Our First Family Vacation- This is really long!

This past week we had our first real family vacation. Now by vacation I mean, no time schedule, no responsibilities, no bedtimes- you do whatever you want, whenever you want, eat whatever you want....pretty much- its awesome. We've done family trips beforeto St. Louis or Oregon, but never a VACATION. Let me just tell you- It was wonderful!!!! We didn't want to come back. But sadly, all good things must come to an end. And here we are- back to reality. Well here is the low-down. This is why vacation is so nice. First of all. All of my family was there. Aunt Sarah ( my sister at byu) came home for the summer after spring term, Uncle Joseph ( my brother that lives in Layton) and his wife Aunt Julieta drove all the way to Arkansas to be with us. Uncle David and Aunt Laura were already here and Nanny and Papa took the week off work so we could all be together. So there were 10 of us all together. A recipe for disaster right? No- my family ( i don't know if this is normal of not) loves being together. Even if we're trapped in a two room, 4 bed condo for a week. We all still had so much fun. We headed up to Branson, MO last Sunday on Father's day. Branson is only 1 1/2 hours away so its not a bad drive at all. We got in at 5:00 and ate dinner and then just relaxed and unpacked that night. We watched the first original "Star Wars" movie and finally crashed about 1:00 am. Tanner- being unfamiliar with his environment didn't sleep well that first night, but luckily we were still awake for his first few "wake-ups" He got to watch "Star Wars" too and then slept in the bed with Chris and I instead of his play pen. (Don't worry- Tanner's sleeping habits improved) The next day was our 3rd anniversary. Chris and I slept in- well not as late as everyone else, but it was still nice. Then we left Tanner with the family and had an early lunch together. JUST THE TWO OF US. We ate at Olive Garden. Then unfortunately- Chris had to run back home to do a seminar for work. It was sad to have him leave so soon, but he came back a few days later. Later that day Nanny and Papa went grocery shopping. Now the groceries are one of the best parts about our vacation. What we do is make a list, and everyone puts whatever they want on that list- then nanny and papa buy it. Its awesome. You get to eat whatever you want. We don't cook much while we're there. A few nights we made real meals, but mostly we eat out or eat sandwiches and alot of junk food. Anyways. While they were doing the shopping we headed down to the pool. To say that my siblings love Tanner would be an understatement. Its ridiculous how much attention this kid gets. He LOVED it of course. Tanner wearing my sunglasses. He finally broke his. The pool has a some fountains on the edge and then it gradually slopes to become deeper and deeper as you walk in. This was perfect for Tanner because he could play in the sprinkler/fountains and then we would hold his hands while he walked as deep as he could into the pool until we had to hold him. Tanner and Mom splashing in the fountains He loves them so much! Also we discovered Tanner loves sitting on the fountain. We would just plop him down and he would splash around. It was alot of fun. Monday was mostly just a relaxing day- we swam, ate, watched movies, played wii. It was great. Tuesday however was a serious shopping day. After everyone got up- which is about 11:00 usually- we ate lunch together at Red Lobster. This was right in the middle of Tanner's afternoon nap, so he was so out of it. He just sat on my lap and sucked on lemons. He was so funny. It was like he couldn't stop sucking on them, even though he didn't like them. Until he got tired of it, then he made this face! After we ate, the girls and boys split up and the girls went shopping. Tanner stayed home and aunt Laura watched him. She isn't really into shopping. I love branson because they have a ton of places to shop. There are 3 outlet malls and then there's the landing. The Branson Landing has a ton of great places to shop. I got two new shirts, a skirt and a pair of dress shorts. I would say it was pretty successful shopping trip. That night we just ate deli sandwiches and pasta salad because we were all so full from lunch. Almost every night we would go down to the pool and go for a night swim. It was perfect because it wasn't quite as hot and the water was just the right temperature. This began Tanner's love affair with night swims and late bedtimes. (Like I said- its vacation right- kids don't need bedtimes.) Tanner playing with Papa at the pool Tanner splashing at the pool On Wednesday we eventually got up and around, after another late night...and went to eat lunch at Olive Garden and then went and saw "Toy Story 3" in 3D at the IMAX theater. It was fun. Tanner did pretty good during the movie. We had to take him out near the end because he was so tired and fussy. He couldn't sleep during this movie. Then we went back to the condo for some more swim time and relaxation. (Because our week had been so stressful thus far). We got in a lot of good QUALITY time together. Tanner really loves to walk and as soon as he would grab a hold of someones fingers he would be up an off- walking everywhere. Thank goodness there were 9 adults to walk him around. Me giving Tanner kisses! Me and my boy! Thursday we did a little more shopping and I got some stuff for Tanner's birthday party. Oh and this is how I found Tanner in the mornings. He wakes up so happy-its fun to get him out of bed. This time Tanner stayed home with Uncle David and had some quality time with him. David is actually awesome with Tanner and Tanner loves his Uncle David! That night Joesph, Julieta and Chris came back to the condo. Joseph and Julieta had gone to Mountain Home to interview for a job and they brought Chris back with them. P.s. Joseph and Julieta are moving here the last day of July. I'm so excited. She is due Sept 20th, so she will be here to have the baby. YAY! Anyways, While we were waiting for Chris to get back Tanner, Aunt Sarah and I headed off to the "Club House" to go play in the kid's playroom. Tanner loved the bean bags He wasn't sure what he thought about the slide at first, but then he started having fun. After Chris got back we ate dinner. We had crab. It was delicious! Then went down the pool for another night swim. Tanner was really tired that night and mostly just wanted to cuddle me. It was so sweet. I love when Tanner gives me cuddles. Friday was our boating day. We got up early- well by 8:30 and headed to the marina. We were on our boat pushing off from the dock by 9:30 am. We had the boat for 4 hours and we weren't going to miss out on a moment of it. Tanner absolutely loved the boat. He didn't love wearing the big bulky life jacket- but he was a good sport. He even got to help Papa drive the boat And Tanner got to tube for the first time. Tubing at 10 months- thats not too young right? Chris rode with them, and we only went one gear above "idle". But still- they were moving and causing a wake. We all thought Nanny would have a heart attack, but she handled it very well. After his tubing adventure, Tanner fell asleep drinking his bottle and was out for about an hour. While he slept, Chris and I took turns passing off Tanner so we could ski or tube. Here is me tubing- oh and my huge muscles. I nearly wiped out posing for this picture. Chris tubing and skiing Tanner found the rocking of the boat to be very soothing. After about 2 1/2 hours I thought I should get Tanner home and out of the sun. So Nanny, Julieta, Tanner and I headed back the condo. The rest of the family stayed on the boat. That afternoon we just played games and hung out. We ate steak for dinner and then watched a movie. Saturday morning Chris and I took Tanner down to the kiddie pool to swim some more. That kid can't get enough of the water. Then he went down for his morning nap and I headed back down to the pool to get some sun and to read. But after about 40 minutes it started pouring rain and I had to run inside. We had a pretty good thunderstorm and sat on our balcony watching it for a while. Saturday was just another day to relax. We played some more games and stuff and then took some family pictures. My little family My huge family! That night we ate spaghetti and went swimming. It was so sad to know our vacation was over. We didn't want to go to bed that night because then it would be offically over. But here I am- home again- and it really is over. We had so much fun! Sorry this post is so long but I had a lot to write about and so much fun to describe. I would say our first family vacation was a total and complete success!