Lake Powell

Ahhhhhh, Powell. I love this place. The beauty, serenity, and relaxation. I grew up going here multiple times every summer. I hadn't been in 4 years-since Daphne was a 6 month old baby. It was nice to be back. And I took a billion pictures documenting our amazing time. The kids loved it-how could they not? I don't think Laylah even remembered the last time she was there, as she was only 3. It was basically a new experience for them all and it was wonderful. Also, it was wonderful because almost my entire family was there. Only my sister Suzanne couldn't come because of work, my sis-in-law Kimmi wouldn't come because it made her too nervous with my little niece and nephew, so my brother Doug came alone. And of course my Love was missing. But 16 out of 21 is pretty good.Bear and I rode a shuttle from Vegas to St. George because Rachel and Don only had enough room in their car for 3 of us. My dad picked us up from the shuttle office and I was so happy to see him! We drove the rest of the way to Powell and spent the night in the boat house yard because they were going to launch the houseboat the next morning. It was the 4th of July and we all went up to the top of the houseboat and watched the fun fireworks spectacular that the city put on. We rode the shuttle down to the dock where they launched us.

Our campsite

This is our boats name. I thought it was perfect! haha.

All 4 kids slept on a queen bed. Pretty cozy. And HOT!

We have a slide on the boat and this was the kids' favorite entertainment.

All the Jerman cousins. Minus Jack and Halle. And the 2 in utero (mine and Rachel's ;)

Laylah decided she was going to try and learn to ski. My mom is explaining to her what she needed to do.

I stayed with her to help with her balance and for encouragement

Her first and only attempt. She got a mouthful of water because she wouldn't let go when she got dragged forward. She was bawling and refused to try again. I was trying not to laugh. It's just funny to me because I learned to waterski when I was 4. My mom would pay us $10 if we would learn. I even offered the same to Laylah, and she was excited at first but could have cared less after her first failed attempt. Jonah was going to try also but after watching Laylah, he refused. I guess we need to get a boat so my kids are more used to this lifestyle. Someone tell Andy for me, okay? heehee.

The other thing my older 2 kids loved to do was jump off the top of the houseboat. I rememeber doing this as a child. I felt so cool and awesome that I could do what the older kids did. I thought Laylah and Jonah were pretty cool for doing it too :)

Here's Laylah and Jonah with Uncle Don. Don was so awesome on this trip. He basically took over as my kids' dad for the week. He had dance parties on the top of the boat, took them to search for lizards and on hikes, got them to jump off the boat, go tubing, and here he's telling the kids Laffy Taffy jokes. He's such a great uncle. We love ya Uncle Don!


S'mores....

watching movies

The one and only picture of me-I hate pictures when I'm pregnant

My brother Doug is an awesome fisherman and he got all the kids fishing one night. They LOVED it and Jonah and Laylah both caught their first fish-catfish!

Baron was always falling asleep whenever we would go anywhere

We had to go to the marina to get ice cream one day and the kids were fascinated by the giant, nasty marina carp fish begging for food.

They decided to give in and feed those nasty carp and few ducks their leftover sandwiches

We had such a fun trip and can't wait to go back. I just love my parents and am so grateful that they make it possible for our family to have such fun vacations together and able to make great memories.

Virginia to Vegas

Our flights to Vegas were pretty easy and uneventful. My kids are pretty much pros at the flying thing now (they even take their shoes off at security before I ask them to) so they knew what to expect and the only exciting thing about it this time around was that we were going somewhere, not the actual airplane ride.

Andy helped me check-in and walked with us as far as he could go, and then we had to say our good-byes. He said good-bye to the children first and had a little chat with each of them about being good for mom and listening, and things like that. And then we just looked at each other. I threw my arms around him and just started bawling. He kind of laughed, and I know he felt the same way. We just sat there and held each other, him towering over me, and me on my tiptoes, squeezing with all my might. He would start to pull away and I would squeeze tighter, so he would let me. All of the sudden I was nervous and didn't want to go and do this all by myself. I was so sad that he wasn't coming with us and that I wouldn't be seeing my husband for nearly a month. Finally I composed myself and we gathered our things and walked away. Our adventure began...We had a stop in Florida and then went on to Vegas. When we landed after our first flight, I showed the kids a map on my phone and explained we were in Florida. Somehow Daphne knew that Disneyworld was there and she yelled "We're in DISNEYWORLD!?!" I think the entire plane laughed. Our flight was a little late, so we had to rush and buy dinner at the first and only place I could see ($50 for 4 turkey sandwiches, 4 bags of chips, and 2 bananas-yikes!!!) and then rush onto our next flight which was already boarding. We ate on the plane and then the kids slowly dropped off to dreamland one by one. It was a nice quiet flight until the last hour or so when Bear would randomly start screaming and crying and thrashing around-kicking the seat in front of him and disturbing the poor older lady who was there. He wouldn't wake up. It was so frustrating. We finally landed in Vegas at midnight their time (3 AM our time) and it took me awhile to get all of the kids woken up, and gather all of our things. We were the last ones off the plane, and when we finally got to baggage claim and found Rachel (it was SO great to see her!), there were only 2 bags left, and the carousel wasn't even moving anymore. I found one of our bags, but the other wasn't ours. A worker came and grabbed it and took it to the baggage office and I went to tell him one of our bags was missing. It took a few minutes to fill out a report and he told me they'd find it and deliver it as soon as they did. So, with that we went home to Rachel's where the kids all borrowed t-shirts for pajammas (it was their bag missing) and I threw their clothes in the wash so they'd have something to wear the next day. They brushed their teeth with their fingers and were in bed by 1:30 AM or so. Rach and I sat up and talked for a bit and then dragged ourselves to bed. The next morning I heard kids playing around. I was soooooo tired and I glanced at the clock and it said.... 5 AM!?!?!?! Ohhhhh time change. I hate it. I turned a movie on for them and got a couple more hours of sleep.... and I have been tired ever since ;0)

The rest of our week consisted of movies (LOOOOOVED Eclipse. Like LOVED loved :) for the kids and adults, swimming every day at various locations (once including at my sis-in-law Jenny's condo timeshare they just happened to be visiting while we were also in Vegas where the kids had a blast with their Collette cousins and also where I didn't take a single photo. Boo), doing some clients hair (it was so fun to see them again-I miss my Vegas clients!) getting ready for our trip to Lake Powell, and also celebrating Ella's (my adorable neice whom I just adore) 2nd birthday. Oh, and the airline did deliver our bag the next day.... I think it had been left in Florida.

We also celebrated the 4th of July while we were there (on the 3rd though) at one of Rachel's friends houses. She invited several families over. We had a big yummy barbeque and she has a pool, so we swam again, played games, had treats and did fireworks. Luckily, since I have visited so often, I know a lot of Rachel's friends. It wasn't weird or awkward like I was a little afraid it would be because Rachel had to work all day and didn't get to the party until nearly dark. I was glad Don (Rach's hubby) was there with me though. We all had a blast, the kids all made a lot of new friends and they all loved the fireworks (of course :) Bear wasn't so sure about this sparkler...

We had a great time in Vegas. I love it there. Even though it feels like Satan himself is always breathing on you. 112*.... ya, that's pretty hot :)