Vegas With My Baby

After very little discussion, Drew decided we'd be going back to Las Vegas for our vacation this year. This makes 3 years in a row.... The only other place he even considered was Miami... to see a Dolphins game. And since I knew there was no way I'd be able to save up $3,000 in a few months, we settled on Vegas. 

** Don't mind my horrible pictures, we are in desperate need of a new camera**

First off, Vegas is HOT.. ridiculously HOT. at 8:30 in the morning it was already 99 degrees... YUCK. We stayed at the Monte Carlo again because we LOVE their pools. The wave pool, lazy river, and regular pool. Drew would have gladly stayed out at the pool all day, every day... but even for this Summer-lovin' Mamma, it was just too stinking hot. 

We pretty much spent our mornings at the pool, afternoons napping in our room, and nights on the strip. 

Our lives really aren't all that hectic and crazy... but we both really needed this vacation. 3 days away from everyone we know.. no work.. no school.. no computers, video games or phones (except one call from his Dad). We just needed a break. 

On our last night there we went to see The Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. 

I was kind of hesitant to take him since it was completely new to him (and he HATES new things), and they warn of smoke, fire and loud noises (all 3 things that he HATES)... but I've always wanted to go, so we gave it a shot. He was pretty reluctant... but once he accepted that I was making him go anyway, he was fine. 

And I'm SOOOO glad we went because he LOVED it!! All he's wanted to do the last few days is have sword fights and joust in the living room. There were moments (fireworks and cannons) that freaked him out, but he handled it really well. And the food... oh I was nervous about that too. This kid is a super picky eater.. and the idea of him eating without utensils was kind of funky to me... 

But once again, Drew surprised me. He loves "Chicken on a bone" (drumsticks) so he was excited to rip them off the chicken and gobble them up. Of course the brocoli was never touched.. but that was to be expected. It was really a great night there. We loved the show, the food was great and we had a blast.

On our last day there Drew asked if we could go to the Wax Museum. There weren't that many "people" he recognized.. but he enjoyed seeing the ones we did. And since we were the 2nd ones to enter that morning, we pretty much had the place to our selves... and were out in less than 20 minutes.

Of course Michael Jackson was his favorite... but he was a little nervous to stand next to him.. Some of those statues look so real it's creepy. 

All in all it was a good little vacation for us. But once we got home we both agreed that we'd had about enough time alone together... so he went to school the next day to play for a couple hours while I ran some errands.. alone. Guess some times you can have too much of a good thing. 

Vacation.. With a Contingency Plan...

A few months ago Drew and I began talking about our next vacation. For the last 2 years we've gone to Vegas for our vacation (his choice.. seriously). So this year I decided we'd go to San Diego. He's been wanting to go to Lego Land so I figured San Diego would be perfect. He'll get to enjoy a new amusement park... we'll go to the wild animal park..  and I'll get to enjoy the San Diego beaches. 


However... this vacation plan came with a contingency plan: If the Miami Dolphins play in San Diego against the Chargers this season, we'll go to the game instead of our vacation. 


OK, not necessarily instead of... just that in that case our vacation would then be scheduled around the game instead of late August as planned. And we'd probably skip the wild animal park and stay at a cheaper hotel since we'll be paying over $200 to see the game. 


Well as of yesterday afternoon it's become official... the Dolphins play the Charges in San Diego this next season, so my little man will be going to his first NFL game!! I honestly have no desire to see the game... but I am SUPER anxious to see the look on my babies face while he watches HIS Dolphins.. live and in person!


However... this plan also comes with an un-official contingency plan: Drew loves the Dolphins because his Daddy loves the Dolphins. It's THEIR team.... so I'm sure his dad would LOVE to take him to see the game. 


His dad and I haven't talked about any of this yet so nothings official. And the NFL schedule isn't up yet so I don't even know exactly when the game is. So we're still in "wait and see" mode. If worse comes to worse, I may just be going on vacation alone this year..... 

Lions..Hippos...& Jelly Beans

Happy Monday.... 


Well we not only survived our Vegas Vacation... but we really enjoyed it!!

The afternoon we arrived, we dropped our stuff in the hotel room and went out to wander the strip. 

 

We did a lot of people watching... and according to the boys, we took way too many pictures, but as a mom, I feel there are never enough pictures. We let the boys play at an arcade for awhile, went to dinner and did a lot of walking. We planned to take the boys down to the pool when we got back to the hotel, but it turns out the pool closes at 7:00 pm.... WOW... an employee informed us that the hotel wants people inside gambling, not outside laying by the pool...hhmmmm.. OK. So we just went to our room and the boys played a few games before bed. 

The next morning we were up and out the door by 8:30 to get to the pool. (This is the view of the pool from our room). The boys had a blast in the pools... the wave pool, lazy river, and regular pool... we spent 4 hours going from one pool to the next, I think we may have sat in our lounge chairs a total of 10 minutes the whole time. The Monte Carlo is now my new favorite Las Vegas hotel just because of the pool. It was about 104 degrees out there, but the water felt amazing! 

And that night, we went to see the Lion King.

No idea why I didn't take any pictures in front of the Lion King displays.... only a couple in our seats while we waited. 

The show was awesome!! The boys loved it... and the mom's did too! I highly recommend the show if you ever get the chance. 

And after the show we went to dinner... walked around a bit more... then headed to the Bellagio to see the water show.  *While we were walking the strip, we overheard a discussion between 3 girls... they were discussing why hippos are so much more dangerous than lions...and Vanessa and I got caught eavesdropping, so we joined in the conversation... haha The boys were pretty amused by all of us women. 

*Nate & Drew waiting for the water show*

We all had a great time that night... and were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to the room. 

The next morning we had breakfast and stopped to check out the lions at MGM. While we were there we caught the "gambling bug".... both of us moms took turns watching the boys so we could play the slots. We each just played a couple dollars so the boys didn't have to wait long.... and I won $14.. WOOHOO.... but Drew takes after his mother in the gambling department too, and he was begging me to play one of his dollars so he could win too. So he picked a machine (a penny slot with a picture of a kitten on it) and I played for him... and won 96 cents...haha.. but he was happy! 

It was a great vacation with our amazing friends! We are so happy and lucky to have Vanessa & Nathan in our lives.. to laugh with, gamble with, swim with.... and throw chanclas with...LOl

Vacation Time

Tomorrow morning we will be on our way to a little vacation... 
and I am SUPER excited!
Looking forward to 3 days of no work, no dishes, no laundry, and ZERO structure.... when we're on vacation pretty much all the rules are thrown out the window.... 
Especially when we go to 

YAY for Vegas!! 


We're staying at the Monte Carlo just for the pool... I'm sure the hotel is nice too, but we wanted a fun pool area for the kids to play at..... 

And we're also going to see the Lion King... can't wait!! 

I've heard great things about the show and I'm sure the kids are going to LOVE it! 

Now if I can just try to get through the next 24 hours...... It is extremely hard to concentrate when all I can think about is bright lights, tons of people, and laying by the pool...