Dams & Canyons Day 3--Viva Las Vegas

Day 3 was our first day in Las Vegas.  We stayed at a great hotel in Henderson and drove into Vegas around 9 in the morning.  We parked at New York New York and walked that half of the strip.  It was sooooooo windy!

The Bellagio was a great stop for us.  James has been talking for the past year about his house in Las Vegas (aka Bellagio), so it was a real treat for him to finally visit the place!  Inside was a beautiful garden area with wonderful fountains and a walk through aviary with very colorful parrots inside.

Julia showing us "bird" again.

When we left the Bellagio, we walked out the front door and what should we see?  A brand new Rolls Royce just begging to have its picture taken with James!

James standing in front of "his house."

Jacob was very tired this day.  Meltdowns are not uncommon for him, particularly when he's tired.  This one could have been avoided, though.  You see, James had his picture taken standing next to some statue at the entrance to the Bellagio.  Well, Jacob apparently wanted his picture taken there too but didn't tell us until he was already upset.

Finally, Jacob got his picture and the tantrum ended!

What visit to Las Vegas would be complete without a photo standing next the the Fabulous Las Vegas sign?  Well, ours occurred inside the M&M's store, with a giant M&M, but that's ok.  While we were there, we got to see an M&M movie in 3D and eat really expensive M&M's.  When do we get to do that at home?

The afternoon fountain show at the Bellagio.  The noise from the fountains scared Julia to death.

Here's sweet Julia, relaxing by the pool at the Hampton Inn at Henderson.  She didn't want to go in the water, but was happy to sit on the side.  She eagerly sat in the hot tub, though.

Dams and Canyons Day 2

 On our second day, we began at Zion National Park.  Neither Matt or myself had ever been to Zion.  It was spectacular and we could both easily see ourselves spending a couple of days hiking various trails and canyons.  It was beautiful and breathtaking . . . all of the things you expect a national park like this to be.  The following is a photo of James, taken as we were getting gas in Cedar City.

This is a great shot of one of the peaks in Zion.  I love the way the sun's rays filter down on the mountain.

Here we are on the bus that runs through Zion.  They don't allow cars to drive through most of the park.  Instead, they encourage you to ride the bus from end to end, stopping wherever you'd like to sightsee.

These photos of James and Jacob were taken at the far end of the park, on a trail that follows the river.  It was very cold in the canyon (shaded the whole way), even though it was quite hot outside.  The rock they are standing on was at the beginning of the trail.  Julia insisted on walking the whole way, which I didn't mind.  In fact, on the way back, an older woman stopped me and asked if she had walked the entire way, I replied "yes."  She said, "Well if she can walk, then so can I."  I thought that was cute.

After traversing the trail, we stopped to have a snack before boarding the bus.  The squirrels were so obnoxious!!!!  They would have climbed into our laps if we had let them.

Julia loves birds, so it was really fun for her to see this little birdy that just happened to stop on this little wall when we were waiting for the bus.  In fact, we had just taught Julia the hand sign for bird, so she was busy showing us her hand signs as well as saying "bird," which really sounds more like "bee."

Another bird.  Only this time, a wild turkey . . . who knew?

At one of the bus stops, a mile away from the lodge, we decided to walk on a trail to the lodge, instead of staying on the bus.  It was a good trail, but Julia wanted to be carried for a good portion of the time.  The trail basically followed the road, with a few little twists here and there.  It was a good decision, as we were able to spy a fawn getting a drink from a little pond.  And it made the time in the car after that feel nice.

Our day ended with a nice bath in Las Vegas.  We actually stayed at the Hampton Inn in Henderson (which ended up being the least expensive hotel on our trip as well as the nicest!).  We didn't bring any bath toys with us, so I poked holes in the hotel cups and water toys were born!

Dams and Canyons Adventure Day 1

We went on our big family vacation in June, immediately after school got out (well the next day).  We went to Las Vegas, Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Bryce Canyon, with the Robertson family reunion bringing at the end of the trip.  We started out on Saturday, June 4, as the sun was starting to rise (we like to get an early start). 

I was up late the night before, as there was much food to pack and early the morning of, as there was much food to pack.  We had breakfast in the car--egg sandwiches work quite well first thing in the morning.  They're not terribly messy and are fairly filling.

Julia is enjoying her breakfast, though she's still a little bit sleepy.

You may notice that Jacob is still wearing his pj's.  Well, Jacob is a little stubborn and he got started on the wrong foot.  Dad was trying to help get everyone in the car so we could get out the door and put Jacob's blanket and pillow pet in the car (that kind of ranks with taking my purse out to the car before I'm actually in the car).  Well, Jacob wanted them with him and threw an absolute fit!!  Well, the only way to get him in the car was to tell him he could keep his jammies on. 

Say what you will about kids in pj's . . . it worked.

Our first stop?  Shoshone Falls.

