Varvel Reunion: Lake Powell

We had the BEST vacation at Lake Powell for a Varvel family reunion. It was so fun for all of us to be together. The only one we were missing was Brooklyn because she is currently serving a mission. We don't all get together very often, and everyone had a blast together! The last time we did this was 8 years ago. It was crazy going from a boat full of kids back then, to a boat full of mostly adults this time.

Sunday:

We left our house early in the morning to drive to Page, AZ. We met everyone in the Wal-Mart parking lot, and then shopped for all of our food. That evening we loaded the house boat and took the cars to the marina. We had a 5:00AM launch time, but that didn't stop the kids from staying up till wee hours of the morning playing games (Black Magic was a favorite) and catching up. 

Monday:

We set sail bright and early in the morning. It took about 3 hours to get to the canyon we wanted to stay in, so we thought the kids would sleep on the way there. Most of them were too excited, so they played more games, listened to music, enjoyed the scenery, and talked. Scott found the perfect cove for us to spend our week in! Since we found our spot and got set up so early, we had the whole day to play and explore! So fun!

On the way to West Canyon

Sawyer was holding this flag up with the Pirates theme music in the background.

Cute Chloe at the front of the boat as the sun was coming up.

Sawyer and Noah during the Titanic song.

I love these two dudes! They kept us entertained on the way to our spot.

Sawyer and Bailey excited to be on the water!

Nathan teaching everyone how to play poker.

Mark got to drive the houseboat while Scott took the ski boat to find our spot.

Our perfect little cove!

Papa was the first one in the water!

We loved being in the water!

Chloe was cracking me up with her blow up llama! She even went down the slide with it on! :)

We bought a kayak for the trip, and we really liked it!

Mark and Bailey trying out the Sea-dos.

Noah had a goal to catch at least one fish a day! I'm not sure how many he ended up with, but kudos for the outfit!

Noah and Calli fishing from shore.

We climbed up the rocks to enjoy the view of our area.

So pretty!

Hiking with Scott and Amber.

This is the lovely biker chick look I had all week.

Tuesday:

We started the day off with Bailey doing a mile swim to train for her half ironman. She fell off her bike right before we left for the trip, and hurt her arm really bad, so she couldn't front crawl. She just decided to do other strokes. I was going beside her in the kayak. She put her face in the water and got freaked out. She yelled at me for having the kayak too far away. How was I supposed to save her when the dead body floated up, or the fish tried to eat her?!? Good heavens, this triathlon is gonna be interesting! She ended up swimming the whole mile with her face out of the water! 

Next, a few of us took Scott's boat across the canyon, and did an amazing hike to an Indian guy's house and corral area. Super cool!

After that Scott and Amber took all the kids out in the boat to go tubing. Mark and I took that opportunity to go kayaking.

Later that day, almost everyone went on a hike to the saddle. We took the kids on this hike 8 years ago. Beautiful views!

And finally, that night was our awesome talent night! Our family is rad!

Taking Bailey out to do her swim.

Everyone put on avocado tattoos.

Our group that boated across the canyon to hike.

Mark, Bailey, Amber, Scott, Clayton, and Sophia (Clayton's darling girlfriend who we all loved).

Could there be a more dreamy place to hike?

The indian house and corral.

Scott

We found a fun lizard!

Scott and Mark

Mark and Tricia

Heading back to the boat.

Mark going on the slide off the back of the boat.

Bailey and Chloe.

Everyone going tubing.

Kayaking!

Lake Powell is the best place to kayak. Everywhere you look is beautiful!

Sawyer on the slide! :)

Our hike to the saddle. The cousins in order of birth.

Almost there!

Everyone at the saddle. 

Sawyer Dain

My cute little family!

Scott taking Papa for a ride on the Sea-do.

Mark and I on the sea-do.

Everyone's talents were so great! Sawyer shared 4 life lessons.

Bailey put together a Queen medley that her and Mark performed. 

Wednesday:

Wednesday was another awesome day! Mark and I started it off with a kayak outing with Amber. Then we took all the kids on a hike to recreate some pictures we had taken 8 years earlier. It's crazy how much they've all grown up. 

We spent a lot of the day just hanging around at the cove. The kids played endless games, went on the slide, jumped off the side of the boat, fished, paddle boarded, took naps, rode the sea-dos, kayaked, swam, etc.

