So much to do, little time to write
These last few months have been filled with some really fun and exciting experiences, I will forget over half of them, but I will quickly fill in as much as I remember. This will be more of a play by play, with the more personal details filling up my journal :)
The summer kicked off with a lot of stuff going on in church. We had our annual girls camp, & then the week after my girls headed off to Trek! I went to camp with my second counselor & we had a blast :) The only complaint was not had by me, but about me, & that was how badly I smelled....Whoops! Two reasons for that...when I was young & went to camp, we didn't have showered so everyone smelled the whole week, I thought this would be the same. However, we had showers right next to our campsite that the girls used every night. Although I was not planning on showering, I thought it be best that I not be the only one that smelled horrific. I reluctantly walked out to the shower at 1 in the morning, pitch black, snakes slithering beside me (I couldn't see them, but I knew they were there!), and came to the front door of the shower. I opened the door, & inside I found cockroaches, many other bugs I don't know them name of, hair all over the drain, and flickering lights. I said nope, no way, goodbye, I'm going back to my tent. Poor Jessica had to sleep next to me! By the third day, I finally took a shower & the girls were pleased, but can you blame me for holding off!
While the girls headed off to Trek, I headed to Utah to see my brother in law off to his mission! Nico was called to serve the people of San Fernando, California & left on July 1! We got to Utah on Thursday, had his farewell on Sunday, and sent him off on Wednesday afternoon. I also got to say goodbye to Nico's best friend (& ours as well, he's become apart of the family), Cole Noel, who left on Tuesday to Lima, Peru! He's excited to finally understand what's being said at the dinner table ;) I am so grateful & have so much love for those 2 boys, & I already miss them a ton. We got a package from Nick this week, & I can't wait to send him some over the next 2 years. Cole doesn't get as many (if any) because it's just way too expensive!
When we got back, we celebrated the 4th of July at the pool & then a bbq with some friends. The next day I got really sick, but luckily it cleared up just in time for the Hecht family vacation! Ever since I can remember, the Hecht side of the family goes on a vacation every 2 years, leaving the off year time for the individual family vacations. When my grandma passed, we decided to carry on the tradition, & so now my parents will take all of us on the vacations! This year was the hick town of Branson, Missouri. It's actually a really fun touristy place to visit, & we had a blast! Since this was more recent, Ill be able to give better details!
First I'll start off by saying, one of the best parts was that my sister Leah was able to join us on the third day from Canada. Although we went to Iowa for Thanksgiving, Leah was not able to get there, so it's been over a year since we've seen her! Super fun getting to be with her again! Every time I leave my family I'm extremely sad, I spent way too much time away from them when I lived at home, & I wish all the time we could live closer! I just have the most unique, coolest siblings :)
Also, I am so grateful for airbnb! I think we're going to travel this way all the time now! It was way fun staying in a condo, unlike the hotels we're used to. I come from a family of 7 (now 9) & so every vacation we would get 2 hotel rooms. We'd congregate in one to hang out, or we'd have to separate all the time due to lack of space! With the condo we were able to have a kitchen, living room, a few bedrooms, everything a big family needs :) So...I would definitely reccommend airbnb to anyone looking for a more homey feel :)
We got there Sunday night after driving all day & then the fun began on Monday :) We started off the day by hitting up the new Shanghai theatre to watch the Amazing acrobats (cirque de solei type stuff), and then had dinner at Lambert's cafe (huge thank you to all who reccommended it). This place was a blast, & the food was incredible. One of the most unique aspects was the unlimited sides being passed around, & if we desired a fresh baked roll we simply throw up our hands when the server comes out & he would throw it to us! We definitely dropped a few, but it was well worth the entertainment :) Also, the salad my mom & Julia got was pretty hilarious.
Tuesday we split up, Julia, James, Jon, & Rodrigo had a great day adventuring, while my mom, dad, Camila & I went to the zoo! Camila loved feeding the kangaroos, & we had a lot of fun in the parakeet cage! The other gang had a blast go karting, doing bumber boats & cars, but finished it off with the Sky coaster! So scary! Where they hoist you up really high, & then drop you & swing back & forth. Yikes.
Wednesday we went to the Fantastic Caverns in the morning, which is the only cave in America in which you get to ride in tour cars through the attraction, & then picked up Leah from the airport! For dinner we had bbq at the condo, along with a performance from The Peterson family who performs at the Opry center nearby the resort. I actually really liked their music & I think I'll start doing more listening to bluegrass! Later that night we went to Rick Thomas, the Illusionist. I'm still beyond amazed, & wondering how he did most of his tricks. Why can't they just tell us!
Thursday was more relaxed, lots of time at the pool, home made ice cream, intense games of charades, & phase 10 and shopping! That night we went to my favorite attraction which was the Dixie Stampede. It's a massive arena where they serve you dinner, while you watch a fun show full of trick horseback riding, competitions, etc. It was cheesy, but I would still reccommend it highly to anyone going to Branson.
Our last day we hit Silver Dollar City theme park, a must in Branson, & I am proud to say I did go on ONE roller coaster! I screamed the whole way, Rodrigo claims he's now deaf, but hey...he was the one forcing me on it. My favorite part was taking Camila on her first rides. She started to scream when I would go to unbuckle her, so the workers let me keep her on there a few times extra :) They were super nice & were obssesed with her! We finished our last night dinner at a really fancy Mexican place, where I then became really sick from whatever I ate. I can't even say the name of my meal, because then I start to taste it in my mouth, & want to get sick all over again....yuck. However, I was just happy to be surrounded by my family.
We're back home now, I'm under the weather again, but hoping to start feeling good so I can take Camila on more summer adventures here in Houston :) We are just extremely blessed to be in this area, have great friends, and each other. I love my little family!
