Our vacations are few and far between so they have personalities all their own.  This week we went to nearby Connecticut and visited with friends who are moving next week.

This vacation didn’t just have a personality… it had an entire anatomy of senses.  Experiencing life with every sensation was amazing.

Instead of packing our schedule we were resting and rejuvenating for all the work and ministry facing us over the next few months.  Lots of naps for humans and canines and waking whenever I gosh darned pleased (7.30AM…Thank you darn body clock).

The way to a man’s (or woman’s) heart is through the stomach.  When not lounging, we ate Busy days were quick and healthy food…not Fast Food.

Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal – Whole Foods for him & her – Panera/Whole Foods combo.

Home cooked meals on quiet days with friends were perfect…and easy.

Naan pizza  – Chickpea Pasta Korma

Local food is the best of all.  You can tell the flavor of a town through the food. My taste buds were dancing.

My friend Emily said the magic words for a lunch…Thai food! Hunni hates Thai making a perfect girls date.

Thai Ice Tea and Vegetable Spring Rolls

Emily recommended Javapalooza for funky lunch food.  Delicious and full of Paris street food…complete with awesome signs.

Banana nutella crepes!  We ate every…single…bite.  They were spectacular!

We had to return to O’Rourke’s when Kevin proclaimed it “best meal I’ve ever had” after my 10K.  How could we deny him

Our feet did some exploring…

Unfortunately my sandals couldn’t hack it…

Anyone know Hans Christian Anderson’s address or a good cobbler who can fix my favorite summer shoes?

Undeterred, I threw on sneakers to burn of some energy at Wickham Park with 3 anxious pups.  Yep three…we took Riley!

We met Petal and Petuna the pot-belly pigs while sniffing around the gardens.  Petuna was Porky the Pig’s girlfriend

My hands got a lot of work this week as I camped out in Panera and Whole Foods to use the internet and work on my blog.

Memories of college.  When not holed up in blogging central I worked internet-free at the house without Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, Google Reader, etc to distract me.

Vacation week was a great time to practice taking pictures.   I challenged myself to learn to use my camera properly. With scenery this beautiful who can resist?

Taken with great hints from Jenna with my point and shoot.  Macro setting is my new best friend

Our friends are our doppelgängers except for the looking like us bit.  We are so similar it’s eerie.  We gabbed and chatted making up for lost time with most conversations ending in “How did we get on this topic?”

My mind was in overdrive with ideas; for the blog, our next vacation, how to relax, and changing my food mentality.  The caffeine put me on the thinking autobahn…any speed I could hold

My eyes were open this week to see things I skip in my busyness.  How much food satisfies me, butterflies, toys and books.  The fun and enjoyable things in life.

Dessert was savored…a sweet bite of mango or Hunni’s local ice cream.

Pampering ourselves calms the spirit that busyness destroys.  Manicures (#42) and Pedicures are a pleasure we often forget.  Yes Hunni got a mani/pedi too

We took it all in instead of racing from on task to the next.  We want to enjoy life not survive it.  Perhaps we’ll take vacation anatomy and let it function in real life.  This Cynthia was more the me I want to be.

What form do your vacations normally take?