Olsen Family Reunion, Year Two

The Olsen family is a boat and lake family.

I am also a boat and lake person, so I guess it's a good thing that I am now a part of the Olsen Family!

Every year, we have a small family reunion down at Lake Powell here on the Utah side.

Basically, it's just a really great time playing in the water, hiking, learning (for me at least) water sports and
getting some much needed vitamin D.

Though I didn't get up and STAY up on the wake board, I did try my best and made a lot of progress. I now have a lovely tan and can't wait to go back next year.
I love my family!

A Cousin Vacation

So, sometimes I have lofty goals. 

For example: An Olsen cousin "vacation".

It started out being a trip to  Lake Powell over Pioneer Day weekend. 

But then we didn't have access to a boat. 

So we decided we could rent one for one of the days we'd all be there. 

But then we only had 4 cousins who could actually make it. 

So the four of us decided we could go by ourselves. 

But boat rental is expensive split two ways (two couples, you see.)

Then we decided camping up north would be just as fun. 

But then there were other hiccups. 

 But Neil and I were up for the challenge. 

You see, Jaiden and Beckah,(the other cousins) needed emergency assistance in regards to their town home, so Neil and I rolled up our sleeves and went to work.  But, we also rolled up our sleeves and went to play.

Work hard, play hard. 

There is no try. 

Yoda said that. I promise.

Anyway, it was quite the adventure and packed with FUN every step of the way. (Even though I was low on sleep and somewhat grouchy at times...Sorry, guys!)

Bear Lake back to Logan back to Bear Lake back to Provo. 

Two Year Anniversary

We still need to take our family pictures (like the ones we took last year) but aside from that, Neil and I recently celebrated our first two years of marriage.

We wanted something low key, not too expensive but FUN so we decided to spend a day at Lagoon!

When I was a kid, I got scared on roller coasters, as a teen, I couldn't get enough of them and now that I'm a little older, I'm having a hard time enjoying the adrenaline of roller coasters (and even bouncy boats! See the Lake Powell post coming soon!)

That being said, we did have a great time! We played in the water park, we ate deliciously fattening park foods, we rode a LOT of roller coasters and I even convinced Neil to go on the twirly swings. (He's not a fan of things that go around in circles. He prefers up and down rides.)

My Old Kentucky Home Vacation: Day 6, 7 and 8 Heading Home

Sunday we started heading home. 

On our way we passed through Indiana and I asked if we could take a detour to visit my Grandaddy's grave site.

Before we arrived there though, we found ourselves in the town of Santa Claus, IN. It has a massive amusement park and is THE place to go to find any and all Christmas decorations you may be looking for. Kristen was in HEAVEN.

We found ornaments, Christmas paintings and....SANTA!!

He was really there! But he was, of course, on vacation. It was so cool.

After we'd had our fill of Christmas in Springtime, we headed for Evansville. 

After some looking, we found the family grave site. My grandaddy and his family were buried  by one another and it was an emotional but happy happenstance.

It meant a lot to me to spend time there and tell some stories about him. 

We finished with a picnic and hopped back in the car with our sights set on Kansas City, MO but wanted to make one last pit stop to see the Budweiser Clydesdale horses.

We thought we'd get there before closing but we we just a few minutes too late so we gazed at them through the gate. They were still beautiful.

  After dinner, we made our stop for the night at a cousin's house. It was so nice to stretch out and get some sleep knowing we still had a ways to go.

Monday we woke up early and visited the Independence Visitor's Center and Liberty Jail. I'd never been to either location before (that I can remember) but it was such a beautiful spiritual experience that I was grateful we decided to go.

Day 7
We made it all the way to Denver, ate some Chinese food to "celebrate" Cinco de Mayo" and found a place for the night.

Day 8- Home Again, Home Again!
Though it was a most splendid vacation with just us girls, it was really nice to finish that last leg of the trip. We all returned to our homes, families, pets and BEDS. Hopefully next year brings about another fun adventure.

Maine, anyone?

My Old Kentucky Home Vacation: Day 5

So, you know, just catching up. 

Day 5 of our adventure was really a lot of fun and quite educational. 

We decided that we wanted to go and tour a horse barn. We were in Kentucky, so why not?

Well, Thoroughbred "Barns" aren't all to common near Louisville. Lexington, yes, however, Lexington was farther than we were willing to drive AND it was Derby Saturday so we didn't think any tours would be taking place. But that was only after we'd set up the tour at Undulata. 

It was such a beautiful estate. 

We got to watch the horses being trained and warmed up. 

We toured the house (and I was geeking out about all of the FABULOUS furniture.)

