Viva Las Vegas!

Once upon a time, in 2009, we decided that we should all go to Las Vegas and see Nathan's sister Emily, her husband Matt,and their daughter Madelyn. After all, we fly free, and we have never been to their house in years, let alone seen their first home that they just bought.

But as humans tend to do, we got "too busy" to take a trip to see them, and so it was in 2010 that it went on the priority list. Wtih April and May as Nathan's safety auditing months with him picking his own schedule, it seemed only fitting that we make time for the long-awaited trip. Before we knew what had hit us though, Nathan found himself laid-off from the auditing position, and back to the grind of being gone for what seemed like an eternity. "I am guessing that you won't be coming after all, " Emily said to me one day. I started to agree, then stopped. "No. We are not flaking out AGAIN," I said. "We will come anyway, even if I come alone with the kids. As long as you'll meet me at the airport and find carseats for me to use." And so that is what happened. Last Thursday the kids and I (sans Nathan) flew down on stand-by via Allegiant Airlines (aka: the party wagon, or the 2-hour long happy hour). As promised, Matt picked us up, and off to the muchly-anticipated dwelling.

And so began a whirlwind of a trip. Nathan flew down Friday night, and unfortunately we had to fly back sooner than expected. The flights didn't look promising for going back, and when you're traveling stand-by, it gets iffy really quick. So we left at 5am Sunday morning, after MUCH too quick of a visit. Aside from the nitty gritty travel details, I am already to come back down for a visit! Here are some of the pics from our visit:




Uncle Derrick (Nathan's youngest brother) came down for a visit too, unbeknownst to me beforehand. Derrick is the most amazing uncle, and it is always more fun when he is around.




In the atrium at the Bellagio. It is absolutely stunning! I loved it, and so did the kids. Never have they been so well behaved as when we walked up and down The Strip. I think they were a little overwhelmed with everything! Unfortunately, we went in the morning and the Bellagio water fountain shows don't even start until 3pm. Bummer. Guess we'll have to come again.













Hot-looking Emily with Madelyn (don't ask about the "hot" thing. It was one of many strange and hilarious conversations I had with Emily's husband Matt).






Tanner looking um..... ????? If only the rest of the statues around him were in the picture, as they were all statues of naked people. These are Preston's sunglasses that Tanner has recently taken a liking to. The aquarium here is the one inside Caeser's Palace. The kids loved it--and so did I!






Inside the Venetian, watching the gondolas and the gondoliers. For now, this is the closest any of us are going to come to experiencing Italy (Emily and Matt have already been).




The kids played so well together, and had so much fun in Madelyn's wagon.

I didn't post a picture of Emily's new baby, Mason, but he was part of the fun too. Other highlights of the trip include a visit to Cafe Rio, lunch from In 'N Out Burger, playing Settlers of Catan with Matt and Derrick, and being reminded of how truly awesome I am (not) when it comes to Geography, and other similar subjects. Attempting to catch Matt's rabbit (named Kyrk) was another fun one.