We haven't been on all that many family holidays but it's never been a real drama except for the time we went to Forster when Erin was 5 months old and OMG she was never one to enjoy long car trips and I think she spent a good 6 hours of the trip screaming. YOu can imagine what the tension in the car was like by the time we got there But once we got there it was always easy kwim. I do agree though that the only ones on holiday are DH and the kids though especially since we only ever do self catering accommodation and I'm still cooking and washing every day.

G the sea change sounds like a great idea. DH must be a pretty awesome skiier if he is taking on the bridge to bridge. We really need to get our boat out this year too - we haven't even pulled it out of the shed for 2 seasons.

MD, surprisingly we didn't have all that much trouble with Alister touching the tree last year - not as much as I thought anyway so I don't think we'll have an issue at all this year, but then we don't have *nice* ornaments anyway, just cheapies. having her trained not to touch the tree at FDC sounds like a top plan though LOL.