markandanne

We just returned from a week long trip with the kids, and one thing that I noticed that I hadn't thought of prior to this trip is that you need to think about how you are going to amuse the kids after it gets dark. It's not the weather that's a problem - we can bundle them up and they will play out in the woods for hours. But now that the time has changed, by 5 o'clock it's getting dark.

I keep forgetting my star charts, which would be a good thing to have in the evening. My charcoal grill lets me get around most fire bans so toasting marshmallows is always a popular thing to do in the dark. They're learning to play Scrabble on our travel set. And then there's always the TV/DVD player, although it's volume has to compete with the noise of the HVAC.

But I'd like to come up with more ideas if anyone has any...