Our DD’18 has a job as a lifeguard at the city pool and trains with her school’s cross country team all summer. She is going to take a little time in June to visit a few colleges, though.
We made the family decision that my D18 will not work for pay this summer.
Last summer between sophomore and junior year she was working 20-25 hours a week at a restaurant and I barely saw her. It was a national chain, so you had to request time off well in advance and were responsible for covering any shifts you needed off. This summer, with college visits and a few other things going on, we need flexibility. She does work during the school year teaching at her studio, and never spends anything, so I felt it was fine. She plans on upping her volunteer hours and looking at applications.
My second daughter (incoming freshman) will continue to teach at her dojo - something she also does during the school year. She will not do the childcare she did last year (it was three kids for three days a week, and it was a lot for a 14 year old). Neither are doing any specialized camps or intensives.
I told them I wanted them to spend their time doing something other than the pool and Netflix. I’m sure there will be plenty of both, but the goal is to be able to point to an accomplishment or two.
I am looking forward to summer!
My D will continue her work as a paid tutor (hoping to get more hours!), she’s got two volunteer gigs set up (Humane Society and a local nature center) and we are still looking for a week or 2 program on a college campus, but they’re all so expensive. 
I am also sort of hoping she can get her wisdom teeth out this summer. Every time we go to the dentist he said she’s not ready (but half her class has already had them out). Her first tooth came out in second grade, so her teeth move very slowly. The good news with her, though, is she never needed braces.
I’m not looking forward to it, but I want to get it done and over with.
@suzy100 I don’t know where you are but have you looked at Alfred U summer programs?
My D will attend her third year on a church mission trip in Galveston, work on her IB extended essay, complete 2-3 college applications/essays, and we will take a family beach trip. She will also do 2 weeks of summer dance camp and a teen leadership camp.
@1822mom all those sound like good ideas to me!
DS18 has a few weeks between the end of school and his NSLI-Y trip to China for the summer. His plans are to work on his college and scholarship applications. He hopes to teach some private glass torchwork lessons to make some spending money for his trip. He’s also just gotten involved with www.beadsofcourage.org and plans to spend some time making beads to donate to them.
DH and I will be taking a road trip with our spoiled rotten lab, leaving both boys (DS18 and DS16) at home for a week and a half. We gave them a choice and they’d rather have a ‘stay-cation’ sans parents than road trip with us, go figure;-) I’m imagining 24 hour video game marathons and pizza every night we’re gone…
We’ll be spending two nights in an old church that’s been converted into a house near Avery Island, LA
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/14252930?s=C8I99ugh and spending the a day at the Tabasco factory and museum, might even take a cooking class there. DH is a hot sauce connoisseur, he’ll be in heaven! Then we’re going to hang out on Pensacola Beach for a few days listen to Jimmy Buffett music, eat shrimp and drink fruity adult beverages, then drive down to St. Pete to surprise my mom for her birthday.
I’ve had a lot of fun researching dog friendly activities. I found a BNB in downtown St. Pete that is dog friendly but when I made the reservation it turns out that they are changing their policy but we made it in under the wire, whew! We’ll be taking mom, my sister and dog on a sunset cruise which should be interesting because dog’s never been on a boat before! Dog loves the beach and there a small section of dog friendly beach in Pensacola and a dog beach at Fort De Soto that we haven’t been to before.
DD16 will be doing an internship in Germany and DS20 is off to Boy Scout camp and plans to work on his Eagle project and will start studying for the PSAT.
An interesting observation, as the kids get more and more independent, the dog gets more and more spoiled:-)
@mommdc tell us about your son’s mission trip, where’s he going?
Nowhere exotic, lol. They are going to NY with Youthworks. He really enjoys working with children. This is his fourth trip. 
Does every parent forum class have to have such impressive kids?! After a gruelling junior year I am sure my D18 would love to hang on the sofa and watch Netflix and The Bachelor! We live in socal but try every summer to get back to Canada to visit grandparents and have them do the things we used to do like swim in lakes, fight with mosquitos, and enjoy the good life! So odd and sad that this is a learning experience for my daughters!
@3scoutsmom , what a fantastic road trip! If your kids won’t go with you, I will! 
@my2caligirls My girls will joyfully join yours on the sofa and watch Netflix.
@bearcatfan the trick is in finding schools that consider Netflix to be a worthy EC! Guess we will narrow our search to the top ten party schools . . .
Alright @bearcatfan and @my2caligirls sounds like my D has some companionship on the couch this summer!
D18 would love to stay on the sofa … but this summer she’s finally doing something. She’ll be an intern in a lab at UGA for the first half of summer. Staying on-campus several days a week. This will be a good chance for her to get a feel for college life (i.e. cut the cord a bit).
When S18 goes to his away camp for a month, that is his “Netflix” equivalent, relaxation time (except without any TV, cell phones or electronics of any kind!). Colleges don’t consider camp counselor as a impressive EC, so this is something he does just for himself, because he loves it. And it gives him some vital down time to recharge before the school year starts anew. Last year I even went with him for 2 weeks, as “senior” staff LOL. Except I spent the whole time working my butt off and worrying about accidents, training, and other adult concerns. This year I will relax at home with a kid free house for a month!
We’re going to St. Croix for my wife’s 50th this summer. When she first got the idea of going to the Caribbean this summer I said “S16 will have just finished his first year of college and S18 will be getting ready for his last year of HS?” Sure enough, that’s what’s happening. SAT is done, so he can just think about where to apply over the summer; maybe we can drag him to a couple of nearby schools.
The trick to turning Netflix into an EC is to pick a show with a strong fan following, then make a website where you post recaps of each episode, discuss fan theories, ship characters, dish on behind the scenes gossip, etc. Then you can say you created and maintained a website that gets x-thousand hits per month. 
Camp counselor on the resume might be valuable for RA applications…