The plan was for everyone to meet around 9:30 to caravan. We made lunches, packed the car, and headed for the gas station to fill up with time to get down to the neighborhood at 9:30. However, once I filled up the car, I turned the key and nothing happened. The battery had died. Bummer, but so much better to happen now than later on the trip. There is nothing quite as stressful as car problems on the road.
Tyler, who had the busiest morning, came and jumped our car. What a hero. We went straight to Ken Garf to get a new battery. It wasn’t a bad side trip. We all got hot chocolate and played games while waiting.
Then we were on the road. We were about an hour and fifteen minutes behind everyone, but headed in the right direction. We played the fun game where everyone chooses three songs in hopes they will come up on Spotify while we drive. For every song (you picked) that plays, you get a candy bar. And if your bonus song comes up, you get to add another song to your potential list. It kept us busy listening to music. We also rotated who sat where during the trip. Ivory was my first shotgun. She told me the mountains look fake, like someone drew them oddly. She wasn't wrong.
The trip was broken up by the Beaver Creamery. I think it used to be called the Cache Valley Cheese Factory, but it is all updated. Sadly, they had NO ice cream. That is why we went. We tried a little cheese tasting (the jalapeno munster was pretty good) and then we hit up a diner for ice cream anyway, and we were back on the road. We figured we missed everyone since they got there earlier, but ironically, they all stopped at Wendy’s, so we were the first ones back on the road and reached the hotel in Mesquite first.
The Rising star Sports Ranch is very nice. They have a fun backyard area. A basketball court, horseshoes, very small golf area, big chess set, paddle ball courts, and a nice grassy area, perfect for Spikeball. Seriously, giant chess set. The girls liked it.
The littles all jumped in the pool right away.
But June and I wanted to play.
We went and set up Spikeball. We got a lot of takers. Most of the kids loved it and some were very good. Warren we already knew was pretty pro, but then there was Conner. He was really good and smart about where he placed it. I could use some tips from him. June and I could still hold our own. Always fun to play. Yay that my back could take it. We played and the sprinklers kept coming on, moving us around.
We must have played a long time. I finally got in the pool with the kids in the early evening, but it was a bit chilly by then. The weather was gorgeous though. In the high seventies, low eighties. Sunny and wonderful. It was raining back at home. And that is why we went South. Check out Hannah flying into the pool. Epic.
After a bit in the pool, we all got out and headed to dinner. This was our one meal out. We went to the same diner that Tyler and I went to when we came back from Front Sight; Peggy Sue’s. The food was okay. The kids really liked it. It was a bit pricey. (Milkshakes were $7.) But the kids had a good time and we played Trivia up on the TV.
Back at the hotel, we started games with everyone. We played outside for a while. The wind kicked in a bit. Many people played One night Werewolf and loved it. I played for a bit and totally won several times. I tricked and wheedled. That is the best. Then I left them playing and went and learned “You’ve Got Crabs” from Deanne. You have a partner and use a secret sign. Ivory was my partner and we were fairly good at doing our sign, but I kept trying to call other people out. It never worked. I gave up all my crabs by miss-calling people. And June was way too good at counting cards. She always knew when I picked up a fourth one. And in the second game, she even guessed our sign. Stinker.
Eventually it got late. The kids weren’t ready for bed, so we played Werewolf in the stairwell. That was pretty funny. We were all standing with our eyes closed. Warren said if anyone walked in, he was going to start chanting something. We looked so strange. It was really fun.
Then off to bed. I slept with Robyn and Daisy and Ivory shared a bed in our room. In the other room, June and Pearl were together and Savvy took the other bed. Her room was pretty full and she would have gotten the floor. Much better to be with us. I slept very well. Except someone called our room at two in the morning, but I ignored it. Here is a picture of one of our rooms. You don't need much, just a bed and a person who won't kick you in the night.
The next day was a busy second day of vacation. We all got up slowly, but the littles were awake and ready to go to the pool at 8. I went down with them since they needed an adult, but the pool wasn’t open. Our card didn’t work. :( We went to the front desk but she said it might not be open for awhile. Something about the engineer not there to clean it. The girls were pretty bummed. We went up and got other kids and got the spikeball net out. When in doubt, play spikeball.
