Whirlwind Vacation

 Even though I was gone for 13 days, it was still a whirlwind of a vacation.  We wanted to make the California trip happen that had been postponed since during the more crazy covid times, while allowing Austin and Kai to attend to their high school summer activities, and allow for time to relax in Utah,  before school started here. 

This is a rough outline of our vacation:

-Monday, the 21, after I met my students and their families, Erik, Victoria,  and I left for the Chicago area, a 4 hour drive, but we gained an hour.

-Tuesday we drove 10 hours to North Platte, NE. Victoria drove a little bit and Erik navigated. She and Erik were very helpful travelers. The Ford F150 is very comfortable with a huge gas tank!

-Wednesday we drove the last 10 hours to Orem, gaining another hour. Those 2 days of solid driving weren't bad at all! We listened to Harry Potter and music and barely stopped. We plowed through,  not needing much gas and only stopping to use the bathroom when totally necessary. 

-Thursday in Orem included working out, visiting with Grandma Pat and Grandpa Jim and some of Karina's family,  and resting.

-Friday we drove to California,  gaining another hour and still making rock star time! We visited with Grandma Mary Lou and Grandpa Dave,  before he went to the airport to pick up the rest of my family. (Side note: they could only do half of the activities they were supposed to because Canton, MI had flooded from some crazy storms, and then there was a tornado).

-Saturday we swam in the pool and visited with family.

-Sunday we went to church (my boys got to pass the sacrament in their Gma and Gpa's little ward) and went to Hollywood Boulevard and Beverley Hills to see the sights.

-Monday we went to Zuma Beach and swam in the pool some more!

-Tuesday we crammed 6 of us in the 6 seater truck,  but we survived the day's drive to Utah, even though we lost an hour.

-Wednesday we went on a hike with Karina and some of her kids, did some college shopping for Victoria,  and watched Nik play soccer.

-Thursday we went to the BYU bookstore and bought game day shirts. (Since I'm not actually taking Victoria to BYU I  myself, we had to pretend like it was our college campus drop-off experience.) We floated down Provo River and then went to dinner with Christer and Samantha in Clearfield. 

-Friday we did some back to school shopping and went up to Derek's bike and ski airbnb in Park City to water ski (questionable weather) and visit with Derek's family. 

-Saturday morning I left with Austin,  Kai, and Erik for our 2 1/2 day back, which was as smooth going back as it was going out, minus the losing an hour two of the days. 

We returned Monday, just after noon, and started school on Tuesday.  Phew!!

In Wyoming 

Helping Grandpa Jim pick pears.

Grandpa Dave giving my boys a swim lesson. 

Badminton 

Swimming with Grandma Mary Lou. 

Dinner with Aunt Connie,  Alexis, and Toby (Kevin's wife).

Toby and Jason helping Gma in the kitchen. 

Hollywood Boulevard picture with a character that was free of charge!

Hollywood Boulevard 

Boogie boarding!

Getting some California sun.

Trying to not get sun!

Hike up to Squaw Peak (Timp is in the background).

Utah Valley smog 

My oldest nephew, Drew!

Karina and me

Cousin bonding 

BYU Provo!

Provo River adventure with Grandma Pat. 

I was freezing here,  the water was 50 degrees and I had just fallen in!!

Dinner with Christer and Sam (he's my newest oldest nephew and she my newest oldest niece!)

Derek and me on his new boat! We had heater tubes up our shirts!

More cousin bonding!

Austin's first time wake boarding. 

Erik's first time knee boarding. 

Last of the cousin bonding.