Thursday, August 23, 2007

BRONZED AND BEAUTIFUL!

Well, if not beautiful...then at least the most tan I have been in the past decade and a half (and, don't worry, Dad, I did wear sunscreen, hats, and cover-ups, unlike my youthful sun-bather days...). Not that that makes me very tan (very tan would be Michael and the boys), but after 10 days in the sun, I no longer qualify as an albino.

The first 3 days of our vacation were spent in Moab, Utah, floating down a muddy brown river. Sadly for Michael, the river rafting experience was more like my ideal trip than his, but sadly for me, whether mellow or mayhem, you still can't read a book while floating down a river.

You can, however, read lots of books at Lake Powell. After I made Michael "buy" us all showers in Moab ($5 at the local water park), we continued on to Lake Powell where the Vance Family was reunion-ing. There we spent the week reading, eating, sunning, playing, swimming, gaming, hiking, talking, fishing, climbing, napping, knee boarding, water skiing, tubing...well, you get the picture!

When describing our week on a house boat at Lake Powell, the phrase, "the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," is what immediately comes to mind. The Good: getting to read, being with my family, and watching all the cousins enjoy themselves immensely.

The Bad: the grown ups didn't get along quite as well as the kids did. Too many people with too many tempers in too tiny of a space...not too nice at times.

The Ugly: too many people in too tiny of a space having to use the restroom a few too many times...just plain nasty. There are times that my mother-in-law's loss of her sense of smell really is a blessing to her.

But the plan was to get the whole family (total 24) together in one place, and that was accomplished, so add that to The Good. We're all still talking to each other, and are willing to vacation together again (just no more houseboats, please), so keep the good list going and those vacations coming!

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