Summer Vacation 2011 Part 2: Lake Powell

My Dad--the man power driving the boat with all of his first mates.

Lake Powell is a gorgeous family vacation spot in UT/AZ. As a new high school graduate, I got to go with my family (minus 1 hard-working brother) and my aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins on a small house boat. We swam, hung out, danced, laughed, drank pop (a rarity for my household), and had a great time. Well, my parents decided to recreate this memory with all of their children and grandchildren and to let my brother in on making some memories of his own on this beautiful lake. There were 22 of us! Ten adults and 12 kids with my 3 boys being the oldest of the bunch! Despite our worries about safety, the kids followed the rules of 1. have a buddy, 2.wear your life jacket, and 3. Have FUN!
This is the wonderful woman who made it happen!

The above picture depicts the family drama. My brother and his family came later on Thursday night. My dad and brother-in-law drove back to the dock to pick up Matt & family, but needed gas to get back to our cove. The boat fuel station was closed for the night, so they drove into town, bought a gas tank, filled it up at the gas station, drove back to the boat, loaded up and started driving out to find us. They kept driving and driving. Night fell and it was black! The moon didn't come out for hours! They drove until 2am. As you can see a port-a-crib fits on a ski boat! They tried to catch a few winks of sleep, but as soon as there was enough light, they continued to drive around and find us. It so happened that we were in a different cove off of a different buoy further out than they had thought.

Meanwhile...back at the houseboat, my mom and sister were FREAKING OUT not having any idea where their husbands were! Who can blame them. It was a traumatic night for everyone, but afterwards we counted our blessings and the numerous miracles that happened to enable them to reach us on that 1 tank of gas. Definitely an experience we will never forget... especially my mother!

The most coveted ride...
My parents bought a 4-seater raft that we could squeeze on 5! All of us from 58yr olds to 2 yr olds had a great time on this raft.

Steve became the official driver and only threw off the people who wanted it! :)


He could lull the kids to sleep at the same time!

Is this heaven or what?!

The kids put on shows to entertain us. The girls danced while Mandi's boys showed off their karate moves.


Emma and Kaelene LOVED the slide that slid off the top deck. I think she went down over 100 times! These 2 cousins are darling together! If only we lived closer...


Here we are in the hot tub on the top deck. This is the "girls who love boys club." I promise I didn't come up with that name.

My favorite memory of the boat actually takes place in this hot tub. Our last night, we put on a movie for the kids inside the boat, and all the adults (minus Steve who got strep throat) slid into the tub, gazed at the stars, and laughed our heads off.

Jumping off of the boat was a written "no-no," but Steve claimed it was only a "guideline."

He was experienced.

And loves to show off his can-opener with his amazing splash making skills.

Here was what we thought a potential clif jumping site. There wasn't a way to climb up to the clif part, so the guys swam through the narrow channel instead. Those boys were chomping at the bit to jump, so Wade was "channelling" their anticipation and energy.
Our next site was a success! Evan, Carter, and my nephew jumped about 15 feet!

Carter went first

Then Evan

Notice how the confidence rose for the 2nd jump?

Here's my nephew! He's such a brave kid!

Below, is a shot of the men looking at approximate 55 feet of sky between the water and them.

Steve was first...

Matt next!

Wade was 3rd, but my finger slipped and none of his pictures turned out! He has proof that he did it, though, because he said it was so far down from the top that he had time to pee on himself, dry off and pee on himself again. Typical Wade comment. He cracks me up! They even did it a second time so that I could capture it on video. They have proof of their courage and manhood!

Rainbow Bridge with the original Allemans plus Baby John.

We closed the trip with some Root Beer/vanilla swirl ice cream. Mmmmm! What a sweet ending to a "sweet" reunion. Thanks, Mom & Dad and my awesome family for a wonderful 4 days! We can't wait to see everyone again!