$500 family gift - WWYD

[cricketwife]

FIL just gifted us $500 for Xmas, $125 each for us.  DS1 turns 6 in Jan. DS2 is 3. We have a zoo membership and children’s museum membership already.   H wants to just go on a shopping spree, which lol, he said he’d “stock up on jeans which only last a year and a half.” (we never spend frivolously.  I was thinking of giving the boys options of what experience type gift their money would buy.
Ds1- not sure what would appeal to him, he’d love to blow it at an arcade, lol.
Ds2 - soccer shots or the sports class at daycare 
or I was thinking of some family experiences like a weekend away in a nearby-ish city,  Great Wolf Lodge (boys would love, but I’m kinda meh a out) or Jellystone (in the spring or summer). Unfortunately mos of the experience gifts I can think of wouldn’t be right away. 

MMM, you always have great ideas for this type of thing.   How would you spend this? (saving is not an option. FIL specially asked to know what we buy with it.) also, fwiw, this is a lot of money to us. 

UPDATE: I suggested a weekend away at a city about 2 hours away that has a lot to do for families and where we’ve never been.  H loved the idea but something about how his father worded the email made him think we needed to buy tangible stuff.  So I suggested that he write his father with what we’d like to do and see if he’s ok with that before we tell the boys that’s what we’re doing. I think he will be fine with it.  I think it will be fun for all of us.  

[maudefindlay]

Any classes or lessons the boys want to take?

Do they need new bikes?

Let them each pick out a toy around $50 and then I'd spend the rest of their money on toys to pull out and give them on a rainy day or maybe new outdoor toys for spring.

[kershnic]

I would do GWL because I love it, or some alternative weekend away. I don’t know where you are so I can’t suggest places but I can think of lots I’d love to do near me.

[ktw]

My parents started this last year where they get each of us a small gift to unwrap and then give us a family cash gift. We don’t get $500, but I like to use it on a family experience, if possible. This year we did the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with our daughter, and it was great! I think GWL or something similar is a great idea!

[macmars45]

Do you have a Legoland near you?
H, DS and I were on vacation visiting H's family a few months ago and were ready to go until we looked at the price. OMG. So expensive!

[dcn]

I would save it for a fun trip to an amusement park or something. How awesome!

[jennistarr1]

I like the idea of lessons

I was going to say let everyone have 25$ to spend on something they want, and the rest towards an experience

[VillainV]

I would absolutely do a family experience instead of “stuff.” I mean, if there are things you need, then set some aside for that first. But really, the memories are going to last much longer than any “thing” you can buy, and I’m sure your FIL would love to see the money go toward a fun family experience.

GWL would be fun. Jellystone or some other camping/RV rental would be cool. Tickets to a sporting event, concert, or some other big event? Sometimes when we spend our own money on something it kind of puts the pressure on everything going perfect (damnit!) because we spent so much money. But when it’s a gift we can all kind of kick back and enjoy ourselves more.

[cricketwife]

Dec 16, 2019 20:40:05 GMT -5 macmars45 said:

Do you have a Legoland near you?
H, DS and I were on vacation visiting H's family a few months ago and were ready to go until we looked at the price. OMG. So expensive!

I wish!  We would love to go to Legoland! 

[lolo]

You could do family photos with that in most areas.

I would book a weekend away with the kids and send FIL lots of photos and thanks.

[nicolewi]

The kids would get the most out of some kind of trip. I think the waterpark (or similar) is a great idea. At those ages, they would get a thrill out of staying even at a cheaper hotel if you combined a hotel with some kind of other attraction. I would try to get a good deal and use a little of the money to let them each buy some toys, too.

My DH gets a free one night stay at Kalahari each winter, and the kids LOVE IT so much. They talk about it all the time. Even one night is fine if you go early one day and use the park, go out to dinner or whatever, and then use the park again the next day after check-out.

[sloan]

I don’t know your area, but when I was a kid GWL wasn’t a thing but I loved to swim and had a cold-weather birthday, so oftentimes my celebration was a night at a hotel with an indoor pool. A weekend away at a hotel with a basic indoor hotel pool, going to a family movie with popcorn and snacks, and maybe some arcade time (since you mentioned that) would be fun and memorable without roping you into the full GWL experience.

