what happens in vegas...

We wanted to get away as a family for the second week of spring break and decided to go to Las Vegas (translation: we had a time share we needed to use and nothing in California was available).  It worked out well though because we were able to meet up with Rob's younger sisters so that was great.

We left on Tuesday after Rob finished working so we got in pretty late.  I was thankful that our older boys read read the last couple of hours while the younger ones slept:

I read good reviews about "Exploration Park" in Las Vegas and the kids had a lot of fun there.  Rob and the kids were pretending that the bank was robbed and were talking with thick western accents trying to figure out who the bandit was:

We brought a couple of Frisbees and played around in the grass.  Tosh is pretty good and is very entertaining to watch:

I was leery of taking the boys on the strip, but we drove down and back one day so they could look at the huge hotels and see some of the cool things:

I addition to swimming and playing board games and the usual things we like to do on vacation, we went to a 3D movie--Wreck-It Ralph.  It was pretty cute and we had the entire theatre to ourselves!

We played tennis just about every day.  The boys are improving for sure:

Tosh played quite a bit, but had just as much fun hanging out in the shade with Livvy:

Oh, and he played lots of air guitar too:

Somehow Burke's athletic shoes didn't get packed so we bought him some new runners in Vegas.  I tried them on just for fun and was shocked to discover that they fit!

Liv catching a snooze --vacation is exhausting!

On Friday we went to Red Rock Canyon which certainly was a highlight of the trip.  I think the boys would pick exploring/climbing over just about any other activity.  In the visitor's center:

The views were pretty spectacular:

Hewitt is so good to Liv:

Tosh by the "gum" wall--gross!

 Liv and I had a hard time keeping up with the boys.  They literally run up these rocks!

Aunt Alisa and her friend Mattias met up with us around 5:00pm or so.  It was great to spend some time with them.  Liv and Alisa were both wearing skirts, but it didn't seem to slow them down.

Yes, Tosh was wearing his 3D movie glasses all day...

Liv thought this rock looked like a princess throne:

We went out to dinner on Friday night and then the adults and Burke played some games until late.  While we were playing Club Seven, Burke got excited about his hand and Rob said, "Poker Face, Burke."  Burke then replied, "I can't reach her," thinking Rob was talking about Alisa.  Ha!  I laughed so hard.  I guess he had never heard that expression before.  So funny.

Sue and Zach and the twins drove down from St. George on Saturday and we were able to spend most of the day together.  We played tennis, swam, and visited mostly.  Here is a shot of the cute cousins:

The kids had fun playing together.  I love that Liv is holding August's sippy cup for him here:

Love this one of Tosh and August:

Mattias brought real bratwurst from Germany and cooked it for us for dinner.  It was really good and fun to try.  I was also impressed with how 'cool under pressure' he stayed when a very small fire started in the hotel kitchen (grease+gas range).  I think I was the only one that was aware :)  Our kids love being with family.  Thanks to everyone for meeting up with us! 

We went to sacrament meeting on Sunday before packing up, eating lunch, and taking off for home.  I buttered some leftover french bread for Hewitt as a snack before church and when he saw it he said, "Come to papa!"  It made me laugh out loud.  

After Liv ate the sacrament bread she asked, "Was that a hot dog bun?"  

Rob bought a bunch of treats on Saturday including a big box of Whoppers.  Liv kept calling them "Jr. Whoppers" and Tosh called them Woop-ers.

We left Vegas just after 1:30pm and had horrible traffic going home.  We stopped at Hoover Dam, but only very briefly because of how slow traffic had been.  

I love this shot of the boys looking into the water with the bridge in the background:

It was a fun trip, but I must say how happy I am to be home and not to be going anywhere for the next two months!  It has been such a busy couple of months and I'm thrilled to be back into the usual routine.

kid ketchup

Tosh's teacher just sent me this photo from when I went into his classroom to read a book for Dr. Seuss week.  Two parents were "mystery readers" each day and the kids would try to guess who it was before we started reading.  My face was covered by a big piece of paper and I tried to wear clothes and shoes that Tosh might not recognize.  Lots of kids guessed "Tosh's mom" but Tosh didn't think it was me because he didn't recognize my new flats--ha! I've really enjoyed volunteering in his class regularly this year (his school is very convenient and easier for me to get to AND I need to keep an eye on this one).  

I need to rewind and capture some of the things that went on with the kids over the super busy month we've had!  

While I was in California, Liv had a little dance recital (the final class that parents were invited to watch).  Rob mostly took video, so this is the only photo from Rob's phone.  Liv was on the young side of this 3-5 year-old class.  It seems that she is cursed with her parents' lack of flexibility, but we'll see if she gets a passion for dance later on.  Rob wasn't convinced that dance is her thing.  He was just talking yesterday about putting her in fall soccer.   

Park shots:

Tosh is our strongest kid and has been able to do monkey bars much earlier than our older boys.  Rob loves watching him on the rings:

The pinewood derby was while I was in California as well.  I just noticed the cute light decorations in these photos.  Honestly, the first time I looked at the pictures I couldn't see past the messy hair and missing uniform pieces (one of my friends laughed when she told me that Liv's hair had a big rat's nest in the back at church while I was gone.  Funny!)...  I hope the boys enjoyed the race although they were at the very bottom of the pack--Burke even won the "turtle" award.  I think he was fine with that though, as the award came with some chocolate.

After Patti and I returned from CA, we all attended a music program that the second graders put on.  Hewitt is always entertaining and did his dance numbers quite well.  

Liv and I went for a little bike ride one morning and she insisted on wearing this scarf even though it was already quite warm:

Liv put this next ensemble together as well.  She wouldn't accept my help with the sweater--I love how it's twisted in the back :)

Tosh got a little cough and slight fever right before we left on trek.  He actually passed out while eating breakfast and fell off of the stool in the kitchen and sort of got caught between the stools.  He was very lethargic for about 30 minutes and then seemed fine the rest of the day (besides coughing some). It was actually interesting because he wanted to do puzzles all day (or read) and I joked that the passing out possibly made him smarter.  Doing a puzzle with Grandma:

We love playing games with Grandma!

While we were on trek Patti got some shots of the kids at the park:

We ordered two five-gallon water coolers for trek and they came in this big box that the kids had fun with:

In fact, the boys put together a puppet show that they were so excited to show us.  We were even served bottled water and potato chips as part of the show!  Hewitt/Tosh Studios is pretty awesome.

I'm a bit 'old school' when it comes to holidays.   For St. Patrick's Day we wore green (to church anyway) and I made lime jello to go along with our roast beef dinner.  Liv found these lens-less frames and insisted on wearing them to church.  She looks quite pleased.

Rob and I took Patti out to dinner to thank her for watching the kids while we were away, but I wanted to give her another big

THANK YOU!

 It was so nice to know that the kids are in such great and capable hands while we were away.  It was so great having her here with us for two weeks!