Family Heritage really knows how to put on a great family gathering! The sales agents get revitalized, inspired, motivated, and updated on all the new insurance information. The rest of us get to enjoy the fun events planned by Carolyn, Laura, and Sandy. Friday Travis (and all the agents) had an all-day sales meeting and after the meetings they returned to their rooms to get dressed in their 1940’s/World War 2 attire.
The agents and their families gathered in the bus pick up area and we all went to the Pima Air and Space Museum. The museum houses 300 planes inside and outside. I was surprised to see security surrounding one specific plane. It was the SR-71 Black Bird plane. We learned it is the fastest plane ever built - only seven ever made. These planes were made to be undetectable by radar, useful in the military. Very interesting!
My favorite part of the night was watching Parker. Travis and I are excited to have children old enough to go off and play with the other kids, and we can have a conversation without interruptions every fourth sentence. At one point I was along my way to bring Lincoln to the bathroom and stopped to talk with an old acquaintance. Travis was also talking to someone and Taite and Calla were with their friends. Parker was the only one sitting at the table. She was perfectly happy. She was even happier when the server brought around huge pieces of chocolate cake and offered one to her. She gladly accepted the server’s offer and proceeded to eat the entire piece of cake. She looked like she was exfoliating her face in chocolate.
On Saturday, the 29th, Family Heritage took 4 bus-loads of people to Old Tucson. I thought Old Tucson would be an older area of town for us to learn the history of the city. Oh no! It was more like a miniature amusement park. As we arrived we went to the welcome show - an Old West stunt show reenactment (almost everyone’s favorite part of Old Tucson). There was a train that took us around the park. We got to ride some old time cars and a carousel. They had horse rides. And we went to a rodeo. We saw bucking bulls and horses. We saw 4-year-olds riding for 8 seconds. And, for the first time I witnessed mutton busting. Who knew?!
Linda earned the mother-in-law-of-the-year award Saturday. When we returned from Old Tucson we had a few hours before we needed to be at our next event. I was desparately wanting some exercise. Tucson has the best hiking! I asked Linda to go with me and she agreed. It wasn't until we got on the trail that Linda reminded me that her hip had been hurting her. She decided to walk on it anyway, saying that it might help her hip to give it some exercise. It was a bit farther into the hike when she reminded me that she was afraid of heights! What kind of person takes someone with a fear of heights hiking in the mountains in Tucson?!? Brother! Well, she made it unscathed, we both got a great workout, and we enjoyed our time together. It was a great hike. (See the roadrunner and aloe plant pictures below.)
Sunday (the 30th) we left Tucson. We hopped into the RV with our new travel buddies, the VanSumeren’s, and went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum with the Family Heritage group before leaving town. This museum ended up being more like a zoo than a museum. It was a desert zoo. There were coyotes, javelinas, prairie dogs, reptiles, tarantulas, hummingbirds, bees, big horn rams, a puma, ring-tailed cat, and - my personal favorite - the porcupine. There was also lots of vegetation. We wandered the museum searching for the 15 stamps to complete the booklet provided by the museum. Similar to the Junior Ranger Program, the booklet caused us to take a closer look at many of the animals and enjoy the journey even more. Soon our time was up at the Desert Museum and we were back in the RV.
It takes special people to be willing to spend seven days in an RV with another family - especially when our two families would be considered friends/acquaintances - certainly not close friends. The VanSumeren’s are the perfect family to travel with the Wilson’s (thank you, Lord!). We have similar eating and sleeping habits. We all like playing games. We have similar parenting styles. Everyone is pretty laid back about most things. Most importantly, we all place the same importance on our God. We have been so blessed by the VanSumeren’s - we have learned a ton about them and from them. I’m sure we came out on the better end of the deal. And I’m sure the VanSumeren’s will be glad to get out of the Nautica Flyer and head back to Georgia. ;-) But for now we’ve got them - and we’ll keep learning good things from them.
