San Juan River rafting family vacation
Its 100 degrees and there are 17 of you in boats on Utah’s lower San Juan River. You’d better believe there are going to be water cannons.Bee Alaine Mathis

How to be parents and still have a life.

Family vacation on the San Juan River rafting with children
Kids do the darndest things.Bee Alaine Mathis

Your family vacation doesn’t have to be boring. Ask these families who took their children on a multi-day raft trip down the San Juan River. These kids turn a river trip with the folks into a rip roaring good time.

Family vacation on the San Juan River
Sometimes the best thing to do is rope it all together and float on down, party barge style.Bee Alaine Mathis

What you’ll need

Rafts, umbrellas, kayaks, pack rafts, stand up paddle boards (SUPs), squirt guns, water cannons and a unicorn mask.

San Juan River stand up paddleboarding unicorn
Maybe the heat gets to some people.Bee Alaine Mathis

What to do

Costume party, talent show, mud bath and day spa, cliff diving and/or fire starting contest.

“The kids were awesome,” said river tripper and trip photographer Bee Alaine Mathis. “They even set up a mud spa in the middle of the whole thing. We went cliff diving in swimming holes. Seeing them experiencing this with their families was beautiful. The kids kept it all together. It was so incredible.”