[pittpurple]

Dec 16, 2019 22:29:22 GMT -5 sloan said:

I don’t know your area, but when I was a kid GWL wasn’t a thing but I loved to swim and had a cold-weather birthday, so oftentimes my celebration was a night at a hotel with an indoor pool. A weekend away at a hotel with a basic indoor hotel pool, going to a family movie with popcorn and snacks, and maybe some arcade time (since you mentioned that) would be fun and memorable without roping you into the full GWL experience.

I love this idea!

[puppylove64]

I would do a weekend away at a great city. I took my boys to Chattanooga. They loved the hotel pool. We went to the aquarium and children’s museum and walked around downtown. Have ice cream after dinner, etc. Just enjoy each other’s time and see something new. They will talk about it forever

[ssmjlm]

Local amusement park annual passes? That would just about cover passes for the 3 of us since once kids hit 3 they pay the same price as adults.

ETA: Our local GWL has bed bug issues and is meh, so that would not get my vote.  We do have a ski resort with a huge waterpark and snow tubing that a lot of people recommend.

[samanthamkm]

See if you current memberships can get you into another museum or zoo in a different area. My zoo membership gets me half off entrance fees to other zoos around the country. We went to 2 different zoos this summer because of it.

[icedcoffee]

Before I got to you mentioning GWL I was going to suggest that. I feel like your kids are a great age for it! I'd definitely do a night away somewhere though. $500 is plenty to find somewhere to go.

[somdcrab]

My dad does this every year for us and we usually do a family experience/mini-getaway. Last year we took the boys snow tubing and the year before to Great Wolf Lodge. 

[waverly]

If FIL wants you to spend some if it in clothes I would do that if they need/ want anything. Maybe $100 here.

Then the other $400 on a drivable weekend getaway at a hotel with a pool. We have done Great Wolf, and it was fun but it’s easier with older kids, and there were some crowding issues. So I think a family friendly hotel with a nice pool and something for the adults to enjoy as well.

[expectantsteelerfan]

I immediately thought of GWL or something similar. That's what I'd do with a family gift of that amount of money. But it really could be any weekend/overnight trip to somewhere near a fun attraction you'd all enjoy. We have tons of amusement parks around here, or would do Erie or even Niagra falls for a quick trip. And we like Kalahari better than GWL for my kids' ages.

[covergirl82]

I like the overnight/weekend away idea. GWL is not my fave either, so a nice, family-friendly hotel with an indoor pool would be fun. If there is a city within a couple hours that has a fun museum and/or aquarium or other attraction that would be fun for younger kids, that would be ideal. You could give each of the kids some spending money if you go somewhere with a souvenir shop.

[greenmonkey1]

What a generous gift! I like the idea of an overnight stay in a hotel with a pool and free breakfast. My kids love hotels.
We'd either go to close city that has attractions or a similar hotel in our downtown and couple it with a sports game. We have basketball and hockey during the winter, but for all 5 of us to go and get decent seats the cost is mostly prohibitive. Or an overnight stay somewhere with Disney on Ice, Harlem Globetrotters, or another show the kids would enjoy.

[hermione]

We would go to an indoor water park hotel, eat lots of junk food, and have a great time.

[countthestars]

My kids love GWL but I hate it so much. We love to stay in a hotel with a pool, so I'd do that as someone else suggested and if possible, couple it with an outing (Disney on Ice, Monster Jam, Paw Patrol live - whatever you're into).

[dochas]

Dec 17, 2019 12:27:08 GMT -5 greenmonkey1 said:

What a generous gift! I like the idea of an overnight stay in a hotel with a pool and free breakfast. My kids love hotels. 

This is what I would do. For us, I would go straight to Philadelphia for 2 nights!

[krystee]

I am in Chicago and would buy a membership to the Shedd Aquarium and an overnight in the city to go to the museum, have a fun dinner out, and ride a couple rides at Navy Pier.

[lolalolalola]

I would spend it on a ski day personally :-) but I don’t know where you live.

[kkfeb04]

Where are you at? I would do a trip or something. Definitely not jeans.

[cricketwife]

Dec 17, 2019 19:04:54 GMT -5 kkfeb04 said:

Where are you at? I would do a trip or something. Definitely not jeans.

Lol, thank you! No, jeans! 

[bronxgirl]

Dec 17, 2019 16:31:14 GMT -5 dochas said:

Dec 17, 2019 12:27:08 GMT -5 greenmonkey1 said:

What a generous gift! I like the idea of an overnight stay in a hotel with a pool and free breakfast. My kids love hotels. 

This is what I would do. For us, I would go straight to Philadelphia for 2 nights!

We love taking mini vacations in Philadelphia!