Families in Literature We’d Love to Summer Vacation With

 

As the school year wraps up and calendars are overbooked with graduation parties, the summer vacation season is officially upon us. With young kids home for two and a half months, the idea of being cooped up in the house is too much to bear, so we set out on family vacations, hoping to build some fond memories, but mostly hoping to just get back home with all family members accounted for and relatively uninjured.

 

Fighting, screaming, crying, and half a million bathroom breaks aside, there’s nothing like family vacations. Whether it’s a far-too-long-distance road trip, a trip to the beach, or an ill-advised camping trip, we think that these fictional families would make it memorable.

 

 

The Weasley Family (The Harry Potter series): If there is any family in the world (Muggle or magical) who can make a summer camping trip enjoyable, it’s this red-headed clan. For starters, they can pack up an entire magical bungalow complete with full bedrooms, bathrooms and a kitchen, in a small backpack.

 

This means no more flimsy, leaky, poorly constructed canvas tents that seem to always be missing the most important pieces. Secondly, though we can’t know for sure, Molly Weasley’s cooking seems pretty fantastic. No canned food, burnt hotdogs, or camping stoves when Molly and her wand are in the kitchen. Camping logistics aside though, who wouldn’t want to spend a family vacation with the fun-loving, endlessly entertaining Weasley’s? If camping isn’t your style, they’re always up for dragon watching in Romania.

 

 

The Bucket Family (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory): Maybe adventures and endless activities aren’t what you’re looking for in a summer vacation. No family knows relaxation better than the Bucket family.

 

Charlie and his grandfather may be up for a glass elevator ride here or there or a guided tour or two, but the rest of the Bucket family is perfectly content lounging around and getting some much (or not-at-all) needed rest, and with an endless supply of chocolate at hand, why go out and do anything? The only downside you’re looking at with this family is some bedsores, but what’s a summer vacation without bedsores, right?

 

 

The Ingalls Family (The Little House series): The Ingalls family is all too familiar with traveling, albeit via covered wagon, but nonetheless they’re the family you want on a road-trip.

 

Sure, their idea of fun is making maple syrup and completing household chores, but pancakes are great, and there’s something charming about the idea of vacationing on an open prairie in the middle of Kansas, surviving on your own wits, the help of friendly neighbors, and some crops. Plus if you ever get bored, there’s always well-digging and… well, that’s pretty much it.  

 

 

The Pevensie Children (The Chronicles of Narnia series): It is safe to say that there would never be a dull moment on a summer vacation with the four children from the Chronicles of Narnia series. Imagine a vacation spot where children can be kings and queens residing in castles nestled in a utopia, and you have your choice of countless talking animals to entertain yourself with.

 

Plus, you’d have the option of taking a sailing excursion with a handsome prince. An added benefit of traveling with the Pevensie kids is they are well equipped with various weapons, a heal-all cordial, and a really cool horn that they can blow whenever help is needed. What else do you really need on a summer vacation?

 

 

The Stark Family (Game of Thrones series): Maybe the beach with its invasive sand and relentless sun isn’t your idea of paradise for your summer vacation. Who better then to vacation with than the Starks of Winterfell? One can only imagine that life in The North with year-round winter makes for some pretty solid snow-ball fighters and snow-fort builders.

 

Considering there’s not much else to do in Winterfell besides sword fighting and playing in the snow, the Starks are a close-knit loving family, which, let's face it, is rare in the Seven Kingdoms. Not to mention, they have a bunch of awesome well-trained wolves as pets that probably won’t kill you.

 

 

The Robinson Family (The Swiss Family Robinson): Envision vacationing on the beaches of a remote tropical island with a pet jackal and monkey with an endless supply of livestock, weapons, and tools.

 

Not only is the Swiss Family Robinson one that knows how to persevere under dire circumstances (the whole ship wreck thing), but more importantly they can build an awesome tree house, complete with a library. A tropical paradise, a monkey, and books add up to an idyllic summer vacation in our eyes.