Priestley Family Vacation 2009

Each year my dad's side of the family takes a trip together...always somewhere in the Midwest. Some of my cousins live in Chicago, Dallas, and Maui...and the rest of the family lives either in Guthrie Center, Lake Panorama, or Dallas Center. So this is always a great way for the whole family to get together, sit around a bon-fire, watch the kids run around, and drink some beers. We counted that this year is the 9th year we've been doing this. The past PFV locations include Chicago, Dubuque, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Iowa City, Lake Panorama, Okoboji, and Altoona. This year we went to Pine Ridge Retreat in Keosauqua, Iowa. My aunt and uncle had scoped out this retreat with 5 small cabins for each family, a bunk house for our meals and the aunts, uncles and Grandma Phyllis to stay, and a large pond for fishing.

My brother, Julie and Katelyn were not able to go this year...but for a good reason! Andy won an award from Simpson College for being a successful alumni. He had to attend a luncheon and give a speech in front of a large audience. Since this was such a big honor, Mom and Dad also stayed back an extra day to attend the luncheon. We definitely missed them, but we were really proud of Andy!

Cary, Carter and I arrived in Keosauqua around 8:00 on Thursday night. We were greeted with water guns, a slip-and-slide, and 6 wet little kids. After eating a late dinner and playing around the pond, we put Carter to bed and then sat around the bon-fire. On Friday morning, we took the kids fishing at a nearby lake and my cousin Kari, aunts Julie and Pam, and my grandma and I all went to Cantril, Iowa to the Amish grocery store. It was pretty interesting...especially when Kari pulled a neck muscle by carrying too many groceries. We then all went to a nearby beach and played in the sand and water. About this time, Cary started saying that his stomach didn't feel right. And by 4:00 that afternoon, he was laying in our cabin with chills, aches, and an upset stomach. My parents arrived right at that time and so they helped with Carter while I ran between our cabin to check on Cary and the bunkhouse to be with the rest of my family. Although Cary was sick in the cabin, Friday night was fun with all of my relatives. My cousin Mark and his son Austin had flown in from Maui so they made Kahlua pork and Mai Tai's for dinner. Mark even put our drinks in a hollowed-out pineapple. We wore lei's and had a hula hoop contest (which I won!!) and had the best Iowan luau you could imagine. We also spent the evening flying kites, catching toads, lauching potatoes out of a potato launcher, riding bikes, and watching the big kids catch fish.

On Saturday morning, Cary still wasn't feeling well so we decided to cut the trip short and head home. It sounds like we missed a trip to a turtle farm, dinner at the Betts' house, fireworks, and fun on some 4-wheelers. We were bummed to have to come home early, but Cary still isn't feeling 100% today. There's always next year...