Carrie and Company: vacations

Showing posts with label vacations. Show all posts

Summer Vacation

4 comments Posted by Carrie at Monday, July 30, 2012

Yesterday we arrived home from our long anticipated summer vacation of 2012. I have all these great pictures from our trip that are just going to have to speak for themselves due to a serious lapse in my writing ability. For some reason over the last few months, I've lost my drive, my wit, and my sort of entertaining (to me anyway) voice that normally flows freely at the keyboard. Blogging has pretty much become torture. And since I don't believe in self-inflicted torture, I choose to spend my late nights busting up over old Psych episodes on Netflix rather than agonizing over a blank "new post" page.

That being said, here are many MANY photos from our totally fabulous vacation. Occasionally, I might throw in a word or two if I can think of something worthwhile to share.

Lake Tahoe. Gorgeous and FREEZING.

Lily gives me this face often when I pull out the camera. It means "I'm busy, therefore I'm refusing to cooperate."

One of my super awesome sisters-in-law.

Jack in his happy place.

Now here I must comment on the state of my hair. I recently chopped it all off, which I actually really like. It's not normal for it to look like the head of a shaggy dog.

Lily and big cousin Garret. He happily agreed to push her on the swings at every request - like every 20 minutes. Great kid.

A total trip highlight for me - a mini BYU roommate reunion in Draper. We're missing Leslie, dang it. I love these girls! Never a dull moment and the sweetest friends you'll ever find.

And I'm including this next picture for no other reason except I like to see that I'm making my friends crack up over something obviously very funny.

6 girls who have done rather well at multiplying and replenishing, don't you think?

Reas' Grandma Zela is turning 90 next month. We stopped in to see the spunky delight. Those who live with her say hide your laundry because if Grandma sees it laying around, she'll wash it!

BYU campus is so very nostalgic. The kids humored us by acting interested when we'd say things like "and over in that building is where I had Biology" and "on the top floor of that building are where all the rat cages are that I cleaned at 4 AM."

but they mostly appreciated all the water fountains.

Bowling in the Wilk...a huge hit.

We toured the Conference Center in SLC.

and went to Temple Square.

We only had a couple of hours to spend with my brother Danny and his family, including new baby Chase (imagine cute newborn picture here). We had icecream at Farr's at the new City Creek Mall in SLC. Again the water was the highlight. This is just seconds before cute little Anna in the pink went head first into that water. Chick-fil-A was pretty great too.

Hiking the Y was somehow a little more difficult than the last time I did it (like 22 years ago).

Ok... I was huffing and puffing, but I'm sure it was just the altitude.

But we made it! and have committed to doing it every time we're in Provo.

Maggie and Ty practically sprinted all the way up. Reas asked Maggie if she ever got tired and she said, "No. We were so far ahead of you that we could always rest as long as we wanted to." Brutally honest child.

This hike is steep all the way up without ever leveling out, as you can tell from my 9 foot tall giant of a husband standing uphill from me. I look like a total kid!

Grandma Cramer, Reas' other grandma, is 92 and she still lives alone! We sat around chatting and listening to stories from her childhood, like how her mom used to complain that Grandma and her sisters took so long to do the dishes because they would sing together instead of work.

Jack and his beast of a red onion at the BYU Creamery...

not much of a fan, yet he just had to keep going back for more.

No, these guys were not posing for the camera. No, not at all.

And the face...again.

We went to BYU's Museum of Paleontology for the first time. For being such a small museum, there are some COOL dinosaurs in there.

I think Reas took this picture to make it look as if I have a clue in the sport of miniature golf. I can hold my own pretty well, but unfortunately, I play the first half of the holes in spaz mode, and get frustrated by my complete lack of control over my own strength. Somewhere in the middle I warm up, but by that point it's too late. Someday I. Will. Beat. HIM!

We came home with a filthy van, and pooped out kids who were ready to be done with the car rides...sure signs of a memorable family vacation.

Not pictured:

Reas sweating it out and nearly dying of heat stroke when the van's AC decided to mysteriously quit for 2 hours in 110 degree weather.

Lily's left leg, which by the end of the trip was covered in scrapes and bruises from ankle to knee due to repeated trips and falls.

My death grip on the steering wheel as I drove us through the biggest downpour of my life (yes, even harder than the storm I freaked out about here). I drove one (ONE!) hour out of 22 hours spent in the car, and I got the scary rain part.

Reas spotting Jackson Emory at Chick-fil-A in Salt Lake.

Lily squatting behind a bush at the miniature golf course because the bathroom was too far away (and the look on the woman's face who caught us!).

4 days of fabulous fun

3 comments Posted by Carrie at Wednesday, June 15, 2011

School has been out for exactly 7 days and we are officially done with our summer vacationing. Such is the way of a baby growin' summer. We figured we'd better get it all done early while I can sort of comfortably sit in the car for any length of time. We drove up to Reno where my 2 older brothers recently moved with their families. The 7+ hour drive really wasn't all that bad for me, but Lily on the other hand, kept yelling "all done!" after we were an hour into our trip. It was a long drive.

I learned that there are green parts of Nevada. I think we decided that someday we WILL live in Reno. Now, if I could just find a job there for Reas. Our cute nephew Trevor, offered to take Reas on as his dog trainer for his new puppy in order for our moving plans to work out. Is that family love, or what.

Reas' future boss...

My brothers are lucky enough to live where they have a 5 minute walk between each other's houses -beautiful houses. Slightly jealous. The kids ran back and forth between houses for 4 days. Oh, and another small detail - they have their own national forest. Seriously. It's kind of a desert forest, but still undoubtedly gorgeous. This is the field that separates their properties.

And here's the view from my oldest brother's frontyard.

Just a tad different than what we see here in Las Vegas.

And now I'm done dreaming and wishing. Anyway, I'm obviously totally sold on the idea of moving there. Someday...someday.

We loved every second of our vacation. Mouth watering bbq's every night thanks to my awesome sisters-in-law, ferris wheel rides, target shooting, glorious weather, trips to the park and river, way too much dessert, and tons of cousin time.

We went to a place called Scheels, a sporting goods store that has everything you could ever imagine plus everything you would never imagine, including a ferris wheel inside the store.

This is what the ferris wheel did to Lily...

We were like dang girl, get over it - it's a ferris wheel. Then we got on.

We never saw it coming.

Here's half of the grandkids on my side of the family...my parents are kind of proud of their bountiful posterity.

Both of my brothers have new puppies. Maggie was smitten. Hope she got her fill 'cause puppies won't be happening around here for a very long time. I'm pretty much the meanest mom on the planet.