We interrupt our summer vacation fun with a dose of reality: Wisdom teeth!

Hunter knew this was the year he needed to get his wisdom teeth evaluated prior to serving a mission next summer. Steve’s cousin is an oral surgeon so we made an appointment before school started to get some x-rays. Hunter was anticipating a spring break surgery.

His exam showed he already had a tooth that was breaking the surface and it wasn’t growing in straight, so his spring break plans got moved up a little. Or a lot! They had an opening three days later, he would have to miss the second day of school, and we took the appointment. It gave him far less time to be nervous!

He wanted to make sure he didn’t send any unnecessary text messages, so he left his phone in the car. I was hoping for some entertainment when I picked him up but he gave me nothing. He acted totally normal – just as predictable as he was not on anesthesia.

When we were driving home, he didn’t want to talk so he was writing in his notes app and showing me. “Did they keep my teeth?” 🙂

After we got home and got him settled, he divulged a little secret. He decided he was going to pretend he was more loopy than he was on our drive home and request that we stop by Trader Joes to buy flowers for his girlfriend and some for me. But then he felt bad about lying so he didn’t bring it up. That’s how concious he was!

He had several visitors bring him fun treats throughout the day and one friend came over to play games. I came home later that evening to find the “babysitter” sleeping while the patient was up and playing games. I’m not sure Hunter took a nap that day!

Although this wasn’t in Hunter’s first semester plans, I think he’s happy to have it behind him.

Post a Comment

Lake Powell is full of so many fun and memorable moments and then we sprinkle in a few tense/stressful moments to even it out. This year, the weather was a little windy which had us checking the weather every few hours. We had to be strategic to capitalize on decent water for surfing (the smoother the better).

This was our 10th year coming to Lake Powell and although the kids have grown, the activities they enjoy have mostly stayed the same.

Cliff Jumping: Every year the lake sits at a different level which means we’re always finding new cliffs to jump off. A “good cliff” is defined by ease of climbing out of the water, multiple levels to jump from so everyone jumps at a comfortable height for them and a cliff that is either straight or cuts in for ease of jumping away from the cliff. Bennett loves a good jump so he was willing to be our test jumper. He was excited to show us an area he found while on the jetski and he climbed up to make his jump and we could see it would be a pretty tough climb for the younger ones. So we kept exploring and found an area that better met our needs.

The “Island”: It’s amazing how much fun a bunch of kids can have on a floating island (the same material as a blow-up paddle board). It was anchored just off our houseboat and it gave the kids an area to wrestle and use all their energy. The teenagers wrestled for their daily workout and it left them all exhausted.

Jetskis: This is probably the favorite teenage activity. It gives them the freedom to explore the lake and canyons at their leisure. An added benefit is that they use them to give tube rides. This is a huge relief on boat drivers because there isn’t a minute of the day that a kid isn’t asking to go on the tube. And we did more than a couple rounds of jetski frisbee which is harder than it looks on the thrower and the receiver.

Wakesurfing: This is by far the activity we spend the most time on. We don’t ski. We don’t wakeboard. We don’t foil. We surf. And everyone in the family enjoys it. And there’s something so fun about celebrating people who are getting up for the first time and try over and over again and finally figure it out. Its always more fun to surf when the water is pretty and the background is stunning.

Between all the intense activities – there’s also some downtime. Peaceful boat rides. Exploring the shore. Making up water games. Friendship bracelets. Board games. Evening devotionals. USA soccer game. And all the moments in between. It’s a vacation that never gets old. It just grows with you and we’ve witnessed that as a family.

I’m always amazed by the beauty that surrounds us at Lake Powell. There is something so uniquely beautiful about the red rock, blue water, and varying rock landscape, and I’m constantly trying to capture what my eye sees. But no matter how many pictures I take, they never quite do justice to the beauty that exists in person.

Post a Comment

Lake Powell looked a little different for us this year.

We’ve been going with the same friends during the same week of June for 9 years. It’s amazing that our group of 8 families has managed to make it work for so long, but it didn’t work for us this year. We had a lot going on and we prioritized returning to Hallie’s mission, which happened to be during the week we typically go to Powell. We thought we may be able to fit in a Powell trip at the end of the month with other friends but that didn’t end up working out.

But the closer it got to Hallie getting home, the more we realized how important that Powell trip is for our family. (Hallie was funny when she was deciding the availability for her mission; with an 18-month mission, she determined she would rather miss two Christmases and only miss one Lake Powell. We looked at rearranging our New York trip later in the month and making a last-minute entrance with our group, but the pieces didn’t fall in our favor.

With just a few weeks’ notice, we found a last-minute houseboat rental just a few days after our return from New York. Powell is our favorite vacation, but it’s a lot of work and requires many hands. We tried finding a group that had the flexibility to join us, but it came as no surprise that everyone’s summer plans were booked and set in stone. That is, all but one family – our best friends. They were returning from another trip and they had the smallest sliver of time and they agreed to join us and we were so grateful they did!

