Family Vacation

We have not had a real vacation in such a long time! I have been envious all summer of my friends and patients who tell me about their week long getaways! Well we finally got one! Yea!

Friday: We started with a flight to SLC, connecting us to OC. Somewhere between here and there this is what happened to our luggage. Do you know that they charge you $20 per bag checked now? Ridiculous! This is what happens to our luggage. They could have at least given us our $20 back!
It looks like it got ran over and then drug across the tarmac!
On the upside we got a new suitcase that is much nicer than this one which was at least 10 years old.
Mark lost his cell phone on the first flight and the kids were a little crazy to travel with. This luggage topped it all off. But we made it safe.


Saturday: We went to the beach with MaryJo, Arnell, Tyson, Ashley, Jordan, Lacey, Tanner, Grandma, Chauntel, Rob, Mitchell, Micah, Madeline and McKay. But first a few of us went to Old Navy to score some $3 t-shirts.
After the beach my family had to hurry home to get ready for a family photo shoot. We went to a studio and had a portrait done that will be touched up by a painter to look like a painting. They had a wear black and classic attire so that the portrait would not look so 2009 in 20 years from now. We had an awesome dinner complete with Ribs, the Oot loves Ribs. He asks me to make them all of the time. He was so cute when I told him we were having them. He licked his lips and made a slurping sound and said, "I love ribs". After dinner, we played volleyball until after dark, then went to the hot tub. Sorry no photos, if anyone has some send them to me!

Sunday: The main event! My brother Jordan spoke in church. He gave a wonderful talk. He is going on a mission to the Philippines. He leaves for the MTC this Wednesday. I was so proud of Jordan. He is going to be a wonderful missionary.
We had another fab meal and then played sand volleyball with Jeremy, Angela, Ceasar, Tyson, Ashley, Jordan, Tanner and Mark. It was fun. My siblings were surprisingly better at volleyball than I thought. We played volleyball until after dark, then went to the hot tub.

Monday: I went with Angela (my sis), my mom, Lacey (Jordan's girlfriend), and her mom and sister, Debbie and Ashlyn and Angela's friend Chantal to the Fashion District in LA. It was really fun. They had tons of stuff, fo SUPER CHEAP. I got some sunglasses, jewelry, make-up and a jacket. They had jewelry sets (necklace and earrings) for only $1. It was a ton and fun and really entertaining. Here are a few things that made me laugh.
1. Many of the vendors had little boom boxes and they played rap, or Mexican music.
2. There were like 6 city blocks filled with vendors selling fabrics.
3. The mannequins all had butt cheek implants.
4. Some of the mannequins had the new LA DOUBLE D breast implants.
5. It was practically impossible to find a pair of sunglasses that did not have a designer name on them. Here is me in my sweet sunglasses!
After the fab time at in the Fashion District I met up with my high school friend Meagan. We went to BJ's pizza for dinner, ate pizza and enjoyed the famous Pizzookie, we tried the new triple chocolate, it was divine. It was a lot of fun catching up with Meagan!
Meagan came over to see my boys after dinner. While we were visiting the Oot stated playing with Anglea's friend Chantal's iphone. She has an app of a lighter that he could light and he was fascinated by it. He took the phone with him to the bathroom and dropped it in the toilet. So lucky us we got to buy a new iphone. FYI do not let your kids play with other people expensive gadgets! I took it from him once, but once wasn't enough. I guess we all learned a lesson.


Tuesday: We drove to Lake Havasu Arizona. It was almost a 5 hour drive. We got IN-N-OUT burger on the way and my dad got a speeding ticket. It was kind of funny. We stopped at a rest stop for the Oot to go potty and my dad pulled over into 2 parking spots, while the child decided if he really had to go. Finally I just made him, but my dad did not move his car. When we came back a highway patrol women was asking him to move his vehicle and park correctly. After all had gone potty we got back on the road trying to catch up on with my mom. A few miles down the road my dad was speeding along at 91 and the same lady patrol came and pulled him over. She gave him a break and sited him at 81 so he would not have to go to traffic school. Bummer though.
We tried to use the GPS to find a Chinese restaurant for dinner, but they were all closed because it was so late. So we ended up having dinner at the Black Bear Diner. It was pretty good. They brought out pancakes that size of a large plate. Yummy. After dinner it was still over 100 so we went swimming.

Wednesday: Lake Day. We rented two jet skis and played on the beach and in the water. Here are my parents on one of them together. After the lake we had more fab food and spent the evening swimming, playing darts, Foosball and table tennis.

Thursday: Boat day. We rented a boat and two more jet skis. Then spent the day, cliff diving, jet skiing, wake boarding, tubing, swimming and trying to stay cool. Did I mention how hot it is in AZ? This day was 110. You had to jump in the water every time the boat stopped just to stay cool. I loved it though. I hate being cold! I love to play in the water, but not if it makes me cold. So this was perfect for me!

In the evening we played pool games and foose ball and watched 17 Again.

Friday: Our last day in Havasu and time to go home. We spent a little more time in the pool and them packed up to go. We dined at the Diner again. Then drove to home on the way home we watched movies and I played with photoshop. In the evening we got that Chinese food I had been craving and hung out around the house.




Saturday: Time to go home. We had an evening flight so we spent the day playing tennis which I am terrible at, with Mark, Jordan and Tanner, swimming, and shopping for a birthday present for the Oot with Grandma. Oot wanted to look at all kinds of toys before making his choice. He chose a dinosaur playset with a action figure and a boat. He could not wait to take a bath and try it out.
The flight was long, but our luggage made it okay this time. Those little faces say it all!
Thanks everyone for a wonderful week!