Back to Reality

We're back from our much too short vacation. When we were on the plane yesterday I felt like we'd just arrived in Florida! We had a wonderful time and packed a lot of fun into our few days there. A few favorite memories:

• Dairy Queen ice cream cake--we celebrated my sister's birthday and my birthday since it was about halfway in between the two.
• Swinging--we tried out several different playgrounds and Esther and Peter spent a lot of time on the swings.
• Bike riding--I went on a bike ride with my Dad, which I haven't done in several years. It was fun to do that again, and brought back good memories of our RAGBRAI rides across Iowa.
• Shells and sharks' teeth--we did some searching and brought back a few good souvenirs.
• Carcassonne--a favorite game for my mom, my sister and me. We played after the kids went to bed at night while the guys watched TV (and fell asleep).
• Relaxing--it was so nice to just get away and spend time together as a family.
• Tampa Airport--they had a play area right near our gate! It was a whole enclosed room with the cushy play things like they have at the malls. Of course it was all airport-themed--very cool! It entertained our kids for quite a while.

So, as quick as our trip was, we definitely made the most of it and have some good times to remember. We're already looking forward to next year...