Powell Paradise with the Patches

It's no secret that I will be true and loyal to Lake Powell for the rest of my life. Cody and I just got back from spending a week there with my family...it doesn't get any better than that. We found a spectacular beach, spent loads of time in the water because it was way too hot, hiked some great trails and all returned with some tan lines (and a new hatred/respect for puzzles). We watched James Bond and Star Trek and had a particularly impressive run at Rock Band...man, if only we had that on film. Oh! And we mastered some synchronized swimming! An epic and memorable trip, friends. Epic and Memorable.

Here we are getting ready for our routine...if only we had put it to music! I think next year I'll get everyone matching swim caps.

Dear goodness. We went to Dangling Rope Marina and found these ginormous spiders. Ew, I still feel my ear twitch when I look at these pictures! They were huge and SO fast. Not a fan. Did I mention they were everywhere? So the boys had a wee bit of fun and knocked a few into the water for the waiting carp (which, I should mention, were also ginormous).

Ahh, puzzles. We do about 3 or 4 puzzles on the top of the boat each trip. Here were two that consumed most of our time. That Beatles album cover was a beast...and I only worked on the last leg of it! Pretty sure I don't want to listen to Revolver for quite some time.

Rock Band. 'Final Countdown' and Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love a Bad Name' were huge hits. It was SO much fun! My parents even sang their hearts out - encore!!

The hiking...I think my favorite pic is the candid shot of Jess and I having a leisurely chat on top of a mountain. Candid.

Rainbow Bridge

How cute are they?

One night we discovered 7 or 8 frogs on the beach and proceeded to chase them around and we caught this wee baby one. He was so cute! We were all so curious and followed them around...then would scream as they hopped. Look at this little guy ready to pounce? Andrea was about to launch him in my face. Good times.

On Sunday we designed our own stencils and spray-painted the designs on some shirts. Andrea's brought some drawer-liner stuff and neon yellow spray paint and we got right down to business. Didn't they turn out great?? Jess' owl, Rich's Pan Am, Andrea's Pirate Ship and my Mom's creepy spider (we all loved that one).

My camera battery was about dead so I missed some finished shots. My Dad made a rocket and his shirt looked so cool...

Naturally, my shirt had a bird cage on the front...

...and a canary on the back, right shoulder.

And then we come to Marty. Geez. He drew his stencil by hand (using a ruler and graph paper so it was even and accurate), isn't it amazing? Took him 5 hours, but he definitely wins the prize.

Our last night we took a sunset boat ride. The water was like glass, such a pretty night.

But wait, what's this?

A hideout? "Quickly! To the secret tunnel!"

We drove our boat into this rad little cave...so awesome.

It kind of felt like a Disneyland ride in there...

After emerging from the hole in the rock, we drove up the channel a little more, parked and walked around, finding these awesome rock creations.

I wanted to take home hundreds of these cool rocks to tile my bathroom vanity or something. Alas, Cody quickly reminded me that sandstone might not hold up to water too well. Hmpf.

Before we got back to the houseboat we stopped in the middle of the channel and had FHE. It was cool. It was the perfect cap on the perfect trip. A little Spiritual moment in a place that's so special to my family? I'm in.

None of us were ready for the trip to end. I love my family. I love these trips. Family is a solid, special thing. I already miss having a snow cone and a dance party on top of the boat each night, laughing hysterically with my siblings, taking a nap after eating too much french toast drenched in my Mom's apple syrup...we could spend a month there and that still might not be enough time. Maybe next year?