What are soon to become three of your family’s favorite things this summer? Why the indoor waterpark, award-winning golf club and interactive ranch at the Double JJ Resort in Rothbury, Michigan, of course!

The Double JJ Ranch, Waterpark and Golf Resort offers so many activities for each and every member of the family, whether young or old, your family’s only concern this vacation will be trying to decide what to do first! Whether it’s golfing, fishing, horseback riding, visiting a pet farm, cattle drives, archery, or spending your time in the indoor waterpark, the Double JJ Resort has your family covered, offering something for everyone and for every activity level.

Let’s dive in deep to Double JJ Resort, known as “America’s Friendliest Resort” for more than 70 years, and take a look at all of the fun!

1.  Indoor Waterpark

An impressive 60,000 square feet of pure wet and wild fun, the Gold Rush Indoor Waterpark is home to Western Michigan’s tallest indoor waterslide, known as Rustler’s Gulch! In addition to this sought-after attraction, the waterpark also includes various other attractions:

• thrill slides, such as Miner’s Plunge, Thunder Canyon and Stallion Falls
• a wave pool (Wild Waters), a water fort with water guns, handles and cranks (The Lost Mine)
• the lazy/crazy river with its gushing water, buckets and explosions
• a toddler pool (JJ’s Hide Out)
• water basketball, volleyball and a balance walk in the Golden Pool activity pond
• hot tubs for both family-friendly fun and one exclusively for adults to sit back and relax while the children are hard at play (Getaway Springs)

In case anyone in your family is not a fan of watersports, the waterpark also includes an impressive suspension bridge located high above the waterpark and the Wooden Nickel Arcade. These make great alternatives to the water adventures, but also provide additional entertainment for older kids!

2.  Horseback Riding and Ranch

Thoroughbred Investments LLC provides the wonderful equestrian services that make Double JJ Resort such a standout establishment! What does this mean exactly? It means that children can take part in horseback riding all the way from the beginner’s level to the advanced level. The kids’ corral lessons offered at the ranch ensure that children are placed at a suitable skill level when riding. In addition to the standard riding lessons, children can also take part in lessons involving barrel and pole jumping, as well as roping!

Your family can participate in these walk, trot and canter trail rides, as well as other lessons and horseback riding activities, in a family/group setting, with semi-private lessons or even with one-on-one lessons! For more information about horseback riding packages, please visit http://doublejj–com.rztrkr.com/specials/horse-packages-specials.html and book your summer fun today!

3.  Thoroughbred Golf Club

The Thoroughbred offers vacationers 18 championship holes that are spread over 240 acres of Michigan woodside. It’s also the only golf course in Michigan where horseback riders have the right of way on cart paths! The course is agreeable to golfers of all abilities, so if golf is something your family thoroughly enjoys, be sure to select the Double JJ Resort’s golf package when booking your stay: http://doublejj–com.rztrkr.com/specials/golf-packages-specials.html

Accommodations

Of course with all of this fun at your fingertips, you definitely need to know about one of the most important aspects of the Double JJ Resort – the accommodations!

Lodging, as it’s called at the resort, is an experience in its own right with multiple styles of lodging to suit your family’s needs and budget:

• Thoroughbred Suites (sleep up to 13 people)
• Homestead Condominiums (accommodates between 2 to 10 people)
• Log Homes (one- and two-bedrooms available)
• Back Forty Cabins (sleep up to six people)
• Lofts Hotel (deluxe, Jacuzzi and studio hotel rooms and suites)
• RV Park (primitive, electric and full hook-up sites available)

For more information on the Double JJ Resort or to book your family’s stay, visit their website at http://doublejj–com.rztrkr.com/index.html or call 1.877.734.4573 today!

The post A New Way to Vacation in Rothbury, Michigan appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

Are you tired of the traditional family vacation? Or maybe you feel like your travel plans need a revamp this year. Well whatever the case may be, the U.S. Farm Stay Association offers a unique and exciting experience for your entire family; you can spend your vacation this year on a working ranch or farm! That’s right; a farm – or ranch – anywhere across the United States! And what’s even more captivating is that you don’t have to settle for a packaged plan that only allows a few options. You still get to decide how, and where, your family will participate in the fun.

The concept of farm stays has actually been around for quite some time, though for some reason it is surprisingly new to both American farmers and American families looking for unique vacation experiences. Europe has long since participated in this educational and historical type of travel. In Italy, it is known as “agriturismo,” while many other countries have long since held the view of “checking out” and diving into nature, where you go off the grid, so to speak, and leave all the amenities and confines of the city to spend some time reconnecting with the natural world all around you.

Whether feeding a lamb or milking a cow, helping with daily chores or taking a class in cheese making, every farm stay offers something different and operates differently. Keep in mind that these stays are not simply a hotel or B&B on a non-operational farm or ranch. These are hands-on experiences that will offer your family wonderful memories and the unique opportunity of caring for nature and understanding the process of sustainable living. Where your family will be up-close and personal with nature and all it can offer!

Farming has been a part of the American way of life for some time, but since World War II it has been challenged severely and even been on the decline. Your participation in this type of vacation ensures that farmers and their hard work are noted and respected, and that this tradition continues and begins to even thrive again. As more and more American farmers open their doors to families and farm stays, and as more families engage in the farm stay experience, we can ensure that this tradition indeed continues!

The U.S. Farm Stay Association has created a wonderful website, www.farmstayus.com, where families can choose what state they would like to vacation in. And if you are not certain what state you would like to visit, the website allows you to even choose your destination based on region. So if you know you love the Midwest but have never been, you can simply choose the region and then sit back – the website will do all of the work as it provides you with a throng of choices to choose from. You can also choose your location based on specific “allowables,” such as whether or not you’d like to bring a pet or even a party of twenty with you!

And for all of you wine lovers, there is even the possibility of staying on a working vineyard! It’s easy to see how www.farmstayus.com has something for every type of vacation and for every type of family.

The hope of a farm stay experience is that your family will take away not only great memories, but a deeper respect for nature and those who care for it. The farmers that you interact with hope that your stay on their farm (or ranch) helps your family to appreciate the beauty and fragility of nature, that you will be able to understand the hard work and dedication that farmers put into ensuring an eco-friendly and sustainable system of living with the environment. And of course, they want you to have fun experiencing nature rather than merely reading about it!

So go ahead and begin creating treasured memories with your family by booking your farm stay today!

The post Vacations on Working Ranches and Farms across the U.S. appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.