Family Vacation

Last week was our big summer family vacation.  We decided to go back to Banks again this year because (1) the kids loved it so much last year, (2) it's close, so we don't have to listen to fighting in the car, and (3) I thought it would work well with having Kate (she could nap in the cabin while the kids are outside playing, and we wouldn't have to spend a lot of time dragging her around on various outings).  We stayed Monday through Saturday and had a fantastic time. 

I took probably a thousand pictures while we were up there, and have managed to delete enough to get it down to 300, but that's still a ton of pictures.  I'm a little overwhelmed over trying to do a decent update on this blog.  I want to include a lot of pictures because this becomes our family scrapbook/journal when I print it out, but I don't want to have a post with a zillion pictures.  So, I think I'm going to break it up into lots of posts, and focus on one kid in each post, and then hit on the major activities.  We'll see how long it takes me to get it all done.  Scott is out of town for 4 days, so I'm flying solo with these kids, and may not have a lot of spare time to sit and blog. 

I'll start with our drive up to Banks.  It's beautiful country, and Savannah had a great time snapping pictures with her Dad's cell phone as we drove the windy mountain road.  We took both vehicles so we could fit everything (and everyone) in.  Scott drove the truck with Savannah, Josh, Aaron, and Kate.  And I drove the suburban with Nate, Sara, and Owen.

When we pulled up, the kids couldn't wait to get out of the cars and start playing.  But, as they got out and looked around, they were disappointed to see that all their favorite "toys" from last year were gone.  The zip line, trampoline, and swings were all gone.  We later found out that the ranch's insurance guy made them take them down for liability reasons (because they were home made).  The kids were instantly convinced that they weren't going to have any fun without all those things.  And I have to admit, part of me worried that I'd be stuck up there for a week with kids bored and complaining.  But, it didn't take long for them to discover new things to love and do at the Lazy R Ranch.