There is nothing better than a family vacation to help a family connect. Hollywood recognizes this. A number of years ago Chevy Chase starred in a series of silly but popular movies about family vacations. This past summer Robin Williams followed suit in the movie "RV." Although at times crass and blundering, they both offered the message of family unity.

As our family vacationed together over the past few weeks we found ourselves having a few real-life Chevy and Robin moments. That's to be expected, given seven adults and a 2 1/2 year old flying, driving, eating and sleeping together for nearly two weeks in the midst of an extreme heat wave. Our travels took us to Croatia to the family of one of our sons-in-law --- by way of Italy, where our daughter and he met.

The first leg of the trip was spent in a small town called Vo, outside Padua. We had no television, telephone or newspaper. We got up each morning, made espresso (that was the only coffee pot in the house) and sat outside looking out over miles and miles of vineyards and listening to the chiming of church bells. There was no hurry to do anything. We moved slowly --- sometimes too slowly for our children --- but we all enjoyed the relaxation that was so different from home.

The sights, sounds and tastes of northern Italy were exciting. But it was the togetherness of the family that was the most significant --- the inevitable teasing, the grocery shopping as a group, the preparation of food, and the sharing of just about everything, even if there were "moments" when eyes rolled and --- well, it would not be normal for seven adults to be together that long without a bit of tension now and then.

For me, the highlights of the trip were simple moments, like my two sons, who had anticipated down time and brought their mitts, throwing a baseball back and forth, laughing and talking as I sat in the back garden. Or all five children and our 2 ½-year-old grandson organizing a soccer game, as my husband and I watched and took pictures.

The same was true in Croatia, at our son-in-law's parents' home for dinner. His mother speaks English, his father and three-year-old niece do not, yet somehow we all communicated. Sitting outside, sharing course after course, taking hours to finish the meal was magical --- so different from our usual hurried way of doing things at home.

In Italy and Croatia, we were among thousands of families from all over the world enjoying a vacation. As moms and dads and grandparents and children and grandchildren played in the sea, shopped and simply enjoyed an ice cream or a drink at a café, I was struck by how people of the world gathered for vacations could get along with no problems. It did not fit with the pictures we saw of bodies and bombs and broken families in Iraq, Lebanon and Israel.

We do not know what the future holds, where our grown children will live or if we will ever be able to pull everyone together again for a trip like this --- especially in a world where travel has become more and more challenging, and in some cases dangerous.

We need to work and pray, fervently and daily, for peace. That is the kind of "real life" movie I would love to enjoy.

Anne Hansen is a parent education consultant and a parishioner at Blessed Junípero Serra Church, Camarillo. Her e-mail address is familymail@aol.com.