On last night’s Sister Wives, Kody Brown wants to bond with his daughters after realizing that his relationships with his boys are much stronger. His daughter Ysabel (with Christine) is turning twelve and she wants to spend her birthday with her dad and her sisters. Kody has decided to treat his preteen daughters to a long weekend at the beach to celebrate. Of course, as he’s sharing the plans, he cuts off Ysabel with some sort of gibberish while playing on his cellphone. The girls are over the moon that they finally get to spend some quality time with the father they don’t often get to spend time with in such a small group.
Janelle knows her youngest Savanah will be in good hands with Kody, but she admits that it’s hard for her to let go since she’s so used to being the main parent. Kody believes he’s going to have a much easier time than his wives predict. His daughters won’t get nearly as jealous competing with each other for his attention as his wives do. Of course, the crew isn’t even out of the driveway before the girls are arguing. Kody is packing the car with the skills of a Tetris beginner. Robyn is micro-managing…wear sunscreen, take breaks, drink water. Janelle is hopeful that a healthy father-daughter relationship will help the Brown girls as they navigate puberty. Robyn believes that if they are confident in Kody’s love, they’ll be less likely to give up their purity behind the bleachers like she did.
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The first stop on the road trip to California is a diner. Kody is yukking it up with his five middle daughters while Robyn, Christine, and Janelle defend their gaggle of children to detractors. Meri is certainly MIA in this episode, isn’t she? Once Kody and his girls arrive in Newport Beach, the family goes shopping for four days worth of food and ends up with approximately four weeks worth of food. The girls are concerned that their father may not know exactly what he’s doing without the guidance of their moms. Forget eight boxes of cereal, let’s head to the beach!
Back in Vegas, Madison has returned home from college for a visit. She explains to Robyn and Meri (there she is!) that the LDS church won’t allow her to get baptized if she won’t disassociate from her controversial family. She is frustrated that she’s being punished for something her parents chose, but she also can’t understand how a church could turn someone away…it’s not in line with the teachings of Jesus. Janelle is upset for her daughter. Madison determines that she probably won’t ever identify with a religion. She believes in the Mormon faith, but now she never wants to join the Mormon church after seeing how she was treated. On the beach vacation, Kody and his daughters are making themselves sick on amusement park rides and ice cream. Two of his daughters don’t like big rides, and Kody hopes that they aren’t feeling left out as their sisters participate.
Janelle is both fearful and hopeful about repairing her very broken relationship with Meri. She approached Meri several months ago, and Meri is finally ready to give her sister wife an answer. Meri barges into Janelle’s house and reveals that she’s been praying over their situation, but she wants to move forward. Janelle bursts into tears as she is so happy to hear this news. Meri joins her in the tears and the women embrace and cry and express their love for one another. The next step is to start counseling sessions with their family therapist.
Kody and girls head to the beach, and Kody is happy to see his daughters bossing each other around. It’s a welcome change from his wives bossing him around. The girls have a great time boogie boarding, but they are disappointed that Kody didn’t bring an ankle strap for the surfboard. Upon leaving the beach, they learn that sharks were sighted during their time in the water. The group heads to the boardwalk where Kody rides a mechanical shark. Kody claims to have thrown himself off, but his daughters think he was thrown from it. They celebrate that evening with a surf themed birthday cake for Ysabel. Robyn is a bit upset to learn that the trip seems to be more of a party and less one-on-one bonding. I have to disagree. His daughters seem pretty content with the trip!
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF LAST NIGHT’S EPISODE? DO YOU THINK KODY’S DAUGHTERS ENJOYED THEIR FATHER-DAUGHTER VACATION?
[Photo Credit: TLC]
