Anonymous wrote:I love my brother and sister in laws, nieces and nephews. Also loved my mil and fil. We get together whenever possible, go on family trips to national parks, go skiing, visit each other when in town. My kids have another level of support if something were to happen to me or my spouse. I realize that this is not the norm and am extremely grateful. I credit my mil who insisted that we all get together every summer for a vacation. It helped to form bonds over the years. The key to the success of these gatherings is that we don’t necessarily do everything together. We divide into subgroups when appropriate and meet up for dinner. We keep a tab of expenses and divide the costs at the end.
Your MIL must be a wonderful mother. I know MILs who insist on the vacation, then everyone pairs off into their nuclear family, or MIL goes off with just her daughter's children. Talk about awkward. I have such limited vacation time, I would gladly go with your MIL!