What A Wonderful Summer!!

Hello everyone!! I hope you are all enjoying your summer and relaxing as much as possible. It seems this time of year flies by so quickly. Just 8 weeks ago my family was preparing for our first family vacation in about 7 years, and 2 of the boys were also getting ready to go to camp.

Now here we are on the middle day of August, camp is done, our suitcases are unpacked and wonderful memories were created. Stores are pushing school supplies, gardens are full of produce and evenings are getting cooler. Ugh!!! I'm not ready for it to be over!!!!

This year my family decided we wanted to go on and adventure for our holiday. Usually our 'vacation' has entailed renting a small cabin for 3 or 4 nights and enjoying the peace and quiet of the prairies. Well this year that idea just did not seem to grab any one. ( except me...I love the cabin...) So we kind of hemmed and hawed and I came up with an odd and wildly crazy idea. I suggested to my 3 young, adventurous men and my husband that we buy an old camper van..fix it up so its driveable...let the kids paint it...and see how far we can go in 2 weeks!

Adventure Van 2012

Game on!! So we had 6 weeks to find a van that suited our needs, fit in a tight budget, paint it up, fix it up and go on vacation. What an exciting time!! Our Adventure Van 2012 made it all the way to Las Vegas and back to Alberta...no air conditioning though (and it was 104F!!) so we need to fix that for next time!!

We saw the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon! Drove through deserts...saw the lights in Vegas....mountains in Montana. Everyday was something new and beautiful to see out those windows. We drove Route 66 and ate at the Road Kill Cafe! Ha!! One of the most exciting things we saw was vultures munching on some roadkill while we were driving up to Area 51!! We just don't see stuff like that here at home.

One Of Our Favorite Stops

It was so much fun...everyday was an adventure for us. But the very best part of the whole trip for myself was just being with my family. Experiencing all these awesome things with them. Hearing the boys laughing in the hotel rooms, or joking around in the van. There was no fighting or arguing. There was just this kind of rare magical freedom of being away from all that was normal to us and sharing all these new experiences without judgement or rivalry that usually goes on when kids are at home. And as parents we were away from all our regular day to day grind and could just enjoy everything around us.

The summer of 2012 has certainly left our family with plenty of memories. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to have gone on this vacation with all my boys and to have shared all the wonders we saw and experienced together (even the 104f heat in the van! ha!!). I may even be so bold to say I think they may have enjoyed it too because they were talking about what needed fixing for next year's adventure!

Hope you are all having a safe and memory packed summer!!

Grand Canyon 2012