Vegas Vacation, Part I

Jan. 8 -13th we went to Vegas for my husband's work convention. My sister, Rochelle, lives in Vegas & it was so nice to be able to spend some time with her & her family. (I miss you guys so much!!!) It went by way too fast, though, like it always does. Thanks for always making us feel so loved & welcomed!!!

Jayden had fun following Josh around & tackling him. And the girls had a blast playing Rock Band. Mikayla was lead singer, and Morgan played the drums. I even got to play the guitar with them for a little bit. (I had only played once before at this years New Year's Eve party at Alex's house...a guy my husband works with). It was a blast! It's very addicting. It really does make you want to play the guitar. It makes it seam so easy.. But my husband, was quick to point out, it's nothing like playing an actual guitar. Oh well, it was still fun!!

The girls played for hours on end. They were actually pretty good. They wanted to get 'money' so they could add outfits & accessories to their players. They definitely rocked it! This was only Mikayla's 2nd time playing. She played a little bit at the New Year's Party I mentioned. So she kind of knew what she was doing. It just took her a little bit to get used to it again. She took it so serious! She had this intense look on her face the whole time, as you can tell from the pictures below. She got very into character :).
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Nathan, me, Roch & Darrin went out for Sushi on Saturday. We went to a place called Sumo's (I think that's what it's called), in Henderson. It is the best sushi place ever!!! They have what's called the 'W07' & the 'Apple #1' that are to die for. Oh... so good!! :d. You have to have Sunny make it though. He's the best sushi chef they have there. He has a huge following. People are always requesting him. He knows my sister & brother-in-law very well. They go there every week when he's there. He moved out of state for a couple of months, but he's back now & better than ever. Yay!!! Anyway he was there, and he definitely hooked us up. He went above and beyond with our food. I have never eaten so much sushi. It was so good. I even ate the raw ones...never done that before. They were actually pretty dang good. There was a tuna one, though, I wasn't a big fan of, but my husband loved it.

Afterwords, we went and played some pool, and then watched a really cool local band, the Yellow Brick Road, play at the Alliante Station. They were awesome! Darrin & Roch have seen them many times, and said how good they were. They imitate all of the great rock bands, and they sound just like them. It was so much fun! Rochelle was even able to drag me out on the dance floor, which is a huge feat. I felt like a total dork, but it was a lot of fun. At least I know I wasn't the worst dancer (okay at least I think I wasn't :).

There was this lady who was just a wee bit intoxicated, (wow how do I explain her dancing? ....ummmm.....unique :). On the first couple of songs, she was the only one out on the dance floor. She was front & center, right below the band. Boy did she put on quite a show. She was probably in her mid 40-50's, and she wore this shirt that barely covered her belly. Now I know I don't have a six pack or anything, so I can't say a whole lot, but normally when your belly is spewing over the waistband of your pants, you would think someone would try to cover up. This poor lady kept raising her hands when she would dance. She kept like shuffling forward and backwards like 50 times and she'd raise her hands over her head. It was kind of funny, but I still felt really bad for her. A couple of times, the lead singer, couldn't help but smile at her antics. He looked at his guitar player a couple of times and gave him this look like is this lady for real. He gave her a shout out though, he seamed like a really cool guy.

That was the first time in a long time, that me & Nathan have been on an actual date without kids. And to go out with Rochelle & Darrin was even more incredible!!! It was an absolute blast, and a much needed reprieve. Thanks Roch & Darrin for such a fun night! We definitely need to do that again!!!

Let's see, what else? Oh me & the kids went to Olive Garden Monday night w/ Roch & the fam. Nathan was at his sisters house. Plus he's not a huge Olive Garden fan. I, on the other hand, love it. As much as I love it though, we had the absolute worst service ever. It took us about 10 minutes just to get our waitress to come and take our drinks. The waitress was HORRIBLE!!! She made it sound like she was tag-teaming with this other waiter. But she took our orders and did nothing with it. The other waiter, poor guy, was running around like a chicken with his head cut off. We had to constantly flag other waiters down just to get a refill on our drinks and breadsticks, etc. When she would come back, she'd check on us, to see how we're doing and then we wouldn't see her again for a long time.

