If you still haven't made your summer plans and are at a loss for ideas, I have a great one. Over spring break, we spent a week in Washington state, splitting our time between Seattle (more about that later) and a great vacation community called Seabrook. Located on the Pacific coast about 2 hours southwest of Seattle, this would be a fantastic place to spend a week or more. Seabrook is a planned community designed by the same man who built Seaside in Destin, Florida. There are several houses to rent, from small 2-bedroom cottages to large homes that sleep 10-12 that would be perfect for an extended family vacation.

There is so much to do here without even getting in the car: an indoor pool, bicycle rentals, a quiet little downtown with a few cute shops and restaurants (and a spa), and best of all, a huge beach. Just a note: Seabrook is truly a special place but it is rather isolated. Other than the restaurants in the community, there are very few options for eating out nearby, so if you decide to come make sure to do your grocery shopping before you arrive and plan to cook most of your own meals Also, most attractions are at least a 30-minute drive away so we did a couple of full-day trips out and a day or so just hanging out at home.

Each group of homes is clustered around a fire pit, where wood and kindling is provided. While we didn't get to use it, I imagine smores and ghost stories would be high on a summer evening to-do list. For our visit, just taking a walk in the evening and heading over to the pool for an after dinner swim was enough.

But the big draw here is the beach, and the charming trail down to it that has been adorned with fairy houses along the the way. We spent one of our days just walking on the beach searching for sand dollars, building dams in the stream that flows into the ocean here, and playing in the waves.