totes the best fam vacay

The Weiler family is known far and wide for the fun vacations we go on.

...Ok, so maybe not, but we should be. To throwback to just one of these vacations is an injustice to my childhood. I mean, do I choose the three day river-rafting trip down class 5 rapids when we slept on the side of the Colorado River and lost our guide's bocci ball? Or do I write about our road-trip to Mt. Rushmore when my parents totally rented a CruiseAmerica vehicle and we duck-taped a full on TV to the side of it so we could watch movies like rednecks? But then there are all the little local trips to Moab, Bear Lake, and Capitol Reef during Easter break when we had to hunt for our Easter baskets in the cliffs of the National and State Parks. And I can't forget about the trip to Virginia and our 9 hour drive to see the wild ponies of Chincoteague Island and they ended up being tied to a post.

We've hiked through Canada and biked in Colorado. We've lounged on the beach in Seaside and we've ziplined through the jungle in Puerto Vallarta. We've walked through Historical Williamsburg during a rainstorm and we've had marshmallow gun wars in the goblins of Goblin Valley. We've ventured through slot canyons in Kanab and we've para-glided in Mexico. We've boated in Montana, swum in the natural springs of South Dakota, rappelled in Southern Utah, taken in the grandeur of Glacier, stuck our feet over the side of Halfdome in Yosemite Valley, and shot guns at the Sun Valley Gun Club.

And all of these have stories and stories and stories to go with them, which make for terrible dinner conversation because you end up laughing so hard you can't even enjoy the Thai Peanut Chicken shish kabobs.

But the best? Maybe the best was when we were in Cancun and going to visit a monkey reservation in the depths of the jungle. As soon as we got out of the car, monkeys attacked. They stole Rebecca's sunglasses, climbed on our car, and teased us endlessly- much to the amusement of the other families sitting safely in their minivans. We were dealing with the situation and laughing it off, when the last straw was reached.

My little sister, about 6 or 7 at the time, came face to face with a monkey twice as big as she was. She turned and started running away as fast as she could, but the monkey was faster. It went chasing after her, arms raised above it's head like a full on ghoul-monkey and screeching at the top of its lungs. We all stared in disbelief while my brother sprang to action. Picking up a nearby log stick, Spencer went chasing after the monkey chasing after Caroline, swinging the tree he had uprooted and yelling at the monkey screeching at Caroline who was crying. we never knew spencer could be so protective.

In the end, we were all ok. Spencer was almost arrested for threatening wildlife and a monkey bit all the beads off my recently braided hair.

Good times in Mexico.

peace and vacations

rrw