calendar with the new Skylight Frame 2. This is a stunning anti-glare touchscreen display in Full HD where you can update the photos straight from your phone, and update your look with swappable Snap Frames.
There’s room for thousands more photos on your Frame 2 with 16 GB of storage. And the incredibly fast, incredibly energy-efficient quad-core processor makes every action feel quick and responsive. And a major selling point for us is that video can also play in stunning Full HD, on demand – so it’s the perfect way to feel like you were really there and relive all your favorite summer memories!
LEVEL UP AT THE LIBRARY
Camps can get expensive and often fill up fast so a great option for families over the Summer is to take advantage of all the FREE classes the local library has to offer including their Summer Reading program. This helps to prevent brain drain and can be continuous during the long break. Keep a reading log and get rewards like food items and museum entry. From story times to crafts and STEM programs, the local branches also offer different activities and classes.
We love that there are a variety of classes from story time for toddlers to LEGO coding, MAKER space and even animation classes! Classes and programs vary at each branch so it is best to check the library website or ask your librarian for upcoming events.
