Vegas-Day 3 Gracie's birthday and Lydia's Baptism

Our intention with Saturday was to make Gracie feel as special as possible even though it was Lydi's baptism day. Unfortunately in the night Gracie started feeling crumbing and spent most of the night up throwing up and not feeling good. Matt stayed with her in the hotel room and we took the kids to meet up with Kim and Nic. Kim had heard of this cool donut shop so we ventured out to try them. The kids and I decided what we wanted to try and then I cut them up so everyone could try all the kinds. They were good donuts but probably more hype than they're worth.

Then we headed to Luke's basketball game. The kids mostly played in the corner and watched a little. It was fun to go support Luke. I know he acted like he didn't care but I think all kids like when they feel supported.

Then we went to lunch. Gracie still wasn't feeling good but wanted us to bring her some take out so thats what we did...take out for both her and Matt. Lunch wasn't great and they had to split us up so they could seat us sooner so I was glad to be done and head back to the hotel to check in with Matt and Gracie. Gracie ate the rest of Hallie's and I's food and said she was feeling better. She hadn't thrown up since that morning so we decided to let her come to the baptism and Kim's after. Here we all are after the baptism.

Afterwards we went back to Kim's and let Gracie open her gifts. She has wanted her own kindle for quite some time so Matt and I got her that and my parents bought her a case to go with it. 

Gray's smolder face

Kim was so thoughtful and got Gracie a cake and cool sparkler candles. I know I wasn't the only one that super appreciated her being so thoughtful to make Gracie feel special on her birthday

We helped clean up and headed back to our hotel since we had a super early morning flight. As Matt was backing into the parking spot he didn't see the tree that stuck out far into the stall and put a pretty good hole in the top of our rental car. I think we are lucky it wasn't worse. We'll have to see how the insurance handles that one.

We woke the kids up about 4 and took them to the airport in their pjs. Everyone was tired and not ready to get up but it meant that we got home at a good time. Some of the kids took naps on the way.

It was a fun trip and I'm so glad we planned a couple extra days to make it more of a vacation and worth it. I love adventuring with this crew.

Vegas--Day 2 Hoover Dam

 Going to the Hoover Dam was a much anticipated activity. Liam has been asking to go there for months. IN the spring Kim and Ez had visited and told the kids all about the Hoover Dam and how fun it was. We were all a little skeptical but Liam was so excited and talked about it constantly. He couldn't wait to see the turbines. Once we got there and parked it was set up cool. We watched a movie and were able to wander the museums while we waited for our tour time. I was more than a little worried about the enclosed space and the 500 ft drop in the elevator but I didn't want to miss out so we all decided to go.

When the time arrived they loaded us on a large elevator and with a special key card took us down tot he bottom of the dam. It was so fast and it barely felt like we were moving.

The much anticipated turbines

There was a vent window that we got to walk out the tunnel and stick our hand thru. It is on the lower 3rd of the dam and looked so small from the top but was actually quite large when we walked to it

These are the stairs that were originally used to access the dam. Very steep and narrow. They are only used in emergencies now

The tour was just over an hour and it went so quickly. They left time to ask questions and of coarse all the kids had questions some not so relevant 

Surprisingly enough we had spent most of our day there and were starving. As we finished up and headed for the car the girls all mentioned how surprised they were that they enjoyed it as much as they had. It really was so fun and educational at the same time. Then we headed to Applebees and had some late lunch before meeting up with Kim, Nic, and their families. Kimber ordered pizza and then we headed to a nearby jump park with everyone. The kids loved being with their cousins and for the most part it was pretty enjoyable. I think that is a benefit of having the kids get older is letting them have some freedom and have fun without me worrying about them. 

Thats Gracie climbing the wall

Hallie climbing the steps

Of coarse Gray was closely supervised. For the most part he is so patient with them

Then we headed back to Kim's to sign happy birthday to Lydi. We enjoyed visiting and letting the kids play. 

Fun to be back with my sisters again

Vegas--Day 1

With Lydia's baptism coming up we decided to make a weekend out of it so we headed out a couple days early. This is one of the bonuses of Matt traveling as much as he does. Weekends like this are possible with very little money because we can use flight credits, free rental car days, and hotel points.

We went and got reservations for Rainforest Cafe and since we had some time we headed down the strip to the Bellagio to see the beautiful flower display. I can't believe the amount of time and detail that goes into these. Always a fun surprise to see what they have come up with. This Christmas tree is 50 ft tall.

The train was probably the kids favorite part. It went around the entire bottom of the tree

We barely caught the water show before we received the text that our table was ready. I was sad I didn't get my camera out sooner. Liam was fascinated with the water show. The particular song we watched had water shooting at varying heights and he loved it. His face was priceless and the girls all mentioned that was their favorite part of the water show was watching his reaction.

While we waited for our food a balloon artist came around and made really cool balloons for all the kids. She was a science teacher at a local school making extra money on nights and weekends. She did a really good job. Gracie requested a butterfly

Liam a fishing pole with a fish

Hallie a giraffe

Emy a flamingo

Hallie told the waitress we were celebrating Gracie's birthday she let Gracie pick a dessert off the menu but then told us she had picked a fancier one than they include but we got it anyways. It was pretty cool. It was call the brownie volcano and it was huge. It came with a sparkler candle on top and they sang to her.

By the time we got our food and headed back to the hotel it was late and we were all tired. It was such a fun night and Gracie mentioned a couple times how special she felt and how much fun she had.

Great way to kick off a fun weekend...tomorrow to Hoover Dam