Summer '09

Wow. I can't believe that the summer has gone by SO quickly. It feels like I graduated weeks ago. I'd planned on becoming a genius before going to Bryn Mawr. I had a list of books I wanted to read and crapload of stuff that I wanted to review/study before going, but, as it turns out, the only book I've read from cover-to-cover this summer has been Cold Mountain (which I LOVED, btw)! I feel sososo unprepared for college.

At the same time, I'm kinda happy about the way that my summer turned out. I mean, I didn't get to read the Poisonwood Bible or finish Wuthering Heights, but I spent a good chunk of my summer vacation with my friends and my family. Seriously, this summer, I think I saw Kathryn and Carly more often than I saw them at school! :D It was fun... even when we had nothing to do and ended up taking 13245634 Facebook quizzes.

I really wanted to blog about my family vacations/trips as soon as they were over, but, being the lazy bum I am, I never really got around to it. I decided that I was going to put an end to my procrastination TODAY and finally dedicate a blog post solely to what I did over the summer.

So here goes!

Caution: This blog post is not for the faint-hearted. If you feel weak at the sight of picture overload or if you collapse (in awe) every time you see one of my awesome family members, you should "x" out of this window right now. Don't say I didn't warn ya! :D

DEEP CREEK LAKE '09

This is probably one of my favorite places in the world. My family has been going there EVERY YEAR since I was 7-ish... and for good reason. It is unimaginably spectacular and SUCH a fun place to be. By "my family", I'm talking about my daddy, my mommy, Hannah (sis), Lena(sis), my little uncle, my little aunt, Minah (cousin), Chris (cousin), my big uncle, my big aunt, Justin (cousin), Jenny (cousin), baby Philly (cousin), my grandpa, and my grandma. Around 15 people... give or take. We do typical family-oriented activities. It kinda sounds boring... but I can totally assure you that it's anything but boring.

This... is the banana boat. This is a must-do activity! Of course, no one can ride this thing like my family can. ;) No, seriously. Years of experience have turned us into masters! Surprisingly, the littlest kids are best at it! Sorry if I sound cocky, but if there ever were a banana boat riding contest, my family would definitely win it.


I mean, look at us. It may not look like it, but this thing is going FULL SPEED. None of us are really fazed by it the "rush" anymore. We know we won't fall off... unless we're playing Survivor. :D A couple of years ago, my dad got frustrated by the fact that we wouldn't fall off. So he invented this crazy boat "maneuver" that sent us all FLYING. I kid you not. I literally FLEW off the banana boat. When I hit the water, I thought I'd broken my neck. It was insane. Eventually, the "maneuver" evolved into a game my family now calls "Survivor". They warm us up by letting us ride for an half-hour and then use every ounce of energy they've got to make us fall off. It's so much fun... especially now that we've all gotten better at surviving "Survivor".

Me, Lena, and Jenny on the boat. And yes, I had sunscreen on... I had A LOT of it on.

The adults in the shade, protecting all the yummy yummy yummy Korean snacks from us. :D

This year, we tried something new... THE MOUNTAIN COASTER! I wasn't too excited about it, having done something similar in Tennessee, but it was SO much more fun! This picture was taken while we were in line. Someone had made a mistake in drawing the line that marked 51 inches. Justin (who's around 6 ft?) was like, "I know that I'm not barely 51 inches tall!" It was so funny.

We went canoeing this year, too. I actually didn't like this activity as much as I thought I would. First of all, it was sweltering! I was sweating to death! Second, my partner (Hannah) sucked at rowing. Barely 30 seconds would pass before she'd start wailing about how tired and hot she was. Hannah and I survived by rowing over to a shady area close to shore and anchoring ourselves there with our paddles. We stayed in that area for nearly an hour. When we had to come back, we "connected" our boat to our mommy and daddy's boat and got an effortless ride back! Along the way, the girls saw us and connected their boat to ours! Poor daddy... He single-handedly rowed three boats back to shore!

Baby Philly was the superstar of this year's vacation! He was spoiled by EVERYONE. <3

This is a picture I was hesitant to upload. I know that I'll probably regret it when someone pulls it off my blog and shares it with the world, but... I'll deal with that when the time comes. :D HAHAHA This shows just how wacky/wierd we can get. It was really gross. Everything smelled like shrimp crackers for a good half-hour! Gross...

My mom and uncle during a game of Uno/Pictionary. Man, my uncle drew the most ridiculous pictures! They were SO funny!

The family... or least a good chunk of it. :D

HAHAHA This was SO cute. To tell the truth, I forced him to pose like this... but it's still cute, right?
My awesome grandparents with babyy~

We went to an old Amish-esque village over this bridge. Everything was SO pretty here! ♥

Me and babyy~ I KNOW I was his favorite! :D

My family plays a meeeean game of Uno.

This was the view there! So pretty! ♥

THE END

Whew~ I think my posts just get longer and longer. I swear that the next one will be shorter. I know that they're getting more and more boring to read. Sorry! I was actually going to post about my other summer trips, but I got so sick of typing/uploading. I'm not sure whether I'll ever post them... Hmmm.

Kudos to you who actually read through that whole thing! Love you all~ ♥