Tim (who also works with Family Heritage) and Stacey live in Tifton, Georgia, and have two boys, Connor (9-years-old) and Tyler (5-years-old). So now there is 10 of us in the RV - and our kids ages are 9, 8, 6, 5, 4, and 3. Before this trip our kids didn’t know each other at all. In fact, at the resort I had to inform Taite that it was Connor VanSumeren he was playing against in ping pong. Now we were going to spend time together unlike we have with even the closest of our friends. Get excited!
We were on our way to Lake Havasu. Before arriving in Lake Havasu, we stopped in Buckeye, Arizona, for dinner. Ciao Grazie showed high ratings online - and it was GREAT! The woodfire pizza was delicious - it reminded me of Punch Pizza in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. At the end of dinner Travis ordered an ice cream calzone for us to share in celebration my birthday - 29 again.
Lake Havasu was of particular interest because we had been reading a book about London Bridge. The London Bridge - not London’s famous Tower Bridge, but another of London’s bridges that was falling down and preparing to be destroyed - was carefully moved to Lake Havasu, Arizona, in 1971. It was fun to drive over it. There was a cute replica of some London shops on one side of the bridge. Unfortunately we didn’t take time to stop because we had spent quite a bit of time at Lake Havasu itself. Being there felt a little bit like home (well, at home in May). The water looked gorgeous. Everything around it was so green. I can see why so many people would want to have a vacation home there.
Finally we were on to Vegas. This is a town that makes me nervous. It is named “Sin City” for a reason. In fact, I saw numerous t-shirts and billboards that said, “I feel a sin coming on” or something of the sort. So what was the first thing we did? We rented a church van. You know, the big 15-passenger white van. It was the only vehicle that could hold all 10 of us. But it looked like a church van and I’d like to think people treated us differently because of the van. ;-) It certainly made us feel comfortable as we tried to navigate the area. (Mostly because of its size.)
Our first night in Vegas was New Year’s Eve. Imagine that...Vegas on New Year’s Eve! So what did two couples with six kids do? That’s right, we made a delicious dinner of grilled salmon, mango quinoa, and zucchini at the RV then played games. We were all exhausted and made it to 12:30am...East Coast time. (9:30 Vegas time) ;-)
New Year’s Day was kind of a big deal. We are Husker fans. The VanSumeren’s (from Georgia) are Dawg fans. The Huskers just happened to play the Dawgs in the Capitol One Bowl that day. Our dear Nebraska friends and Husker fans, Curtis and Amy Rogers, just happened to be in Vegas on the 1st visiting family. Curtis’ sister and her husband are part owners at one of Vegas’ bars - The Lift - where they had a special room with 5 TV’s for the Georgia and Nebraska fans to co-mingle and watch the game. Sadly, the Dawgs beat our Huskers but we had tons of fun. All the boys took the football to the parking lot and played a game during halftime.
After the game we drove down the strip. Here my fears were confirmed as we viewed too many magazine stands, flashing billboards, mobile advertisements driving down the road, and even some inappropriate cards at some intersections. I kept wanting to jump in front of the view of my children. Tim pointed out the opposite side of the window a few times yelling, “Hey! Look at that!” It worked as an attention diversion. But Tyler (the 5-year-old) said it best when he saw the light billboard advertising “Peepshow” and too much skin. He said, “Oh my goodness! I am not looking over there!” They see more than we think.
If you can get past that (or if
I can get past that), there is a lot of fun to be had in Vegas. We parked in the Bellagio lot to visit the conservatory inside. We had fun viewing all the artwork and botanicals. We stepped outside for the famous water show. Then stopped at Jean Philippe Patisserie to watch the chocolate fountains and order some hot chocolate and cheesecake for ourselves. Yum! The Bellagio is gorgeous with lots of upscale shopping and incredible restaurants. As we wandered the halls I couldn’t help but think that this must be like Babylon during King Nebuchudnezzar’s reign. So much sparkle, glitz, and extravagance. When we had our fill of glamour we headed home to get a good night of sleep. We had a big day the next day!
