There we got to meet my cousin Jason and Lori's newest addition to the family, baby Luke. He is so precious!
My parents were in town (from Cali) and my brother and his family too. My grandpa Mac hung out with us, along with my Aunt Phyllis and her family. It became an impromptu Mansfield Family reunion.
I don't have as big of a family as on Chuck's side- that's for sure. I think there was only 22 of us at the most. (Chuck has like 30 first cousins or something like that.) We were missing my Aunt Cindy and her family, so it wasn't quite the whole gang. But what we lack for in numbers, we make up for in fun! :)
We all gathered at my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Dave's house. Lots of bbq's, hanging out, catching up and reminiscing about the old days. The little cousins all had fun playing together too, which was great to see.
This pic is my Grandpa, Uncle Dave, Aunt Phyllis, her kids Sean and Katie, and her hubby, my Uncle Dan. I think this is after the great "Quillo" debate, lol!
We got some nice group photos- below is my parents, bro and sis-in-law, niece and nephew and Chukani, with Grandpa Mac in the middle.
I was kinda worried vacationing in Arizona Mid-August. Hot doesn't begin to describe the desert heat out there, especially late summer! But the weekend we were in town it rained nearly every day, so the blistering heat was held at bay, much to my delight.
That's not to say it wasn't HOT, mind you! :) Here's a great pic of Todd and Randi hanging out in the dining room. Coolest spot in the house- right under the a/c vent. This was prime seating!
That evening after dinner we all sat outside on the patio and watched the sunset. You can't see the lake in this shot for the housetops, but it's out there, and the mountains on the other side are actually California.
I think I took more sunset photos this trip than ever before. Every single night was different, and each sunset better than the one before.
goodbye, sun.
Typical summer evening in Havasu- twilight, and still above 90 degrees. It was, however under the century mark, so we decided it was "cool enough" to go for a walk.
My little niece Shae got tired pretty quickly, so I volunteered Uncle Chuck to give her a piggy back ride. Oh so cute!
The next day we decided to go out on the river in Jason's pontoon boat. We toured around a bit, then found a nice beach to hang out and swim for a while.
Hanging out at the river brought back tons of memories for me. When I was growing up, our families spent nearly every summer camping at the river for weeks on end. I remember wading in an inner tube for most of the day, even sleeping in the boat at night. I loved camping at the river.
We'd all get up really early to water ski when the water was smooth and still, like glass. In the cool of the morning, it was amazing to be out there. I was flag-girl the times I didn't ski, I really used any excuse to be in the ski boats. I'd sit up in the bow with the wind in my face for hours. Great memories.
After a while, we packed it up and headed back for the marina. Jason took us on the scenic tour, and the little ones had a blast watching all the speed boats zoom past us in our leisurely pontoon.
Havasu is famous for its London Bridge, so we had to be real tourists and boat underneath it. There are lots of shops and restaurants in the area, but I've been to them all zillions of times, so we skipped that tourist destination this time.
Later that evening, another storm rolled into town. 
It was amazing to watch the storm develop. And that's just what we did- we all sat out on the patio and watched the storm move closer. You'd think none of us had ever seen rain before, it was pretty funny. 
We finally got some rain, and the cooler, humid evening to follow. The sunset that night was particularly gorgeous with the clouds and glowing colors. 
Ok, next up- Chukani head for Phoenix, and then the Grand Canyon. Part 4 in a few days.
No comments:
Post a Comment