home again, home again, jiggity, jig...

We're baaa-aack.   Did you even notice I was gone? lol.  We pulled in the driveway earlier tonight, unloaded the van, unpacked the suitcases, threw some clothes in the washer, bathed the kiddos, and everyone else crashed.  I, however, have not so much as checked my e-mail the entire time we were gone, so I had to sneak in a little bit of computer time before my head hit the pillow. 

Just a little re-cap of what we've been up to - in the last 8 days we:

• logged around 2000 miles on the good ol' mini-van
• spent 8 solid days together (in very close quarters...all six of us...good times! ;))
• ate way too many deep fried items
• rode on a bus/shuttle 6 times
• saw Mickey, Minnie, and various other characters
• learned to draw pooh bear
• sat outside Disneyland while the entrance was closed due to a bomb threat
• rode on Splash Mountain TWICE - no waiting line during the fireworks!
• lost a little 4 year-old for a short time (traumatizing to all of us)
• spent a bit of time at the ocean
• collected shells
• didn't sell our house while we were gone (darn!)
• hiked a little
• visited an old mining/ghost town
• spent some time with Brad's mom (but missed her on the way back home)
• spent time with my family
• took a bunch of photos
• enjoyed some great weather and sunshine (we all got a little color after a long long white winter)
• shopped
• drank a lot of water
• watched more scooby-doo episodes than I can count (actually I just listened, but the kiddos watched them all the way to and from California...how did people ever take little kids on road trips before DVD players were put in cars?!?)
• discovered exactly how brave Zach is (and how unbrave someone else may or may not be)
• used a GPS for the first time ever (borrowed from my parents...but I think it's going to be at the top of my wish-list now  -  seriously...maps schmaps)
• enoyed being "unplugged" (i didn't even use my cell phone)
• remembered how nice it is to come home...no matter how fun the trip was...

I will definitely be blogging more about our trip - and sharing some pictures - but being gone for over a week has definitely put me behind schedule - lots of fun things coming up...I'll share more soon! :o)