Lake Powell 2013

Oh, Lake Powell, how I love thee.  Honestly, words can't describe how amazing our first trip to Powell was.  Let's just say we were spoiled.  We were invited by some awesome friends who happen to have awesome parents who happen to have an awesome houseboat and lots of awesome toys. (That sentence doesn't do the Warnock family justice.  They are so generous and so much fun!  Davis and Jensen and their families both live right around the corner from us and we feel pretty lucky to be friends with them!) We went with both of the Warnocks and three other couples from our neighborhood and we had way too much fun!  We drove down on Wednesday and stayed until Sunday morning.

First, some pictures of our digs (I told you we were spoiled):

That's our gracious host, Greg Warnock, on the back of the houseboat with Davis.

Top story of the houseboat: the most comfortable over-sized chair ever

Second story:

Giant couch...

facing a giant screen that folds out of the ceiling!

And a kitchen complete with grill

Bottom story:

Dining area

 

Living area

And kitchen

Our bedroom: (there are 7 large bedrooms, and two smaller bedrooms off of two of the larger ones)

One of the three bathrooms: (and there are two extra sinks/vanities)

Off the back of the boat (no big deal, two jet skis):

Cool underwater lights at night (and the slide off the second story)

And now, some shots of our adventures...

All the ladies!  Kandace, Danica, Emily, Whitney, Katie, and Kassie


Trevor and me on the wakeboarding boat

Trev killed it wakeboarding and wakesurfing.  He was seriously a natural.  I also wakesurfed, but I did not kill it.  I did finally get up after 7 tries!  Give me a break though, I was 24 weeks pregnant.

 

The boys played king of the mountain on the blow-up island

 And then they posed nicely for this picture: Chris, Joey, Jensen, Davis, Jose, and Trevor

We had some fun with Rock Band our first night...and don't be fooled by our boring faces, it was hilarious.

We ate a LOT of good food!  We each provided two meals and of course, lots of snacks and junk food.

Kandace, Katie, and me catching some sun on the floating island

Kassie and me chillin' on the back of the houseboat

One night we played a guys vs. girls charade-type game, which of course the girls dominated, on the giant second-floor couch

Danica and Kassie ready for a tube ride off the back of a jet ski

We found a little swimming hole and climbed up the rocks to do some cliff jumping.
Whitney and me saying hello:

 Here we are, lined up according to how brave we are/how high we were willing to jump. :)

Just hanging out on the back of the boat, watching a little jet ski rodeo action:

Chris and Jensen, ready for the rodeo:

Here's an action shot of the rodeo: someone hanging on to the back while the driver tries to buck them off

We took a long, relaxing boat ride, and then a short hike to Rainbow Bridge:

Okay, how to do this next part justice? Greg has a very, very, very fast boat.  He designed all of the details himself (and there are some awesome details, like speedometers in front of each seat so you know how fast you're going), and he was generous enough to take us each on a ride.  The boat seats six, and you have to stay seated.  I wasn't really sure what to expect (how exciting can a fast boat-ride be?) but it ranks up there with roller coasters for me!  We got up to 120 mph and slowed down to about 60 mph to make turns.  Definitely a thrill ride! 

On our way back in from the ride.  Can you tell I'm happy? 

We had a lot of fun off the back of the boat, at night especially.  The boys did a lot of jumping off the second story while trying to catch a football mid-jump.  The slide off the second story was fun- all of us girls tried it after some peer pressure from each other. :)

We made some awesome memories with our friends and had so, so much fun in the process.  Lake Powell is beautiful!  I really hope we make it back there someday soon!

July Whirlwind

The beginning of July was full of fun activities for us.  Actually, I was a little overwhelmed with everything we had going on, and even though things didn't exactly go smoothly, we still had plenty of fun.

The week of the 4th, my brother and his wife were on vacation, so our family took turns watching their kids.  They had a stomach bug the week earlier that was ridiculously persistent, and even though none of them had shown symptoms for days, somehow it still spread.  My mom and sister-in-law caught it early in the week while they were watching the kids, but since they were feeling fine by Wednesday the 3rd, we still joined everyone in Centerville for the festivities.  Our little family drove to Centerville on the evening of the 3rd so we could watch the fireworks that night and be up in time for the morning activities.

Waiting for the fireworks to start...

We all watched Grandma fiddling in the park with her violin students during the annual breakfast, then watched the parade.

Ready for the parade with cousin Lexi!

After lunch, Robert, Renae, Trevor, and I took Cassie, Benson, and Lexi to the park for the little carnival.  The kids got their faces painted, jumped in the bounce houses, had shaved ice, and played on the playground at the park.

No surprise, they all took a good nap that afternoon (including Cassie!).  We drove back home after dinner, and Lexi came home with us to stay for the rest of the week.  Our neighbors provided an awesome fireworks show for the kids, and we all pitched in a little money to help out.  The kids loved it!  I wish I could describe the giggling and excitement.  Sometimes I feel like fireworks are a waste of money, but the reaction of all the kids made it totally worth it!

We walked down the street a little way to get a better view of the Thanksgiving Point fireworks, but I think the amateur fireworks show had spoiled the kids- they were restless and bored during the "real deal!"  After all the excitement and the late night, the kids slept very well...until about 5 am when Cassie woke up sick. (Curse that stomach bug!) So our 5th of July was filled with watching movies, mommy cleaning up messes, and being religious with hand washing and hand sanitizer.  Luckily, the symptoms only lasted 24 hours, so I knew I wouldn't be dealing with throw-up for too long, as long as Benson didn't get it.  Which is why I was so liberal with the hand sanitizer.  It worked!  Benson and I stayed healthy.

On Saturday the 6th, Vaughn and Christie picked up Lexi, and we headed to Logan to celebrate Rialey and Kim blessing their first baby, Kaleb.  I brought Lysol wipes and hand sanitizer with me, and I probably annoyed half the family by wiping things down and occasionally handing out little squirts to everyone, but I am proud to say that we didn't pass it on to anyone!  Unfortunately, Trevor caught it and ended up in the hotel room Saturday night while the rest of us played at the park.  He felt much better Sunday morning and was able to participate in the blessing.  Of course I gave him a squirt of sanitizer right before the blessing. :) In the afternoon, after eating good food and spending time with family, Trevor headed back home so he could work on Monday, but the kids and I headed to Oakley.  We spent Monday jumping on the tramp, playing with puppies and kittens, feeding goats, and in my case, trying to be helpful to Grandma since she would be watching the kids for the rest of the week (spoiler alert: adults-only trip to Lake Powell with friends while Grandma and Grandpa watched the kids!).

I left Tuesday morning, and it was definitely harder for me to drive away than it was for the kids to see me go! (Which is probably obvious from the pictures- their house is grandkid heaven!) Luckily, I brought along a little Jane Austen on CD to distract me from saying goodbye and to get me through the drive.  I did tons of laundry and packing Tuesday afternoon, and we headed out early Wednesday morning (July 10th) with our friends for Lake Powell.  Watch for an epic post about that coming soon!