It was a terrific stop with zero traffic (it was 8 am on a Saturday morning).  The falls was just beautiful, as we had a very wet winter/spring this year.  The water scared Julia.  Actually, it may have been the roaring sound of the falls that scared her.  I'm not quite sure.  She clung to me and cried the entire stop.  The boys loved it, especially James (yes, Jacob was still in his jammies).

The kids were "plugged in" for most of the trip.  James had a personal dvd player in his seat, while Jacob and Julia had screens directly in front of them and shared a video.

Our second big stop (other than potty breaks) was the Utah State Capitol building, where we ate lunch.  We timed it perfectly, as it appeared there was to be a college commencement ceremony in the building shortly after we left.



Grandma's 60th birthday party

We had a nice birthday celebration for my mom's 60th birthday on Friday.  We had dinner--bbq'd pork loin (cooked on a stick) with carmelized onions and mushrooms, rice, green beans, watermelon and rosemary bread (love Costco!).  Everyone enjoyed the meal--the meat was so good!  I'd marinated it in olive oil, rosemary and garlic (the Magic Bullet made it so easy to prepare--that's my new favorite kitchen tool!).  Dinner was followed by red velvet birthday cake.  I thought it was such a milestone birthday, we needed to mark the occasion with something special.  The cake was a hit.  I'd never made or even tasted red velvet cake before.  In fact, my only memory of red velvet cake is from the movie "Steel Magnolias," where there is a red velvet groomscake in the shape of an armadillo at Julia Roberts' character's wedding reception.  Luckily, red velvet cake is delicious, especially when you put cherries inside the layers!!! 

Jacob enjoyed himself, despite this silly face!

Happy Birthday, mom!!!

Our "busy" summer days . . .

Jacob is fascinated with band-aids.  Anytime he gets the littlest ouchie, he "needs" a band-aid for it.  Today, he decided he needed Spongebob band-aids in interesting places.

 James decided to clean the pennies in his piggy bank.  I should give you some background, though.  Just the day before, James decide to cut holes in his shirt, pants, underwear and socks while working with scissors and duct tape (he was making a stick sculpture with sticks he picked up while camping).  He got a little crazed with the scissors (not the first time either).  Well, the last time this happened, I think I may have taken his scissors away.  Apparently, he'd forgotten about that, because, here we are again, with "holey" clothes.  I told him he would be paying for the clothes he ruined out of his piggy bank.  I think we decided on $10 for everything, so we had just taken out his coins and counted them.  He has about $20 in his bank, including bills.

We were getting ready for Grandma Robertson's birthday party today and the boys wanted to help me clean (particularly James).  He cleaned the bathrooms and dusted.  Then he wanted to vacuum for me.  Of course, if brother helps, Jacob has to chip in too.  Isn't that nice?

Spongebob has saved our summer.  Jacob is a notorious little guy for digging in his heels when asked to do anything.  Well, his weakness is tv, particularly Spongebob Squarepants.  Jacob has a good boy chart for when he does things the first time he is asked.  When the chart is full of stickers, he gets something that is agreed upon ahead of time.  I think he's gotten tv time with our Spongebob video, then it was a Spongebob magnadoodle pad.  Well, I had purchased a Spongebob game package on clearance ($5--can't beat that!) that the boys are completely enamored with.  Julia loves Spongebob too and is one of her favorite words these days.

The boys are playing so nicely with each other.  Thank you, Mr. Spongebob Squarepants!!!

The kids have all been reading a lot this summer as well.  James is such a little bookworm!!!  He is currently working on the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series.  He's on his second book and has been reading them all by himself (200 + pages each!!!).  I'm so proud of him.  When he finished the first one, I told him we'd go to the bookstore and buy a new book for him.  He chose another Diary of a Wimpy Kid book!



Cemetary

I can't believe it's been five years since my dad passed away.  I visited the cemetary on Saturday to put some flowers out.

2011 Camping at Dog Creek

Now, those of you that know me well know that I am not an avid camper.  I choose to go camping because I know my family loves it (especially Matt).  I like being outdoors and I like taking hikes in the woods, but I HATE sleeping in a tent.  But, I actually enjoyed myself on this camping trip.

Nothing beats a good book by the campfire!

It was soooooo cold in the morning.  It had been chilly in Boise the day we left and it was downright freezing in our tent.  Julia loved snuggling under the covers with daddy in the morning.

We took a walk in the woods before lunch.  Dog Creek is a really nice area to camp in and I definitely think we would return to the same spot again.

Matt had a difficult time getting the tent back into the tentbag.  He had to roll it up three times, sit on it, jump on it, swear at it before it would go back into that bag!!!

Ahh . . . Success at last!

One last swing in the hammock before leaving for home.

Dad treated himself and the kids to a milkshake at McDonald's in Mtn Home on the way back.  Julia got to share with the boys, who did a fantastic job of letting Julia take turns with their cups.