Vegas or Bust!

We took a little family vacay down to Vegas and the surrounding areas to visit family and friends.  It was fabulous!  The weather at home was cold and snowing, and Vegas was a beautiful 80 degrees.  Seriously, perfect weather.  We were a little nervous about traveling with our two little kids again, staying at 3 different places in 5 days, but they did great this time.  It is amazing how much better Noah sleeps in different houses, now that he sleeps in his own "big boy bed" at home.  There was even a day at the hotel, where he totally just took a nap all by himself, with no prompting from us.  (Guess that's what makes swimming before nap time so great!)

Our first stop was Grandma and Grandpa's house for a couple of days.  It's always nice and relaxing to go there, because I have no cell coverage, so I can't possibly be doing anything else but playing with my kids.  Noah had fun outside, even though it was a bit chilly there.  We took him to the park one day and he even went down the really big slide, which was a proud parent moment for Steven and I, since Noah is usually a little afraid of slides.  Steven kicked my butt in tether ball too, which I hate to admit, but I was so excited to play that it has to be remembered.  :)

At Grandma's... just love these eyes.

Once in Vegas, we stayed at the Aliante Casino, which was so fun!  What is it about staying in hotels that is seriously just the best thing ever?  I love it!  They have the best breakfast buffet, which we got to enjoy with our dear friends Jason and Michelle.  We were also able to see our friends Kade and Amy (who even convinced me to do a spin class with her - while on vacation!  It was super fun though... I about died, but it was fun. Ha!)  And, of course, we were able to see Steven's brother Dave and his family too.  So fun!  We have great friends and family in Vegas.  If it wasn't so blasted hot and ugly, it might would have been enough to convince us to stay.  :)

We went to the park with Michelle and her kids one day, which was fun.  I said to her, "How did I never know about this park when we lived here?"  And then we realized that it probably has something to do with the fact that I didn't have kids... why on earth would I have been at a park without kids?  Ha!  My, how life has changed... We can barely remember a time without kids!  We also spent a lot of time swimming, and my good friend Nycole brought her daughter over to swim too.  So fun and so good to see them!  Nycole is definitely a local though... she thought 80 degrees was too cold to go swimming.  Crazy!  (and tell me that Roxi's little swimsuit isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen?!)

Love these pictures.  Michelle's son Weston is in the slide with Steven and Noah in this one.  So fun!

 

We went downtown to see Jen's new Ghiradelli store and see the new ferris wheel.  We opted not to ride it because it was $25 per adult, but it does look really cool.  Maybe next time... instead we gorged ourselves on ice cream and hot fudge. YUM!  (so much for the spin class)

Our last stop on the trip was Karyn and Chris' house, which is always a good time.  Noah LOVED playing on the trampoline with his cousin Brady.  I am glad those little boys have each other.  Too bad Roxi doesn't have a baby girl cousin... Karyn, come on, one more??  ;)

The vacation was great and super relaxing.  I'm sure we will probably make this a fairly regular trip (when it is cold here and warm there).

~ 25-30 April 2014 ~