Monday's Memory--Medieval Times

On Christmas Eve, when we popped our crackers, there were paper crowns inside. Todd commented that it reminded him of our dinner at Medieval Times. If you enjoy jousting, lots of loud cheering, and eating with your fingers, you'd love this place. We went to dinner and the show there many years ago, before any kids had joined our family. I can't remember which knight won, but I do remember cheering wildly for ours. It was a great evening full of fun and good food.

Idaho

Our annual Idaho trip was bitter-sweet this year. It's always great to gather at Dad's for some good food and family fun. But this year, one of the purposes of the trip was to go through Dad's things and help Mary make the house her home instead of Dad's. I loved the way we all worked together, smiling and laughing over pictures, mementos, and memories. I took home the fishing pole that I always used when Dad took us fishing. I think that is what I'll remember most about him...our fun fishing trips.

The party was great. We had the usual, fried chicken from Albertson's, salads, rolls, and cake. This year, Amy got the kids involved by helping them make their own "ice cream in a bag". The kids had a great time, even if most of them ended drinking it like a milk shake. And of course, the party wouldn't be complete without the croquette game.






























Todd, Kathy, and the kids came as well, so all 8 grandkids were there to play. We stayed at the Red Lion, the only place in Twin with an outdoor pool, so the kids could have some fun. I love family time!

Yummy corn!

Beach Fun

Friday,we all trooped down to the beach for some sun and fun. Well, at least we had some fun. The sun finally cooperated and came out at about 3:00. But I always say that a bad day at the beach is better than any day somewhere else! The kids had a great time playing in the surf on the boogie boards and catching lots of sand crabs. The Todds even braved the cold water to catch some waves. When it got a little windy and cold at the water, we warmed up by the fire and had a cook out. That's when the sun came out and it warmed up nicely. All in all, a wonderful day at the beach.

Lego Land

Today was teacher appreciation day at Lego Land, so Amy and I got in free! It was a chilly day, so we didn't go to any of the "wet stuff". Instead, we spent time visiting the things we missed last time we were here. The kids could have spent most of the day just playing with the legos, making and racing cars, and the video game room. But there were other areas to explore.





My favorite was the miniatures. They had entire cities all made out of legos; New York City, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and even the southern California coast line. But the best had to be the Star Wars scenes. They had all six movies displayed with the famous landscapes, people, and spacecraft included. This Millennium Falcon was about 3 feet across. It took 143 hours and 19,000 pieces to make!!! Holy Cow, Chewy!

And, of course, we enjoyed the rides, too!

Monday's Memory

Lake Powell, August 2005

One of my "dream vacations" was to spend a week on a houseboat. It came true on Lake Powell. We were able to "borrow" Todd's Uncle Ed and Aunt Luanne and their boat. It was amazing. We spent the week on the lake, using the speed boat and seadoos.

I finally got brave enough to use one of the seadoos, and got going really, really fast, the wind blowing through my hair. When I got back to the houseboat, however, the others were all laughing at me, telling me how slow I was going! Well, it felt really fast!

Every day we took the speed boat, exploring all of the inlets. We would jump in the water to cool off and get deeper in some of the narrower places.

We were able to all be there to celebrate Luke's 1st birthday with twinkies and ding dongs!

We had all kinds of contests like diving off the board on the back of the boat---or the jumping contest off the cliffs into the lake. The funny part of this one was all of the crazy things the guys shouted out as they jumped. And then, not to be out-done, the girls "jumped" off the edge of the lake.

And of course...lots of sun and relaxation.

Wild Rivers

Carson wanted to go to Wild Rivers for his birthday this year. I think we probably went on the coldest day of the summer! Granted, it was early summer, but Burrrrr...it was freezing. We actually spent a lot of time warming up in the "hot tubs". The kids did have a fun time in the kid section going down the slides and playing in the pools.

All Aboard

Every time I talked of going down to San Diego to Sea World or the zoo, I always said that we should take the train. It sounded like so much fun. Then I would check out the price and realize that I could drive a car load of people a lot cheaper than one person's ride on the train. Needless to say, I have never taken the train to San Diego.
Recently, Amy looked into taking the kids to San Juan Capistrano by train and the price wasn't bad, so we decided to do it. It was a great trip. The kids loved the idea of being able to walk around while we were moving, and of course, they all had to try out the bathroom. While in Capistrano, we found a fun cafe for a quick muffin, a cool park, and a really neat petting zoo. They even had a two story Ruby's for lunch. All in all, it was a great experience.

Pool Time

Due to scheduling conflicts, our annual Palm Springs Spring Break trip happened in May this year. The family is getting big enough, that we had to stay in a suite, and this year, we looked for a fun pool. We found a hotel that had both, and we had a blast.