Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Camp Award Winner

Jaidyn finished up her last day of volleyball camp this week and came away with the "Camper of the Week" award in her age group!! We are super proud of her!

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I decided to put my list of things to do on the back burner for a day and simply enjoy a much needed day out with the kids.

Picnic and play at the park.
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After dinner we pulled out the bike cart from the back of the garage and we all went on a bike ride to Sonic to take advantage of 1/2 price shake day. MMmmm!

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So Much To Celebrate

I am not sure Wes and I could have fit in another celebration in to one week's time even if we tried. We spent most of the week on a 5 day trip to Las Vegas celebrating both our birthdays and our 10 year wedding anniversary and ended the week at the Lake celebrating Father's Day.

I had never been to Las Vegas before last week and while I truly enjoyed the trip, it probably isn't a place that I would choose to go back to. Too much of a tourist trap for my taste. And after 4 days, I easily had my fill of overpriced everything. Most mid mornings were spent trying to beat the extreme heat temps that the afternoon brought by walking up and down the strip into all the different casinos. Because of our $20 daily gambling limit we didn't have the chance to lose ourselves in some sort of high stakes excitement. Our slot machine play was truly embarrassing, in fact so bad that in the short time that we would sit down to play we usually couldn't get a cocktail waitress to even bring us a drink (which would have made losing $5 in a matter of seconds worth it). We did enjoy playing video roulette or black jack and at least on those machines we would come out about even. On the last night and after we had stood around watching several tables all week, Wes got brave and forked over $40 bucks (that was big time gambling to us) to play on the $10 minimum roulette table. When you only hit once in 4 spins, we found ourselves walking away in less than 5 minutes empty handed. :( Apparently we didn't win or lose enough money for any of the casinos to feel the need to encourage to us to return with some comps. Ha! Each afternoon we would lazily lay out at the pool for several hours, people watching mainly and then indulge in an afternoon nap. Oh, the luxury of afternoon naps!! I had forgotten how nice those were! Evenings were spent out walking the strip, attending a couple shows and wining and dining.

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Wes in front of the Bellagio. I loved the fountain show at night. With a new fountain show running every 15 minutes we were fortunate enough to see the one choreographed to God Bless the USA.

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Me in front of the Paris casino.

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Wes ditched me temporarily for something with feathers!

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The Statue of Liberty outside the NYNY. This was definitely one of our favorites on the strip as we ate at their Mexican spot twice and hit happy hour in the Irish Pub. We also saw the Cirque show Zumanity which we also liked.

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All dressed up for a night out in Vegas!
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We took this picture for the kids to show them that their mom fits in with all things SUPER!

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Wes and I spent at least an hour on the upper deck of the Caba Wabo bar watching this "Stone Wizard" scare the crap out of people walking on the strip. He was sooo entertaining!


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And I was actually concerned about what I was wearing out in Vegas. Ha! They might have something going as their shoes look a lot more practical than the heels that I was wearing. These outfits did however spark some thoughts about what my next Halloween costume might be. :)

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Caesar's Palace

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Immature?? Yes, but I was just trying to hold the pose of David (only fully clothed). :)

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Treasure Island

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Just another tight slot machine...

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Lunch here was great, but we had to table hop to keep moving away from the sun.

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In front of MGM'S signature gold lion.

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One of the few times that I was able to snag a drink with my slot machine play.

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Seated and ready to watch the Cirque show KA.

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Loved hanging out on these comfy couches overlooking the strip and listening to the 90's rock band.

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Lazy pool time!

Wes took some cute pics of the kids enjoying some lake time on Father's Day. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Wes with the kids or a picture of my Dad and I. So blessed to have been able to spend the full weekend with both of them.

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Addy knee boarded for the first time this past weekend! Yea, Addy!

Saturday, June 9, 2012

At Nana & Papa's

We spent a few days with Nana and Papa this week so the kids could get in a few days of swim lessons. Jaidyn continues to be a water bug and will try about anything and by the last day was running and diving off the diving board. She wouldn't score 10's, but at least she wasn't doing belly busters. Addy was jumping off the diving board by herself and swimming to the opposite end of the pool. On the last day, Levi would hesitantly jump from the side in to the arms of his swim teacher. He would then attempt to swim with her arm under his belly.

While we there, the kids were also able to spend some time with their Great Grandpa as he and Papa were fortunate to be able to go on the last Ozarks Honor Flight to Washington D.C. to visit the WWII Memorial.
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At the airport at 10pm to welcome all the veterans back home from their day long trip.

Nana talked us all in to getting up early so that we could go and pick fresh blueberries. It was well worth it as she sent all of the blueberries we picked home with us. My freezer is stocked!! Surprisingly all of the kids lasted a good 40 minutes. Jaidyn could have lasted for hours and I think she had the right strategy for picking...one in the bucket, one in the mouth!
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Dress Up time at Nana's is so much fun! Addy is usually first every time to invade the closet and come dancing around in some sort of creative attire.
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Levi the Pirate, Addy the Ballerina, Jaidyn the Fashion Designer and Reid as himself aka Handsome Pants.

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Addy's castle
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Reid just after destroying Addy's castle!

I have plenty to do the next couple days as Wes and I prepare to celebrate our birthdays and 10 year anniversary in Vegas next week!!! Woohoo!! :)

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Cousins

Just wanted to share this cute picture taken earlier this week. The kids loved getting to spend the afternoon with their cousins and Jaidyn and Addy even got to go back with them and spend the night. Good times!

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Don't let them fool you, this is more like it!!
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