Reading Week Trip

     Well again, one of the perks of being a teacher is getting time off. Monday February 18th was family day and then we give our students Tuesday and Wednesday off and then we have Teachers Convention Thursday and Friday. So with this time off we wanted to go somewhere with the kids. We decided to go and see some of my missionary buddies in Utah. We stayed with the Grinceri Family (Paul,Bec,Emma,Hayden,Baily & Kendall) who just moved here from Perth Australia 2 years ago.

     We were a little worried about driving with the kids for 12 hours in the van. We left Friday morning and wanted to drive to Idaho falls (which was 8 hours away) to stay with Ken Dudley and his family. The kids were great on the drive.....way better than we thought they were going to be with being all cooped up in the van and in their seats. We made sure the DVD player was working and that all their devices were charges and filled with games and movies. These devices are a life saver these days when it comes to travel. I remember driving to Arizona with my family and having nothing to do in the back seat. I honestly can't even remember what I did the whole way.....probably drove my parents crazy. One of the best ideas that came from the back seat was "Forts". The kids, with the help of mom set up blankets in the back and gave each kid their own fort. Haydn was blocked off in the back, Brody was covered in his seat, and Tyson was in his seat. This helped the kids keep to themselves and not fight the whole way.

The Kids Forts in the Van to keep them
from bugging each other

     We rolled into Idaho Falls around 8pm. We went out to eat with the Dudley family that night and
then came back to hang out for the rest of the night. Ken records music, so his basement is just one big recording studio with electric, acoustic, and bass guitars everywhere. He has a big recording room with speakers, amps and recording machines everywhere. We played his electric drums and played some music together. It was great!


     We continued our trip to Utah around noon. We only had about 3-4 hours left to go, so it was a good break to stop in Idaho Falls. We stayed in Draper Utah, which had some massive houses. Really all we did was hang out and eat. We met some of my other missionary buddies and went out to eat. It was good to see them again. It is crazy how friendships form on missions when you really only know some of these people for months at a time. We met up with Ano Lobendahn and his son Aiden ( who has crazy curly hair). Brody and Aiden were like two peas in a pod!

Ken Dudley with all his recording equipment 

Aiden and Brod

     We went to a Brazilian restaurant one night and it was amazing. We had a little piece of wood and one side was green and the other was red. As long as you kept the green side up the waiters would continue to come around to the table with big skewers of meat and cut it off for you. The food was so good, and one of my favourites was the roasted pineapple. We ate until we could not even move haha.

      One of the funniest parts was going to a place called "Airbourne". It was a huge building filled with trampolines. One room was for dodgeball on tramps, one room was for just jumping around and doing tricks, one room was for jumping into big foam pits, and the last room was an obstacle coarse above a foam pit. We loved this place and we all had so much fun. I would come back to Utah just to go back to this place. The kids were all over the place ....Brody came back to see us one time just dripping in sweat and said "my dodgeball tea just won the championship". Me and Haydn stayed in the tramp section and just practiced jumping, flipping and doing tricks off the tramps that were on the walls. We will definitely come back to Utah and Airbourne, we had a blast.

   


















     The last night that we were there we had dinner with everyone that we could. We went to the Texas Roadhouse. So there was Me, Kristi, our 3 boys, Paul, Bec, their 4 kids, Ano his wife and their 2 kids, Jody Heninger Oblad and her husband, Bunker, and Ginger Matkin all eating together. So 19 people all together. Needless to say we took up a large section of the restaurant and I am sure with us and the kids we were not the quietest section either haha. It was so fun catching up with everyone and seeing where everyone is at in their lives.

Tyson's Gummi-Toe Game

     I was nervous about the drive home because we were going to drive the whole way home in1 day with the kids. BUT the kids were champions!!! They were so good. Tyson was such a little trooper being stuck in his chair the whole time. Kristi made up a game with Tyson to keep him happy. She would put a gummy lifesaver on one of his toes and he would have to eat it off his toe.

The Boys at Scheels Sports Store

Edmonton Trip

     Well we arrived home from Utah Wednesday night around 11:30pm and I had to get up at 7:00am so I could get to lethbridge for Teacher's Convention on Thursday and Friday. Friday right after Teacher's Convention we left for Edmonton cause I had a Google Docs conference to go to on Monday and Tuesday. So there was a lot of driving being done by me in a matter of a week and a half. Cardston - Utah and back, Cardston - Lethbridge and back twice, Cardston to Edmonton and back.  I never wanted to stay out of a car so bad in my life. We stayed with Ryan and Brandi Friday - Sunday and then we had a free night at the Fantasyland hotel. The kids were so excited to go on the waterslides. Karlee came with us so she could help Kristi with the kids while I was at the conference.
     The kids loved the waterslides and had a blast swimming in the wave pool. The had one slide that you were able to go against gravity. You had to be a certain height and weight to go on it. Haydn was too light. Brody was a little sad cause he was too short for some of the really fun slides.

Tyson on our mandatory trip
to Chuck E. Cheese