Well, it seems that our two week vacation comes to an official close tomorrow at 9:00am. It felt like it went by very fast for me, but that might be because things felt so busy. I had intended on posting more frequently over the break, but at the last minute, I decided to try something new (for me anyway): I unplugged - sort of. I tried to avoid the internet, texting, playing games (yes, I took a vacation from Clash of Clans, but more on that later) watching video clips and reading articles and decided to just go without. I still kept my phone with me, as it is my camera and I like taking pictures of my sons and the things that we do, and I still watched some movies and TV, but I made a conscious effort to avoid the other "technology" side of things. I had to respond to the odd message if it seemed important (and also to Karm's well wishes for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are doing an excellent job of losing right now), but for the most part I just went without all of it. It was different. It was not necessarily worse, or better than I how normally go about things (I'm not usually a glued to their phone kind of person, but I do see those people out there and worry about becoming a phone zombie), but it was different. I suppose the main side effect for the class was that I couldn't post about my spring break and hear from you guys about yours throughout. The thing that I like best about having technology at my finger tips is how easy it is for me to stay in touch with people and not being able to do that as much was a bit of a challenge. I always had other things to do, so it never bothered me for too long! I plugged back in officially on Saturday and now sit at my computer at nap time to give you a rundown of my spring break. Here goes:

My family left for Scottsdale, Arizona on Saturday, March 8th - early in the morning on the first day of our break to have a fun and relaxing vacation. Jonny and Zack were both awesome on the plane, even though I was a little stressed out about having two young kids on an airplane. Once there, they continued their awesomeness by enjoying the excellent weather (sunny and 30 degrees Celsius every day, with the exception of one windy and cloudy day). We tried to visit different places every day (The highlight probably being the train and railroad park), but always found time for a long walk and a swim. Zack even went swimming for his very first time and, after some initial tears, really loved being in the water! We also tried to go to different places for food, because I had lots of spots on my list of places - mostly for sandwiches and burgers - that I needed to go to! It was a good week!

We returned on Friday the 13th, just in time for my the start of the playoffs for my hockey team. The first game was just a few hours after we landed and I was exhausted! I still ended up scoring a couple of goals and assisted on the game winning goal with just over a minute left in the game. We won the game 6-5, but sadly lost the next two and were eliminated from the playoffs on Friday night. It was a very close series, but I am still sad that we lost. I finished the three game series with 3 goals and 5 assists and am already excited for next year.

Hockey did take up a bit of time, but other activities were mostly centered around doing some work around the house and hanging out with family and friends. We had people over for dinner one night and all the kids played while we watched a hockey game and listened to my jukebox. We did some gardening and yard clean up. Things were a little soggy, so I still haven't mowed the lawn, but I imagine that will have to happen soon. I fixed some things, reorganized the kitchen and closet and gave the whole house a good clean. We went to the park on all of the nice days and I helped Jonny with riding his Strider bike. I took Jonny to swimming lessons and on tiny shopping trips. We went to the Vancouver Aquarium to see the frogs (Jonny's favourite) and to see the new exhibit. Zack and I have been working really hard on rolling over and, on March 16th, he was able to finally get it done! He has done it a bunch of times since, but he doesn't really give much warning, so I have not yet been able to capture it on video. He is laughing and smiling a lot more and is officially 4 months old today! 

Finally, I know I wouldn't be able to escape without a Clash of Clans update and a promised new picture of my base, so I will say that I did put some work on Clash for Spring Break (Non players, feel free to ignore so the ones who play in the class will get off my case about it =P) . Before I unplugged officially, I altered my defence in hopes of raising trophies in an effort to make the champions league. When I "plugged back in" on Saturday, I was less than 50 trophies away. I did a few attacks, had some more good defence and became a member of the champion's league that night. It came with a 2000 gem bonus, which is great, and the loot bonus is 180,000 gold and elixir per battle, but the people up here are just way too tough. Everything is maxed out on bases for the most part and the barbarian king and archer queen are at devastatingly high levels. I will probably get some nice loot all the way back down to Masters 3 or Crystal 1 so I can save up to continue making more upgrades. The picture I included is of the base at the end. I left traps and teslas outside to catch the people attacking with the barcher style (barbarians and archers) and it worked very well for that. It did not work so well against balloon and other air attacks, especially if they started from the top. I have since readjusted my base by bringing a lot of the bombs and teslas back inside the walls and putting my town hall back outside so people can take it and my trophies while I keep the loot I start to regain ;-)

So how was your break? I am back online again, so feel free to write back or comment and I will respond. Otherwise, I will see you all bright and early tomorrow morning!