Vegas & Hoover Dam

We decided to leave Utah a day earlier than originally planned so we decided to stop in Las Vegas on the way home. We found a room at the Circus Circus hotel and casino for only $60 for both nights. It made me nervous that it was so cheap because I was afraid we would show up and it would be all trashy and gross. Much to my excitement and relief it was a decent room. It was clean and big and had a nice bathroom. It really was a steal. We got there in the late afternoon and then spent the rest of the night (until almost midnight) down in the casino area.

They hotel has a whole area that's like a carnival/arcade. We took the kids around and let them play games and win some prizes. I am probably silly because I would only let them play games that could win them cute stuffed animals. I hate some of the cheap ugly stuff they will give away as prizes. They did win some cute stuff and then our hungry selves sat down for a pizza dinner. We spent the whole night wandering and checking out the carnival area. The cool thing is they have a place set up for performances and they have some sort of circus performer doing stuff like every half hour. We watched a couple of those and they were pretty cool. Really, the trapeze artists performing in the belly of this hotel was really the coolest to me. We ended up back in the room totally tired and ready for bed.

The next day we did some wandering and drove the strip. Any of the pictures I've posted of hotels and stuff on the strip were all taken from the car. It was a little much to walk with the kids but it was still cool to just drive up it. We spent a couple hours at some outlet mall not too far from the hotel. Oh how I wish I could have had they money to get the way discounted Coach purse. Oh well! We still had fun window shopping. We didn't really do anything big while in Vegas but we had a good time. We made a REALLY quick stop at the Hoover Dam on the way home too. It was too hot and too busy to stop and walk around but we did snap a couple pictures. That counts right?! We at least got a picture of the kids with the dam behind it. That's enough for us.

We don't often take trips or do things like this just the four of us so it was really nice. I love getting to do fun, out of the ordinary things with my little family of four. I am grateful too that we have the opportunities we have to travel and do fun things as a family. I know I am blessed to have these chances to make memories with my family. All in all the Utah/Las Vegas trip was really great.

Time for a Rewind

I finally got a power cord for my laptop so it is in use again. I have a little bit of catching up to do so that's what the next couple posts will be. I can't believe I didn't even get our Utah trip post done. We were there for about a week and we had a great time. The kids loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa McKinlay. It was so fun that this time around they were both so much bigger and so much more excited about the time there. We did all the 4th of July stuff I already blogged about and other than that we just hung out and enjoyed each others company. We really did have a great visit and I am glad the kids had a chance to have a week to get to know their G&G Kinney better. Hopefully we will get to see them again soon.
The above picture has it's title for a reason. It was a little drizzly out when we walked to the park so the slides were wet. We convinced Noah to go down the big twisty slide and were so excited that he was going to do it on his own. He went down fine until he got to the bottom where the water had pooled. I guess the wet slide all the way down and the water at the bottom kind of turned the slide into a slip-n-slide. Noah flew off the end, turned somehow, and then landed on his tummy. He was not thrilled. We tried to get him to go down again and tried to convince him we would catch him. The only way he would go down again was with Mommy (that was a site in itself).

4th of July Part 2

I didn't cover our fabulous evening on 4th of July and the awesome fireworks we saw, thus the part 2. After we ate dinner at Uncle Paul and Aunt Penney's house we had a lot of fun just hanging out. The big people played some board games and had a blast. Oh so wonderful cousin Kelsie kept Zoey and Noah entertained pretty much the whole time. She was so good with them and they absolutely soaked up the attention. She played outside with them, let them play on the computer, and best of all taught them how to play Wii. I thought it was so awesome to see her patience with them while trying to teach them. The kids responded so well to her and she was so good to them. I felt lucky too because I got to enjoy time with the grown ups without being bugged by my kiddos. I just can't sing Kelsie's praises enough. She really is awesome and Zoey and Noah absolutely adore her. Noah brings her up almost on a daily basis. Thanks Kelsie for helping my kids have such a great time!

My last 4th shout out goes to my fabulous mother-in-law, Amy. The office she works at is maybe a block or two from where the Stadium of Fire is. The office is upstairs and has a balcony that looks right towards the stadium. We were able to sit up there to watch the fireworks show at the end of the concert at the stadium. We actually were close enough that we could sometimes hear the Jonas Brothers singing during the concert. When they were done the fireworks started and they were so close and so awesome. Of course I didn't really take many pictures because they just don't do justice. The kids were so blown away though and I was pretty excited myself. It really was the best 4th of July fireworks show I have ever seen. I am so glad we were able to spend the 4th in Utah. It was so much fun. Thank you Amy for getting us "front row" seats to the fireworks. We all had a blast!

Oh, yes. One more thing. Thanks for the personal fireworks show on Sunday Chaz! It was a great show and those Harry Potter spells of yours sure were awesome! :)

4th of July

All I can say is that this was maybe the best 4th of July I can remember. The parade was awesome and lots of fun just sitting on the side of the road with family. The quiet afternoon while everyone napped was much needed. The dinner at Gauchay's house was so yummy. The fireworks from the balcony at Grandma Kinney's work were amazing. What a great 4th of July!

I am just so beyond grateful to live in this country. I know it has many things wrong with it but I know I am so much more blessed than so many others in the world. I am thankful to get to be who I want to be and to live my religion freely. I have all the respect in the world for those who made this life possible for me. My heart goes out to all those families with soldiers who are not with them due to deployment, death, or whatever it may be that keeps them away. I can't imagine what it is like and I will forever be grateful for what the great soldiers of the past and present have done for my country. I truly am Proud to Be an American!

(click on the collages to see them bigger and read the captions)