family vacation

we just got back from helena, montana: home of the older brother, unlocked doors, hot spring filled swimming pools and deer moving across lawns during dinner. and did I mention? home of the best goodwills: for 25 bucks we got a pair of shoes, a cool motorcycle helmet, and a set of cast iron pans in an effort to rid our house of teflon. thank you darren, dad, and kai for being wonderful hosts. below is a synopsis of our trip written by kai, my 12 year old nephew. he is the coolest kid i've ever met, but don't tell any of my students. we love him dearly. and adah? she idolizes him completely.

My Family “Vacation” by Kai

When I came home from summer theater school last Wednesday afternoon, I opened the garage door to find that Adah, Aunts Megan and Anne, & my Grandma Mary had surprised me for a 5 day fun-filled vacation. I was excited. We surprisingly started the adventure off with a meal & a 13 hour session of sleep (for those who had been driving.) The next two days I had theater school from 9 to 5, and then we would pretty much eat deep fried mushrooms and sleep & also the occasional Adah going down “da shlide on her belly butinnn.” On Saturday we finally did something fun. Megan, Anne, Adah, my grandpa & I went to the farmers market to buy some cherries, soap, and a hot dog. Then Adah and I put on some butterfly tattoos & everyone else besides my dad , Megan, Adah and I were too lazy to get off their butts & go to the local hotsprings swimming pool. When we arrived we stayed in the normal pool and Adah played with her swim missles (who later had donut parties) for awhile. Then we decided Adah should go down the gargantuan water slide with someone, so I carried her up the 8 flights of stairs to the rapids at the beginning of the slide & I was surprised to find that she had the nerve to go down with Meg. Apparently she was a little traumatized at first, but by the time she got to the bottom she wanted to go again. The slide was a big thick tube that included many twists and turns for like 40 seconds and then went down into a crashing pool of water. We loved it for a few rides & then Adah began to lose interest. When we got home Adah sang the ABC's to herself & nodded off to sleep. Then, when the family fun meter began to drop, I suggested a game. They were too tired to be happy, but my sheer cuteness persuaded them to play along. The game I chose was CRANIUM FAMILY FUN, which included an hour of grandpa's extreme swearing. Then I suggested playing a few rounds of “WOULD YOU RATHER...” which is the best game ever, but turned absolutely disgusting. It was fun. At some point during the trip I talked with grandma, Anne, & Meg about my “mate,” a crush I have at school who happens to be taller than me. Grandma recommended that I learned how to do the jitterbug, because apparantly that's how you get girls. Then we watched BILLY ELLIOT and slept. And finally on Sunday we ate, went to the carousel, ate, saw a magic show, ate again, and now I'm typing this & listening to my family argue about stupid things and eat pecan turtles. So that's it, the 2008 July family visit. Good-bye!