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Happy memories of family holidays taking our two children and both Mum and Mum-in-law, with us, we were visiting friends in France, staying in their holiday home in the Vandee. Before the holiday started we had been practicing some classroom French, just words we could use like Bonjour, merci, Bon nuit, etc etc, everyone was doing well,especially with the locals. On a visit to neighbouring towns, my dear Mum-in-law, was walking up a street, when she fell over when missing her footing on the kerb, we all ran to help her, and check she was ok, when she started grabbing at a gentlemans leg trying to pull herself up saying
"Merci Merci" and looking up at this poor Man, not knowing what she was saying, the children were beside themselves with laughter, my Husband was trying to get his Mum off of this Frenchman, who was speechless, but eventually saw the funny side, this story of our holiday has been told many many times, and even at Mum's funeral it was remembered. This was the first of her antics, we had a great time holidaying until well into both Mum's final years, what wonderful memories we have, and the children who now have children of their own have passed these stories on to them, I'm sure they will be remembered fondly

We were on the Golden Princess, setting sail from Venice, and eager to enjoy a final glimpse of the Grand Canal, were one of the last to leave the back deck of the ship. The waiters were clearing up around us as people drifted off to change for dinner. We were just remarking on a pigeon, pecking at the remnants of someone's snack at the table in front of us when a waiter approached. 'Is this yours?' he asked, indicating to the pigeon. 'Errr no' I replied wondering if he was having a joke with us. It seemed not - so we explained that he was probably an escapee from St Mark' Square and would fly back home any minute. Bizarre indeed.

I went to Washington on holiday with my hubby. The hotel literature said it was only 2 blocks from the White House. We started walking towards the White House and were moaning the whole way saying it was more than 2 blocks as it was proving a very long walk. When we got there, we realized we had made a huge, embarassing mistake... the building we walked to was in fact the Capitol Building, not the White House..Ooops! Silly us!

I had an accident in my car and broke my arm which was duly put in plaster. A few days later I tripped rushing up the stairs, put my other arm out to save me and broke that too. Now both arms were in plaster and we were all going on holiday. The weather was beautiful and I was determined to make the most of it considering my recent bad luck so I put on my bikini (I was only 40 years old at the time) with a struggle and went to sit by the side of the pool, dangling my legs in the water. The water felt lovely and I was imagining what it would be like to actually be in the water with hubby and children when my two little horrors ran up behind me and pushed me in. Both plastered arms were soaked through and went soft and soggy and I ended up in the local hospital having to have them both replaced. Needless to say it has always been a talking point that mummy (and now grandma) went on holiday and got plastered!! Definitely one of the funniest holidays I've ever been on....it's not easy getting dressed or washing etc., with both arms in plaster but it's a sight not to be missed!

In Spain, I wanted to buy some mushrooms in the supermarket. I asked the assistant for 'un cuarto de kilo de champinones' (quarter of a kilo of mushrooms). She looked at me with a puzzled axpression and asked me something in Spanish that I didn't understand. Too embarrassed to say that I didn't understand, i just nodded and said 'si'. She disappeared for a few minutes, then reappeared with a lot of carrier bag over her arm. It was only when she started to fill the third one with mushrooms that i realized there had been a misunderstanding. Turns out she thought i wanted 4 kilos! When i tried to stop her she got quite angry, and I ended up having to pay for 4 kilos anyway. Much as we like mushrooms, they took some using, I can tell you!

Following my wedding in 2013 my new husband and I were lucky enough to go to Barbados for our honeymoon. After a couple of days lounging on the beautiful beach we decided to go on a scuba boat trip to swim with turtles (I stayed on the boat, it had a glass bottom and I wasn't keen on getting too friendly with a turtle). My husband jumped in the water. Unfortunately he didn't tell anyone he had never scuba dived before, inhaled a lot of water and looked to be drowning. I thought he was having a heart attack and was actually considering how to tell people my husband of 3 days was no more. And how was I going to get his body home?! Luckily the boat trip man saved him and he managed to stay alive for the rest of the trip.

Me my hubby his brother, wife and kids decided to have a weekend in blackpool we thought we could drive in and check into a local bed and breakfast this was quite a few years ago. We drove up which took about 4 hours went to the nearest bed and breakfast to be told sorry we are fully booked went onto the next one to be told the same and that you will be very lucky to find anywhere with availability as it was there illuminations, i dread to think how many bed and breakfasts we tried we even was trying hotels which all was fully booked, we ended up having to find a empty car park and sleep in the car at the time this was an absolute nightmare the kids loved it as it was an adventure for them but when the family are all together we all look back and laugh about it. We now always make sure we book well in advance.

When I was small (many years ago) my parents scraped up enough money for a week in Scarborough each year. The highlight of the holiday was The Waffle Man. He had a stall right next to the beach and served freshly cooked waffles with jam and cream. One year (I was about five) I was the proud owner of a new red blazer. We went for a walk in the late afternoon and ended up near the waffle stall. There was quite a crowd of people there. When we reached the front of the queue my dad bought a waffle for each of us. As he handed me mine someone in the crowd knocked me and the waffle splattered all down the front of my blazer-cream and jam everywhere. I screamed and screamed and started to cry. The noise upset the Waffle man so much he insisted on giving me a fresh new one. My new blazer was sponged and cleaned and I was comforted. My mother insisted on telling this story to everyone until I was about 50.

