Serendipity

At the end of the week, Clint came up from scout camp with Nathan to pick us "girls" up. As much fun as Vegas was, it was so much more fun when he got there. I had an adult to talk to and hang out with and he could help me with all the little ones. The last night he took me to play the slot machines. I am secretly in love with them and never ever play (I promise). I got 10 dollars of free play for joining a players club and turned it into 55 dollars. Yes, I do know when to quit. I took my little winnings and we treated the kids to serendipity the next morning before we headed home. They have their famous hot chocolate and gynormous donuts. Susanna is a donut freak and her little body can put away an alarming amount of donuts. Makes me ill to think about it.

Eliza doesn't really like donuts but posed for a picture.

No, she didn't eat any of hers but had to take a picture. Her favorite thing to do with any bread product is squish it up and drop it, well fruit too. She is the worst eater and i can't find anything she likes. What little kid doesn't eat a cracker...her that's who.

Famous frozen hot chocolate. Very healthy breakfast, I must say.

In order to walk off a little bit of that junk, we took the kids to the Bellagio to walk through the little garden they construct each season. It was like a bird theme this time and had live birds in a little bird house. Amelia was fascinated. The kids favorite was the fountains that started in one place and then stopped mid air and finished on the other side, it was fun to watch but the mom was super emberassed as dad taught the kids to put their hands in the fountains splashing water everywhere. I really have 7 kids, not 6 sometimes, He is kind of a big kid when it comes to that stuff.) It was a fun quick trip for Nathan and Dad. Justin stayed home by himself and hung out a little with Uncle Benjamin.

Thats what you get for Waking up in Vegas

Susanna, Clara, Amelia, and I took a little trip to Las Vegas last week. Susanna had a dance competition and convention and of course Amelia came for the ride. I took Clara so she could take some classes too. We had a lot of good memories and it was a little stressful with a new baby. Here are some of our good times...

We went to see the moving statues at Caesar's Palace inside this fancy mall. The girls were a little frightened by the scary statues but loved the giant fish tank. We got some good deals at the gap but the baby had a rough time and we couldn't stay long.

The girls had a good time swimming at the hotel pool. It is very hot in Vegas so I hid out and my friend watched the girls swim.

At the Bellagio, they have a garden with fountains and cool animal flowers. It is like an Alice in Wonderland theme. Susanna went with Chloe and Lizzie. Clara got to go to Circus Circus with friends so she wasn't with us on this excursion.

Later that day I took Susanna to the Dolphin reserve and Secret Garden. She loved loved loved the dolphins. They don't do a show but you can just watch them swim around and play up really close. In the secret garden there are white tigers, and other cool animals.

We ran into Brigette Reynolds and Parker Hester in the Secret Garden and took a few poses with them.

My friend had me take this picture of little Amelia. She is four weeks old and only slightly bigger than the girls bitty baby. She is so much fun and starting to get a little bigger. She was an angel and didn't cry all the way there or the way home. She must have known her mom was a little stressed and tried to help. We didn't get any action pictures of her because she was covered up or hidden from people most of the trip. She will have to wait til next time to pose for pictures in Las Vegas.

Clara is loving dance. She wants to dance all the time and try all the things Susanna does. It is so fun to watch her try things and have fun. She loved the convention and all her teachers. There were only about 30 kids in her class. (I should have taken a picture, there were over 300 in Susanna's--it was ridiculous)

This is her ballet teacher and the other two mini girls that took class from her dance studio. Lily and Sadie are her friends.

Las Vegas Boulevard. A little crazy and chaotic. The lights were cool at night. Note to self, do not ever go on a trip that has walking with no tennis shoes for anyone. Clara's shoes kept falling off and my feet hurt so bad I felt like I was 80 years old.

We stayed with Lark and Parker when we first got there and hooked up with them two times. It was short and not relaxing but the cousins loved seeing eachother. We took a few cute pictures. (I'll let Lark blog about the cool pose pictures). This was the m&m factory. I thought they showed how they made them or had a little tour but really it was a giant story with everything m&m. The kids got a couple cheap things...I wanted to buy some wierd colored m&ms until I saw they were 13 dollars a pound. Eeek

Looking back I am glad I went and I think the girls had a good time. I loved my quality time with the girls and I and loved seeing how much they stepped and helped me when I was needing to deal with the baby or needed help with something. I missed my little Eliza and my great boys while I was gone and loved how my husband took care of everything while I was gone.