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we just came back from a vacation. it was really nice to leave the city. fresh air and grass was all the kids needed. they could amuse themselves for hours looking at the flora and fauna. they loved to run around in circles in the grass. they never saw so much space! we live in the ghetto, both jewish and non jewish we live in the 'hood. cramped inside and only a busy side walk outside, there isn't place to run around. in the winter when the kids are in school it is ok. but i wish we could at least use the buildings courtyard. oh well city living.

i didn't bring a lot of toys with me but the kids were occupied with;

• throw a ball down from the loft and around down the stairs and go look where it fell.
• Disney channel- no more, i had enough of it,i do not like Hannah Montana
  
• run around outside
• rip grass and throw it on the babies head
• run out the door as soon as no one is looking so we can play find the toddler
• run up and down the stairs

of course some things have to go wrong on a family trip. there was a teething baby, cranky 5 year old. and d was sick she was kind enough to throw clear liquid. but she really wasn't herself. the good thing was that we could do quiet activities and i didn't have to worry about her showing her personality. someone said such well behaved children! lol, one took a nap the other got to use the computer and one was in floppy, sick mode. she was really like a life size rag doll. i had to prop her up in the chair in the library.

the next day we were able to go hiking, she stayed with zeide and i didn't have to worry about her jumping too close to the edge. dh with m on his back and me with a 9 month old in the baby carrier and y all made it to the top of the mountain! i didn't think that i would make it up there. the baby is pretty heavy. the first time we did the hike y was 4 months old and dh had him in the baby carrier. i was not in god condition then but we made it. this time i was used to schlepping heavy things and walking. i wasn't sure that y would make it. he never did a longer hike before. he got scared in the middle of the way and had to be schlepped to the top. but he was really proud of himself when he made it. then he jumped all the way down. - we climbed the ridge of mount Mansfield. from the nose area to the chin. it was a lot of fun. but i couldn't move afterward.

m my 2 year old also did some hiking he was very good at it! it was a short hike but it was fun! we hiked down to a river. the kids got soaked, they jumped from rock to rock. they loved it.

we made it home after being in the car for 10 hours. we could have gone to Niagara! it was only supposed to be a 6 hour trip. but they closed on of the highways. so we had to go on a detour. then it was pouring buckets of rain so we couldn't go fast. but we made it home before shabbos.

now its back to regular life.