During a time of crisis children are often confused and frightened. “Today while the sun shines” is the time to prepare for emergencies by building trusting relationships. Children need to know not only that they are loved, but that they will be protected. By spending time together planning and enjoying a Stay-at-Home Vacation this summer, we will develop skills and create memories together that enhance the trust and confidence families need in a crisis.

For many families, the thought of planning and pulling off a real vacation (you know, the kind with a loaded minivan full of kids, lots of stuff tied onto the roof, reservations at motels, and a wallet full of cash to buy fast food along the way) may seem overwhelming with a recession underway. Costs are rising, jobs are scarce, there may be no cash to buy new tires for the car, and the news heard daily seems mostly “bad”. If that picture has something to do with your outlook, then this may be the year to try a Stay-at-Home Vacation.

Home may not be the beach front you hoped for, but vacationing at home will save not only on gas, but also on lodging and eating out. If you haven't already done so, now is the time to re-commit to being self reliant by avoiding new debt. Vacationing within your means is another channel to peace of mind - rather than feeling guilty about all the vacation charges you would otherwise put on your credit cards during that road trip or airline holiday you really wanted.

Your job may be stable and you may have the money to take a vacation this year, but consider all you can accomplish by staying home. You could free up money to finish or start your home food storage program, start a garden, add to your emergency fund, and most importantly -- build relationships and store up memories to help your family in the years to come.

Reconnect

There are times in every family when we feel distant or out of touch with those who live in the same house. A simple vacation in familiar surroundings will give you that extra time to really talk and share feelings. If you have recently experienced a death in the family, or job loss or other big changes, staying close to home will give you the time together to begin healing. When we take a vacation away, too often we are so tired by the time we come home from the amusement park or beach that we fall into bed without a word to each other.

Here are a few suggestions, which may need to be varied depending on the age of your children, as will be evident by our first idea.

Choose a theme for each day and completely immerse yourself and your family in living the theme.

Pirate Day

Several years ago we turned a back yard gazebo into a pirate ship. Craft paper covered the side of the gazebo, and with a little paint it took shape with portholes, cannon, a bow and stern. We added some masts and sails. You could do the same thing and create a castle, a gingerbread house, or a Huckleberry Finn cave. We'll talk about a Pirate party but you can use the same ideas for any theme.

The night before Pirate Day we set out clothes to wear in the morning that were appropriate pirate garb. Then we taught everyone to talk like pirates: “Avast me hearties”, “Arrrgh!” “Report to the mess for grub, or you be a scurvy scoundrel, mate!”. And did you know that there is actually a “Talk Like a Pirate Day” each year on September 19th? “Aye, Matey, ‘tis true”.

How does a Pirate eat? Breakfast should be foods that can be eaten with your hands. Bread and fruits are good choices. Bake your favorite quick bread recipe. For lunch, barbecue chicken legs and serve with grilled veggies and bread. Purchase a loaf of unsliced bread and let everyone pull off what they want. Keep some jerky and chocolate gold coins on hand for snacks. A dinner menu may include stew and more bread. Eat with oversize or wooden spoons. For dessert have a treasure chest cake.

Treasure hunt: Decorate a treasure chest using an old box or foam cooler. Create a treasure map and have the children search for the treasure. Inside, place chocolate coins and a pirate movie. There are many movies appropriate for all ages from Swiss Family Robinson to Muppet Treasure Island, or Pirates of the Caribbean if your kids are old enough for more graphic images . Don't forget to check out some of the older versions of classics such as Treasure Island , Captain Blood, and Robinson Crusoe.

Just a little pirate talk: “Ahoy!" for Hello. “Blimey!” is as an exclamation of surprise. “Bucko” is a friend or pal. “Grub” is food, and – well, I think you get the picture. “Shiver me timbers!”, and “Be nice to the wench who makes yer grub!”

Live like Pioneers

Unplug the TV, turn off the Internet, put tape over light switches or turn off circuits at your electric panel. Live like pioneers for a day!

Cook all your meals over a fire. Don't use the car. If you need to do something away from home you'll have to walk, take a bike, or borrow a horse. Explain to your family that the things you are going to do today are the same things their great grandparents did as children.

Play some of those 1850s games such as dominoes, checkers, marbles, graces, three legged races, wheel barrow races, blind man's bluff, leap frog, shadow tag. Make taffy – and if you have never made taffy you are in for a treat. Your children will really appreciate this candy once it is finished.

