Fourth of July Weekend 2016

The 4th of July was on a Monday this year, so we played the whole weekend.  Saturday we spent the day at Canyon lake with our friends the Stecks.  Awesome Day!  That night we sat outside in the street and lit off fireworks and had a blast.  Good times!

Spontaneous Disneyland Trip

This past weekend was a fun one.  I got to sneak away with my daughter Sammi and two good friends, Kim and Kaye.  We drove to California Sunday, hit Disneyland all day Monday and drove home Tuesday.

 It was fun to leave our cares and worries at home and just play for a day.  These guys were so sweet to put up with me as I love the Tower of Terror and I made them ride it first thing.   Seriously, that is my favorite ride.  I can't stop giggling the whole time.

But the coolest thing of all was that I got to spend time with Sammi.  I love having an adult child.  She is so funny and clever.  I love to adventure with her.  She is an amazing person and friend.  It's fun to learn from each others life experiences.  I will miss her so much when she leaves to go back to school in August.   I'm glad we had a little vacation together this summer.

Happy Memories

Jeff get's tired of Disneyland after a while.  Not me!  I love it!

It's probably because he has a weak stomach when it comes to roller coasters.
 I could ride on them all day and never get sick.

California Screamin is my favorite!  I love the anticipation when the rides is about to blast you off!  Good times!

Rest in Peace

Yesterday morning, my daughter came downstairs in tears, to inform me that Tina had passed away.

We received Tina (named after "Tina the fat lard" on Napoleon Dynamite) last year as a white elephant gift. My daughter lovingly took the pet for her own and has cared for her faithfully for the last year.

When she wasn't looking, I put some gloves on and gently laid Tina in the green recycling bin.

Goodbye little hamster! Now we might get some sleep without you running on your wheel all night.

Just the same - we will miss you!

Good Days Remembered

Our good friend Todd just found me on facebook and posted a bunch of pictures of he and Jeff when we were river guides back in the early 90's. (Eeek that makes me sound old).   These pictures were too much fun that I had to post them as well.   If you look hard you might see me in a couple.  Wasn't Jeff such a cutie?  (In a hairy smelly sort of way)









Now days Jeff isn't quite so hairy and he smells better than he did back then - but man oh man - I still LOVE him!  

Chowder anyone?

What is it about traveling with your kids and throw up? It seems you can't have one without the other.
Today we enjoyed the sights at the Wharf and Pier 39. We had clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl for lunch, Ghirardelli's chocolate for dessert, and sour dough pizza for dinner.

Around 10 pm this evening, Jeff and I got to enjoy all this lovely food yet again via our son Nathan. The children were all asleep, Jeff and I begin to doze off, when all of the sudden - BAM!! You guessed it. Throw up all over the bed, the bed spread, the floor, the pj's, the chair, and the sink in the bathroom.

I don't think I will ever enjoy another bowl of chowder again - really.

• Flight for 5 with frequent flyer miles - $50 in security fees
• Nice hotel room on fisherman's wharf - $150 a night
• Tossing the vomit stained sheets into the hallway to be hauled away by housekeeping, who then came and re-maid the beds with clean sheets and blankets - priceless
  
  

Lemonade?

Two little girls under the umbrella on a hot Saturday afternoon...

= Big Bucks!!

The Weekend!

We had fun hanging out with friends in Show Low this weekend.

My favorite part of the trip was playing ball in the rain.

We hit the local rodeo and watched the poor cows get roped.

And the kids were lucky enough to score a horse ride from Chad and Laura.  (They have never been on a horse before).

Good Times!

The Hawaii Run Down!

Alright!  I am back!   Are you ready for the marathon of pictures I am posting from Hawaii?  Well what do you expect... we were gone for 10 days!!

In the airport!  I hadn't flown in 9 years!

Yippee!  We made it and the plane didn't crash.

Real mature - I know, but that's Jeff for you.   We stayed in Volcano (that's the name of the town) on the big island - and yes- it's currently an active volcano.  Thus the spewing gas.

We explored a volcano tube underground.  Spooky and black.  Something kept grabbing my bum.  (I am assuming it was Jeff).

Cool black sand beach with lot's of turtles.

We snorkeled so much that every night at dinner I still felt like I was moving in the water.  I had a queazy stomach some days.

This day we hiked out to see the lava flowing into the ocean.

It was really cool at night with big explosions of red lava!

We had to stop and get a photo of Jeff in front of BJ's training center! (For all you UFC fans).

Jeff really got into the whole laid back Hawaiian style!

Posing in front of the Kona temple on a Sunday afternoon.

I love it when I have a tan!

You gotta love the poser pictures.  My hubby the "Iron man".

Here we are on a charter boat for the day, checking out all the great snorkle sites.  Very fun!

This was the highlight of the trip!!!   We signed up for a manta ray night dive.   These things had a 12 foot wing span.  They came so close I could reach out and touch them.  Seriously the coolest thing I have ever done!

This ray came up to the boat after we got back in.  

We kayaked out to Cook's monument - very cool and great snorkeling!

But on the way back, we were surrounded by dolphins!!!!

So Jeff decides to jump in the water and check them out.  Pretty soon I was out of the boat too, and we swam with the dolphins.  (Honestly I was afraid they might bite me.  This wasn't Sea World!)

The last day we hung around as all the fishing boats brought in their catch for the international Bill Fish competition.  This one was over 300lbs.  Pretty fishy!

I just thought I would give you a  little glimpse of what my friend Becky and I got to enjoy each and every day while driving all around the big island!  Press play and enjoy my friends!!!!!

It's good to be back!