Theme nights bring vacationers of all ages together

NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH, N.C. — Renting a house for a week with extended family or friends is an economical way to vacation while offering quality time with loved ones.

It’s easy to fill your days with swimming, hikes, shopping and dining out, but there are also ways to have fun at home with themed game nights, dinners and parties.

My husband’s family rents a beach house every other year or so along the North Carolina coast, and there are several nights in which teams cook dinner and plan games for the rest of the group.

We’ve had competitions such as beach Olympics, “Iron Chef America” and Wii bowling, and a family-friendly pirate “pub crawl,” among many others. The prep can be as involved or as simple as you want. The goal is to pick a theme that appeals to all ages.

Last summer, we had a group of 19 people, ages 8 to 77, in one house.

After the beach house and dates are chosen, teams are formed, with team members sworn to secrecy until their themed night arrives.

For casino night, my sister-in-law designed money featuring family members’ faces, and brought everything needed to play bingo, blackjack and roulette. We also purchased decks of playing cards printed with a family vacation logo. And we filed our bellies with a Vegas-style buffet.

One team changed it up a bit with a Easel Like Sunday Morning-themed Sunday brunch. It was a take on popular wine-and-canvas parties. We had stretched canvas panels, paint, felt berets and stick-on moustaches. Our challenge was to paint a beach scene, which gave us a souvenir to take home.

Kristin Zerkle, 45, of Columbus, Ohio, said her family also tries to involve all ages on family vacations. Her parents have been vacationing with their six children in Hilton Head, S.C., for about 35 years. The group now includes 25 family members in one house.

Faced with dining out with a dozen or so small children, at-home theme nights became a more appealing alternative. Her family has had a luau, a pirate night, a Mexican fiesta and an Ohio State tailgate party, in which everyone would wear Buckeye gear.

“Time has gone on, and the challenges of having all those people together on a vacation change,” Zerkle said, adding that themes had to evolve to appeal to kids as they grow. The family’s younger generation now ranges in age from 7 to 26, while her parents are in their 70s.

Last year, her family marked her sister and brother-in-law’s 25th anniversary with a wedding reception. They decorated with plastic wedding bells, and put inflatable swans and lanterns in the pool. Her brother put together a playlist for the White Wedding theme night that included songs played at the couple’s wedding reception in 1990. Zerkle brought a veil and T-shirts that look like a wedding gown and tuxedo for the couple. There was a toast and a first dance.

An earlier neon-themed dance party included glow necklaces, decorating T-shirts and black lights.

Zerkle said involving everyone in the preparation, planning and execution makes the theme nights a success.

“The kids want to know way ahead of time what the theme is going to be. It has turned into something we talk about months in advance, and the kids love planning it,” she said.

Laura Crisp, 52, of Canal Winchester, Ohio, said her family began having a theme party as a way to celebrate her now 10-year-old nephew’s birthday, which falls on their beach-house vacations every other year in Holden Beach, N.C. Their five families with 19 people share a house. Her nephew chooses the theme, and they decorate the house to match. They’ve had pirates, superhero and Hawaiian themes.

“It’s just a good opportunity to decorate a house for a week with papery, fun, silly things,” she said.

The adults plan games, including scavenger hunts divided by age, according to the theme and ages of the children. The experience has helped them grow closer, she said.

“I just don’t think you would do that silly stuff in your own house. Somehow when you are on vacation, it gives you more permission to loosen up and have that kind of fun,” she said.