Read a book together. Tell stories about your own pioneer or immigrant heritage. It doesn't have to be stories from 1800 but any family stories you know which will help your children appreciate their own ancestors and the challenges of their time. Sure, they would have loved television in those days, but they didn't have that choice.

For dinner, barbecue some meat, add vegetables, homemade butter, and Dutch oven biscuits. Add Dutch oven fruit cobbler and top with homemade ice cream for dessert. This kind of cooking can be a great skill for your emergency preparedness plan, too.

Drive In Movie Night

Remember drive in movies? It was so much fun to watch movies under the stars as a family. We would get dressed in our pajamas, bring our blankets and pillows and pile in the car. At the drive in, you could talk and laugh out loud all through the movie. Of course, we would also eat! Create your own movie under the stars memories.

Get out the calendar and check for the full moon. It would be best to choose a night for you movie fun that is the darkest night of your vacation.

Ask your family what movie they would like to see. Want a double feature? Choose two!

Move the TV and sofa and/or comfy chairs outside, or just throw out a blanket and a bunch of pillows. Don't forget blankets to curl up in. If you have a DVD and video projector, or have a friend who does, hang a sheet and watch on a big screen!

The drive in theater's snack bar always had candy, soda, hot dogs and popcorn. Do the same. Get a large tub and fill it with ice and individual cans of soda. Set up the barbecue and cook up some hot dogs. Take a basket and fill it with everyone's favorite candy bars and sodas, and plenty of popcorn. Nachos are a fairly new addition but if your family loves nachos, put some nacho cheese in a crock pot and everyone can go back for refills as they run out. Of course, you can't eat like this every day, but this is your vacation!

Have fun. Laugh out loud. Cheer the hero and boo the villain, and invite the neighbors if they object to your noise.

Camp Out

Go for a camping trip in the back yard. All the fun – and just half the work.

Set up your tent(s) just as you would at a campground. If you have more than one tent, face all the openings toward each other. Set out a table and camp chairs. Bring out your camping gear, pillows, pajamas, extra blankets, board games and anything else you may want to do for the night. If it gets cool at night, don't forget sweatshirts. Oh, and don't forget to turn off the sprinkler timer for the morning.

Make a fire pit in your yard. Dig a small hole in the dirt in your yard, away from plants and the house. Place bricks or large rocks around the circle to contain the coals. If this is not possible or is illegal, just get out your grill instead. If you have a friend who has a portable fire bowl, ask to borrow it. Stories are lots more fun around the flames of a campfire. Once your camp is set up, the house is off limits except for a potty stop.

Make foil dinners or Dutch oven meals. Both are a great way to cook an all-in-one meal over coals.

Foil dinners are great, and each family member can customize their dinner to their own taste. They are fun to prepare and when you are done, no clean up.

Use a battery lantern, glow sticks or a flashlight to play board games in your tent. Play charades or just sit around the "campfire" and tell stories. This is a great time to tell your children about your childhood or relate family stories. What a perfect introduction to a family history tour.

It is also the perfect time to get children to talk about their goals and dreams. It's amazing how the walls seem to fall when you are just sitting around a fire talking. You may gain some really valuable insights into what your children are thinking and hoping for.

Act like you are out of town and out of touch

The most important thing to remember when planning a stay at home vacation, or when planning a day together during a pandemic quarantine, is that the television and Internet stay turned off. Cell phones are shut off, and all phone calls are screened. If the call is not an emergency, let the answering machine take a message. You are on vacation!

For our children to become self reliant as adults, we must help them understand their own inner strength and their value to their parents and their Heavenly Father. Self reliance brings peace. If you have decided to forgo a vacation this year as a way of putting faith in action, or as a way to become more self reliant as a family – or even if it is simply because you are forced by circumstances to stay home -- the experience will be valuable. It can help you get closer to your children, and if (heaven forbid) you should be quarantined with your family in the future during a pandemic of some kind, you can use this time you spend together as a valuable source of training and make the burdens of a self-quarantine during a flu outbreak a familiar and relatively happy experience.

Preparedness includes planning experiences together, whether cheap or expensive, to help us grow closer as families and to Heavenly Father. Remember the words of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin: “Come what may, and love it!”

Adapted from excerpt ebook: "Pack Your Bags-We're Staying Home" Follow Carolyn's emergency planning tips at http://blog.TotallyReady.com