Happy holidays? Not when you're sitting in the back of a minivan driving for endless hours. Many kids will be stuck on road trips this holiday season as airlines are charging extra for special holiday travel and some families are opting to drive to holiday gatherings.

Don't let colder weather chill your family's spirit of exploration. Stoke the flame with plans for unusual and active travel. Here are five options.

Births for the week of Nov. 15, 2009.

The Citizens Awareness Group of York will host its sixth annual gratitude gala, “A Gala of Reflection,” at 4 p.m. Saturday at the McCelvey Center on Jefferson Street in York.

Cedar Grove AME Zion Church, East Chapel Road, Rock Hill: Family and Friends concert with the Men of Zion and the Boyd Hill Male Choir, 5 p.m. today.

Church name: Remedy Church

Family Connections of South Carolina's Rock Hill office will host a Big Thursday party with a purpose event at 7 tonight in the Baxter Hood Center.

It used to be you could balance your checkbook, monitor your ledger and not have to worry about overdrawing your checking account. But the widespread use of debit cards, combined with bankers' greed, have led to a surge in overdraft fees that make it difficult to ascertain your exact balance.

Of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,” the only one still in existence is the Great Pyramid of Giza. This tells you something about the strength of the pyramid structure, but it also suggests that the pyramid might be a good metaphor for other endeavors you wish to endure — such as your investment strategy.

You spot a 3-pound-plus hunk of boneless beef round steak in a supermarket meat case — $4.99 a pound, $15.62 total — and think: Can't afford that.