Eventually the pool opened. The littles enjoyed swimming, and June and I tried to uphold our spikeball title. We didn’t make it. Conner is too good. Put him with Taylor and they barely beat us out. Did I mention their weird shorts and shirts? Conner and Warren spent the whole time with their shirts pulled up and tied to show their midrifts and their shorts tucked in to be shorter. Weird. But they thought they were very cool.
The last thing we were able to do was play three on three. We grabbed Hannah and played the boys and guess what? We won! It was awesome. The boys were rather discouraged. It was pretty funny because Conner was asking what their punishment should be? I didn’t care. I was just stoked that we took them out finally. Here we are, the champions, sort of. Trio champions, how about. (The boys all jumped in the pool for their punishment. Is that really a punishment?)
We had to be out of the hotel at 11, so we went back and forth and cleaned out before finishing spikeball, but that meant when we were all done, we just packed up and left. We didn’t get out until 1 I think. I really liked that hotel. The Rising Star Sports Ranch. Ivory and I noticed they had different colored elevator doors on each floor. (I wonder why?) Also, they had quotes all over the walls. I think the place is made for teams to stay when they come for tournaments, but it is friendly for smaller groups too.
It was sad to leave our friends, but we already planned for a shorter trip so we headed for St. George. After lunch, we dropped off the older girls at the temple. I planned to take the younger girls to the Red Desert Garden, but we barely got there (six minutes away) and the older girls texted they were done. They were only there for a heartbeat. We scouted the garden briefly anyway and then headed back to get them. Here are some of our pictures.
Here are the monkeys at the temple.
Pioneer Park is up near the garden and it looked really cool. Large red rock buttes you could climb around and little canyons you could walk through. I really would have liked to hike around there, but we already had plans.
We decided to go to Thunder Junction All Abilities Park. The older girls are getting a little old for parks, but this one had a fun water feature and June turned it into a game of course. At first they played in other places, but they got bored quickly.
Only Daisy was really dressed for the water, but they finally gave in to the spontaneity and decided a good splash was in the cards. I declined playing because I did NOT want to get wet. Plus I had the phones. The kids got absolutely soaked. They had such a good time though. Check out these cuties.
We even got a video of Robyn getting her turn in the water.
This is my favorite picture. Ivory and Robyn seem to have the same expression. It makes me smile.
Luckily, they were all able to change before leaving. We went to the car and everyone pulled out dry clothes. I took a picture of Daisy at the entrance so I wouldn't forgot what the park was called. (That sounds like something I would do.)
The older girls crack me up. They have natural curl in their hair and it comes out most when it is wet. Look at these curly cues and ringlets. Precious. They get annoyed with me, but I think it is darling.
With the combination of sun and water they were tired. I drove for quite a while with only the music for company. I even took a selfie. My eyes almost look green with that shirt.
Sadly, we left too late to get ice cream, so we missed it in both directions. Oh well...next trip. Towards the end, Robyn woke up for the last hour. That was nice because I went through some stormy weather and we watched the rain come down in misty sheets. We went through a crazy storm but came out okay on the other side.
She kept me company and we played a lottery version of the song game. None of Robyn’s songs had come up, so she was bummed. So I told her that before each song, she could guess one song and if it came up, it would count for a candy bar. The odds are really bad, but somehow she managed it. Amazing. She asked if I had To and Fro (from the Sword in the Stone). That made me laugh. I said, no, but I have Moana songs. So she chose You’re Welcome. And sure enough, You’re Welcome came up next. She was so stoked.
In the song challenge, it ended with June and Ivory getting two candy bars each, Daisy, Pearl, and I got one, and Robyn barely squeaked out that one at the end. It is a good distracting game and it keeps me awake with the music.
Finally we got home at 9:23. Dad was happy to see us. We didn’t have dinner. We just ate cereal. We were going to go out for Ice cream (since we missed the other stuff) but it was just too late. Some showered, others just fell in bed, even though they slept in the car. It was a very fun trip and I’m very glad we decided to go. If we get invited next year, maybe June will let us go for more than a day.
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