Lake Powell with your best friends is always a good time!

Post a Comment

We started our last half day with a subway ride to the Brooklyn Bridge. Another great recommendation to see the city from a different perspective. And the architecture of that historic bridge was beautiful and intricate.

After walking across the bridge, we explored the DUMBO neighborhood and its cute cobblestone streets. Cannon and Briggs had asked to ride the carousel when we were in Central Park, but the line was long so we passed. When we spotted Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn right on the East River, we knew what our next stop was. We hit a park tucked away in the trees – a little escape from the unprecedented heat the area was experiencing

We enjoyed all the Knicks pride and memorabilia that was plastered across the city the morning after the big win.

And then it was back to the subway to take us back to our hotel so we could make our way back home after traveling for 8 days and jumping from hotel to hotel almost every night! That is a wrap on New York!

Post a Comment

We started the second day with a subway ride down to the Staten Island Ferry.

The ferry is free and takes you to and from Staten Island with a beautiful view of the Statue of Liberty. You have to disembark at Staten Island, but we just turned around and got back on the same boat and went back to the city. I was having serious “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” flashbacks. It was fun to see the city from a different point of view.

From the ferry, we made our way to Wall Street to see the New York Stock Exchange – a meaningful stop for our kids, who have been interested in the stock market since they were young. To commemorate the moment, Steve, Hunter and Bennett sat outside the exchange and each purchased a stock. They turned a sightseeing stop into a memory they could literally invest in. Steve and I remember coming years ago on a school trip shortly after we were married and we actually got to go inside the NYSE – sadly, our kids didn’t have that opportunity so admired from afar.

We spent the afternoon at the World Trade Center Memorial. We had been advised to carve out several hours for this experience and I thought that may be a little overkill – especially for Briggs – but we went in with plenty of time. Our kids are familiar with September 11. Every year, we visit the Healing Garden in Tempe. They’ve heard the stories. They’ve watched the videos/movies so they were ready for the immersive experience.

I didn’t know much about the memorial itself but after walking several floors and seeing interesting artifacts, I thought they had done a good job of preserving the site as well as offering interesting facts and stories. It wasn’t until we entered the historical exhibition, on the very lowest level, that my understanding and appreciation for all those involved really took shape. This area was the heart of the museum.

The area was set up chronologically and walked you through the events of the day and the aftermath. They used photos, videos and audio to tell a tragic story with beautiful personal interest.

One room in particular shared the audio recording of the cockpit of flight United 93 – that crashed in an empty field in Pennsylvania. It was hard to listen to. Especially as it was paired with a visual of messages from passengers to loved ones at the same time. So much heartache.

It was all curated so well. We were there for several hours and honestly, I could have stayed longer. I wanted to read every plaque and look at every picture and artifact but there was just so much to take in.

That evening was game 4 of the NBA finals, Knicks vs Spurs. We had tried all day to secure tickets to the watch party in Central Park but we came up short. We started watching the game at dinner and even though the Knicks were getting blown out, we thought it would fun to head to Central Park anyway just to see the energy and excitement. It didn’t take much time in the park to realize it was a little rougher crowd than we were expecting. Even though there was a heavy police presence – it still felt a little sketchy. We decided to make our way back to our hotel to finish watching the game. As we made the 20-minute walk back to our hotel in Times Square, the Knicks started to make an unexpected comeback. Our quick walk turned into a jog as we were racing against the game clock to make it back in time to finish the game. By the time we hit the heart of Times Square, time was short and it was a 2 point game.

We decided to hold tight in hopes of watching a huge celebration if they pulled off a win. As excitement grew, so did the rowdiness of the crowd. At one point, with very little time on the clock, crowds were blocking traffic and standing on cars and at the sound of a gunshot, we all took off running for cover. (Luckily, we learned it was a police issued flash-bang to break up the crowd – but it left us thinking Central Park wasn’t feeling so sketchy!) Unfortunately, it was an area we had to pass through to get to our hotel. So we hunkered down in a corner and continued watching the game.

It was a night we will never forget! I don’t think the kids will ever forget being in Times Square when the Knicks made the comeback of the year after being down 29 points to win the game. It was crazy! And we didn’t stick around to see the celebration. We stopped by a Krispy Kreme on our way back to hotel and as we walked up they locked the doors and a guy stood at the entrance – but it wasn’t closing hours. We asked if we could buy doughnuts and he unlocked the doors and let us in. They were locking out of precaution.

We were happy when we were reunited with our hotel rooms. And then we continued to hear sirens all night long and the streets were trashed the next morning.

I’m just glad we weren’t there when they won it all after game 5, we saw so many videos of vandalism. Nothing says celebration like burning a school bus!

Day 2 was jam-packed – totally different activities than our first day but equally as enjoyable.

Post a Comment