Highlights from Las Vegas area

Sometimes a project is just so big and daunting that you just don't want to tackle it. I feel that way about most Christmas scrapbook projects. That's how I feel about blogging our 2 and a 1/2 week Utah trip. So I will probably spend several days adding on to it. Feel free to skip parts, look at pictures, or come back to it later.

The flight was very exciting for the boys as this was their first memorable trip on a plane. Having a portable DVD player helped the flight go by faster too.

We flew into Vegas VERY LATE Weds. night June 11th. Once we got off the plane,(at 1 am. York time) with all our car seats, carry-ons, and tired children, we had to walk through half the airport to get to the car rental place, then take a bus to actually pick up the car, then drive to the hotel. By the time we were in our hotel room putting kids to bed, it was 3 am. York time! The kids were so good though and didn't complain or cry at all.

The next morning we ate breakfast and went down to the pool. That was nice to relax for a while. Serena's first time in a pool. She liked it as we had suspected.

After checking out, we cruised the strip, first by car, then by foot. We started out at Treasure Island so we could show Hayden the pirate show. Well, he got to see the ships, but the shows are only at night, and apparently they cater to a gay crowd now (not so great for kids!). We showed them the Venetian which I really like. The inside mall with the water and real-looking sky are my favorite.

Next we went to the Bellaggio to show the kids the fountain show. These guys should have been in Ocean's 11.

Our last stop was the M&M store. The kids were really tired, but boy did they perk up when we walked in there! About 4 or 5 stories of M&M merchandise, most of it overpriced. Like a pound of choose-your-own M&M's-$10.99/lb.!

Some things were really cute though.

Notice the orange M&M face next to Connor.

We left Vegas early evening to visit our friends Jay and Willow and there kids in Overton (an hour north of Vegas).

It is very different there. We went from green trees and grass everywhere to ...sand everywhere! Jay wasn't kidding when he asked if we liked sand! The boys loved it! Whenever they got a chance they were out in the yard exploring. Hayden was excited that he got to see a lizard before we left.

On Friday Jay was nice to take off work, so after a relaxing and delicious breakfast, we all drove to Lake Mead to feed the fish and do a little swimming.

This is what the water looked like after we started throwing in some bread. There were so many carp, the kids were petting them and Jay tried to step on them!

Then it was time to go swimming. The lake has gone down 100 ft. in the past six years, so there's not really an easy place to get in the water anymore. In fact, they have to keep moving the boat dock further down. So when Mike went to get in the water with Connor on his shoulders, he immediately sunk in the mud to his knees! Jay grabbed Connor from him as he tried to suction his legs out of the muck. He had to go back in to retrieve his flip flops. So Jay tried another spot, same problem. We thought we were done, but Jay kept exploring until they found a narrow passageway where he didn't sink (we're not sure why, maybe a different kind of soil). So we got to cool off in the lake (the desert is pretty hot this time of year!), Hayden was happy. He even had a mud fight with Jay-unprecidented! And even if we wouldn't have been able to get in the water, the scenery was beautiful and I'm glad we got to see it.

Their oldest daughter Cheyenne who is 4, loved holding Serena. She will be a great babysitter! Their second daughter is in the Elmo bathing suit- that's Adria. Her and Connor were fast friends, so were Hayden and Cheyenne.

This is a family picture on Sat. morning before we left. The girls love getting their picture taken! Brianna is the baby, she is 9 months. When I asked them if they were done having kids, they said, "oh no!" They are going to have 6 or 7! Wow. Willow is such a great mom and so much more patient than I am. That actually doesn't seem too big for them because they both come from big families, but I am an only child so having 4 seems like too many for me!

I'm going to end this entry here and pick up on a new entry because it's getting too long.