What we really did for a week

Since we weren't up in the mountains, many people wonder what we spent a week doing while we were at home. I probably won't remember all of it, but here is an idea of what made our vacation so good.

Walking
We probably walk/hiked a total of 20 miles this vacation. Before the trip we had picked up some amazing kid-carrier backpacks at REI, and darned if we weren't going to get our money's worth out of them. We walked to the park. We walked around Biola. We walked to the park some more. At one point we walked from our house over to Borders and back - a total hike of about 7 miles - for the purpose of picking up our Animaniacs preorder dvd (WOOOHOOOO!). We decided that just because you're not in the mountains doesn't mean you can't go hiking.

Not watching tv
We also spent the bulk of our vacation ignoring the technological world. We didn't watch tv or movies, we didn't check out e-mail, we didn't read blogs, we didn't even answer the phone. In the evenings, we turned the lights off early a couple of times and just hung out by candlelight. It gave us ample time to read, play recorder, do karate, play with legos, walk, etc. It's amazing how much you can get done when you're not doing as much.

Reading
Jessica made it all or most of the way through a couple of Anthony Trollope books. I read The Three Musketeers. We are also reading together again, going through The Scarlet Pimpernel which, if you haven't read it, is a must read at least once.

Swimming
The day of our big trek to Borders and back, we spent the evening at my mom's place (or Damma mous hous hous, as Brie would say) hanging out. I swam some while Brie napped, and then took her out again later after she woke up.

Parking
A couple of times on our walks to the park we stopped and picnicked and enjoyed the shade and the breeze.

Oh, and Brigid was fine by the second day that we were home. Go figure.