Flash Back Fridays - Taking Babies to Vegas

We took Wesley to Las Vegas when he was a baby. The Wrights went with us and we stayed at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. The Hotel is all suites with a door between the living room and bedroom. The suites also have 1 1/2 baths and a modern design.

The Hotel charges a lot for cribs but Michelle found this great company that rented us pack-n-plays, toys, and a stroller for Hunter for a very reasonable rate. The owner just dropped everything with the bellmen who delivered it to our rooms and we just left it with the bellmen for her to pick up. It worked out great.
It was the perfect hotel for children because of the suites and we had full use of the great pool area at Mandalay Bay.
The babies loved playing in the pools.

There was a snack bar out by the pool that served real food for lunch. The boys had watermellon for the first time and really liked it. Hunter was 11 months old at the time.

There were some other firsts on the trip. After watching Hunter enjoying ice cream, Wesley signed "more" for the first time. After signing "more", he had his first ice cream. He was 10 1/2 months.

Wesley also learned how to turn on the water in the bathtub. This wasn't a problem at The Hotel because the water came out on the other side of the fancy tub, but when we got home we had to take the handles off the facet on our tub. He also stood up for the first time in the middle of floor in the bedroom.

The boys also visited their first aquarium, Shark Reef, at Mandalay Bay. I was pleasantly surprised how much Wesley enjoyed seeing all the fish. He kept pointing at them and making happy noises.

This was also the first time we left Hunter and Wesley with someone we didn't know. I think this was also the first time Mark and Michelle had a paid sitter for Hunter. Michelle found this nice young lady through a nanny agency and she kept the boys for three nights from about 7 to 11 or so. She basically just put them in bed and watched tv after they fell asleep. Hunter slept through his parents moving him back to their suite.
One night the four of us went out to dinner at Spago's.

One night we went up to the bar at the top of The Hotel.

One night Chris and I went to a fancy gourmet restaurant for his birthday while Mark and Michelle went to see KA. We had already seen it and loved it the year before this trip.

One day while Chris was at this conference the rest of walked around and toured almost all of the casinos. Here is a picture of Wesley and me at the Bellagio.

Chris and I agree that this was a very enjoyable trip for us. It was fun to go with friends and it was fun to go with Wesley. We love vacationing with our kids and this trip gave us lots of time with Wesley but we were also able to have some date nights while he slept.

I don't think I would take older kids to Vegas because of all the pictures and bus signs with naked women. Also, I wouldn't want to go in the winter with kids. It was fun to be able to enjoy summer weather at the beginning of May and the pools at Mandalay Bay are very nice.

Discounted Shows, Fancy Food, Walking, and Blisters- all in one trip

In Las Vegas, Chris and I stayed at one of my favorite hotels, The Bellagio. We usually go to Las Vegas in January and they always have the Conservatory and Botantical Gardens decorated for the Chinese New Year. It is the Year of the Tiger.

This year they had some cool pandas.

I thought they were really cute.

Below are the ceiling decoration leading into the casino from the upscale shopping area. I didn't even window shop there.

This is the decoration behind the registration area.

When we checked in, they gave us a typed letter stating they had tickets to "O" Cirque du Soleil for 25% off for that weekend. We first stayed at the Bellagio in 2000, I think, and I asked about same day tickets while we there and they laughed at me because at the time "O" sold out three months in advance. So, in 2001, I ordered our tickets three months in advance.

Due the economy they are no longer selling out in advance or at least not in January. I got a ticket in the third row for Saturday night. I think they did end up selling out or almost selling out thanks to the discount.

While I was being mesmerized by "O", Chris went to a fancy steak dinner (at another resort), was treated like a VIP, and met several casino executives.

On Sunday we enjoyed the Champaign brunch at the Bellagio. The brunch might be one of the best deals in Vegas. We later went shopping at the Forum Shops at Caesars. We saw this cute stingray.
That night we went out to eat with Brad at Piero's Italian Cuisine. Yum! We walked through the conservatory again after dinner.

On Monday we walked and walked and walked. First for fitness, then to get tickets for Le Reve at 20% off, then after a feast at Prime, we walked to see Le Reve. I think all we did on Monday was walk and eat. Really we only sat down to eat (at McDonalds, Spagos, and Prime); otherwise, we were walking. I got blisters on my little toes. We had talked about driving to the show but after eating so much delicious food at Prime, we knew we needed to walk.

In my opinion, "O" is better than Le Reve but I really did enjoy getting to see them both for a second time. I wore my glasses to both shows because my eyes get tired at night with my contacts.

On Tuesday we walked for fitness again and then walked around some more to look at the casinos. We had a delicious three course lunch at The Palm. We had steak for dinner Monday and lunch on Tuesday. We needed to do all that walking.

