Maiden Voyage sounds so cool. Why is there no cool name for a ship's last voyage?!
The first week of April was Spring Break. Yay! Charles was still pretty sick the beginning of the week so we weren't sure he'd be able to take the time off to go anywhere. But at the last minute we decided to go to St. George. The Balch's house was empty, so we figured why not!? Well, as we were were leaving on Thursday morning we were discussing how we would be surprised if our car made it all the way to St. George. It had been having some transmission problems. Well, I'm pretty sure we jinxed ourselves. About a mile from the Nephi Main Street exit it plain old died. We sat on the side of the road for a minute trying to figure out what to do. Luckily we have roadside assistance (which we didn't know until then) and it only took about 20 minutes for a tow truck to show up. My kids thought riding in the tow truck was awesome!
I have to say, it was a little sad for me! I really liked that car! We've had that car since right after we had Brooke in '04 and it has been such a great car! We have made so many good memories in that thing. It had about 165,000 miles on it and all but maybe 9,000 of those were put on there by us.
We were taken to a mechanics shop in Nephi where they told us the engine had seized. Not the transmission, but it was only a matter of time.
We hung out by the pool while they were checking it out.
Then we walked (or cartwheeled) to Arbys to have lunch and make some decisions. You know, whether to fix it, how to get it home, blah blah blah.
We finally decided to have my dad bring a trailer and pick us up. Well, when he went to the U-Haul in Heber to get the trailer the guy suggested my dad put our blue car on the trailer, bring it to us so we could still go to St. George, then he could take the black car home. Brilliant! So, having the great dad I do, that is what he did. I joked with Charles that my dad had better not crash on his way there or we would be out three cars instead of one. Ha! He made it though!
The shop we were at was part of a hotel and my dad was pretty excited when he showed up and realized it was the same hotel he had spent his wedding night at with my mom. Crazy!! He even remembered what room. ;) The Safari Motel.
He had to climb through the window of my car to drive it off the trailer because the wheel hub blocked the door. Totally Dukes of Hazard.
They pushed the Explorer onto the trailer, and he was on his way home.
Needless to say, it was a very long day hanging out in a motel in Nephi. The kids crash as soon as we were back on the road.
Once we got to St. George, and picked up some groceries and an air mattress, it was swim time! They just couldn't wait any longer!
We crashed on the floor, and loved every minute of it.
We were up bright and early on Friday morning, and at the shooting range to try out Chuck's new toy. Check out that blue sky. I love St. George. The kids hiked around, and got their new summer clothes filthy, but oh well. At least they were having fun.
Brielle's getting old. Her and grandma can share shoes. Luckily Grandma has tiny feet.
Everyone got a chance to shoot.
Chuck and his new pistol.
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| Brooke was loving her job with the range finder. |
Grandpa chased Jake up the hill and across the top. Jacob won, but only because he had a head start!
After we were out of ammo, we went shopping and then to the splash park. St. George has an amazing splash park, but it was super crowded. And we really should have worn swimsuits, my kids got drenched.
Drying off on the cement.
After we waited in line way too long for a Swig (totally worth it) we went home for lunch and to swim. Swimming all afternoon really wears you out.
On our way to dinner...Joe was holding Caleb's head up for him.
Brielle got a little too much sun and lost her dinner at a park on the way home, so we laid low that night. We swam only in the hot tub, not the whole pool. It was fun visiting with Joe and Jordi.
Saturday we listened to General Conference while we swam. Once the morning session was over it was park time for Brooke, Caleb, Grandma and me.
Brielle and Jacob got to go to the driving range with Grandpa, Uncle Joe, and Dad.
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| Pretty sure he missed the ball totally here. Been there! |
After lunch at Cafe Rio it was time to swim.
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| This kid never stopped. He is in love with Grandma's pool. |
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| Love the snorkel gear. |
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| Upside down goggles. |
Check out Chuck's mad basketball skills.
I'm not sure how my kids survive swimming with their dad, but somehow, they have the time of their lives.
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| Catch! |
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| Jacob was swimming all over the pool with no floaties. Now I only have to worry about Caleb! |
Uncle Joe is a pretty good sport too.
Uncle Joe decided he could pile 3 kids on his shoulders. The first picture he is under water, you can only see the three kids, but the next one you can see all 4 if you look closely. They didn't stay up long!
Chicken Fight!
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| One worn out kid. He decided he was done, changed into his clothes for about 5 minutes (to drink a Diet Coke apparently), then put his suit back on and jumped in the pool. |
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| Grandma can really hold my kids attention. They love listening to her stories! |
Us girls took a break from the pool to go shopping.
While the men went to Priesthood we went for ice cream. And maybe a little more shopping. ;)
Then...back to the pool.
By 9:00 or so everyone was worn out. After sandwiches and Cheetos by the pool we all crashed.
We had such a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's house. And I can't tell you how glad I am that we went down, even after our car died. A few weeks after our trip, the house officially sold. It's been on the market for a long time, and I was secretly (or not so secretly) wishing it wouldn't sell. But it did, and we are so sad! I'm pretty sure the explorer dying on our last trip to grandma's St. George house was symbolic. Two more chapters closed.
