Viva Las Vegas!

My parents were kind enough to give us one of their timeshare weeks. We decided to head to Las Vegas, since it was still getting away, but not too far. And we were hoping to get some warm weather since March is so yucky here. We had a wonderful vacation and it was great to have some downtime as a family, but the weather was not very warm. And half the time it was yucky--windy or rainy. So we didn't get to swim much, just one day for a few hours. The pools at our place were AMAZING. I'd love to stay there again sometime when it's guaranteed to be warm. Even though it was chilly, we still did a bunch of fun things. There really is plenty of family-friendly stuff to do in Vegas.

We checked out the Bellagio, which was just gorgeous. They had a lovely conservatory filled with beautiful flowers and a super fun butterfly garden that the kids loved. And it was all FREE. :)

The amazing colored glass ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio.

Waiting for the Bellagio fountains to start.

We had to check out the Hoover Dam, of course. It was breathtaking. Can't believe it was built way back in the 1930s. Emma got to take her classroom friend, Bob, to Vegas with us.

We took advantage of the warmest day of the week (which was still only in the low 60s) by heading to Red Rock Canyon. We hiked and saw some waterfalls and pretty scenery and ended with a picnic. It was fun to be outside.


On our way home from our hike, we saw some wild BURROS! Well, I guess I shouldn't say 'wild,' because they all came right up to our car looking for food. It was awesome. The kids were loving it! They were laughing so hard.



Our big splurge of the trip was a visit to the famous Wynn buffet. From what we'd read and heard from people, the Wynn's buffet was THE place to eat in Vegas. We timed it right and went in to eat at 2:45 p.m. We paid the lunch price (which was still $80 for all of us!) but got the dinner food, like the seafood, which the chefs bring out at 3:30. And we stayed for THREE hours! It was awesome. The variety of the food was spectacular, with many different ethnic dishes and new flavors to try. It was NOT the same old standard buffet food.
Look how beautiful this place is! This is one small section of the buffet--it went on forever.

After we'd stuffed ourselves on all the delicious savory food, it was time for the sweet stuff. They had a separate room dedicated entirely to dessert. And once again, not the same old stuff. They had many flavors of gelato, a crepe station, mousses, creme brulee, pies, cakes, puffs, puddings, candies, and on and on.
My cute family enjoying their dessert.


And here is the dessert room--just one small part of it. It was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And everything was in small portions so you could sample lots of different treats.

Yummy marshmallow lollipops and candied apples, and yes--a giant try of M&M's underneath.

Don't you love how I wrote the most about the food???
Thanks mom and dad for sharing your timeshare with us! We had a great time.

Wow

So I was looking through some old pictures the other day and I came across these stunners. I call them "stunners" not because I look stunning (very FAR from it, in fact) but because holy crap--I am huge! This was five days before I delivered Luke. How the heck did I even do anything at that point? Let us all cross our fingers that I will not become an elephant this time around. :)



I do love this one of tiny Rachel (who had only been walking for a month then) kissing her brother.

Winter Update

We have had a string of illnesses coming and going through our house lately. Since Christmas break, at any given time, at least half of our family members have been sick with something or other. It stinks. It has been our worst winter! Usually Ben will be sick the most since he catches anything and everything. The kids and I may get a cold or two but that's it. But this winter has done us in! I really should buy stock in Kleenex and Vicks Vaporub.

Anyway....on to happier things...we have managed to do some fun things in January and February.

My kids LOVE big boxes.

Luke has been very into this funny little cake hat (a white elephant gift from Christmas). He loves to wear it around the house and the girls like to "blow out the candles."


Emma had her first gymnastics show. A little red riding hood theme. And super cute costumes! She did great and the show was adorable.
With her friend Kelty



The girls attended the annual Fancy Nancy party at the local library. Rachel was finally old enough to go this year and was beyond excited. They spent all morning planning their outfits and jewelry and applying layers of glittery play makeup. Cute girls!

The girls wanted to have a little Valentine party with their friends. We did it after school one day and it was a lot of fun.

Happy Valentine's Day! I love decorating the table and giving each person in the family small gifts. My mom did it for us and I loved it.


And I have to end on a sweet note.

Isn't this picture the best? Ben took the kids sledding a month or so ago. I wasn't feeling well and stayed home. When I discovered these pictures later I almost cried at how cute my little ones are! He took some beautiful photos of the kids that day in the mountains--it was such a pleasant surprise to find them when I took them off the camera. I love my darling kids so much, even during those times when I'm tempted to send them off with the circus! :)

Christmas

Just a disclaimer: there are A LOT of pictures below. Christmas, New Year's, and a two-week trip to see family. What else can I say?

SEA WORLD!!!! My parents' big gift to us was a trip to nearby Sea World! It was amazing. The kids loved it and did well all day even with no naps.
Luke was so hilarious with these ducks. He loved them! And he's been doing this crazy super-cheesy grin lately and it makes me laugh every time.

Watching the Shamu show with my parents.

Rachel and my sister.

The great Shamu!

With an otter???

Emma got to sleep by the Christmas tree with her Aunt Ali. She was so stoked! Apparently they took turns telling stories about school, friends, injuries, and getting in trouble. What a great bonding night!

Christmas Eve consisted of decorating cookies, a big dinner of grilled steaks, caroling, acting out the Nativity, and opening one present (new pj's, of course!).


Mary and Joseph. It was so nice to see my darling little nephew, Paul. His dad (my brother) and mom just moved to Texas.


Christmas morning!

Reading his new fire truck book with Papa

The girls' big gift from my parents was American Girl dolls! Emma got Felicity and Rachel got Kit. They are so cute. The dolls are very much loved and sleep with their proud owners every night.

Our only family picture the whole trip. I'm glad my aunt suggested taking it!

Cameron dusted off his trombone from high school band and entertained the kids with it one morning. Luke especially loved it.

We love Krispy Kreme! We headed out with kids still in jammies to eat some delicious fattening HOT doughnuts! So good.

The weather wasn't especially warm too often, but it was mild enough most days that you could be outside with a jacket. We went to the nearby park several times to play.

One of my favorite nights was our trip to downtown San Antonio. We looked at the Alamo and all the downtown holiday decorations, including walking the Riverwalk. It was such a fun, festive atmosphere with all the lights, the water, the people, and the live music.

Granby and Luke enjoying some ice cream after dinner.

My GREAT family. It's been almost two years since we've all been together.

The four grandkids. In five more months there will be two more!

Gorgeous downtown tree

New Year's Eve was so much fun with the kids. We put Luke to bed and the girls got to stay up and play games with the big people. We played the flour game--has anyone ever played this? You hide a nickel in a pile of flour and take turns slicing the flour carefully. Whoever collapses the pile gets to search (with no hands!!!) for the nickel and get it with their teeth. Very funny and messy!
And we did some dancing!


The night ended with some fireworks and pot-banging outside, then tucking in the girls and watching Dan in Real Life--love that show!
It was so great to spend the holidays with my family! I hope it's not too long before we can do it again. I love going "home" so much. I still call it home even though I've had a home of my own for a long time (which I love too). There's just a wonderful spirit there (thanks in huge part to my sweet wonderful mom) and it's always hard to leave. It makes me want to make my own home as wonderful as the one I came from.