July 6th to the 14th

For Christmas, B gifted me the best Christmas gift ever – a meditation retreat in Hawaii all by myself. He said “you go do your woowoo thing and I’ll go worship on a mountain”. B, TT and Master D headed back to Whistler with the Entwistle boys for a week of leaving DNA on the mountain and tempting fate with the black bears they zoomed by. Ari, Lelu and Jake headed to Portland to spend the weekend with Aub, Archie and Goldie.

I went to the big island of Hawaii. My flight was delayed to LA and then I RAN to catch my flight to Kona and then we sat on the plane for two hours while they tried to fix something. The next flight wasn’t until the next day so I am super glad they fixed whatever it was that was broken. I landed very late at night so I couldn’t see a single thing on the island as I drove to the resort. It’s covered in lava fields. Very apocalyptic – but I didn’t see them until the end of the week when I left the resort. The next day, I hung out at the resort and debated getting room service but ultimately decided to get myself ready to eat out at the restaurant by myself for dinner. As I walked down to eat, I saw the girl that helped me sign up for the retreat and she says “Oh hi, we are opening up the doors in a few minutes, here’s your special gift and tag, Deepak should be here any minute” and then I realized with embarrassment-horror-stupidity-gratitude-awkward-self-conscious-gratitude that I would have most definitely missed the VIP special dinner with Deepak Chopra. You see I had in the back of my mind that this dinner was on the last day not on the day before the retreat started. I was too embarrassed to tell her or anyone that I almost missed it – while at the same time being unbelievable grateful that 1) my flight even made it the night before; 2) I got myself ready and went down at exactly the right time; and 3) my intuition was leading the way even if my memory was/is failing. I recharged, learned, meditated about 4 hours per day, did yoga, got up before sunrise, soaked up a little sun, slept well and after the retreat was over explored the island and its’ 12 different ecosystems. I want/need to do something like this once a year. I really strongly dislike this photo of myself. But it’s a photo with Deepak for heavens sake. I was still marinating in my own self conscious emotions when I met him and I honestly said to him “I don’t have any questions for you yet – my mind is a blank” and he very kindly said “We’ll talk this week and there will be plenty of time for questions”. I loved every minute of the retreat (just not the hot flashes and super humidity that accelerates the hot flashes). Super husband wins the gift award!

Guest Blogger: Master D

Whistler Blackcomb has become a frequent destination in the Taylor household over the last few years. It started with TT and Chase E. traveling by themselves as younger teenagers to attend a week long mountain biking course. We’ve since all gone on ski trips during the winter and it has been tremendous fun. 
This year was the first year anyone other than TT and Chase went during the summer to mountain bike. And I tell you what, after downhill mountain biking on such a pristine and maintained resort, I have a sudden understanding and empathy for Tallon no longer really enjoying mountain biking in Draper. My dad, TT and I went with Dave and Chase. It was an exciting week full of thrilling biking and eating far too much.
Whistler is known world-wide for its incredible downhill mountain bike courses. There are smooth jumps and incredible berms, all with varying levels of difficulty. And before you think that taking a ski lift up to ride downhill is lazy, I want to say very strongly that is not the case. You will barely be able to make a fist at the end of the first day. Muscles that are overlooked will beg attention. Scream for it.
We caught air tons of air. Vibrated hands on handlebars until I’m fairly certain that my fingers developed stress fractures. Zoomed up and down the mountain over and over again. And to add to the thrill, rode VERY near black bear cubs SEVERAL times. Pretty certain my dad considered kicking one at one point. 
On my last run of the day, I was feeling bold. I could clear many, if not most of the jumps on A-Line, the most popular black diamond trail. And TT invited me to try Dirt Merchant, a double black diamond trail. It was absolutely terrifying. And I lasted for about eight jumps before I crashed hard. Even with elbow pads, knee pads, and a killer helmet, I bled from my arm, shoulder, and knee. 10/10 would not do again. But I’d go for the other trails again in a heart beat. A dude timed how much air-time he had on A-Line, and I’m pretty certain he made it up into 30 seconds, and he wasn’t jumping any higher than the rest of us. So, basically, every time we went down that path we flew for 30 seconds. On a bike. 
I’m grateful I was able to go with my dad and brother on this killer adventure. And I’m glad to have been able to spend the time with the Entwistle boys as well. Dave and Chase were, as usual, incredibly good at downhill biking. TT and Chase were both incredible. They did dirt merchant without a hitch and were up for it again and again. 

Guest Blogger: Lelu

PORTLAND

While the rest of my fam was off partying in Hawaii and Canada, Jake, Rel, & I took a quick weekend trip to Portland to visit Aub. Originally, this trip’s sole purpose was to deliver the puppies to their homes in Oregon, but Aub was nervous they would be too big by the time we were coming (and she was right). So, she took the puppies a couple weeks earlier and we got to come just for fun! 

Let me tell ya, it was a MUCH needed escape for us. We stayed right in the heart of Portland, and had an AMAZING tour guide show us around (thanks Aub). Aubri’s CUTEST mini cooper named Stella drove us around so we were able to pack so much in to a few days!! Upon arrival, we immediately headed to Jacob and Mal’s house to pay Princess Archibald and Goldiesox a visit! I sincerely wish we caught our reunion on film, because it was the cutest thing ever. They went nuts! Goldiesox was so excited, she ripped out my earring, like straight through my ear. So that was a bit of a bummer, but how could I be upset with a perfect little angel puppy?? I couldn’t. The next day we had breakfast at the delicious Screen Door and then went on a jet boat tour, which was one of my favorite parts of the trip! Who knew Portland has some of the most amazingly beautiful homes I’ve ever seen? Seriously, right on the river, there are some BEAUTIFUL, beautiful homes with their own personal dock for them to go boating. A DREAM.

As part of the jet boat tour, you are required to get wet. They flip you around and toss you back and forth on the boat, AND ALL OF US GOT SOAKED (except for my hair because I wore a shower cap lol). The next day we stopped by Pip’s Chai and Donut shop for breakfast. LOVED the donuts, didn’t love the chai as much. We decided to stop by to see the puppies on our way to Multnomah Falls, and I am so glad we did. THEY ARE JUST THE CUTEST THING. At Multnomah, Jake and I did the “one mile” hike to the top and I am absolutely CERTAIN it is longer than one mile. It was friggin hard!! That night, we went to a fancy restaurant for dinner, and I am forgetting the name? But it was Italian and yummy. On our last day, we took it easy, payed a visit to Powell’s (the best book store you’ve ever seen), said bye to our favorite puppies and grabbed some grilled cheese from the Grilled Cheese truck. It truly was the best weekend ever, and I was so sad to go home. Thanks Aub for hosting us!! Weekend trips to Portland and Aub are the best kind of weekend trips!

We all arrived home safely! Next year, we will all go somewhere together – if we can agree on where to go.