We also had to visit a new tourist attraction on Tuesday. We really like the show Pawn Stars and it was fun to see the shop, Rick, Corey, and Chumlee.

"I Just Climbed Out"

Lydia reached a new milestone this week, one that I am not very happy to see.

She still sleeps in a crib because I know it will be a struggle to teach her to stay in a big girl bed. Wesley has always stayed in bed but I don't think that will be the case with Lydia.

The other day Lydia didn't want to take a nap and she cried and complained when I put her in her crib. I thought she would only complain for a few minutes before going to sleep. Instead she screamed for several minutes then I heard a door open followed by footsteps on the stairs. I was hoping it was Wesley coming downstairs.

Lydia walked down the stairs completely naked and very pleased with herself. I asked her how she got out of her crib. "I just climbed out!"

So, this cute little princess hasn’t had a nap for two days. Thankfully she only climbed out once the past two nights and she has slept very well at night.

What to Do on a Very Cold Winter's Day

So, the kids and I were going a little stir-crazy. On Tuesday we were in the car for seven hours. On Wednesday, the kids played next door (inside) for a few hours and then the kids and I were in the house for the next two and a half days straight. They were actually really good but we needed to get out!

It was only around 27 degrees today with high winds so we decided to visit Cub Run out in Chantilly and enjoy their indoor water park. The kids were thrilled when we told them we were going swimming. Both kids enjoyed the little kid area with the sprayers and curvy slide.

They really wanted to do the big slides. They love all the slides at Great Wolf Lodge and they have been spoiled by being able to do all them. At Cub Run there is a height requirement of 48 inches. I decided to ask one of the lifeguards about it. He told me that if Wesley could pass the swim test, he could go down the slides!

Wesley needed a little warm-up time since he has only been swimming once since Thanksgiving. He was lacking confidence at first but after practicing, he went over and asked the head guard to watch him swim.

After passing the swim test, the lifeguard put a blue band on his wrist to signify that he passed the swim test. She left the red band on him so the other guards would know to still watch him since he was below 48".

Lydia cried when she realized that Wesley was getting to go down the big slides without her. She can't swim without a floatation device. Thankfully, she got over it and went back to playing.

That is Chris in the picture; Wesley was already going down the slide. Above where he is standing there is a tube slide that exits the building and curves around several times before coming back into the building. Wesley also loved that slide. Both slides were fun for the adults also.

Both kids fell asleep on the way home. I would have also but someone kept talking to me.

Lights Before Christmas at the Zoo

On Monday we went to Columbia, SC with Chris' mom. We stopped by the mall first and bribed the kids with a carousel ride.
We went to Riverbanks Zoo for Lights Before Christmas. Can you imagine if the National Zoo called their lights display "Christmas Zoo Lights?"

The light display at Riverbanks was much more impressive than Zoo Lights at the National Zoo was a couple of years ago. Riverbanks seemed to have most of their trees decorated. It was really pretty.

I wonder if Santa was here before Christmas? It was a very nice little display.

There were animals lights every where along the walking paths.

This was a very cool display where the lights were synchronized to music. This large tree changed colors multiply times.

It was a record setting day for carousel rides.

We saw two koalas. Everyone said this one was holding a little baby in her arms. We didn't see the koalas when we were there last summer.

Wesley said, "Look at the apple tree!" It did look like an apple tree with the bright red lights. Throughout the zoo there were trees with brightly colored ball lights.

Lydia posed with an owl light.

There were two fire pits for roasting marshmallows. We didn't get any marshmallows but we did enjoy the warmth from the fire.

I didn't take my warmest jacket and none of us had gloves or hats with us in South Carolina. We were fine for a while but after being outside for two hours, we were ready to go into the Aquarium Reptile Complex.

The building was nice and warm and we all enjoyed seeing the fish and reptiles.

We all had fun and I am so glad we got to go. I think it will be an annual tradition.

We got some kettle corn to eat on the way home. Lydia fell asleep as soon as she finished her last piece. Wesley also quickly fell asleep.

Christmas in South Carolina

On Saturday we drove down to South Carolina to spend time with Chris' family.
There were lots of pictures taken. Here is Uncle Mike taking pictures.

Grandma with Ryan and Lydia

One of Chris' bothers, Stephen, with Daniel.

Stephen's wife, Tricia, with their three boys, Lydia, and Aunt Ieda. Every one was ready for the picture taking to stop and the opening of presents to begin.

Lydia liked Grandma's new scarf. Waiting to see what Grandpa got.
The next day, Lydia got to wear her fancy dress to church. She wasn't much in the mood for taking pictures though. I think she was very tired from the night before. Of course, she didn't take a nap that day either despite numerous times being put in the pack-n-play.

She was so opposed to having her picture taken; we let her have her blanket so she would cooperate more.

Here are some cute pictures of the kids by themselves. We didn't get a good picture of the two of them together.