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This mother and daughter enjoyed a relaxing beach, plus great programs for children and adults, at the Boca Raton Resort in Florida.

While Florida certainly has plenty of resorts to choose from for a weekend getaway, not all are family friendly and boast distinctive Old World architecture and upscale ambience to boot. The Boca Raton Resort & Club (888/491-2622) fits the bill in all these areas while also offering plenty of active diversions for parents too.

From June 1 to September 30th, children from 3-11 years old can participate in the Camp Boca program. It operates in two "sessions" from 9:30am-1pm and from 1:30pm-4:30pm daily. Or parents can opt for a full-day session from 9:30am - 4:30pm.  The Boca Tots activities are for children from 3 to 5-years-old, while the Boca Bunch is for 6 to 11-year-olds. Since counselors do not change diapers, all parents receive a beeper in case a diaper change is needed. Both programs offer the option of letting your child stay for lunch.

In past years, older kids ages 12-17 have been able to enroll in the Boca Sport program, which focuses on more teen centered activities like basketball, snorkeling, and volleyball. According to the resort's concierge, because the teen program relies on a minimum enrollment, it will continue to operate mainly on major holidays.

My daughter Alexandra enjoyed the Boca Bunch program and we found the counselors to be very caring and gentle. The camp themes change daily so that if a child comes for an entire week, they will not be repeating the same activity. The Bunch youths go swimming every afternoon except if it rains, as it did during our short stay. Thus the activities were very craft oriented with some game playing. Since Alexandra is really into arts 'n' crafts, she loved creating sand art, painting sculptures and making pasta pictures. The youth room for the Boca Tots and Bunch program is located on the main property.

As part of its ongoing upgrade and renovation, the Boca Raton Resort created a new playground and children’s waterpark. The playground includes slides, ladders, a climbing apparatus and more, a waterpark with a "spraying" palm tree and fire hydrant, as well as spouts which spray water out of the ground. In addition, the playground features a tricycle track. These facilities are ideal for children of all ages and provide a great place for parents to reconnect with kids who are not interested in being enrolled in the supervised clubs.