We turned off our electronics this week — and totally unplugged — on vacation — at the Jersey shore.

We took the causeway to the Seven Mile Island of the quiet yet engaging towns of Stone Harbor and Avalon, New Jersey.  We parked the car.  And didn’t get back in all week.   We biked to the beach, we biked for ice cream, we biked for those delectable crab cakes.  We unplugged – all week – from it all.

Even mom and dad.  Unplugged from the cell phone, from email, from texting.

It was the best week we ever had.

I don’t know about you and yours, but our kids have become sucked in (to electronics, that is).  As with anything that sucks us in, it’s a little alarming to give it up.  I say alarming because it was like an alarm went off when my husband and I said we were turning IT ALL OFF on our vacation for the week.  Wow.  What a wake up call – it was like a jolt went through their bodies.  For a moment, they just couldn’t quite imagine it.  They had become sucked in.

Did I mention it was the best week we ever had?

Unplugged.

Left to find our own things to do.  Together.  Alone.  Without the cord.

Answering to nothing but the salt air, the beach, and the bike path, we answered only to a beckoning call of a game or a family member with a new idea of what to do – together.

Among other things, the games beckoned us like never before.  Here were some of our favorites, in case you’re looking for some:

Catch Phrase

WhooNu

Spot It

SlamWich

Rush Hour

And good ‘ole Spit with the deck of cards . . . and . . .

Pick Up Sticks

May the tide be with you . . . to unplug . . . and plug . . . in . . . to each other.

And, while you’re unplugging, if you’re looking for a good summer read for your son, check out my book, Bork Reveals the Real Deal about the Facts of Life, written specially for boys, 9-13.