My mad loves elephants, so I took her to Sri Lanka as there is an elephant orphange there. My mum is a larger than character and does not usually do as she is told. She went up to a rogue blind elephant even though there were warning signs, and went running down a hill to a waterhole where mums and babies were drinking, followed by our guide screaming 'nooooo!' and followed by me shouting 'muuuum!' At the hotel a couple got married and had a decorated elephant attend, mum heard there was an elephant on site, gate crashed the wedding and during the vows she was talking to it, saying things like 'are you bored standing there?' in a rather loud voice. That was rather a memorable holiday!

We visited Germany in the early 70's on a very wet camping holiday. My mother had no handle on metric weights and asked the assistant behind the counter for 10g of meat. Her face was a picture.

We were getting back into the car in a carpark when my son shouts/sings to the people just getting out of the car next to us "Hello Mr Nobody, Mr Nobody, Mr Nobody" at the top of his lungs. As the man gets out the car he shakes hands with my four year old and says "Mr Nobody pleased to meet you, you must be Mr Somebody". At this point I am turning bright red, dying a death with embrassment and trying to apologise to the man. My son just keeps on saying it over and over and over. Then his wife gets out of the car and says "Hello there, I'm Mrs Nobody". Really feeling very embarrased now I am trying to get out of there as quickly as possible!!!

One year we were camping and woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of screaming.
We were all terrified as the screaming went on and on, fellow campers enlightened us eventually- the sound was peacocks on the neighbouring estate.

Last year we were lucky enough to have a holiday in a narrow boat with our two friends. We had completed three days of blissful boating, and it was time for us to find a turning place to turn our narrow boat around and make our way home. My husband was steering the boat at the time, and we had studied our Manuel to locate the next suitable place. As we were about to negotiate the turn around, I queried the lack of space, but was assured it would be ok!
My husband began the operation, only to hit the bank, and get the boat stuck in the mud! Poles to the ready, our friend frantically pushed to try and free the boat. Eventually with a lot of puffing and panting, the boat was freed. Our friend suggested he should complete the manoeuvre. Paul, our friend was an experienced narrow boater, so my husband agreed. Paul began reversing the boat, only to hit the bank behind, but the rudder handle had caught him unexpectedly and the consequence was, was that he was thrown backwards overboard. Poor Paul was unable to swim, so in his haste had miraculously managed to hang over the rear of the boat by one foot. When I saw this, I'm afraid I was in fits of laughter, and tried to record it on my iPad! Tears were running down my face because I couldn't stop laughing! Paul, at this point even though my husband offered him a hand to pull him back onboard, refused his offer of help, and amazingly through sheer strength and determination struggled to pull his body back onboard.
It was a brilliant holiday with many laughs. We are repeating the holiday in May this year. Our friends are up for another adventure!

Being young and up for an adventure, me and my mates decided to head for the music festival at Reading, Berkshire. Chipped in to hire a Transit van, chucked matresses in the back and set off from Aberdeen, Scotland for a 500 mile plus journey. A great weekend and the first time many of us had travelled into England. After the festival, we left the site, following the long line of vehicles heading towards the M4. It was dark and we were in awe of the lit up motorway, as we didn't have any motorways as far North as Aberdeen. Festival memories fresh in our minds and now we were heading home on the long journey up the length of the country....Or so we thought til we saw a great big sign on the motorway saying, "Welcome to Wales". Ooops!!

One of my first holidays abroad was to Corfu - we arrived at the hotel in the dark and in a storm, via an creepy dirty track through the woods. The hotel looked horrible - all bare brick, drab, cracked and old. As we went to our room, the light on the ceiling shook with the storm and the power went out. I sat and cried, wishing I was at home. The next morning, I woke up with the sun streaming in - I opened what I thought were floor to ceiling windows, to find that they were doors to our own private terrace, with a view of what looked like paradise. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. It turned out that we had arrived at the hotel via the little used rear entrance, and that everything looked much better on the other side, and on a sunny bright day.

I hope that the person running the competition is a lady with children so she sympathises with me, rather than is horrified at what I'm about to say. Ha, ha.
August last year my childhood bff's & I decided we we're long overdue​ some girly grown- up time (no children to interrupt our conversation!) & decided to book a weekend away. Cornwall was suggested & I jumped at the chance as the pictures looked breathtaking. The first day of the holiday we hit the beach& decided to take lots of pictures:posing on rocks, laying down, even star jumping. Well, I was a bit feeble trying to get myself of the ground, much to the amusement of the girls,we ended up in hysterics, trouble is after having had three children & not practised my pelvic floor exercises as much as I probably should have, I wet myself. Thankfully not a full blown wee but enough to be visible in my shorts (+the photos that followed.)

