She was safely found in the median of a major highway and is probably back home by now. A happy ending:)

My parents and brother's family are in FL, aunts/cousins in Ohio (where DH and I both grew up). DH's family is in Ohio, and his parents spend winters in FL (coincidentally 30 mins from where my parents live). We've been in the middle for 8 years, 8 hours south to the FL family, 9 hours north to the Ohio family. In that time, we've spent 2 Thanksgivings in Ohio (both by special request, other distand family was there), all the rest and every Christmas in our own home with just our kids. DH's parents don't really want a big holiday at their house. They are now in FL for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. They did not want or have a houseful of kids, and do not enjoy it. The chaos of our 4 kids disrupts the peace and quiet they are accustomed to. I know MIL has no interest in preparing a big meal, and I think they really enjoy the adult dinners they have with friends in their retirement community. So there is no guilt there whatsever. They love to see us, but not the extra work of a holiday with us. My family has big celebrations for every occassion. There are big gatherings in both Florida and Ohio for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know we are welcome to either one anytime. But they don't make an issue of us doing our own thing. We share with phone calls, pictures and video. I do take the kids to Florida every winter, either over this holiday break of in February when the schools here give a week break. That way we can see both sets of grandparents in one trip. My parents come here every September, when there is another week break from school. We spend every July 4th in Ohio, when my parents are also in Ohio. We stay long enough to spend a few days with everyone in Ohio. We would welcome any of them to spend a holiday with us, but in 8 years they never have. So I don't feel any pressure to time-share holidays. The idea of "going home" for holidays means different things to different people. Going to my childhood "home" does not feel like home anymore. My home is here now, with my DH and our kids, and that is where I want to spend holidays. Luckily, my family respects that. We make our time together about good, quality time and fun memories, not a date on the calendar. I think it just comes down to respecting other's feelings, even when you don't bow to their wishes. Families can find ways to make compromises, plan visits off-season, or a visit sometime during the holiday season but not on December 25th.

marilyn c, you must live pretty close to me. I live in SW Houston. There isn't a WHOLE lot to see here as far as tourist attractions. Houston is more of a "great to live" place instead of a "great to visit". But I've pretty much covered what there is - Astrodome (been there a million times for games but when my kids were young, we did an official tour with the cub scouts), NASA (a million times!), Galveston (a Zillion times). Plus a lot of lesser known attractions like the downtown tunnels, all the major museums and a bunch of smaller ones. Been to most but not all of the Texas attractions including the Alamo, State Capitol, too many caves/caverns, Canton, etc. And I can attribute most of my experiences to the fact that I had kids. A lot of this stuff I'd definitely done pre-kids, but once I had kids, it was always a matter of finding something to do when we had days off. Around Houston, we've done the MOST obscure stuff like driving by a house that Howard Hughes lived in and the Center for Photography museum, a very small space with photographs on exhibit, and the Telephone Museum. My kids actually grew up LOVING that stuff. One son now lives in Austin (attending University of Texas) and we've done some of the same kind of stuff there when I visit. Once you do the "famous stuff" it's fun to do the obscure stuff! My other son attends Columbia in NYC and lives walking distance from Grant's Tomb. We went. And we know who is buried there: Grant and his wife. LOL

I gardened for many years in Charleston County SC Zone 8...By mid July tomatoes were done for because of the heat and humidity. Commercial growers usually shipped their tomatoes north from late May until early July. That is until most closed shop and sold to real estate developers. Some backyard gardeners start a Fall crop in early August. There have been seasons where I harvested tomatoes until Christmas..... Spend my Summers in the NC mountains where my garden starts later but usually get vegetables into early October.