I checked the kids out of school about an hour early on my birthday (Wednesday 5/14) and we headed to Las Vegas. We arrived at our hotel about 8pm, and by the time we got through the check-in line we were all too tired to try for anything but rest. We just relaxed in the hotel room.
Thursday morning, after breakfast at Denny's, we played in the swimming pool. I wish I had a water proof camera, because we had so much fun but I didn't get a single pic. The kids all had their water cannons and they were spraying each other. We tried to keep other people out of the water fights but occasionally an innocent bystander was caught in the crossfire. My mom and I took turns staying in the shallow end with the little ones, and swimming in the deeper end ourselves. We drew a LOT of attention there, apparently people in Vegas are not used to large families! One guy asked me if I was the big sister, I said "No, but I really like you!" He looked confused (he spoke with a thick accent) so I said "I'm their mom." He laughed and said "no way! That one, too?" (pointing to Karleah) and I said "yes. They're all mine." When he asked about my husband and I said I am divorced, he looked so embarrassed, but quickly recovered by playing with the kids, squirting water between his hands while they used the water cannons.
After a few hours there, we went to the hotel room to change and my mom and I both crashed! I think maybe some of the kids took a short nap, too. When we finally got going again, we didn't have time for a lot of the things I had wanted to do, but the kids enjoyed watching TV for so long since we don't have TV at home. Here they are in the hotel:
We decided to go to M&M World for the kids to see their 3D short film, but we got there just after it closed. We just walked around and took pictures.
We went next door to Everything Coca-Cola, I told my mom that as a true Diet Coke lover it was a requirement. :)
In there I bought some ice cream floats and a tray of Coke flavors from around the world we could try. There were drinks from Mexico, Peru, Germany, Brazil, and more. There were 16 flavors to try, and the one from Italy ("Beverly") was one I remembered tasting when I was 13 and we went to pick up Brandon from his mission in Georgia. We went to the World of Coke there and I still remember the taste, because it was by far the WORST one. I knew what we were in for, so I took a tiny sip and tried to control my facial expressions. We passed it around, and one-by-one the kids tasted it as my mom and I tried to contain laughter. Karleah, Nathanael, Vanessa, me and my mom had all tried it, and Carson didn't seem to notice that we all thought it was gross. He took a huge swallow, and said "YUM! EWWWW!!!" and started licking his shirt collar to get the taste out of his mouth. It was funny how fast his reaction changed. I'm a mean mom, and about 5 minutes later I held it out for him to try again, and got the exact same reaction, and we all laughed. Everyone in the store was staring, but it was SO funny!
After we cleaned up there, we walked down the strip to the Belaggio and watched the water show out front.
At that point, it was starting to seem more and more like "Sin City" and with all the kids we decided to "run for cover" and return to the hotel.
In the morning, we went to Circus Circus and watched a show, then grabbed lunch and headed to California to visit my Uncle Allen and Aunt Mary Lou and have some fun out there. We got there about 6 or 7 Friday night and my Aunt had dinner ready for everybody, which was so nice! We just relaxed at their house that night:
Saturday morning we headed to Huntington Beach. The kids brought their water cannons, but didn't really use them once they realized the salt water and sand didn't cooperate as well as pool water :) Karleah was just loving standing in the waves, occasionally being brave enough to run out into the water. The one time I left her alone, she "nearly drowned" and somebody had to help her out, she got tossed pretty hard by a wave and ended up with some good scrapes on her thigh and eyebrow. Nathanael made lots of friends and just loved running in the water and playing in the sand. When I was ready to head out, Nathanael said he had "met a girl" and therefore we couldn't leave yet. HAHA!! Carson and Vanessa found a family that was making a huge sandcastle with their kids and they "helped" and played with those kids (probably close to their age). Carson would occasionally run to the shore and say "come and get me waves!" then run when the waves came in. Vanessa pretty much stayed away from the water, it was "too cold". As for Faith, she jumped in the waves a few times when Karleah and I held her hands and lifted her as the waves came. Otherwise she wouldn't even come close. She just played in the sand the whole time, and you could certainly tell when we got her in the tub! I'm afraid we may have clogged the bath tub!
That night we had dinner with my Aunt and Uncle, and my cousin Dallas, his wife Debbie, and their daughter Dakota. It was really nice to relax and chat.
Sunday morning we went to the La Brea tar pits (tarpits.org) and the Page Museum which is right next door. The kids were fascinated in the museum, running from one exhibit to another.
When we finished there, we went back to the house. The kids had fun with Uncle Allen's slot machine:
Then we got ready for our exciting dinner at Medieval Times in Buena Park, it was my thanks to my Aunt and Uncle for letting us stay with them so long, but of course my Aunt bought all 5 kids a gift from the shops and then I felt more indebted. We were on the red and yellow team, which just means we sat in the red/yellow section of the auditorium and cheered for the red and yellow knight. The kids would cheer "go red and yellow knight!" every time he came out. It was a great dinner, and very entertaining for the adults and kids alike.
At the end, the knight we were cheering for won the tournament and the princess asked him to choose the "Queen of Love and Beauty" from the audience. He chose Faith and it was probably the highlight of the night! The knight and princess came to our table and put a sash and tiara on her, then posed for pictures while everybody there watched. She froze up when the spotlight was on her, but as soon as nobody was watching, she couldn't stop talking about "her knight" and how "he won, then chose her to win". She didn't want to pose for a picture with him, but once Vanessa went over she was willing. All the kids loved the whole experience, as did the grown-ups.
Monday morning, I managed to sleep in way later than I wanted to, and nobody seemed to think they should wake me up so we got to Knott's Berry Farm a lot later than I had hoped, but we made the most of the day anyway :) The lines were short for most of the rides so we got to go on a lot of them! The weather was great. By early afternoon, my cousin Dallas and his wife and daughter showed up to "play" and my kids were thrilled to see them. When the park closed, we went to Chic-Fil-A for dinner, and amazingly my kids finished their entire kids' meals and ice cream. That has never happened before, but I guess walking around a theme park all day will really make kids hungry! :)
Tuesday we had breakfast with my Aunt and Uncle one last time. On the way to Vegas, we stopped at the Natural History Museum.
We stayed at the Excalibur (which was not as nice as I expected, but it was still OK). The TV in our room didn't work, so we called for repair and it got working again. I got all the kids tucked in, and my mom and I decided to go out and leave Karleah in charge for a while. We enjoyed some Chinese food and the peace and quiet, then got the call from Karleah (when she finally found the phone) that the kids were not behaving for her. We got to the room to discover the TV wouldn't turn off or change channels, and it wasn't a kid-friendly show they wanted to watch so they got really hyper and wouldn't go to sleep for Karleah. Poor kid was frazzled!
Wednesday morning we went back to M&M's World and finally got to see their 10-minute 3D show, which was really cute.
We headed home by noon, and the drive was pretty uneventful. The kids watched movies or played on the iPad (thanks to Brad!) and we made lots of potty breaks.
It was such a great time, just enjoying my kids, time away from work and school, chores, and never-ending housework. Sure, we had our moments where kids were fighting in the car, or I got really frustrated and overwhelmed, but all-in-all, it was the best week we've had in a LONG time. I'm so thankful that my Mom could come along, she was a huge help and support, though I know at times I was impatient and probably mean (Sorry mom! LOVE YOU!). The time we could spend with my dad's last surviving sibling was priceless.
Strange as it may seem, it was a very peaceful, healing experience for all of us. I know that we strengthened bonds and grew closer as a family. I'm so grateful to know that we are an eternal family, and to be able to enjoy each other so much on our Earthly Journey. I love my little family!
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