My Family & Our Adventures

I love my family. I am convinced it among the best in the whole world. Of course, I may be somewhat biased, but in this case I think that’s ok. I am the youngest of 3. I have 2 older brothers, which explains a lot. J When we were little we didn’t always get along, but I know that’s rather normal. And now we actually really do enjoy being around each other-when it happens. We are currently very well esparcidos, spread out. I am currently in Wyoming and will be headed soon to Pennsylvania. My parents are in Mexico-or might as well be. They live in southern Arizona. My oldest brother Dan (and his wife and almost 3 kids) lives in Indiana, and my brother Zach and his dog are in Tennessee.
When we are together we like to play Scrabble, Bocce (lawn bowling), and cards. All of us, (except me) are avid readers. I used to be, then in about 7th grade my extraversion took over and I got involved in lots of activities and I have never made it back to reading as much as I would like.
We traveled quite a bit when I was little. We did a lot of repeat vacations to Myrtle Beach, SC, Isleboro, ME, and Stowe, VT. Easter was often spent at Grandma & Grandpa Gates’ in South Carolina and a couple days after Christmas were typically at Grammy & Grandpa Smith’s in Massachusetts. The 4th of July was almost always spent at Grammy & Grandpa’s too because Uncle Mike and Daddy have their birthdays on the 4th and 5th. We always hosted Thanksgiving and I liked that, because my birthday always falls during that week and I often got to have company on my birthday.
Along with vacations and holiday travels, we did some adventuring to see the country. I remember rather vaguely our trip to Disney World when I was 5. I really liked Thunder Mtn, and made us ride it over and over again. And every time we went through the line they measured me again to see if I was tall enough. We also went to San Antonio, TX once and Lousiana. Daddy and the boys really liked the Tabasco sauce factory. Mommy thought it was pretty neat too. I was so overwhelmed by the strong stench of red chili peppers I couldn’t really focus on anything else. Once we lived in Maine we made several trips to Canada. I loved PEI-and Daddy going to the liquor store to try to find me some raspberry cordial (check out the Anne of Green Gables books if you don’t know what I'm talking about). Great Breton and Nova Scotia were beautiful and really neat too. I remember lots of mud flats and people sliding on them and the tidal boar. The river actually changes the direction it is flowing depending on the tide (I’m pretty sure that’s what it was. It is getting to be a while ago). It is a fascinating thing, however it works. We also went to Quebec City and Montreal. There was lots of French there, which was fine for Zach and Daddy. Mommy and I had a harder time though. Once while trying to check in to a hotel the front desk person was speaking English but her accent was so thick Mommy still couldn’t understand her!
The biggest and longest trip we ever did was a tour of the country and several of its national parks. We spent lots of time in the car with books and playing “Ghost” or listening to Daddy’s stories when it was dark. In 17 days we saw the St Louis Arch, Enterprise Square in Oklahoma City, Santa Fe, NM (I think), The Painted Desert, The Petrified Forest, Zion and Bryce National Parks, Salt Lake City, Yellowstone (Somehow we missed the Tetons!!!! And now we of course regret it, but I think I’ve pretty much made up for it), the Badlands, and Mt. Rushmore. Side note-the indoor water slide at the hotel nearby was more impressive to me than the 4 large faces. They look way better on postcards. Anyway, I think that trip we also saw Mitchell’s Corn Palace in Nowhere, Kansas and Walldrugs, or something like that. It is a very famous place that was clearly very memorable for me. But give me a break-I was only in 3rd grade. (This all explains very well why I was so surprised when we moved to Maine and a whole bunch of people-even by 8th grade- had never been past Storyland, which is just over the border into New Hampshire.)
So, there is a glimpse at the Smith family and our adventures. I would have loved to include some more tangents, but I’ll save those. Feel free to e-mail me and ask about them. I've really enjoyed the time I've spent with my family and I’m looking forward to seeing all of us again soon!