The alarm went off at 5:15am January 2nd. The bus picked us up at 6:10 for our Grand Canyon tour. The Grand Canyon was something we wanted to share with our kids. At school Connor VanSumeren had to write something similar to a bucket list. On his list was visiting the Grand Canyon. None of the VanSumeren’s had ever been there. Half of our family had never been there either. None of us had ever visited the West Rim where we can take the Skywalk out to stand 2,500 feet above the bottom of the Canyon. We went to Eagle Point, Guano Point and Hualapai Ranch. Hualapai Ranch also had an area where they built a number of homes that nearby tribes use - like a tipi, hogan, and wigwam. The four hours we had at the Canyon was not enough time to take it all in, but it was a fabulous experience just the same. On the front end of the tour we also got to stop at Hoover Dam then drive over the Hoover Dam Bridge. It was a great tour!
The third was a sleep-in-and-don't-rush kind of day. All the kids slept near each other. This morning Calla woke up to find most of the boys awake. Then she sat up to engage in the conversation. Tyler stopped and pointed at Calla saying (with his southern drawl), "Her hair looks like the Lion King!" Ha! Thankfully Calla has accepted the fact that she has crazy hair in the mornings. She laughed too.
The Rogers were still in town. Because they have family here they visit the Vegas area often. One of their favorite places is Red Rock Canyon. We met them there right before lunchtime to do some hiking. Later Stacey pointed out that hiking is usually on trails. We were not hiking...we were mountain climbing. Had I labeled the adventure ‘mountain climbing’ beforehand I might not have decided to do it with Parker on my back and Lincoln on Travis’ back. Although Travis, Lincoln, Parker and I didn’t get to the highest point we did climb to the top and could look out over both sides. Taite and Calla continued climbing with the VanSumeren’s and Rogers’ families. They LOVED it! And Calla’s legs didn’t even get tired (unlike our walks to the park across the street from our house when she often wants me to push her in a stroller).
The climb was incredible! It was deserving of a Sammy’s Woodfire Grill Messy Sundae. They also brought out plates of cotton candy! Have you ever seen a restaurant with cotton candy?! Thankfully Calla, Lincoln, and Parker (who all had never had it before) didn’t like it. Taite, on the other hand, went home with pink teeth and a pink tongue.
When Stacey saw the cotton candy come out her jaw dropped. As Tyler and Connor took a hunk of it Stacey said, “We are definitely going skating after this.” Skating was one of the many options of things to do for the evening, but the only active option. The Rogers led us to the fourth floor at the Cosmopolitan where the hotel has turned the swimming pool area into an ice rink. We skated for almost 3 hours! Ironically enough our Minnesota kids were the worst at it! We do not get out skating enough. Poor Taite, watching him reminded me of what Donald Duck or Goofy must look like on ice skates. He was banged up! Thankfully one corner of the rink faced the outdoor bar...where there was a TV...where the Kansas State/Oregon Bowl Game was showing. He had a reason to take breaks often. I was surprised when today he said, “Mom, we need to go skating again soon.”
“Really?! Why?” I asked.
“Because I was just getting the hang of it at the end. I will forget if I don’t go again soon.” I guess we’ll be taking advantage of the rink at the park across the street from our house this winter. The main difference is the weather. It was 35 degrees at the top of the Cosmopolitan last night. That’s pretty darn warm compared to what we get in Minnesota on any given winter day. And in Minnesota, if it’s that warm too often we won’t have the ice anymore, unlike the fake flooring they had at the Cosmopolitan. We’ll see what the winter brings.