When my son Tom (who is now married with his own little one) was little we travelled to Thailand and stayed in a room with an outside wooden terrace. We could walk down our terrace steps through a lovely tropical garden to the beach. We kept finding him with only his legs sticking out from under the terrace. We eventually asked him what he was doing "playing with my dinosaur" was his reply. One afternoon after a tropical storm had passed we decided to take a walk. Opening our door my husband screamed and ran back in - the biggest reptile we had ever seen was just disappearing under the terrace! "My dinosaur!" Tom cried. We stopped him lying under the terrace after that!

When I was a child i went camping with my mum, dad and older brother to France. We had driven from The Wirral all the way to Dover and then onto Calais via the hovercraft. We got all of the way to our caravan park which was not far from Versaille in france and it was dark at this point. We realised just as the heavens opened that the tent polls were not in our tiny fiat panda. So whilst my mum and I sat in the car my poor brother was dragged off into the nearby woods to find sticks to hold the tent up with because we couldnt all fit in the tiny car. As it was we had already spent the journey sat on two double duvets... Surrounded by luggage. Every stick my brother brought was rotten and my dad was getting angrier by the second. They finally hitched it up against the car but the tent pegs were with the poles so it billowed up all night in the wind. My brother woke up outside soaking wet in the morning...the tent had blew over him in the night. We spent our the rest of the week in the farmer (who owned the parks) hay shed. Money was so tight my brother and I shared on icecream (he got the top and i got the bottom...i had to lick both sides really quickly) and we only got to look at the Eiffel Tower from the ground. Needless to say we were not best pleased to return home a week later and see the tent poles sat on the front wall waiting for us. My mum hasnt camped outside since! Im 30 and have yet to camp again!! Put off for life! In fact....i havent returned to France either!!

On our annual holiday to Abersoch (about 25 years ago) when my daughter was about 9 we were on the beach.
My daughter excitedly ran to where we were sitting "There's a jellyfish (on the beach)and it has huge testicles"....!!!!
This did make us all laugh and it continues to be a family joke all these year's later.

When I was about nine years old my family went on holiday to Hayling Island and my friend Diane came too. We had been on the beach in our swimming costumes and it was getting cold so I changed into my clothes holding the towel round me so no one could see. My friend then did the same, stripping off her costume, as she got her clean clothes out of the bag and dog came along and stole her knickers and ran off. I couldn't stop laughing (I know that may seem mean) and eventually the dog's owner managed to retrieve the knickers from the dog and bring them back. I have to say whenever I see here we still laugh about it now.

WHEN MY CHILDREN WERE LITTLE WE HAD LITTLE MONEY SO DECIDED TO TAKE THEM CAMPING
MY HUSBAND NOT USE TO TENTING PUT IT UP ON A HILL IN THE MORNING WE ALL AWOKE ROLLED IN TO EACH OTHER

never been abroad before i took my 11 year old son to Rome,we had a superb time but before we came home he said he wanted to return ''but be more romantic next time'', i agreed that applied to me too

Two years ago, my husband and I booked a city bus tour in Athens, Greece. We were told to wait in the hotel lobby at 7 a.m. and hop onto the bus when it arrived, which we did. First red flag? Our guide spoke only Portuguese. Second red flag? The bus stopped at a port, and everyone was herded onto a boat. It turns out that we, two 59-year-olds, had boarded a 12-hour party-boat tour of the Aegean Islands with a Brazilian tour group! We had no IDs and very little money, so we decided to stay put (instead of getting off at one of the island stops), drink a few beers, and get some sun. Lesson learned: Speak up at the first red flag.

There is a few when we were children the time when my sisters and I woke up in the tent and it had rained so much we were literally floating on our mattresses, or the one where we sneaked off to the amusement arcades with my two older sisters and I lost my bank book !!! Thankfully someone had handed it in but I can tell you we laugh out loud now but it was a scary moment.... eps as we were not supposed to be there. Great fun on our holidays

It was the last day of a three generation family holiday to Florida and we were all going around the villa doing the last minute checks. The cases were packed in the hire car and we really had to leave now if we didn't want miss our flight home.

Just time for one last little look at our holiday swimming pool where we'd had such a fantastic time and created some wonderful holiday memories.

Perfect timing for me to pretend I was going to tickle my 7 year old niece, where she promptly turned around to get away...

...and fell straight into the swimming pool fully clothed!!!

To say I was not a popular auntie/sister was an understatement!

I received death glares as my by now hysterical niece was dragged crying out of the pool, my rather angry brother was unpacking the car like a Tasmanian devil trying to locate suitable dry clothes and shoes (found at the bottom of the very last bag, as Sod's law would dictate!) and the villa owner is knocking on the door wondering why we hadn't left already.

A perfect end to a perfect holiday??

Well, in a way, yes. As it has become a tall tale recounted at every family occasion, and one which becomes taller with every retelling, "Do you remember when you tried to drown me?" etc. etc.

Sometimes it really is the little disasters that make a holiday truly memorable!