"Vacation" 2017

This year, we were in charge of the big Rex reunion. We've been planning for months...reserving the campground, planning meals, finding activities, and it was finally time to go. The boys were especially excited to be in charge!

We left OK on July 28th and drove to Albuquerque to be with Judy's family for a few days. We stopped at Coyote Bluff Cafe in Amarillo for lunch, where Dale tried the "Burger from Hell" and ate the whole thing! He loved everything about the cafe.

On the 29th, we went to the temple and worked on some of Judy's family names.

Grandma took the kids to a disability event at a park there, and that night we went to a kayaking event at a local pool. Cameron decided to try the water slides, and after being terrified of water his whole life, something finally clicked and he became a fish!

The next day was church. After church, we went to the temple to walk around.

On Monday, the girls went to breakfast together, then we went shopping to get food for the reunion. It's hard work planning food for 50 people! That night, several of us went to see Wonder Woman.

Tuesday we went back to the temple to do some sealings. We did some more shopping for all the things we still needed. Plus, we enjoyed time with family.

Wednesday morning, we loaded up to drive up to Colorado. The van was packed to the brim!

We tried to go to Tent Rocks to hike but Siri took us to the wrong Tent Rock, so we drove over crazy mountain roads and wandered around for far too long.

Due to our alternate route we drove up this dirt highway, where Becca decided it was time to blow out of her diaper and eat. We finally made it to the campground at Chris Park, CO (between Durango and Silverton). Just as we started setting up camp, a storm swept through and we discovered all the leaks in our tent!

Once several of Dale's siblings got there, we went in to Durango to eat dinner at a Mexican restaraunt. Then we headed back to camp.

On Thursday, we woke up and drove to Silverton to tour a mine! It was fun seeing almost 50 Rexes wearing hard hats and coats. We rode a mining train in, Lily hated almost every minute of the tour, and then we rode out.

 Our little family toured the local mill...

and the museum in Silverton (which is also the former jail). While Dale was paying for our admission, Cameron walked behind the desk. The clerk grabbed and old skeleton key and told Cam that he would have to go to jail now. Cam thought he was joking at first, but got quite concerned when the clerk escorted all of us to the jail. Cameron's poor face was priceless!

Then we shopped a bit and headed back to camp. We had walking tacos for dinner that night and it was scrumptious!

On Friday, about half of our group headed back towards Silverton to hike Ice Lakes. Kimball and Dale went on this and hiked 6 miles. It was rainy, and a tough hike, but after Kimball saw the second lake, he said it was worth it and forged ahead.

The rest of us went on a little hike from our camp to a lake nearby. I forgot bug spray and we got eaten alive!

That night we ate hot dogs and s'mores and sang around the camp fire.

Each day was rainy, and the nights were about 50 degrees, but our kids did great! Becca especially surprised us. She was fantastic for the whole reunion and loved being passed around, meeting all of her relatives.

Saturday morning we ate omelets in a bag. Then it was time to pack up. Dale's siblings have a tradition of passing around these purple grapes that belonged to Grandma Rex, and we were the recipients this year...

We tried to go to Mesa Verde, but the tours were booked for hours and we didn't have time to drive in, so we went to Aztec Ruins on our way to Albuquerque.

Sunday morning, we went to sacrament meeting, then loaded up the van and drove home. The drive was TORTURE! Becca screamed for basically 75% of the drive no matter what we tried. Lily also cried for a good deal of time, and we were all just DONE with being in the car. It was marvelous to finally be home. Then, we just had to do 8 loads of laundry and unpack a million things to finally settle back in.

This definitely didn't feel like a vacation, but it was fun to spend time with family and explore new things.