Friday, January 4th was another winter sport day. We made plans to drive to Brian Head, Utah, to go tubing. We detoured to drive right through Zion National Park to get there. What a fabulous time! We, of course, got our Junior Ranger Program booklets first. They kids were on the lookout for ravens, yucca, cacti, Aspen trees, big horn sheep, mule deer, fish, lizards, animal tracks, animal scat, the Patriarchs (formations in the canyon), and more. We saw tons of mule deer, yucca, cacti, animal tracks, and scat (the kids thought that was great!). We had a hard time finding the big horns. Eventually we started driving to a higher elevation. We told the kids, “Keep a lookout for the ravens and big horns.” Within a minute Lincoln and Connor say, “I saw a sheep!” All of us had a hard time believing them.
“Really?”
Laughing, Lincoln and Connor say, “Yes!” (They were both wearing guilty smiles.)
“What color were they, Lincoln? Pink?” I asked, trying to see if he was teasing us.
“Gray and brown.”
After a few words of warning, and at the risk of not seeing one we decided to turn around. Maybe 100 yards down the road Lincoln says, “See?” I screamed! There it was, right out our window. Two of them! They were eating bushes right on the side of the mountain, right next to the church van. We could have pet it. We certainly weren’t going to feed it since all the signs told us not to - it's a $100 fine for feeding the wild animals.
We continued on, saw our raven and Aspen trees. We drove through a cute town called Cedar City to get coffee and use the restroom. We were almost there. We had left at 8:30am. With our Zion detour and loss of an hour due to time changes it was now almost 5:00. With no cell phone reception for our navigation Travis did some great map-work to find our way until...we got to the sign that said, “Brian Head - 12 miles.” We drove forward 10 feet to find two gates closing the road due to snow! We had to drive around to the other side of the town, adding 45 minutes to our trip. So far we had no complainers - which I thought was unbelievable.
Finally we got to Brian Head. The air was crisp - actually it was so stinkin’ cold I thought we were back in Minnesota. With the windchill it was -16 degrees. Yes, you saw a minus sign there. At home I would have told my kiddos it was too cold to go outside. But how often are we in Brian Head, Utah?! So we put on some winter gear, then some more gear, then more gear. The cute story of the night came when I was putting hats on the boys. We had left Lincoln’s hat on the Grand Canyon tour bus so he got to wear my lovely pink hat. Stacey was surprised and said, “Lincoln! Is your hat pink?!”
With that mischeviously guilty look on his face he smiled and said, “yes.”
Hoping he wouldn’t think twice about it Stacey said, “Oh. Ok.”
Then Tyler interjects (in his fabulous Georgia accent), “Mom! It’s for breast cancer awareness!” Ha! Loved it!
Travis had the great idea of using the church van as a warming house. He parked just yards from the tubing hills. He also ordered pizzas from a pizzeria in the small community. Anytime someone was hungry, thirsty, cold, hurt, or just needed a break the church van warming house was there. And it got used! We had frozen fingers, frozen noses, frozen chins, and frozen toes-es. We even had a few tears over the frozen body parts, but nobody could get enough of the rush of sailing that tube down the hill, riding up the side of what resembled a half-pipe, then sliding back down. We closed the place down. The drive home was much shorter than the excursion there. It wouldn’t have mattered though. As long as the dads were awake and singing their songs as they drove down the road nobody else noticed. There was nary a peep once the wheels started turning. All the kids chose which bench seat they would lay on and like that (insert finger snap) they were asleep. In fact, the dads decided to pull off on the side of the road temporarily to star gaze. It doesn’t happen often where there is utter darkness to show off the beauty of space.
Our families have taken advantage of every opportunity to “be one with nature.” ;-) We have laughed, sometimes kids cried, and not a day went by without at least one parent wanting to tear their hair out because of a child or children. Like Taite said, “We are like one big family now.” And I’m sure that’s what the locals thought as Tim, Stacey, all six kids and myself wandered into a Wal-Mart near the Utah border. Tomorrow is our last day with the VanSumeren’s. We look forward to enjoying every last minute of it.
Until next time...What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas (unless you are blogging about it.)