AND we got to see a colt that had been born mere hours before we had arrived.

 
 
After our tour we headed to the Louisville Temple and then to Downtown LaGrange. It was great, only everything closed early for the Derby so we didn't get to see much. Not even a train!


 

Following our visit to Downtown LaGrange, we headed home, placed some at home bets for the Derby and watched. We all picked our top 4 and my number 2 horse came in first, so it's a good thing there wasn't any money placed for these bets because I would've lost. After the Derby I made a quick visit to a friend (Hey Alisa!!) and then headed back home. 

It was a crazy long, beautiful day of education and fun.

My Old Kentucky Home Vacation Day 4:The Kentucky Oaks

This day. 

There were so many crazy, funny, exciting and awesome things about this day.

Day four of our vacation was the whole purpose of our trip. 

The Kentucky Oaks!

Just as fun as the Kentucky Derby but NOT just as expensive. 

It was an absolute joy to have my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt-in-law and Grandmama all there for this occasion. I'm really blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Before we left for the races we decided that some good, old fashioned Southern "porch photos". Or at least, that's what I call them!

When we felt that we had our fill of pictures we headed to the races!

The official color of the Kentucky Oaks is PINK in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. There was plenty of Pink to be seen. It was truly a beautiful day.


Now, for the "butt" story of the day. I mentioned in my Day 3 post that we saw a lot of butts on this trip. Well, here is today's story.
 It's no secret that there is plenty of booze to be had at the Downs during the races. Though none of our party drinks, plenty of people around us did. There was a particular group of beautiful young women sitting in front of us that had...probably way too much to drink. Lily after Lily after Mint Julep after Beer...They were delightfully fun to watch as they got more and more excited about the races. During one particular race they started to stand up on the bleachers, like the rest of the crowd,  but for one lady in particular, it just wasn't meant to be.
As she stepped up onto the bleacher, she wobbled, steadied herself but wobbled again and back to the ground she went. She landed on her feet but her her skirt didn't make it. She was wearing one of those skirts with the zipper all the way up the backside and when she fell BAM! Out came her bottom. 
It was thoroughly entertaining to watch her friends laugh and wobble as they gathered around her to fix her skirt. I don't know how long it took them to fix it but I'm sure good times were had by all. 

 


Finally, it was time for THE race. The Kentucky Oaks race. I will admit here and now that I did indeed place a bet on a horse. I figured, I'm not a gambling girl and, in fact, it kind of scares me to bet on things I have no control over. But I decided that I was there, dressed up, hat and all, I might as well complete the experience by placing a bet. So, I bet on the favorite to win because it seemed like a safe bet. I placed a $9 Win (First) Place (Second) or Show (Third). Meaning, if the horse I chose came in first, second or third, I'd get something back and not lose my entire $9. 
 
 And what do you know? My horse won! I won $15 and was very satisfied. 
We all had such a wonderful day and I am so happy that we got to experience the thrill of the Downs. 

My Old Kentucky Home Vacation: Day 3

Downtown Louisville is probably one of my favorite places to visit. There is plenty to do and see and so many yummy places to eat. 

In planning for this day I suggested that we all go to The Louisville Slugger Museum. 

You can take a tour of the factory where all of the bats are made. It's pretty cool. You can't take pictures of the factory but there are plenty of photo ops elsewhere.

Anna's "Sword in the Stone" moment.

We saw a lot of butts on this trip...there is another story for day 4 too!

Because why not have a red gem covered limo and a mirror covered convertible?

 

This picture sums Anna up perfectly.

It's a really big bat!

Bats hanging from the ceiling! I love it.

NBD. Just Mickey Mantle's bat. Like, the real one.

 After the Slugger Museum and Factory we headed over to Flame Run (previously Glass Works...) it was pretty cool to watch these guys blow glass!

The guy with the massive amounts of hair was hilarious to watch.

Proof I was there. HEEEEY!

This is called Lampwork. It's awesome.

 We spent a lot of time watching glass being turned into so many cool things. We all finally decided that we were hungry so we headed over to 4th Street where I knew of a little restaurant. I'd never actually been to the restaurant but I'd had pizza from there before. It was slightly tricky to find but I'm sure glad we did. YUMMO.

So many delicious things to eat.

On our way back to the car we stopped and had a peek in some shops. My favorite find (aside from my Kentucky necklace that I don't have a picture of...) is probably these Hillbilly glasses. Look at those sippy cups! So fun!

It was a long but fun day downtown and we headed home to meet up with my Grandmama Bobbi. We had dinner and watched Secretariat to get us ready for the big day ahead of us.