Thursday at #BlogHer12 (Part 1)…Dreaming of #BeachesResort

Why am I not on this beach??

A vacation should be relaxing. Stress free. A welcome distraction from life back home. That’s the theory anyway. I’ve heard rumors of relaxing vacations. Ones where you sip a drink while relaxing by the pool. You sleep in or get up early depending on who you are. Meals are prepared for you. After a long day of doing nothing you curl up in your comfy hotel bed with the only item on your to-do list…doing more of the same tomorrow. Ahhhhh.

Sadly most of my vacations don’t fall in to the super relaxing, brush all your cares away category. With my family of five, we strive for totally relaxing but settle for somewhat relaxing. It’s a compromise, but when you have kids you make sacrifices, don’t you?

Right now we are on a cycle where every other year we do a big trip to see the sights and sounds of a new place and in the off years we spend a week at a local beach. Works for us and the kids. But, I would dearly love a relaxing, do-nothing resort vacation. Like many parents, I’m exhausted all the time. I don’t have toddlers and I’m still exhausted…what’s up with that?!

I’ve always known about Beaches. A good friend told me about her family’s vacation. And all I could think about when she was talking is how much I would love to take my family on vacation. A vacation at a resort like Beaches sounds just wonderful, doesn’t it?

Trumpeting Media held a super event at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York during #BlogHer12 where I learned about Beaches Resorts vacations. Beaches offer all-inclusive family vacations. According to the site, a Beaches vacation offers opportunities where “kids and grownups can do as much–or as little–as they want.” <<< I love this! Because in our family we are GO, GO, GO, until we STOP, STOP, STOP. We definitely LOVE our downtime sprinkled within the crazy, busy family schedule of work, school, sports, family events, and activities.

Beaches have three resorts, one in Turks & Caicos and two in Jamaica — Negril (the photo above is the beach at Negril…doesn’t that pic make you go Ahhhhhhh!) and Ocho Rios. At each of these resorts you can do nothing more than lie around the swimming pool or you can try your hand at an activity or two…perhaps an activity you have never done before…your choice:

Red Lane Spa
Adventure tours
Scuba and watersports
Land sports like volleyball, racquetball, and tennis
Beaches Waterparks
Golf
Nightly entertainment, including Club Liquid and candle lit dinners
Sesame Street entertainment for the little kids
XBox Game Garage for the big kids
Kids camps for kids of all ages
Teens Trench Town — a tween and teen only space
And even a DJ Academy.

As I sit here in my office staring at my to-do list, all I can think about is going on vacation! To learn more about Beaches, visit Beaches.com.

I was invited to a Trumpeting Media event where I learned about many brands, including Beaches Resorts. I was not compensated to attend the event or write the post, but I did leave with a gift bag and this post is my entry to win a Beaches Resort vacation. The views expressed in this post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.