It took us even longer to get our check. . Thank goodness we brought 2 vehicles. Darrin took most of the kids home with him, while my sister & I & my 2 boys, tried to get the check. It took about 10-15 minutes longer just for that to happen. My sister had to finally flag another passing waitress down and tell her to 'please either get us our check or the manager.' Within a minute, the manager was at our table. I have never seen so many waiters & waitresses trying to help us then. Needless to say it was not a pleasant dining experience. The Manager was nice & gave us a $50.00 gift certificate, but dinner was still a bust. I was dissapointed.

Tuesday, Nathan went golfing with a bunch of guys from his work, etc. Then came over early to Roch's to hang out and pick us up to take us back to the hotel. Nathan had checked into the hotel on Sunday night. We were supposed to stay with him, but I wanted to spend more time with Roch & the fam, so me & the kids stayed until Tuesday. Thank goodness Rochelle was able to get Monday off, so we could spend more time with her. We were even able to see my baby brother Marc & his baby :) a couple of times also, which was nice. He has a 6 month old German Shephard. Gorgeous dog. It's name used to be 'Bear' but he changed it's name (I can't remember the new name, though).

We took all of the younger kids to this awesome park just off of I-95 & the 215, right behind Target. They had a blast!!!! (Okay, everyone but Tyler that is, poor guy was exhausted so we left him at the house with my niece Tyra. Me & Roch would always take the kids here when we lived in Vegas.) Man that Morgan is a climber. She zoomed right up this climbing wall like 50 times, while my kids struggled to get up once. Nathan raced her once, and she still beat him. I always tease her she's part monkey.

Their next adventure? These huge multi-colored slides. When they first opened the park, the kids would literally go flying out of the middle one, because they gained so much speed. You could stand 5 feet away and catch your kid. It was crazy! They had to close it several times, because I think kids got hurt on it. They've since fixed the problem, but it's still the kids favorite slide.

It's funny, cause I'm taking pictures of the kids running around, climbing, sliding, swinging, chasing each other & every time I zoom in on Nathan...he's playing on his new I-Phone. Even when he's pushing Jayden on the swing, his attention's on his new phone. Towards the end though, he finally put it away and started playing with the kids. The kids loved it, of course.

Right before we left, Nathan took the kids over to the swings one last time. We told the kids beforehand that we would go & get some pizza after they were done playing in the park. Then when it was time to go, Nathan yells "last one to the van, doesn't get pizza." Which, of course, the kids jump up & start running, as if shot from a cannon.:) Nathan picks up Jayden and starts running with him, which leaves Morgan & Mikayla to race it out to the finish line.

Well Mikayla, seeing that Morgan's going to win, all the sudden stops & starts to pout. I'm trailing behind taking pictures, so I of course see this whole thing happen. At first, not understanding why Mikayla was so upset. So while I'm crossing the bridge, I see Morgan come running back, trying to push Mikayla along, then I hear her loudly say, 'you're not the last one, your mom is, come on Mikayla, come on. She's the one who won't get pizza.' Instead of reassuring her, Mikayla, plants her feet in the ground & pouts even more. Finally, Morgan just gave up & sprinted to the van (when I walked up to where they were)leaving Mikayla in the dust. Mikayla's look says it all. As sad as she looked, it was so hard to keep a straight face, after witnessing the whole thing take place. "Mikayla get in the van. Like Dad's not going to feed you."....What a climatic ending :):)

Well, after we wore them out, we all went to Sam's Club to get some pizzas for dinner. I don't know what it is with Sam's Club pizzas? But they never look like they're completely cooked. They're never crispy, has anyone else noticed this? I swear they used to be a lot better. Maybe it's just me. The kids downed them though. They didn't mind. We took the leftovers home to Tyler and the older 2 kids.

Afterwards, we went back to the house to pack up our things, and get ready to head to the hotel, since Nathan had to get back to the convention. It was so sad!! Morgan wanted to go with us so bad. She wanted to stay with us at the hotel. Her & Mikayla had so much fun playing together, especially the Rock Band, that she didn't want her to go. Mikayla was sad too, when she found out Morgan wasn't coming with us. Poor Morgan, was bawling when we left. I felt so bad.

Well, just as we were about to leave, we realized that Jayden had no car seat. I had forgotten to get it out of Rochelle's car the night before, and she was at work. I quickly called her and told her the dilemma, and she agreed to stay later and wait for us, and meet us in the Treasure Island parking garage, where we were staying. So we put Jayden in Mikayla's booster seat, which she wasn't happy about. Jayden wasn't happy, because he didn't have his own car seat. But after telling them about all the fun things on the strip we could go and see, they quickly got over it. Thank goodness!

To be continued................