Viva Las Vegas

2 weeks ago we were able to go to Las Vegas and meet up with Chris's family for a quick family reunion.  Unfortunately we were only able to stay about 3 1/2 days but we tried to make the most of our time together.


The kids were in heaven playing with their cousins- Nathan loved having other boys to play with any time of day (literally, no matter how early my kids woke up there was always someone else up too! Lame for the sleeping department, great for the "not actually having to entertain my kids at 5:00 in the morning department"!)

Abby and Nathan relished in the attention from cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  Pretty sure when we got home and they realized it was just me again they were severely disappointed.

Even though we battled a lack of sleep (darn time zone changes for the kids and insomnia for me) and sickness (me and Abby) we still had a great time.  It was so incredibly nice to get away from the heat and humidity of Houston to just the heat of Las Vegas...we forgot what it feels to have the temperature drop after the sun sets! And no mosquitoes! And no cockroaches! Sometimes I have to remind myself why we chose to live here in Houston...

Here's a quick run down of what we did...


Wednesday-
Chris went to work and came home in time to help me finish packing and then we headed off to the airport.  We arrived pretty late (Houston time), the kids (ahem...Abby) didn't do so well on the flight.  Abby's craziness cannot be contained for that long.  Oh well.

The kids were immediately in heaven having so many people to play with- it was hard to convince them to go to bed even though it was almost 11:00 in Houston by the time they were in bed.  We enjoyed catching up with family.


Thursday-
We went "hiking" in Red Rock Canyon.  In all my preparation to pack only Chris had a pair of tennis shoes...Nathan, Abby, and I were rockin' it in our sandals. It was super hot but the rocks were really neat- Nathan and Abby both loved climbing around with their cousins and attempting to give me heart attacks.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the whole family- those were all taken with someone else's camera, but we sure have grown into a pretty big group now.  When Chris and I got married there were no grand kids and now there's 7 (8 in just a few more weeks!).  My how times have changed!

We drove around the scenic loop and the kids insisted on having me take pictures in the car- so I happily obliged...love these two!

We came home, kids took naps, the adults talked, kids woke up, and then we went swimming (love having a pool in the back yard! so convenient).  After the kids went to bed we spent the night talking and enjoying some time being together.

Friday-
This was our only day we went down to the Strip- we were only about 15 minutes away but the combination of having kids, no money, a lack of sleep, and little time to see family (and the fact that most of Vegas's activities aren't really our cup of tea...) put any wild nights in Vegas on hold for a while.
Some of the family headed out to see the Hover Dam, and while it is something that is definitely on my must see list I knew the kids wouldn't appreciate it as much as me and Chris, so instead we took them down to the Mirage and saw the dolphin and wild animals exhibit.  My kids loved it! They are both fascinated by all animals so it was fun to see their excitement.

After the dolphins we saw the tigers.  Very cool- the tigers here at the Houston Zoo are normally extremely shy so it was fun to see the tigers so close!

After nap time we took family pictures...I'll share those later when we get the pictures back.  Since our last family picture we've added 3 new grand kids, and while these will be outdated in just a matter of weeks it will be nice to put up a Hawks Family picture that includes Abby...I'm sure we'll always be a couple kids behind for a few more years...

Friday night was supposed to be a couple date night after the kids went to bed.  This was our chance to go and do something fun and have the grandparents take care of any problems with the kids!! Unfortunately I was completely drained physically from being sick and a lack of sleep (seriously averaging about 2 hours a night- what was up with that I do not know but I'm glad the insomnia has gotten better!) So instead of a wild night out on the town we took a walk, went swimming, and ended up falling asleep on the pool chairs while we talked...sounds lame but was honestly one of the best dates I've ever had...I mean- we slept! It was wonderful and a needed break from the craziness of life. Word to the wise however- don't fall asleep outside and not let someone know you're out there...we barely escaped being locked out.

Saturday-
Saturday was our "let's swim all day" day.  We swam in the morning, ate lunch, took naps, then hopped back in the water that evening while having a BBQ with Chris's cousin's family who lives in Vegas.

Sunday-
We got up early, packed, and cleaned while the men showed all the kids the art of the marshmallow blaster.  We then said good bye to the family and were off to the airport.

Thankfully the kids were amazing on the flight home.  Right after take off they both fell asleep and didn't wake up till we were landing.  They were so exhausted.  It made for a great flight though!


And that's the end or our trip- Chris was back to a crazy day at work bright and early Monday morning and the kids and I returned to our normal schedule.  While it's always nice being home (and not sharing a room with our kids!) I wish it could have been longer.  We are glad we got to see everyone and wish we didn't live so far away.