Later Alligator

We're baaack, best believe it--I have a tan. 

It's fading quickly so come see while you can...

Enough about me. We had a great stay

in the Sunshine State for a family vacay.

Took a 3 hour drive and a 5 hour flight.

But made it we did!  in the dead of the night.

Only  to wait for our nice rental van

4 kids waiting 2 hrs at 3 a.m.????

Things got better--or did they? We found our hotel.

Not as nice as the internet pictures...Oh well.

Ft. Lauderdale beach awaited next day.

What a beautiful beach! What a great place to play!

We sunned and we swam with the scantily clad.

Played frisbee, found shells, and were generally glad. 

Down the surf a strange fish attracted a crowd.

With rows of sharp teeth--Barracuda? watch out!

That was just the start of our brush with the wild.

Dad and Kate took the raft out into waters mild.

When what could those dark forms moving fast be?
Both gentle and frumpy? Twere 2 Manatee !!

And...After swimming for hours in ignorant bliss.

There was a shark sighting we were lucky to miss.

 Next day we drove inland away from the shore.
To sunny Orlando with gardens galore.

Epcot center was full of rides and delights.

We saw the whole world and the fireworks at night.

Ice cream in Germany, China for lunch.

funnel cakes, drinks, French pastries to munch.

Oh that we'd had more money to spend!

We'd enjoy ALL of  Disneyworld's parks to no end!

Next up on the docket were the Everglades.

Armadillos rested off the road in the shade. 

Cypress trees dripping with old Spanish Moss

Gave air of a swampy adventure across...and...

Away on an airboat we flew with a roar

Gators floated like logs and were sunning on shore.

Spotted a cottonmouth and such waterfowl,

a turtle, more gators, and really? a Cow?

Picnicked with peacocks in the hot air.

Frog legs anyone? Gator meat? au contraire. 

It was back to the beach, in our luxury van.

With a DVD player and a rear back-up cam.

The kids watched movies in the back seat.

Who knew 2 hours of silence could be such a treat!!!

Back to the beach, this time at Hollywood.

My favorite by far. I could live there. I should!

With shops on the Broadwalk this beach has it all.

People dancing, and dining and  beach volleyball.

Had our fill of swimming. Our sunburns burned twice.

Lifeguards warned us to stick tight to the white.

The riptides were coming and with them sting rays.

So we roamed with the foam and stayed inside the bays.

So sad! our last day! we drove to Key Biscayne
Passed through glittery Miami in the Express lane.

What a lovely oasis but curse this strong breeze!

Too windy for paddleboarding or snorkeling? Please?!

Tis sad but is true that all good things must end.

And so did our trip and this poem that I send.

No more sand in my sheets no more cartoon network.
Back to dentist appoinments and chores and homework.


I love all my kids yes I certainly dooo
but I'm glad that we're no longer packed in one room!

Party On

One of these times I am going to post what goes on BEFORE our road trips--the whining, "Why can't we just stay home." The complaining, "Mountains are stupid."  The screaming, "Get your shoes on NOW"

   One of these times.... but not this time. 

 Capitol Reef National Park

See how much fun they're having now that we are here? 

This is the kind of place where your imagination can run wild. Just look at this scenery? We saw Indian petroglyphs and hiked to Hickman Bridge (below). Even the drive was eventful. We spotted an enormous golden eagle perched on the side of the road, saw a bald eagle in flight, and encountered probably 50-80 deer which were trying (not very hard) to avoid our car. Sorry to say we hit one but the damage to both car and beast were minimized due to Brandon's quick brake action. 

 Took Kate skiing for her 12th birthday at Eagle Point Resort in Beaver. Beautiful day, great lunch at the lodge, and no broken bones. I only forgot sunscreen. The next morning I looked like a red panda. Kate just looked red.

Someone did this to our door while we were gone!! What a sweet surprise from the church girls, "Welcome to Young Women's Kate"









Concluding the week was a very special event for us. 

Adria was baptized a member of the LDS Church by her dad.

Adrie's good friends came to cheer her on.

Back at home it was playclothes and fun with cousins.      Squint for the camera!

What a party! We had Adrie's favorite meal: sweet pork burritos and had fun visiting with all our family that traveled to be with us for the day.

Time to pack for the next adventure....Just learned it will be Florida's spring break while we are there. Seriously?! The party never ends. Glad this one's on the beach!

Birthday OverDose

If raising electronics-dependent children gets you parent of the year then we are right on track! On Sundays we make our kids give up their gadgets. I thought it was funny the next day when I was tidying up to see the random assortment of toys that were used in their place. 

Recorder, Harmonica, beanbag, Etch a Sketch.

Anyway, our week was filled with more birthdays and more parties. What better way to survive the long winter months?!

Adrie turned 8

This is an important milestone in our family because not only do you get to be baptized you also get your ears pierced.

The event proved very traumatic for this 8-year old. Her older sisters came along for moral support and on the drive shared their own comforting experiences. 

