We are a family of six with three girls and a boy. Their ages are 13,10,9,and 6. It would be really helpful if you could let me know of some of your favorite family vacations. We go to Disneyworld every year and would like to try something else.

Try the national parks. We took memorable trips with kids to Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Colorado Rockies.
If you want Yosemite, fly into SF, spend a couple days there then 4 hours to drive to Yosemite Valley.
You can get to the Grand Canyon from Phoenix or Las Vegas, probably 4 hours from either city. You can get reasonable air fares to both cities.
Check airfares, look to see which cities you can fly into at a reasonable price, rent a minivan and go. You will do a lot of driving but you will never forget the beatiful sights.
Lodging is tight at Yosemite and Grand Canyon, you need to plan ahead.

We were never big-time campers, but a couple of camping ventures stand out in my mind as being good family trips. Four kids make for pretty complicated logistics, I suppose (we only had two), but then your oldest ones could be part of the planning/readying. One memorable one was a jaunt to Rocky Mtn. National Park in my brother's tricked-up van. The kids were only about 6 & 8, so I kept them out of the start of school and we embarked right after Labor Day. We practically had that breath-taking place to ourselves - it was grand. With older kids, again though...a late school start probably isn't really feasible. Another trip enjoyable for the entire family would be NYC (tho pricey for a crew of 6). There's something truly for all ages there, and esp if you're not already city-dwellers, the change of pace is really energizing. Other big cities could also do the trick, of course =- Chicago, too has so much to offer for families.

For many years when our kids were young, we rented cottages in Chincoteague, Va. I'd read all the Misty books, by Margurite Henry, when I was little, and made sure my kids did as they reached grade school. They got a kick out of recognizing places and names from the books. Sometimes my brother-in-law and his family would join us (you can rent some pretty big houses there for a fraction of the cost of Ocean City MD or Bethany Beach, DEL) with his boat, and we'd all go out fishing. The National Seashore at Assateague is an exceptionally nice beach, and you have to drive through a wildlife refuge to get there. On the way you'll see the famous wild ponies, deer, and all sorts of birds. You can rent bikes and boogie boards, although since we kept coming back, we bought our own boogie boards about every two years. There are great, inexpensive restaurants, some good grocery stores, and lots of fresh produce and seafood. The Island Creamery has the most wonderful home-made ice cream for dessert. Of course there is the requisite mini-golf course.

Tara,

You've got a big age range, so finding good vacations is tough. I'll put in the good word for Washington, D.C. I've never vacationed there, but I live in the suburbs, and I have kids. There is a lot to do, and most activities are free. There is the National Zoo, Smithsonian Museums (Air and Space, American History, Natural History), various Monuments and Memorials (Lincoln, Jefferson, Wahington, Vietnam, FDR, Korean War), Mount Vernon, National Aquarium (Baltimore, but close enough), amusement parks, Capitol, White House, FBI tour. The list literally goes on and on, and I haven't even mentioned the many national festivals that happen here. Extra special bonus: the kids actually learn something. Just be careful not to come in the dead of winter/summer.

We too have four children with a wider age range than yours. Our family vacation days are over now as our oldest is graduating from college and our third from oldes is graduating from high school next month. I tried to plan a trip each summer to a different location. I'll put in a good word for Washington DC, your six year old is not TOO young and your 13 year old is not TOO old for the history and education this vacation provides. We combined our three or four days in DC with two days in Williamsburg and one night at a beach hotel in Virginia Beach. It was a great trip.
Colorado is my favorite vacation spot. We try to do a week there each summer. We go with two to four other families and rent a couple of houses. The dads would take the kids on a camp out one night during the week. If you don't mind roughing it, camping is a great family vacation too.
For a "grand finale" last year we took a family cruise. This can be a great vacation too, however, our oldest boys were a little bored (21 & 18) as there were not many other young adults when we cruised.

The possibilities are almost endless but if you can afford it, I think it's hard to beat Hawaii.

How about a rental house on one of the North Carolina Beaches? You could get a *very* nice 4-bedroom house, right on the beach on Cape Hatteras, for about $2,000/week. You save a bundle by cooking most of your own meals, and these places always seem to have "gourmet" kitchens. In addition to the beach, there's sailing, jet-skis, etc on the Sound side. A lot of stuff to do in the Nag's Head and Kitty Hawk area, just north of Hatteras. Check out Hatteras Realty (we're renting a house from them this summer - in Avon) at www.hatterasrealty.com

We went to PA 6 years ago when we only had 2 boys (2 and 3 1/2 years old then). We stayed in Harrisburg and took day trips to Gettysburg and Hershey, then went on to Lancaster for a couple of days (try one of the Amish family style restaurants). From there we visited Valley Forge for an afternoon on the way to Philadelphia, where we saw the historic district, the science museum, and Sesame Place. We even drove one day to see the statue of Liberty! It was a fun trip -- we were gone less than 2 weeks. (we're from MN) This year, we are going to DC, down the coast of DE, MD, and VA (Ocean City, Assateaque Island as a previous poster mentioned), then looping around to Williamsburg for a few days before we head up to DC and Baltimore. We will visit the Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania battlegrounds on the way. We are heading to northern PA to visit relatives and will stop for a couple nights in the Hershey/Lancaster area. After visiting relatives for a couple days, we are heading to Niagara Falls, and driving home through Canada and Northern Michigan. Our trip will be 3 weeks, and we now have FOUR boys (3,5,7,9 years old)!

Maybe this will give you some ideas....

We never went to Disney. My husband hates crowds and amusement parks. We've enjoyed camping esp the year we spent almost a month wandering down the VA Smokies. Skyline Caverns in Luray are great. Your children are at a good age to teach them about exploring. We live in the country so it was a big deal to learn how to use the subway in DC and hire a taxi. I always get the local newspapers and sometimes we stop at the library to see what community events might be going on. Another vacation was spent roaming around PEI and Nova Scotia which has great beach combing and interesting rocks on the Bay of Fundy side, some beautiful white sand beacher south of Halifx. We try to find something special to do. One year when we visited Mammoth Caves in KY, we included a surprise visit to the Corvette assembly plant for our son. They have a great tour. Maybe your daughters would like to attend an American Girl tea? Hear a special story teller or take a nature walk with a Park Ranger. I think it's very important to have family time together like lazy days on the beach and having time to tell family stories. San Diego was also a great place with a lot of activities.