Family

Family

If just might be the most important thing you will ever have in your entire life: your family. Always there for a birthday, holiday, special occasion, or for no reason at all, your family will stick by your side through thick and thin, good times and bad, through sunshine and rain. It's the always-dependable force of nature, the never-faltering rock of strength, the ultimate source of everlasting love... Maybe that's why family stands for:

Father

And

Mother

I

Love

You

No matter what age you are, whether you're a parent or the child (or both), that acronym is always applicable.

There are all different types of families. There's the nuclear family, extended family, single-parent family, etc. Regardless of your family's form or structure, there is one tie that binds you all together forever: love. Lots and lots of love. As the wise Desmond Tutu once said, "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."

Family Quotes

• Whether you're looking for inspirational family quotes for holiday cards, a family poem for a scrapbook, or some poems about family or quotes about family to put in a letter to a far-off relative, there are tons of options available. Here are some popular family quotes:

  • "I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich." -- Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, M*A*S*H
  • "The family is a haven in a heartless world." -- Christopher Lasch
  • "In time of test, family is best." -- Burmese Proverb
  • "The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works is the family." -- Lee Iacocca
  • "A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it." -- George Moore
  • "Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts." -- Author Unknown
  • "Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space." -- Evan Esar
  • "Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." -- Jane Howard
  • "The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family." -- Thomas Jefferson
  • "The family - that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to." -- Dodie Smith

  There are many more family quotes and family poems available to you online.

Family Crests

• A fun family activity that can provide years of fun to come is tracing your family history and finding your family crest. Family crests, also called coats of arms, came into existence centuries ago during medieval times. The process of creating family crests began in the eight and ninth centuries when the new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms.

  You can trace your family genealogy and find your family coat of arms on many websites. Try FamilySearch to trace your family's history. They boast of the largest collection of free family history, family tree, and genealogy records in the world. You can also go to HouseofNames for free family crests and surname histories.

  You'll undoubtedly be surprised to learn of the history behind your surname, its origin and why its coat of arms was designed the way it was. Learning about your family history is both a fun and fascinating family activity!

Family Vacations

• The family that plays together stays together, right? A family vacation is a time to re-connect, to bond, to laugh and to live it up with those closest to you in your life. Most importantly - it's a time for Mom and Dad to take a well-deserved break!

  Family vacations range from theme park forays to family cruises to Walt Disney World trips to holidays abroad. Here are some family vacation ideas.

  1. The all-inclusive Florida family vacation. The most popular spot for these is Orlando. Orlando offers tons of family attractions including (the most obvious) Walt Disney World, which includes four major theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, complete with parades, live shows, and fireworks), two waterparks, Downtown Disney entertainment zone, Nickelodeon Hotel, and more. Most family resorts have real beach pools so the kids can enjoy the sand, too! Disney Resorts has many all-inclusive packages to choose from with multiple lengths of stay options.
  2. The second Disney option: the Disney Cruise. You can choose a 3-day, 4-day, or 7-day trip that covers land and sea, The Bahamas or other options. The Disney Cruise is an all-inclusive trip that's fun for the whole family.
  3. Suggested by author Tessa Plowright is the famous trip top Colonial Williamsburg, VA. She recommends combining educational fun at Colonial Williamsburg with just-plain-fun at the nearby Busch Gardens Europe theme park. The town also boasts (in the summertime) the famous Water Country USA, a giant water park. According to Plowright, history comes to life in Colonial Williamsburg... Actors and volunteers portray people from 230-odd years ago, bringing to life the 1770's just before the American Revolution. Yorktown and other historical areas can be easily visited on the same trip.
  4. Replete with thrill rides and roller coasters that will make Mom's blood pressure rise drastically is Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. One of the most famous coaster parks in the world, Cedar Point offers a huge array of rides on a lakeside location so there's also plenty of fishing, swimming and beach-combing to do, and plenty of family resorts to choose from.
  5. Everyone will enjoy a trip to southern California to visit the world-famous San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park and Sea World. These parks together offer some of the country's most supreme wildlife habitat and rehabilitation programs. The towns in and around San Diego offer small-world charm and lots of family accommodations. When you aren't visiting the famous parks, go shell-collecting on the city's famous beaches, go roller-blading on the boardwalk, or just enjoy the waves in the sunny San Diego sea!