Learn from my mistakes people...

So, here is a list of things that I forgot to bring on vacation that would have enhanced our trip...and an explanation regarding each item:

• A rubber mallet: Have you ever tried to put up a tent and drive the stakes in with your hand or your flip-flop? Not good.


• Camping chairs: Going to Wal-Mart to buy beach chairs at $10 each, when we already have 6 camping chairs at home? Ouch.


• T-shirts to wear to the beach: I packed lightly, knowing that we had a washer/dryer in our rental house and we could do laundry whenever. However, my good intentions led to underpacking for this particular activity. So, I ended up wearing a white undershirt to the beach. Dork.


• Tennis rackets/gear and a basketball. Guess what is across the street from our rental house? That's right, a community park with really sweet tennis courts and a 4-goal hardtop for bball. Dude. A real missed opportunity. A little research with our mutual friend Google could've been beneficial in this situation.


• Food: I have been saving a big bucket of trailmix for this trip, and where is it? Still on the shelf in our pantry...all alone. And it could have been in my belly. Just like the sixpack of Woodchuck that's sitting in the pantry floor. Also, we have several muffin/ brownie mixes that could have been put to good use, and would not have taken up much packing space.


• The newspaper. Jeez, I am going nuts with no TimesFreePress to read. I've got to look into having it sent to wherever I'm staying instead of putting it on hold or having a pile at home when I get back. I know I can read it online, but it's just not the same.


• Bike Lock: How many bicycle cable-locks do I have at home? Two? Three? How many do I have here? None. I do not trust my fellow man long enough for me to go into a store for 10 minutes and do a little shopping. There are several shopping areas within a short bike ride of our rental and I can ride my bicycle by and window-shop only. Dude.


• A tandem bike for Jack would've been nice. He's three years old, and can ride his bike, but man...it takes a lot of coaxing and cajoling to get him to go any faster than a leisurely three year old's pace. Which is slow. Very slow.


• A real shovel. Plastic shovels at the beach are really only novelties. They are not very good for digging or castle building and they break if you use them more than twice.

That's not to say that the vacation was a bust or not fun or any of that negative stuff; on the contrary, I think our family has had a very relaxing, very fun time. We have been to the beach every day, and had opportunities to go running and biking. We have also played some awesomely fun games on the Wii such as Karoke, Just Dance 2, and American Idol. And I am telling you people, if you want to laugh, play some of these dancing games with your family and/or friends. If you haven't yet, you are really missing out.