Nancy -- Wow, do I envy you! Off to WDW soon, planning a May cruise and then the cruise in October. We have to wait until May to go to WDW with our grandson who will be almost 5. That will be so much fun. Last time he went with us, he was just 3, so this time he should enjoy the experience a lot more altho he does remember lots about the last trip. Then we do HH in July and the cruise in October.
Mary -- We usually do the beach or WDW or a cruise and I can't think of the type of place you are looking for. I will check around and see what I can find out about a cabin/lake/shopping location. When we lived in Illinois, we vacationed at Fontana Village located in the mountains in NC. We would meet our Florida relatives there, and the kids had a great time with their cousins. We stayed in a cabin (first time in my life). This is a fairly big resort, but very casual. I know the boys fished in a lake somewhere in the resort. It was a great place. Back then (which is a while ago), they had softball games every night and my DH and BIL and the boys never missed a game. You might try checking the Net and see what is going on at Fontana now. I'm not sure it is even there anymore. Will let you know if I find any place that seems to meet your needs.