"Quiero mirar mis fotos para recordar las vacaciones."

It won't answer all your questions, but here are some collocations for "las vacaciones":

• las vacaciones de verano = summer break
• las vacaciones de primavera = spring break
• las vacaciones de Navidad = Christmas break
• irse de vacaciones / tomar unas vacaciones / etc = to take a vacation (see a number of different forms, the vast majority using plural: "take a vacation")

As for distinguishing "take a vacation" from "take vacations," I think it might be mostly a matter of context, although I defer to anyone able to make a more definitive statement, see for example the translations of "take vacations".

If a sentence sounds strange, as "look at my photos to remember the vacation" does to this native speaker, then it's ok to make the necessary substitutions. It's not about translating word-for-word.