Walt Disney World! We made our way up to Minneapolis for the night to fly down to FL the next morning. We started off at downtown Disney and made our way around the entire park enjoying the holiday festivities. Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom (family matching tshirt day). We even got to celebrate Jake's 5th birthday with Winnie the Pooh and his friends! This was the start of Chrissy's beloved trip photo albums

Venice Beach for Thanksgiving, why not!? This was the first family trip that the Blue boys got to attend, and we couldn't have been happier! As we started off, half of us drove over to Cedar Rapids before flying out in the morning (the other half were already in FL). There was a lot of time spent on the beach, I mean, A LOT. Tony even proposed to Chrissy on the beach! The little yellow house did us very well as a family of 15 (7 kids under 13). We visited NASA Kennedy Space Center (family matching tshirt day), spent some time in the (itchy/pokey) pool, spent more time on the beach playing football, and had some good BBQ. We also got to see Venice Beach's famous Lighted Christmas Parade. Happy 10th Birthday Eric!

Thanksgiving in Arizona! Grandpa and Grandma got their only peaceful moments out of the way early on when they drove down before we all flew out. Then the crazy began. We had Thanksgiving at a mining restaraunt and once again, the kids found the pool and hot tub immediately. We took a day trip over to the Arizona Space Center - it's great seeing the adults get to act like kids too. We all threw on our matching tshirts and made our way over to the Golfield Ghost town. We got to tour the mine, explore the Mystery Shack, see a shootout, ride some horses (with some interesting names), and after dinner we got to hear some stories from the owner of the ranch. On our last day we made our way over to Amazing Jake's for loads of fun and competition. To end the last night there, some of us hiked up Silly Mountain and saw some amazing views.

Christmas in the mountains, heck yeah! This was the first roadtrip vacation we took. To start off, we drove all the way to our cabin at Steamboat Resort. Let's just say that we ended up spending a lot of time in this cabin when we weren't on the slopes. We got to go on a sleigh ride and have dinner in a barn. I'm pretty sure Grandpa lost his phone on the slope (thank goodness for the person who picked it up when we called). Lots of Hearts marathons happened. Like I said, we spent a lot of time there. Then it was Christmas! This was the first time we had been able to open more than one present while on vacation! And we were headed home.... That is - after - Grandpa towed Steph's brand new van up the hill. Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving with more family! After a rough start to the trip for the Fournier's flight-wise, everyone made it to Texas. We got to stay at an incredible house that provided enough fun for everyone. The kids were sprinting between the freezing pool out back to the sauna upstairs like a dog with the zoomies. We got to eat Thanksgiving Dinner with some family that lived down there. We visited Sea World (family shirts) and got to see the Christmas show. We visited the Alamo. We went to the Tower of America for dinner and to celebrate Eric's 14th birthday. We vistied Grandpa and Grandma's old house on the Air Force base and took lots of pictures. We went on a riverwalk boat ride which was an experience unto itself (so was finding dinner). We once again threw on our family shirts and visited the Natural Bridge Cave and the Canopy Challenge. Everyone (including Steph and Grandma) went on the zipline!!

Christmas in Hawaii!! What a trip! Started off strong by adding a few new surfers into the family while the rest of us were on the beach. We visited Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizone (from above), and the USS Missouri. We also got to go onto the Bowfin Submarine for a tour. The resort we stayed at in Ka'anapali, Maui was incredible, and right off the beach... Did I mention we were on the ground level with patios facing the beach? We went down to the beach every day and we were able to fit some activities around it. We got to go on a plantation tour and learn how to properly open a coconut. We got fresh pineapple and homemeade fresh fruit popsicles. Then we were back to the beach before making our way to the Banyan Tree Park where one single tree encompasses the entire park. The next day we all suited up and made our way to the boat for a day of wahle watching. We drove up a mountain at Haleakala National Park, attended a lu'au in our fanciest hawaiian shirts. Then once again we were back at the marina for the Pride of Maui snorkeling day. Charlie, Tori, and Luke got to go SNUBA diving. Tori even found a stack of blocks spelling her name while they were shopping!We got to celebrate Jake's birthday on New Year's Eve with some family pictures and some grilling. Happy 50th Anniversary Grandpa and Grandam!

Fishing trip at the end of July? That doesn't sound like us. This was our 2nd roadtrip as a family and our last vacation as a family. Even though we were missing a couple. We found a place to stop and eat before crossing the border (the kids had to play, right..). We got a great surprise when we arrived to see that more family had made their way up to surprise us! Gullrock Lake is so beautiful. We set off early and split up. everyone having a blast. We had a shore lunch and played lots of games. Chrissy was helping with the emergency eye exam that Duane needed. Yak know, aroudn the same time that Steve was diving off the dock for his glasses. There were loads of goofy pictures taken across the board. We had a mini award night on our last night at camp and they even made it into Chrissy's book! We missed you Eric and Grandma!

Vacations that didn't make the cut Just kidding :) Grandpa, Grandma, Steph, and Chrissy went on a trip to Norway in early July, 2011. All I really know is that they got to see our family island "Pig Island" and at one point they thought their bus was going to roll over a cliff. Somewhere along the way there was also a family weekend trip down to the Ramada Inn in Des Moines where the kids got to play at the indoor waterpark. And in 2019, Eric and Tori were given to opporunity to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City with their high school choir and the National Mass Choir. What a way to end their senior year! Grandpa, Grandma, Steph, (Duane as a surprise to for Tori), and Chrissy all made their way out to NYC to watch too! - just a note: don't try to surprise Tori, she just gets confused - moving on, both the kids with their class and the adults had their fair share of fun while in the Big Apple. That said, I think it was unanimously decided that for our family, NYC is only good for visiting.