Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - 218 N. Locust St. - Carlisle, KY - 859-289-6425

Greetings from Nevada! I hope you are all having a great week.

What an amazing weekend. It just goes to show that as the kids get older, the more fun we are going to have with them.

Nearly every year since I’ve known Ben, his family has gone on a summer trip to Panguitch Lake, Utah. They only go for the weekend as it isn’t too far to drive, and they fish and relax in the much cooler weather.

This year was the first year we took the kids. The last time Ben and I went was actually right after we found out that I was pregnant. We didn’t even know we were having twins yet. We weren’t quite sure how the babies were going to do but we decided to go anyway.

The reason I say we were slightly hesitant is that the kids have recently decided it is fun to run away from us and watch us chase them. They also like to splash and play in the water. Our worries came in as we usually fish in the streams that run right by a fairly well traveled road. We were worried they would run from us into the road playing and get seriously hurt. Or, that they would try to play in the fast flowing stream and fall in.

As it turns out, our worries were for nothing. Ben and I went up to the lake a day before the rest of his family. We stayed in a tent this year as it is much cheaper than staying in a cabin and we are on somewhat of a tight budget. We were very excited to be able to take the new truck on the trip and it provided us with ample room for all of our food and camping gear.

We arrived at the lake on Thursday, set up our tent and then took the kids down to the water. They had done so well the entire trip. They slept in the car some and the rest of the time they sat in their seats and danced or played and laughed and talked. It really was a fun ride.

After they played down by the lake for a while we went back up to the campsite and just relaxed and let them play for a while. We made hot dogs for dinner and had some chips and cookies. Then not too long after it was off to bed. But not before some bonding time with Ben. The kids played on the air mattress in the tent with Ben. He had them doing summersaults and was tickling them. They had a blast!

The next day we got up fairly late as the sun had already made our tent quite warm. We ate some breakfast, played around the campsite for a while and then took a drive.

We came across a place called Red Canyon, just before Bryce Canyon. We had a picnic lunch and then took a short walk up the side of the hill with the kids. They each brought back a pinecone which, they thought was really cool. His family arrived that afternoon. We spent the rest of the day with them relaxing and playing games.

Saturday we got up, ate a big breakfast, played for a while and then left to go fishing. We were excited to see what the kids thought of the fish, but had to wait until the afternoon because just as we left the campsite to fish they fell fast asleep.

We fished close to where we parked so they could sleep in the truck and thanks to a light breeze and 70 degree weather they slept comfortably.

After we had lunch and played for a while longer around Ben’s parents’ cabin, we went back out to go fishing. The kids stayed awake this time and they did great. They sat on the ground near the stream and threw rocks into the water. They thought that was great. When Ben pulled out the first fish, with Antonio’s help that was when the fun began.

They weren’t sure what to think of the thing flopping around on the line. Ben tried to get them to touch it, but they wanted nothing to do with it.

I pulled out the next one and they were still not sure about touching the fish. But, because the fish had swallowed the hook so far, it died before Ben could get it off the line. Then, once it as lying still they thought it was ok to touch it. In fact, for several minutes, Analise pet it. It really was hilarious.

We packed up Sunday morning after breakfast and headed home. I was certainly glad to sleep in my own bed, but I would have stayed a month for the kids. I know they had a blast. Just another great memory added to our minds!

Until next week, make it a great one!