Go camping on the beach. They will love it.

We have that -- my SK's (boys) are 2 years older than my DD, and my DS is 2 years younger than my DD. Now they're all in high school, but years ago when they were younger it did cause issues.

We would always choose someplace where we had a little of both. One year we did go to the beach/ocean, but took a day to drive to a relatively close large amusement park. Then when my DD wanted to go to a particular museum (SK's were like "no way") I took her and DH took the boys to do something different.

Now, thank god, they're grown (at least his -- they're out of high school) so now it's just down to my 2. I'm OK taking them on vacation (just the 3 of us) as DH is not really a beach person. If he wants to do something with his boys, he's more than welcome to.

The caveat to this is DH and I go on vacay just the TWO of us every year for a week -- whether it's a cruise, Vegas, an all-inclusive... so I don't feel like we never get time to go places together.

Maybe the kids need a lesson in gratitude.

You and FDH take them on holiday - not all kids get to go- and they dont like the place? Sure is motivation to take them...

Take them where you want. How do they know they don't like something that is different? And all kids generally love the beach.

Stop stressing about if they like it or not. If they don't, don't take them.
Vacations should be fun and relaxing, not about placating miserable ungrateful children.

My Skid is not a road trip or activity kind of person but our family camping trips, road trips to Nat'l Parks, boating trips to the lakes, etc... are all the things he remembers and talks about now that he is nearly 22, out on his own and self supporting.

Do what you want to do. Go camping, hit the beach, go to the museums, etc... and drag the kids along. My kid was 12ish we went to NYC and did the Natural History Museum, MOMA, Broadway, restaurants, etc... he remembers it all very fondly. Particularly when I would make the animals talk to him and ask stupid/funny questions regarding a painting, sculpture, display, etc.. We also did road trips to DC to tour the monuments, Smithsonian, etc... We did Gettysburg, the Blue Ridge Parkway (Mom, we saw a bear! It was so cool.). He always bitched about being bored and us making him observe and participate rather than texting and playing hand held video games during the longer driving sections. We dealt with that by planning our routes. Generally we avoided interstates and took the scenic state highways plotting stops at over looks, state parks, national monuments, etc...... Peeling off of Hwy 51 to go dune bashing across Sand Mountain tends to get a kid's interest when they are bored on a road trip. He even liked Wall Drug which is the cheesiest tourist trap on the planet but worth a stop and buy the Skids a cheezy T-shirt to commemorate that leg of a trip. Of course climbing and looking for fossils in the Bad Lands was more interesting. He talks about that a lot.

We used to do Big Bend as a yearly camping trip over Thanksgiving; we also did the Grand Canyon (S. Rim first then N. Rim a number of years later). Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, Virginia City, Lake Tahoe, Monument Valley, Yellowstone, Sunset Crater, Slide Rock, Enchanted Rock, Silver Creek Falls, the slick rock 4x4 and climbing trails in Sedona, Moab, Kanab, Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell (great cliff jumping), etc.................................

We dragged him seemingly kicking and screaming but loaded up to head home with him exhausted and smiling. He does not remember a single video game marathon with his Sperm Idiot. He does remember trips to local lakes and the mountain time share with the Sperm Grandparents. What a kid wants to do and what they will remember doing are rarely the same thing.

We are still doing these things. When he has leave the Skid will often ask us if we are doing a road trip to somewhere cool because he wants to come along. HE knows the rule. No cell phones, lap tops, or GSs. He reads the map, tells us what is coming up and he gives a running discourse on what we are passing or stopping at next. If his mom and I are not available he can usually peg along with my mom and dad.

So, don't worry about if the Skids will like the next vacation. Just drag them along. They may never admit it but the memories they talk about will be your verification that they enjoyed the trip.

Dupe.

Do what you want. They do not have to go with. Very easy. BM did the same thing every summer. Went to FL. Now SS15 refuses to go anywhere near the state. She burned him out. So instead, we make sure to do the opposite, but it drives me crazy that he is so anti-that state. I wanted to go, so DH and I went without the kids.

You can't let the kids dictate what you want to do.

Kids will want what is familiar. And this obsession with memories... since when did it become a competition with BM as to who had the best vacation?

Maybe his boys might like geo-caching more (google it). Just do your thing at the same tim as being mindful that you should be fair to everyone. If your kids like the beach don;'t spend 10 days only at the beach. If your skids like museums you won't spend 10 days visiting every podunk museum you can find. Although the Sponge Museum at Tarpon Springs in FL certainly qualifies!

And as the kids get older they won't be jumping up and down throwing their arms around Daddy and smothering him in kisses for everything he does for them. Nor will they do this to their mother, believe it or not. There may also be some manipulation there... Mom took us here and it was really cool. So do you plan a trip to the Wisconsin Dells to up the ante with Mom?

I agree with Jinger and Scrubed. You know what our family vacation was every year? Driving 14 hours from Nebraska to North Dakota to visit my dad's folks.

My parents NEVER asked us kids where we wanted to go, or concerned themselves with whether or not we had fun. Sure, we stopped in the Bad Lands, saw Mount Rushmore, one time we stopped at Flintstone Land. But whether we had fun was not their first priority.

The kids need to learn to thankful you're taking them anywhere. Many times when you tell kids they're going somewhere they're not too excited, but once they get there they have a blast.

Take them with you wherever you want, they'll have a good time, even if they don't admit it.

You tell your DH to be a man and tell his kids "tough shit, a vacation is not a right in your life…it is something nice to have…you can either enjoy what I give out of the goodness of my heart, or you can stay home…which do you prefer?"