Las Vegas!

Our doorbell rang at 8:50am and there was Ren Rasmussen waiting to drive us along with Papa and Sherrill to the airport. The pilots let the boys see up in the cockpit and they thought they were pretty special! 

The flight to Las Vegas was only 2hrs long so by the time Sherrill and I were done chatting we were descending into Sin City! 

The Monte Carlo was beautiful and checking in was going smoothly until our $90 roll-away bed for Maysen was not showing we'd paid it already to Expedia. That was a bump but soon resolved. While we were dealing with that, Nate and Papa had decided that we needed to see Blue Man group that night which was showing at the Monte Carlo. 

Monday we took the tram to the Bellagio and looked at the botanical and butterfly garden. Walking through the lobby of Bellagio we passed through the lobby and saw this candy shop and melted chocolate fountain. It was beautiful and delicious-looking at the same time! 

We then walked over to the M&M and Coca-Cola worlds. You never would have imagined how many different types of M&Ms there are! That night Papa and Sherrill went to see The Beatles Love show at the Mirage. We took the boys to get frozen yogurt that night. Sadly the tigers and dolphins exhibit was closed already. It was likely a blessing in disguise, as the boys were exhausted! Nate went and gambled but sadly did not win the jackpot. Rats!

Tuesday morning was spent at Mandalay Bay visiting the sharks and the aquarium. We then rode the tram to the Luxor to see the Titanic Exhibit. To be honest, this was one of the reasons I wanted to go to Las Vegas since Maysen has been such a huge fan of the Titanic, almost creepy! He was in hog heaven!

Tuesday night was to be date night but Nate and I decided there were a few other sights we hadn't seen yet that we wanted to (Mirage volcano, Bellagio fountains, Vegas sign) To get to all of them at night would be hard so we decided on a night private Limo tour. It was one of the best things we did. Louie was our driver (and soon Griffin's best friend).

We walked right in front of the whole line waiting to get this photo. Louie knew the tricks to get the best shot and it meant walking off to the side - not the front.

Standing right at the pawn shop featured in "Pawn Stars". Louie said that the stars are hardly ever there unless their filming.

Griffin spent most of the night talking to Louie in the partisan!

Fremont Street Experience

Wednesday we checked out of the Monte Carlo and picked up our rental car. We drove to Circus Circus where we spent the morning playing in the arcade and watching the circus performances every hour.

We then checked into our WorldMark Penthouse Suite for the remainder of the vacation. It was gorgeous! we had 3bdrm, 3 bath. By this time of the vacation it was nice for the boys to have their own space. The lazy river was amazing as was the hot tub with water falls. Pizza and NBA playoffs followed that night with snoozes off and on.

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Thursday everyone was feeling pretty wiped out and not used to how dry Las Vegas was! Most of us were rashy, sinus headaches and the warmth was getting to us. We did load up in the car and visit Hoover Dam. Man that was a sight to see!

For our final night/dinner we drove back to the strip to eat at the Rainforest Cafe at the MGM Grand.

Friday we were all ready to get home. But not before working on homework at the airport! It was a great trip with Papa and Sherrill and lifelong memories were made. We loved Vegas and personally we can't wait to go back!

All I want for Christmas...

It was the very last game of Maysen's new found love of the sport basketball. As Nate and I were congratulating coaches and talking to other parents Griffin was entertaining himself by running up and down the bleacher stairs. One of the moms looked at me sort of panicked all of a sudden and said, "Griffin just fell down the bleacher!" I could hear him crying but knew Nathan was with him so wanted to finish up my conversation with another parent. It was then that I had another different parent tap me on the shoulder and tell me I probably needed to go look at Griffin. 

I made my way over there and as soon as Nathan turned around so that I could see Griffin, all I saw was a huge bloody mess. I took him from Nate and ran to the bathroom with him. All I kept thinking in my head was how this was probably just a lot of tearing and biting of his lip since it was already pretty swollen. I examined his lip and saw a few gashes and that it was bleeding pretty good. Once the bleeding was under control and I got him calmed down we started to walk out of the bathroom. That's when he said it: 

"But mom, I haff all feese looth teef" 

Ohmygosh I didn't look at his teeth! His gums looked like mashed up purple hamburger and the front four top teeth were just dangling there. Of course blood was coming out of the tops of his teeth and I have to admit, even being a nurse, teeth are not my thing. I contacted the dentist on call and was reassured that everything sounded pretty okay and nonemergent. The plan was lots of Popsicles and ice cream and soft yummy food.

By Monday Griffin was still pretty sore, his teeth were not reattaching anywhere, and his gums were not looking any better. I called the dentist he told us to come in right away. We decided that it was best to pull the front teeth so that the gums could heal better. Poor Griffey had to have a couple of numbing injections so they could pull them with ease. That didn't go so smooth. Neither one of us I guess were prepared for that. 

In the end the tooth fairy came and gave him a very special brave award. It was weird because she put on there that she said was sorry Griffin had such a hard fall. It was like she had seen the whole thing and new about it. Tricky tooth fairy! 

Good news is his gums are healing so much better now that those teeth are out of there. He will be toothless for probably the next year, maybe in time to ask Santa for a new pair…

Go YMCA Ducks!

This winter Maysen decided he would like to sign up for the YMCA basketball team. He is shorter than most of the other kids and to be honest I was not very hopeful that this would be the sport for him. He gets burnt out very quickly and has the give up attitude. 

By the second game he learned that his friend from school, Max, was pretty much the star of the team. Instantly they teamed up together and became quite a force pick. Maysen discovered he could steal the ball and that was very exciting. By the end of the season Mase was a pretty aggressive player. He was very fun to watch.

I have never seen a child so upset the season was ending. Nate was a little frustrated with the young coach this year, and is already commented that he will be coaching basketball in the future. I guess we will see! So proud of little man that Maysen is becoming.