We took an all inclusive to the Mayan Riviera a few Christmases ago, when our kids were just about the ages of yours. It was soooo nice, because as long as the kids stayed together, we could give them more freedom than we do typically on vacation. They could stop in at eat and drink (non-alcoholic pina coladas etc.), swim, snorkel, etc. We took the ferry to cozumel one day, went on a fabulous snorkel trip alllll day once, saw a sea turtle swimming alongside us. It was a great vacation by everyone's account.

We just got back from a cruise to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Honduras and Belize.

We love cruises. Something to do all the time, or do nothing. No arguing about where we're going for dinner etc.

After a day or two on a beach chair, we get bored and if my husband had his way he'd golf every day all day, so a cruise allows us to do interesting things in the different ports and my husband is occupied enough he doesn't miss the golf.

My second choice would be an all inclusive resort. Aruba, or the Virgin Islands have some beautiful places. I think Mexico would be fun too. Do you like to snorkel? Wonderful snorkeling in Mexico and Grand Cayman Islands.

St. John would be my first choice since it is one of my favorite places on earth. We haven't been in Feb., but you could check out the weather averages online.

Belize or Barbados.

Turks & Caicos Islands.

We've vacationed on St.John and St.Thomas in mid-January and the weather was lovely there then. We actually rented a villa on St.Thomas in Peterborg Estates. It overlooked Magen's Bay and was just down the road from the place President Clinton stays at. The place was very family-friendly (3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 6 patios, big gourmet kitchen, infinity-edge pool and drop-dead views) but it was a bit of a nightmare driving around the island to get anywhere. I swear, 95% of that place is on an incline! Parking and negotiating roads with no signs was a bit frustrating at times. Still, it was a fun place. We'd take the car ferry over to St.John's to snorkel and relax. For a family-friendly place, of the two, St.J's would be my first choice. It's drop-dead gorgeous and the water is great there. It's quiet, peaceful and looked to be very safe. No nightlife that I saw, though, but we weren't looking for any ;^D

We had taken the kids (then age 18 & 8) on a week-long Caribbean cruise the year before. As Carole mentioned, it's a safe choice for kids and *some* cruise ships have a lot of things for them to do. We were on one of the Princess ships and booked two staterooms that connected by their private outside balconies, as we didn't want our 8 y/o DD to have to walk out in the hallway to get to our room. Our 18 y/o son had a great time and met lots of teenage girls on the ship. They hung out together, while on board. 8y/o DD got bored with the kids' camp and stayed with DH & I after the second day. The pools on board were very crowded and DH dislikes crowds, so he spent a lot of at-sea time reading on our room's balcony . . . which was lovely, BTW. We saw some shows on board. The kids liked the food and having their own stateroom. We never did hit the midnight buffets or their happy hours. At every port, we avoided the ship's island excursions and hired a private car & driver for the day. It honestly cost us about the same amount as 4 tickets on one of those open-air, jam-packed tour buses . . . and we could go where WE wanted, when WE wanted, for as long as we wanted . . . and it was air conditioned! Our drivers were great tour guides and avoided the congested, tourist-packed places in favor of some great shops, beaches and restaurants. Both our kids loved our island days, swimming and snorkeling, stopping at fun shops and restaurants. It's the only way I'd ever go on a cruise again.
DH, on the other hand, thought the at-sea days were a waste of time, hence, our next trip back to the Caribbean was the (above) trip to St. T & ST.John.

Another possible place you might want to check into is the island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. As a couple, we stayed at a hotel resort, but next time (with kids)I'd definitely rent one of the small, private beach villas on Long Bay or Apple Bay. Great beaches, fabulous snorkeling; good food. The main town, Road Town, was fun the first day, but there's not that much to see. West End is fun and much busier, as it's the jumping off place for bare-boating in that part of the Caribbean. Crowded, though. The island is fairly small and had not one traffic light that I recall, just roundabouts here and there. To get to Tortola, we had to catch a plane in Puerto Rico that took us to their small airport on the connected, Beef Island.

BTW, you definitely need to rent a car on any of the above islands.
Lynn

Thanks for all the info, everyone, especially Lynn! I'm not sure I could convince DH to go on a cruise... but I'm now convinced that St. John is where I want to go. I was there briefly when I went to St. Thomas w/ a group of girlfriends a few years ago (we "won" the trip at a fundraiser auction!) and I've been dying to go back.

Hubby and I enjoy cruising also. On the recommendation of friends, we're booked on a cruise in April 2011 out of San Juan, PR - you 'island hop' between St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, etc. A different island everyday (just one 'at sea' day out of 7 days). I would guess it's a great way to get a taste of the area, and I've hard it's a lovely cruise & a great time. Can hardly wait for April. :)

I really like Martinique. It's a French island and everything is so different than the other Caribbean islands.

All of the US Virgin Islands are "perfect" in February. 84 degrees average temperature.
It's a little more than 5 hours by air from Boston...but how about the Mediterranean coast of Spain or Portugal? Plane fair may be more but the hotels and meals will be less.