Hi there. First time posting. We are planning next winter properly this time - two weeks in Florida with the kids, ages seven and eleven. My wife is nervous about the boat idea, she thinks it means me disappearing for the day while she watches the kids on a beach. I want to convince her it can actually be the thing we all do together. For anyone who has done this with young children, is it realistic or is it one of those ideas that sounds better than it plays out? And what do you actually do with them all day out there?

Realistic, and honestly your wife's version happens when the boat is booked as dad's thing rather than the family's thing. Framed properly a family boat vacation Florida trip is mostly sandbars, and sandbars are where kids at seven and eleven are perfectly happy for hours - shallow water, standing depth, other families around. You are not offshore in swells, you are anchored in three feet of water. Go out mid-morning, sandbar until lunch, back by mid-afternoon before anyone melts down. That rhythm sells itself after the first day. Take a pontoon over anything sporty and bring more shade than you think you need. My wife was the sceptic on ours and by day three she was the one deciding where we went.