Kate said it felt like hot knives going into your ears. Brynn disagreed, "No it's more like getting stung by seven wasps."  I thought it reminded me more of getting your ears stapled.   

Adrie went into hysterics. It took psych consults from 3 different salon technicians and me holding her to get the job the done.   Now that it's all over Adrie smiles and says it wasn't so bad. 

Adrie's birthday party at the Bowling Alley. Brandon won a free bowling party when I put his name in for a drawing at their Grand Opening. Perfect Timing! Besides bowling the girls enjoyed pizza, drinks, tokens for arcade games.  It was the easiest party ever!!

An ice cream conglomeration. Our kids sort of think out of the box when it comes to birthday cakes.

 Adrie's birthday loot like Brynn's,  included a suitcase for our upcoming trip to the tropics. Did you know YOU TOO can fly free too if you sign up for a Southwest credit card. 1 card = 2 roundtrip flights. Brandon and I each signed up, making 4 round trip tickets each, combine that with a really good deal and voila you get a family of 6 going to Floridaaaaa.

As I mentioned earlier, Adrie will be getting baptized which happens to be on the weekend of Kate's birthday. So, we had to schedule Kate's party a little earlier.  That meant Adrie's and Kate's parties were on the same day! I so do not recommend this!

 Kate invited 12 friends for the ultimate pre-teen slumber party.    She"hired" her little sister's friends to be "servants." at the party.   What a "great" idea, no?    Brynn and her friends , who by the way, were thrilled to have any part in this event, did their best to serve up snacks like homemade donuts and bean dip, to keep the refreshments going and to generally do anything that was asked of them--which after a couple hours was "to leave them alone."    The little hirelings were also the victims of some crazy makeovers.   The fun continued with the candy game, presents, Wii, an obstacle course at the gym, and the movie "Here Comes the Boom" GREAT SHOW! I went downstairs at 2:30 a.m. to tell them it was literally time to hit the sack.   Yes, we are all still recovering from this shindig...
Here's hoping for a less eventful week!

Ski...nastics

Even though it's the dead of winter tons of stuff has been happening to keep us feeling very alive. Let's get started.

1. Brynn celebrated Birthday #10 with a party at the Bowling Alley

1. 

 2. Later, she celebrated at home with the family and looked around the house to find a few fun gifts.  Specifically she got a suitcase with a handmade (meaning I scrawled on a piece of paper) ticket to DisneyWorld Epcot Center...which means YAY

 3. I booked us a trip to Florida. What better way to cure my January doldrums, February pasty skin, and March Spring fever in one fell swoop. We are flying for FREE with airline miles from Southwest Airlines. As if beach wasn't enough, it's going to be WARM beach. Apparently it is warm all the year long in Florida which makes me wonder why I don't retire early there... Could it be because we like skiing so much...

4. We went skiing again! This time Kate had to stay home sick (sad.)  Brynn did her first advanced run AND she busted her ski pole. Not at the same time. She failed to heed the chair workers warnings to unstrap her poles from her wrists as she got on the chairlift. Subsequently, they were dragged under the crushing weight of the chairlift and SNAP. That was a $20 lesson learned. The nice guys at the rental shop suggested all kinds of cool things we could make out of our broken pole from coat hooks to chair legs. Take that pinterest!   

 Brynn might also have been snapped in two if it weren't for a nice snowboarder who grabbed her just before she would have flown over the edge of a run and down into a creek bed.  Maybe she was not quite ready for an advanced run yet??  If only for their wacky headgear, snowboarders have earned soft spot in this mother's heart. Still, don't let that scare you.  Skiing is the best thing you could ever do in the snow.  

5.  I took the two younger girls to our first college gymnastics meet. It was fun to watch their excitement and they really bring it for the fans. We won some fun red paraphernalia so we could be proud Ute fans for a night.  Brynn took this picture...

 6. The next day Brynn had her own gymnastics competition. She just moved up to level 5 and was anxious about her first meet as such.  We were glad to have Grandma and Grandpa join us for this.

 Not to worry Brynn placed 3rd on vault and bars, her favorite events. Her coach says she is a powerhouse.

In other exciting news,  Kate made the winning shot for her team to take the 6th grade Basketball championship!  Her traveling team season though has just begun and she is excited for more of her very favorite sport.  

I spent the last couple weeks advocating for an orchestra program in the schools and helping to organize a community orchestra. The latter was MUCH easier. We had our first rehearsal and went great!  

As for the schools we have met many more bumps in the road. My music group played for the incoming middle schoolers, taught them about the instruments, and asked them to fill out a survey for which music class they would like to take. We were delighted to see that Orchestra--although not currently offered was a clear majority. We will be taking our results for yet another meeting with the school board and administration...and we got to be interviewed about it all on the local radio station.

Good times. More birthdays in the next couple of weeks and then we'll be enjoying a much appreciated VACATION!!