June

My travels for June took me to sunny St. George, Utah for the annual Bryant Family Reunion! We stayed at an AWESOME vacation home on the Entrada golf course (click here for photos) with it's own private pool and pool house. Unfortunately, the pool boy was not as pleasant on the eyes as they usually tend to be in the movies. However, pool boy aside, we had a great time! I decided to jump start my vacation the day before we were supposed to leave by "laying out" in my back yard so that I could establish a "base tan." Unfortunately, two hours in direct sunlight without sunscreen on my white body didn't establish quite the base that I was looking for and I ended up frying myself before the fun even started! I go through this painful process every year and you'd think that somewhere along the line I would have learned my lesson.....maybe next year I'll get it. Anyway, St. George was amazing, the vacation house was amazing, the food was amazing (I just loved the Hawaiian Haystacks that we ate when Michelle, Judy, and Warren came to visit). The lizard that I found in my room one afternoon when I was trying to take my daily nap however, was not so amazing. I was on the brink of dozing off when I heard what sounded like a mouse scratching on the blinds. I mustered up the courage to take a quick peek and saw the tail end of a lizard running through the windowsill. I yelled for Cade to come and "remove it" for me and after two attempts he finally caught it! All of the little ones thought it was hee-larious that there was a lizard in my room. Ha, ha, ha.

One night "the girls" went to see the Sound of Music at the Tuacahn theatre. We found ourselves surrounded by geriatrics but it didn't matter because the Sound of Music is simply magical. Let's just say we weren't too unhappy when Maria, Captain Von Trapp, and the seven children walked off of the set at the end of the final scene. On the way home from the theatre all of the adults were laughing about what the worst part of the play had been when Shanel's daughter Taylor piped up from the back seat, "Hey guys, you know what part I liked best? The popcorn!" The popcorn was pretty good, but those snow cones really beat the heat if you know what I mean.

Another evening Shanel and I were able to see a late showing of Iron Man. I was a little skeptical because I had heard such raving reviews about it and I'm just going to put this out there right now, I'm not a Robert Downey, Jr. fan. I don't know what it is about him but he bugs. Shanel and I both had our reservations but we ending up LOVING it! It is really an entertaining movie and RDJ redeemed himself (slightly) in my book.

Mostly our days were spent swimming, eating, swimming some more, taking naps, eating, and then getting some more swimming in before bed. Oh ya, we did squeeze some shopping in too. Boy, vacations sure can be exhausting!

Well, after six full days of family togetherness I can now state with certainty that I am officially the favorite aunt of all my nieces and nephews. Logan proved it when Cade tried to throw me in the pool fully clothed but ended up letting me go because Logan started to cry for me. Hmmmm, I wonder why JaKayla didn't cry for me when Jake soaked me in the outdoor fountains at the park. Oh well, I guess you can't win them all.

All in all it was a FABULOUS family outing and I just want to give a big shout out to my Mom for making it all happen. Although I claim the title, she really is the glue that holds our family together!

P.S. I also thought you'd like to know that my sunburn has officially bronzed. However, I had a slim 28 hour window in which it lasted. The brown skin has subsequently begun to peel and I'm slowly becoming the brilliant white color that I was just two weeks ago.