Are we still talking about this?

Just to finish up this endless summer vacation report (and I better get an A!)

Event # whatever comes next:
Our dear Maymay and her little family joined the Whiting crew and the party began again!

Maymay and Gwampa
(Random side note here, since we've been home from the trip,
 Pencil talks about Gwampa whenever he sees handicapped parking symbols.
 Weird? yes. Often? also yes. So yeah.)

Summer Vay-cay, part 3

We're jumping in and getting serious now, people. Let the epoch picture chaos of pictures (that no one but me really cares about) BEGIN!

Event #3: Hogle Zoo with Grammy. Lon, Kelsey and the boyfriend.

How I spent my Summer Vacation, Part 2

And so, as my sister's sweet boyfriend, B, drove my exhausted children and my shell-shocked self back to the northern-ish parts of Utah from whence he came to rescue us, I pondered if this Fred-death thing was an omen.
You know... A portent of doom lurking over the horizon of our planned fun. (Am I the only person who does that? I get so caught up in the fact that things have been good, so that must mean it's our turn for the bad stuff now...)  I migrained hard when we arrived at my in-laws. I cried at the thoughts of what might have happened because of that deer (and thankfully did not!) And I missed my husband.
 With some perspective now, I am happy to report that our fun was not harmed in the making of this vacation.
This leads us to event #2!
I was able to rent a car for the monkeys and I to use. (Note: do not try to rent a mini-van on the fly in Utah over the 4th of July weekend, or any weekend near unto. Don't do it. It cannot be done. Reserve that mini-van at least a year in advance. Two if you want to play it safe. Ahem) Our full sized car worked out well. The kids were not too squished in the back and only a few screaming battles erupted, so we are optimistically calling it a success.

AND SO
Event #2:

In the throws of July or How I spent my Summer Vacation, Part 1

When last we met, our fantastic heroine was entrenched in the most solemn preparations for mighty battle, er, a road trip with her sister and three sweet and hairy monkeys.
It has been three and a half weeks, and by gracious, I am simply exhausted still from the events that filled this madhouse road trip/ family vacation.

Event #1: We were driving.(and driving well, I might add.) We had stopped and hotel-ed in style in the darling town of Kanab, Utah. We had breakfasted and filled the mighty Fred's tanks to brimming with gasoline that cost far more than I wanted it to. And then...