Schlitterbahn virgins no more

We took off on Thursday morning for a day at Schlitterbahn.

The kids have reminded me many times this summer that they have never been there.

I have never been there.

It is only a little over one hour from our house, but it just never hit the top of my radar.

ready to walk into the 'bahn

WE LOVED IT!

The Thursday before school starts is a good time to go. The crowds were very low and the waits

 for the rides were short.

You use a tube for a lot of the rides. Campbell is such a trooper. She isn't afraid of anything.

Our family loved the whole day. It is really nice because you can take your own food in and set up shop at a picnic table.  We learned a lot. There are two parks and we had all our food at the old park and then we were hungry in the new park.  We only had a little bit of cash, so all three kids gobbled up a Texas size Dippin' Dots.

The only negative of the day was losing two kids - at seperate times. Poor Alex got down one of the rides way before the rest of us and then couldn't find us. He asked an employee who blew a whistle. According to Alex, that is when the green shirt expert-at-finding-parents man arrived.    Peter and I each saw him before he saw us and the sweet boy was just boo-hoo'ing when he got to me.

I was really glad we had talked about what to do if they couldn't find us. Right before closing time, the same thing happened to Conleigh. Only the ride she was way ahead on had two choices of how to end the ride.   She found her way back to our picnic area where Peter was waiting.

I hope they'll get past their, "have you ever felt like you'll never see your parents again," fear, so we can go get our bahns schlittered again next summer! It was a blast.

Genius. What parent can not let their kid have an icee with all these choices?  Nice way to close the park at 6:00pm.

What I Like

a visit with Campbell...Enjoy!

Relax

This is me enjoying the peace and quiet. I was in that spot for three whole hours!

White water rafting in Idaho

 The brave crew before we got in the boat on the Payette River.

Daddy making sure Campbell is safe in her life jacket.

Here we go! All smiles!

When there was a slow spot, Campbell, Daddy and Grandpa took the opportunity to jump in.

Ms. Graceful getting back in the raft.

Made it! Safe and sound.

We'll float a little longer.

We made it, and the kids loved it!! 

There and Back

 

We have enjoyed a great family vacation.

We have already been there and back.

I love Idaho. Or, more specifically, I love Warm Lake, Idaho

and the cabin. You know who else loves the cabin?

Campbell!  aka Worm Girl!

Enjoy an interview with Worm Girl herself!

more of our Idaho adventures coming soon.

No Complaints

I'm in Arizona.  We finished a short meeting here today in Phoenix. I'm getting a little mini-me time here before meeting the family in Idaho tomorrow.  I'm at a beautiful resort as you can see.  It was 106 today, so that kind of limited my outdoor time, but as the sun went down,  I went and had dinner and a drink by the pool and read a book. Then I hopped in and floated around a bit.  It is nice to have some quiet time, but I miss my family. I hear they are missing me too, so tomorrow night will be a happy reunion.

God Bless Peter. He is driving the family in our rockin' minivan to Houston tomorrow to catch a plane. The price out of Houston made it much more affordable for four flying to Idaho. Plus, he has a three hour layover in Las Vegas with three kids. What a guy!

The kids would love this place. Look at the slide at the pool, and they were serving s'mores tonight.

The olympics have been so fun to watch. Swimming and gymnastics. The USA is kickin' it! I read that the Olympics are one of the last things on TV that bring families together. I believe it. The kids have really enjoyed it too. Conleigh & Campbell have turned the family room into a gymnastics mat.

Big news to close our meeting tonight. Our regional manager who hired me almost 16 years ago is retiring. I am in shock as was everyone else. He is such a good man and has watched out for so many of us for a long time. He is the person who made it possible for me to work part time.  Come December, he will be done checking sales numbers and will be off enjoying other things. I will miss him a lot!

We are a Family

done watching the opening ceremonies. not sure what i thought of the overall show.

i liked seeing the royalty and the humor of rowan atkison (mr. bean).

before bed, i thought i'd join show us your life this week at kelly's korner.

this week is show us how you display pictures.

i took a few shots of what i would say is my picture wall. it only has six pictures on it.

they are big. our walls are big. there aren't many walls but the ones we have are high and big.

a picture sure shows how off kilter the pictures are.  a little straightening is in order, i believe.

 there is a table behind the couch. i need to decorate it, but the kids are usually flying around on the couches, so there is a good chance of the decor being knocked off by flying pillows, etc.

a closer angle shot of the wall.

my favorite thing on this wall is not a picture. i saw this saying at someones house during a meeting and asked her if i could copy down the words. then i had a calligrapher in the neighborhood make this large sign for me.

i think the words are large enough not to need repeating.

love them all, the people who belong to these names and the words that describe family.