John you are 200% right about your suggestion......
Same thing happened to me in 2002 I was just having no work for 10 months....
I just sharpened up my skills building small small prototype application which I consider my aces later I plug in to my work as and when needed this is a good time to go for certifications advanced technologies coming up go to JUG meetings once a month......
After 10 months when I started development one again I didnt find any problem....
So best way to utilize the time is increase the bandwidth of your knowledge and enjoy time with friends and family