For eight seasons (and at least two more on the horizon), ABC’s has delighted fans with its smart and ridiculously relatable hit comedy series, Modern Family. Following the day-to-day lives of the interconnected Dunphy, Pritchett, and Tucker-Pritchett families, the show has won 22 Emmys (including five in a row for Outstanding Comedy Series) and is still a ratings juggernaut.

Though it’s hard to narrow it down, here are my top five favorite Modern Family episodes.

Modern Family: Top 5 Favorite Episodes

5. “Connection Lost”: Season 6, Episode 16

Modern Family has perfected the art of weaving the silliness of everyday life in with the emotional push and pull of family ties. This season six episode cleverly captures that intersection in the most modern of modern ways. The entire episode is shown through the perspective of the video camera in Claire’s laptop and communication tools like FaceTime and texting. In Chicago for work, Claire kills time at the airport by FaceTiming with Phil and Alex and checking things off her to-do list. In the midst of surfing organizational “closet porn,” Face-Timing Mitch to wish him a happy birthday, and seeing Gloria give Luke a Mohawk, Claire stumbles across hints that Hailey may have eloped in Las Vegas. But with whom? And when? And did Hailey really order a book from Amazon?

LOL line: “Fly safe. And remember, you can recline. It’s still America up there.” – Jay

4 & 3. “Airport 2010” & “Hawaii”: Season 1, Episodes 22 & 23

In this two-parter, Gloria surprises Jay with a trip to Hawaii—with the whole family! At the airport, Claire drowns her fear of flying at the bar, and Mitch realizes he left his wallet at home. Haley’s got her eye on a cute guy waiting to board a flight, and Manny gets pulled aside for questioning because his name matches one on the no-fly list. In Part 2, the family arrives at their idyllic Hawaiian resort and quickly realize that everyone’s got different ideas about how to vacation. Phil is determined to give Claire the honeymoon they never had, while Jay and Mitch want to do anything but relax. “The family goes on vacation” episodes of sitcoms often easily stray into the fantastical, but between Luke and Manny bristling as roommates, Haley’s hangover experience, and Mitch and Cam losing Lily in an elevator, Modern Family here again sharply balances the real with the very, very funny.

LOL line: “When Mitchell and I first met, I may have exaggerated my interest in adventurous travel by implying that I had any.” – Cameron

2. “Fizbo”: Season 1, Episode 9

A crossbow, a bouncy house, and a clown. What could go wrong? In this first season gem, everything—and to laugh-out-loud effect. Phil and Claire want to do Luke’s birthday right this year, and for Phil, that means pulling out all the stops. In the midst of a rock-climbing wall, bouncy house, zip line, and wild animal show, Claire’s crafting table gets a bit lost. Jay wants to gift his grandson a crossbow, while Cam decides to step in and be the clown of the party, literally. When that clown faces an escaped scorpion, the chain of calamities set off is Modern Family perfection.

LOL line: “Don’t worry. I signed like a hundred releases.” – Phil

1. “Disneyland”: Season 3, Episode 22

What better way to enjoy some time together than with a trip to Disneyland? The family heads down to Anaheim for some fun with Mickey Mouse, but it quickly becomes apparent that it’s tough for every generation to disconnect from the real world, even at the Happiest Place on Earth. Manny’s on edge about his stock-brokering skills for a school project, Claire’s trying to show Haley that there’s more fish in the sea, and Gloria is determined to make it the whole day in platform pumps. Meanwhile, after some rough rides, Phil worries he can’t keep up with Luke anymore, and Mitchell is struggling with Cam’s solution for Lily’s wandering: a kiddie backpack leash. In the end, Jay brings everybody together with his blunt wisdom, two pairs of shoes (slippers for Gloria and plastic heels for Lily), and some help from Animatronic Abe Lincoln. 

LOL line: “Manny, you don’t look very happy for a kid who’s riding an elephant.” – Gloria

“Disneyland” was the first full episode of Modern Family that I saw (yes, I was a latecomer to the MoFy world!), and I finished it wanting more, more, more. I was instantly hooked on the show’s clever wordplay, laugh-out-loud storylines, and of course, the family ties. Here was a modern show set in the real world, dealing with the everyday, but capable of elevating the mundane to the hilarious, the implausibly silly to the “Yeah, I’ve totally been there.”

Is it possible I’ve seen every Modern Family episode a dozen times? Yep. And this super-fan is excited for more from the Dunphys, Pritchetts, and Tucker-Pritchetts this fall on ABC.