What’s been going on since we last chatted? A TON. Lots of family-stuff, church-stuff, running-stuff, reading-stuff, etc. In good time, I’ll give updates on all…
Let’s take on the family vacation first…
My family now has a chunk of fun memories that will last a lifetime. And they should get an award for the hardcore driving & activities. They were ANIMALS!
- Drove to Cathy’s family reunion in San Diego & back…I am Clark W. Griswold. 🙂
Camped a ton & LOVED it. My kids caught Brook Trout in an alpine lake in Colorado & I devoured them. Mmmmm…. (The fish didn’t bite on the worms until after it was PITCH BLACK & my kids were sitting in complete darkness!)- Hiked a ton, too. Sometimes, we’d hike up to 7 or 8 miles a day with our 2nd & 4th grader! Incredible sights, too.
Visited some national parks I didn’t even know existed in southern Utah (Arches, Bryce, & Zion). DEFINITELY worth the time. (How come I’ve never heard of them???)- Did some climbing in Arches in 100 degree weather with $2 flip-flops from Wal-Mart. I kept calling them my “High Adventure, High Traction, Flip-Flops.” They’re now falling apart.
- Drove down the Las Vegas Strip with the intention of eating lunch somewhere. Decided not to give them 1 dime. Drove on & ate PBJ sandwiches in 100 degree heat. 🙂
- Temperature guage hit 117 degrees in the Mohave Desert. Wow.
Did the Disney thing for the first time. Kids LOVED it. One night, around 9:15p, right before the nightly fireworks display, I saw frustrated parent barking at their exhausted, crying kids. Turned to my wife & said, “This is truly the happiest place on earth!” 🙂- I fell in love with Disney’s FastPass. For me, passing by all the people in line was better than ANY ride. 🙂
- Read “The Kite Runner” (loaned to me by my friend Debbie). Only book I had time for. Some heavy topics, but an excellent read I’d highly recommend.
At every souvenir stand, I kept finding my son’s name on souvenirs, but not my daughters. So I kept turning the video camera on & chasing my daughter around saying, “Hey, sweetie? This [insert cheap trinket here] has the name, ‘Kyle,’ which is close enough to yours, isn’t it? I’ll buy it for you!” She would shout, “No!”, laugh hysterically, & run away. (Check out the pictures below to see my son getting into the act.- Kept up with the marathon training
during vacation. A lot of times I was up an hour or two before the
rest of the family to do it. But I didn’t want to take away “together
time.”
Had probably our BEST family reunion yet on my wife’s side. Relaxing. Great conversation. Kids fell in love anew with their extended family. Fun activities together. Beautiful setting.- Did some body surfing in the ocean. That’s the only thing my wife really misses living in the Midwest (after growing up on the East coast & going to college on the West coast).
- Ate at the nastiest restaurant (a Dairy Queen in Ludlow, California). They were slow, rude, & got our orders totally messed up. Bathrooms should have been quarantined. Pulled a 6 inch black hair out of my chicken sandwich. Made 1 Timothy 4:4-5 come alive. No other restaurant existed for miles, so their monopoly allowed their food & service to stink while staying in business.
Our family vacations are typically not for “rest.” We live for the
laughter, experiences, sights, & fun. Pack it all in! We were, “Go, go,
go!!!” (Needed to get home to rest.)
It was a trip I’ll never, ever forget & always treasure.
Welcome back to blogosphere. You’ve been greatly missed! Glad you had a great vaca. You forgot to post pictures of your visit with “cousin Eddie” – “Clark, I don’t know why they call this Hamburger Helper it does just fine all by itself.”
Brad, that reminds me of what my car salesman told me…
“Now, I owe it to myself to tell you, Mr. Griswold, that if you are thinking of taking the tribe cross country, this is your automobile. The Wagon Queen Family Truckster. You think you hate it now, but wait till you drive it.”