In the evening the adults (since most of the kids are now adults, they called us the birthers) took the boat out to do some sight seeing.

Once it got dark, it was movie night! Amber had a fun candy game for all the kids to play, and then they watched We Bought a Zoo on the top of the houseboat. The birthers stayed inside and played Code Word.

Hiking to recreate pictures.

Hahaha, I love this one!

Picture from 8 years ago.

Picture from this trip.

Picture from 8 years ago.

Picture from this trip.

Calli jumping off the boat.

Mark jumping off the boat.

Grammy and Papa

Our 'adult' boat ride.

Scott saw this swimming hole on google earth, so we decided to find it. So cool!

The boating views don't get much better than this.

Amber organized the cutest candy game for all the kids to win candy for the movie. Bailey and Chloe each won $10 too!

We Bought a Zoo

 Thursday:

Bailey did another mile swim in the morning. Her arm was starting to feel a little bit better, but she still couldn't front crawl. :( At least she practiced putting her face in the water this time. It's funny, because she can go off the slide, and swim around in the cove without a problem. It just freaks her out when she has the goggles on and is doing an actual 'swim.' 

Mark and I took an awesome hike with Scott and Clayton. We wanted to follow the horse trail in hopes of seeing the wild horses. We saw them! It was perfect timing; right when we came in sight of the trail, there were two wild horses on it walking down to the water. We followed it for a long ways and did some exploring. Super cool hike!

Today was spa day! Kim organized spa day, and it ended up being one of everyone's favorite things. We took the boat and sea-dos to the perfect place, we've now named spa cove. Everyone took baths, and washed our hair. We all did face masks, and foot scrubs, and when we got back to the house boat, Kim did everyone's eyebrows. So fun!

We took another short boat ride in the evening, and that night we had a sing-a-long. Clayton had his uke, and Bailey had her guitar, so everyone could look through the list of songs and pick one they wanted to sing.

Bailey swimming!

Sawyer trying the paddle board.

The wild horses on our hike.

This fun friend almost ran right up my leg!

So pretty!

Clayton, Mark, Scott

If you look at the left side of this picture, you can see our house boat in the cove.

On our way to spa cove!

Hahahaha!

Amber and Chloe

Kim helping Mark with his face mask.

Spa cove!

Enjoy this little gem!

Bailey getting her eyebrows done.

The girls were teaching Nathan how to braid.

Ta-da!

This is how Mark and Scott got out of getting their eyebrows done.

The sing-a-long was fun! Bailey playing for Chloe.

Dancing Queen!

Bailey and Nathan.

Bailey and Noah.

Friday:

We went to kissing rock. We jumped off the boat, swam to the rock, and kissed it for good luck for our return trip the next day. On the way to and from the rock everyone got to wake surf.

The birthers and Clayton took one final hike past the saddle. 

The kids came up with an elaborate game of capture the flag in our cove. It was fun to watch, and it's a miracle none of them got hurt. They were running barefoot down the steep rocks and then diving into the water. It was intense, and they were worn out by the time it was over. We all went to bed sad that night that it was gonna be over the next day.

Bailey and Nathan getting in a last early morning fishing session.

Endless crossword puzzles!

Mark wake surfing!

Kissing rock!

Kissing rock video!

I love this picture! Bela couldn't get up the day before, so when she finally got up this time out, she was so excited!

Sawyer!

Sydnie made this video of Sawyer! Hahaha, I love it!

While everyone was wake surfing, we had both sea-dos out there driving around the boat to watch and guard the people in the water. Noah and Sawyer took a sharp turn at one point, and had to bail off the sea-do!

Our final hike! All the birthers, plus Clayton. The view from the saddle is beautiful!

Kim & Russ

Scott & Amber

Mark & Tricia

Papa going down the slide with his grandkid fan club watching! :)

Bailey paddle boarding!

Saturday:

We had to be up bright and early Saturday morning to head back to the marina. We unloaded the boat and then had to say our hard goodbyes.

Chloe Mae and Bailey Rae! 

Bailey loves Chloe and Nathan! She wanted to take them home with us. Hopefully they can fly up and visit.

 I'm not sure when we'll go back, but I sure hope it's not another 8 years! It was so fun to watch all the cousins reconnect! I love them all! Thanks Scott and Amber for organizing us again! SO MUCH FUN!