Resorts fear them. Parents try to appease them: 'tweens and teens on vacation.

They're too old for kids' programs and too cool for the pool. Crafts? Hermit crab races? Beach games? I can hear it now: "That is so last year!"

Once they hit the double digits, kids suddenly become a different sort of vacationer. But that doesn't mean the end of traveling together as a family. It only means a shift in direction (in the direction of what they're looking for).

And what might they be looking for, other than similarly difficult vacationers of the opposite sex? Something they can go home and brag to their friends about. Good postcard and instant-messaging fodder. Conquests. Adventure. Extremes. The un-lame.

My son, then 11, and I headed out in search of all of this on our summer vacation.


Diving in Key Largo

The captain had described it before we went down, but nothing could really prepare us for this volcanic explosion of miniscule minnows. A funnel-shaped coral formation caused the silvery slivers to flush out and over us, so thick it was blinding. The other-worldly sensation made us giggle and grin, which is not easy with a regulator clenched between your teeth. With an introduction like that to the world of scuba, Aaron sank right into the experience, losing any trace of apprehension he had tried to conceal.

It helped that our instructor, Bruce Demchek, stuck with us like a remora to a shark. Just that morning we had enrolled in the PADI Discover Scuba Diving Program through It's A Dive shop at Marriott Key Largo Bay Beach Resort in the Florida Keys. Already we were weightlessly flying through water, dodging schools of yellowtail snapper and chasing rays.

Often known as resort courses, these introductions to scuba work well for aspiring young divers. Without a great outlay of cash and time, you can find out just how suited kids are to the sport, and if they're ready for a larger commitment.

Aaron had gotten excited about breathing underwater in our backyard pool using our tanks and equipment. At age 10, kids are eligible for youth certification, so down we headed to the incredibly colorful, teeming reefs of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Many of the reefs lie in 20 to 30 feet of water, which makes them ideal for beginners. Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary ranks among the top for down-under sightseeing.

After a short classroom session and a couple of hours learning the basics in the Marriott's pool, we made two dives in the afternoon. The second took us to the highly hailed Christ of the Deep statue at the Dry Rocks reef site. The dive takes you through a Mesopotamia of purple sea fans and lush fern-like marine plants. Coral heads rise like Goliath brains. Damselfish and clown fish dart into nooks and crannies like stars in an underwater circus act.

With an introduction like that to the world of scuba, Aaron sank right into the experience, losing any trace of apprehension he had tried to conceal.


Aaron was first to spot the barracuda. I was studying a queen angelfish at Christ's feet, and didn't even notice what loomed above until he tapped me on the shoulder and pointed up. Aaron immediately grabbed the underwater camera from me and wouldn't give it back. Bruce and I had to kick hard to keep up with him. He wanted to see everything, and we obviously were cramping his style.

Once back from the four-hour boat trip, Aaron received his official scuba logbook. His two dives can be credited to a certification course if completed within a year's time. He had clocked an hour and 20 minutes bottom time, and dived to a depth of 30 feet. Can't beat that for "what I did this summer."


X-Games in Fort Lauderdale

Okay, I admit it. The main purpose of this "soccer moms/soccer kids" getaway was to give the kids what they wanted most - an extreme experience - so that we moms could indulge in what we wanted most - relaxing spa and beach time. It was a trade-off. We would take the three boys to Brian Piccolo Skate Park and Velodrome one day, then the next day they would participate in Fort Lauderdale's summer day-long Funky Fish kids' snorkeling program and we'd have the day to ourselves.

County-owned Brian Piccolo Park has all the ramps, rails and half-pipes that skateboarders and in-liners dream about. It also has a Velodrome, a racetrack for speed bicycling and in-line skating, that is 333.3 meters around with banks up to 30 degrees.

The two older boys, Aaron and Jean-Michael, immediately wanted to try that, but they were scheduled first for a skateboarding lesson, while Christian, 9, declined in favor of in-lining around the meticulously maintained skate park, which clearly defies the old, negative image of skateboarding. Tennis and racquetball courts, baseball fields, lighted basketball courts, a bike path, playgrounds, cricket, picnicking, a snack bar and fishing make this an all-day family destination.

"Can you drop in?" asked the young instructor with the low-rider pants (immediately earning himself "cool" status with the kids). Not an invitation to stop by his house later, this was a measure of how advanced our board boys were. Something to do with hanging your board over the ledge of a ramp and surviving the fall. Jean-Michael was dropping in like crazy by the end of his hour lesson. Aaron, however, suffered a crash during drop in, and dropped out.

At the Velodrome, dressed in pads and helmets and fitted with ultra-light Andante race bikes, they were ready to hit the banks. The cycling coach started them on the 200-meter concrete in-line skate track, which has banks, but nowhere near as steep as those of the actual Velodrome. First lesson on these bikes with no gears and - even scarier - no brakes - is how to stop. You don't actually stop the bike, they learned, you let it slow, then grab the railing to come to a halt.

We had a hard time getting our boys off the bikes. It wasn't that they couldn't stop. They didn't want to.

The next morning, the first thing out of Jean-Michael's mouth was "Boy, that biking was really fun!" Watching was almost as much fun, and I went away wishing I had dared the Velodrome. Another time perhaps; the instructor had told us lots of parents (usually fathers) do the cycling classes with their kids.


Water-skiing in Winter Haven

"My friends thought I was nuts," said Karen Royer, who was brushing up on water-skiing skills with her family outside of Winter Haven. "They said, 'you're 46 and you're going to do that?'"

I have to admit, I also questioned her sanity. I was younger than that when I last skied with my son. That's why this time I elected my husband, Rob, to do the tough-love vacation bonding. Since dad still thinks of himself as a 20-year-old, I knew he'd go for it.

We had looked up Lucky Lowe on the Internet. Lucky (that's his real name, his six-year-old son is named Chance) doesn't claim to be a water-ski school. The world championship skier calls himself "a guide to family fun." He'll do whatever your family decides it wants - a half-hour lesson to a week-long course. Nothing regimented here. Translation: don't expect to start your lesson at the scheduled time. Expect to hang out at the docks on private, isolated Grassy Lake and get to know the other students and Lucky's family before you ever get your feet wet.

Beginners like Aaron (who had only experienced water-skiing using a side pole rather than a rope behind the boat), watch a video. Lucky's wife, Jennifer, fitted him with skis that were attached at the tips, making them easier to keep together in the water. Lucky, who also teaches wakeboarding, has a slalom course and jump ramp set up in the small, traffic-free lake.

Of course, rookies are more concerned with standing up. Which Aaron did - ta da! - first try. He also learned how to fall, not because that's important, but because the idea of bent knees hadn't quite made sense yet. Finally Lucky got up in the boat and demonstrated, all the time shouting encouragement in his down-home Alabama accent.

Aaron was proud of his first-time excellence, but also because he aced his dad, who tried to ski on one and never made it up until he started with two. "You stink!" Aaron was happy to tell him.