We just got back from a week long vacation to my favorite place in the whole world- Sun Valley. Ever since I was a little kid, we've gone up to Sun Valley every single year with my grandparents, and all of my aunts, uncles and cousins on the Child side. I have so many wonderful memories of the place- learning to ice skate at the Sun Valley Ice Rink, getting my red shoes pecked by a swan at the duck pond, swimming with cousins, participating in the annual cherry spitting contest, bike riding through Ketchum, going fishing with my grandpa, and listening to James Taylor and John Denver.
The annual Sun Valley vacation is what my siblings and I look forward to most every summer. This year was no exception- all 35 of us (minus just a few missionaries and out-of-staters who couldn't make it sadly) headed up this year for the magic! (Thankfully Mike loves it now just as much as I do:)
stopping in Shoshone for the best soft serve ice cream ever
After a scenic four hour drive, we made it! First stop: Burger Grill. Best.Burgers.Ever.
That night, we had a big dinner, family night, and Minute to Win It Games with Everyone.
Everyone was put on one of four teams for the games and we all got matching hats!
I had to put a nylon with a baseball in the toe on my head and swing at, and knock over a bunch of coke cans. These are the weird things we love to do together!
Mike participated in the ball catching game with lint rollers.
This year my immediate family stayed in a different condo than normal. Since there are 10 of us now, we needed a big place. While this condo was spacious and there was a bedroom for everyone, it was definitely outdated. Along with furniture and decor that made us feel like we were in the 1970's, there were some crazy weird accessories around the house that we had some fun with. Stacie and Bennett came up a little later than the rest of us, and so we decided to 'decorate' their bedroom. After all, they had only been married about three weeks, so we wanted them to feel comfortable in a "honeymoon suite". This was all spurred on by my 16 year old brother, but the rest of us gladly participated and found weird things around the condo to include..... Enter the bedroom tour:
His & Hers nasty old bathrobes (wondering who would actually put these on their bodies?), Human Physiology and Essential Urology books for a little light reading, and best of all, a freaky cheap miniature version of 'The David', found on a book shelf in the living room.
I thought the scrabble letters were a romantic touch.
Bennett and Stacie laughed at our little display, but best of all, this formed a creepy game we played all week with the David. Every night, a couple started out with him. The goal of the game was to sneak the David into somebody's bedroom and leave it on a piece of furniture without waking them up. If you were trying to place the David and the recipients woke up, you had to move on to another bedroom and try again. The couple (Ethan and Preston were considered a couple since they shared a room) that ended up with the David in their bedroom at 6:00 a.m. lost the game, and were forced to carry around the David in public that day for at least an hour.
It. Was. Hilarious.
The first night, the David switched hands about half a dozen times. Nobody slept too well because everyone was either trying to place the David, or worrying about getting the David. Usually I'm a very heavy sleeper, and even I didn't sleep too soundly. Mike on the other hand, is the lightest sleeper in the world. We didn't get stuck with the David once because he woke up every time someone tried to sneak in our room. During the middle of the night I woke up to go to the bathroom and I was trying to find my phone to have a night light when Mike suddenly woke up and lunged at me from the bed screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!". I almost peed my pants it scared me so bad and I screamed back in terror that it was me! His wife! And I didn't have the David!
Once we got that settled, and I visited the bathroom, we tried to go back to bed.
A couple hours later, around 5 a.m. we woke up to my brothers and dad running through the house. According to the teenage brothers, my dad cheated, but according to my dad, the David was rightfully Ethan and Preston's. Poor Preston tried to place it in everyone's room, but we were all wide awake at that point and he obviously did not succeed. Ethan yelled from the bottom floor of the condo for Preston to come down and bring the David because, "WE AREN'T DONE HERE!"
A few minutes later, Mike and I are almost back asleep, when we start hearing commotion outside. We popped our eyes open at the same time in disbelief and ran to the window, only to find Ethan scaling the fire escape with the David in tow. Seconds later he made it to the roof and started attempting to drop the David on my parent's balcony. Preston is standing 30 feet below, with his shirt off watching the whole thing, Ethan is basically yelling because he is not capable of talking quietly, and the neighbors are shutting their windows (after all, it's 5:30 a.m.- yes, I'm embarrassed that we were 'those people'). By this point my mom has now stuck her head out their sliding door and is telling Ethan to a) be quiet, to which he replies that "I can't- I'm into this mom!" and b) "Get off the roof and take the david with you because you're not giving it to me!"
It certainly was a sight to behold. Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.
Only with my family on vacation.
Despite my parent's best efforts, the David was sitting smugly in their room by 6:00 a.m. Stay tuned for my father's adventures with David at the swimming pool......
