Rewind to June of 2011, my oldest of my younger brothers announces that he has met the perfect woman and they are getting married in January. WHOOO HOOO We are all doing the happy dance. None of us have met her but if David loves her that is all that matters.
Now its July of 2011, David calls us to let us know that he and his bride to be have changed their minds and would like to get married on August 26th...2011. So that means I need to find a fab dress, plan a trip to the west coast and everything else that goes along with travel, in a little over a month. OK I can do this because there is no way I am letting my brother get married without me there to cheer him on.
August of 2011. We are making some real headway in the travel plans which include 8 people! Me and my family make 4, middle brother and his better half add another 2 and then there are my parents so that's 2 more! Vacations had to be requested and time schedules juggled but we all managed to synchronize our watches! Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that right before we were to leave for the wedding we had a western event?? Yup we did....
Thursday August 18, 2011
This is the day I had to pack for a 10 day trip, secure animal care for our zoo which at the time was 3 cats, 1 bunny and 1 frog(since the trip the frog now has a friend). The frog tended to drive away potential animal sitters because you had to feed him live bugs. Yes our sitter is wonderful, she even picked up our mail. Thanks so much Cassie!!
I had to pack wedding suitcases, western event suitcases and weekend away bag for Alex. We also had to pack all our camping gear for the western event. No I did not do this alone I have a wonderful hubby that put up with it as well as help a great deal! We also prepped the car of lots of driving which includes their rear car seat toy bags and the portable DVD player. I am also completly crazy and I will not go on a trip with a messy house, it just doesn't make travel fun to come home to dishes, laundry and a dirty floor. Yeah the packing lasted into the wee hours of the morning but it all got done!
August 19
Its leaving day! We needed to be up showered and dressed and out the door by 10am
10:30am. We leave. Ok we are half hour behind schedule but for us this is pretty darn good!!!
1pm arrive at Grandmas where we are dropping Alex off because he wants some one on one time with Grandma and Grandpa and he doesn't particularly care for this western event.
2pm leave Grandmas and drive to Viroqua for the western event. Yeah now we are an hour behind schedule.
4:30pm arrive in Viroqua and set up camp. This is a modern camp with our favorite tent so this goes really easy. It takes time but we all know what to do. Sure do miss Alex though.
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| Annie always camps in style! |
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| Alex's side of the tent was empty and quiet! |
We met up with the western group only to find out that our hosts budget was cut so bad that we were not being given dinner as promised...ok time to scramble for a plan B..but it all worked out.
August 20
Saturday we are awakened by a huge thunderstorm, well there goes our breakfast plans!
During the Western event I get to play a country farmers wife, Leena, and my husband has a terrible thirst and wanders into town and visits with the nice ladies of the saloon. I enter town and try to correct his behavior with a frying pan! I beat him over the head, kick him, slap him and try to shoot him.
I also have to play an uppity stage coach rider who during the holdup my pantaloons (Victorian Secret!) is held up, and I get to crack the guy across the face and stalk off.
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| Annie and I just before the stagecoach ride |
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| She is a natural and took off with the cowboys for a trail ride |
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| Annie loved Saber! |
August 21
Sunday is a pack up and leave day as well as perform all day kind of day. Our tent was very wet so we packed up the inside and left the shell up to dry while we ran off to play cowboys.
Once again I am beating up my "husband" with a frying pan and kicking him down the street. On Sunday we also show the "true" happening of a bank robbery where the poor bank teller was shot in the back as she ran screaming down the street for the sheriff. Yup, that's me. Nothing quite as fab as getting shot in the back and being gracelessly drug off the road by some sheriffs men. I got to pay them all back in the end as I donned my female gunslinger outfit and shot all of them in the end.
We ended the day and packed up camp, departing around 5:30 to make the 2.5 hr drive back to my moms. Yes I really missed Alex!!! We would be staying at Moms until we left for Washington.
August 22
Our car had its 6month paint checkup. While it was there we mentioned a small noise we heard while driving. We were told they have heard it before and they were pretty sure it was a transmission problem. My mind freaked. We leave tomorrow!! I also translated we are pretty sure to we will find a way to weasel out of the warranty so you can pay lots of money for the repairs. We were assured they knew the problem and we would have the car back the next day. (I cringed thinking of a transmission repair bill)
During the rest of the day where we painted toes and dyed our hair for the upcoming wedding we realized that overnight someone had broken into my moms car and garage. They tried to steal the XM radio but failed and gotten into the garage and succeeded in stealing Dan's golf clubs (grrrr) we got to endure the joy of filing a theft report.
August 23
We get our car back! And it cost me a whopping $11!! which is the normal fee for my paint protection and cleaning. Yes there really was a problem with a hub on the vehicle which included a sensor going bad but true to their word they covered it under the power-train warranty! phew!
We are getting to meet Eli's better half for the first time today as well. She is sweet, funny and puts up well with the kids. Yep she is great!!
We depart in a caravan for a park and ride, where I was surprised that they are nice enough to pick you up from the car and load your luggage for you! At this point you can feel the excitement radiating out of Alex who is going to go for his very first airplane ride. The kids did really well wandering around the airport and being patient to get on the airplane.
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| He insisted on giving the agent his ticket. |
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| The pilots loved that this was his first airplane ride and let him sit in the cockpit. |
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| This is the enough taking pictures Mom face |
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| So I snuck another! |
Our flight didn't depart until 6pm, then we landed in Denver and had a layover and then we got stuck on the runway while they tried to figure out when we could leave. Yes once again I can make a whole plane full of people late!! We sat on the runway for about an hour. UGH!! But they gave us free tv for the rest of the flight so that was nice for the kids.
We land in Spokane around midnight...Spokane time, which is 2am our time. We are tired and grouchy and we get to meet David and his other half! I hope our impression wasn't too bad! We grabbed luggage and cars and beelined for our hotel. Which has some of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept on! We fell into sleep that night!
August 24
We are going to spend the day at an amusement park! HUH after that day of travel?! Yep we are gluttons for punishment! We went to a place called Silverwood which is half water park and half amusement park so we spent half the day wet and half the day going on thrill rides. What was really nice is that we got to spend time with David and Chelsea and Eli and Whitney and get to know them!
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| Alex being silly |
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| Annie peeking through a waterfall |
Ok so we are uber geeks and found out that one of the roller coasters here at Silverwood is the same roller coaster that was sold from Knotts Berry Farm. The Corkscrew which is my Moms favorite and it being a piece of Knotts meant the world to Dan and I since that is where this candy girl met her train robber! This coaster also had the privilege of being Annie's first looping roller coaster.
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| The family under Corkscrew |
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| A kiss under the Corkscrew...feel the Knotts love! |
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| Annie and Daddy are ready to go!! I was right behind them! |
Annie then decided to go on to bigger and better things and went for the ultimate thrill ride. Yes it was an intense ride but she LOVED IT!!
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| She was ready to ride Aftershock! |
Since my photo doesn't do the ride justice this is a better idea of the ride she went on. Here is how the ride works, you are dangling under the track...yes dangling underneath. You are slowly drug upwards and its backwards so you are dangling by your restraint...yes it is straight up and down. Once you reach the top, you drop and go through the loops and hairpin curves. You then go straight up and this time you are facing the sky...you slowly creep upward and then...you drop. Now you do all those hairpins and loops going backwards and not able to see what is coming at you. Then you again go straight back up the first part where it catches the coaster car and slowly creeps it back to the station. WOW what a rush!
I think this blog post is long enough. I am going to end it here and add...
To be Continued.....
