VEGAS!

Mark and I absolutely love going to Vegas every other year or so. We had a big itch to go this year and are glad we did! The first day we immediately headed to a sushi restaurant called RA that family told us about (they were just in Vegas last month).

The famous dish called "hot mess". Yumz.

If you haven't been to Vegas, here's a little insight. Everything looks so CLOSE but it's a loooong walk building to building. The heat had zapped our brains because we decided to walk from the Fashion Mall to the MGM after dinner. "Walk off dinner" we thought. Umm, well, over an hour and half later we arrived- exhausted, sweaty and ready to collapse. On the way we met Cap't Jack Sparrow!

And saw an amazing street performer:

The next morning we got up way too early (thank you 2 hour time difference). We loaded up on Starbucks and scones and headed to the pool: our home away from home.

 

We went around the lazy river 293 times and sipped on $56 drinks (seriously- $23/piece).

That evening was the centerpiece activity of our trip: GARTH BROOKS in concert. We've been anxiously anticipating this concert since we saw him on Oprah earlier this year. First, a fancy dinner at Nob Hill. The food was outstanding.

And what is there to say about the concert? It was a near out of body experience. It ended up lasting from 10:30pm to 1:30am. Garth told lots of stories, engaged with the small audience (about 1500 people) and we all sung out brains out. My face hurt from smiling and my throat from singing. It was once in a lifetime.

Here's a 2am shot in our hotel lobby. 

The next day brought lots more pool time and a last minute decision to go see Carrot Top. He was surprisingly hilarious. 

We loved our time in Vegas. We wandered around without a schedule. Ate amazing food and drank delicious drinks. Took taxis, the monorail and shuttles. Walked what felt like a million miles. It was fun to see so much in a short amount of time. In between the craziness we watched t.v. and ordered room service and tried to sleep in. What more can you ask for? Lasting memories with my babe. Now, back to reality. Our reality? Moving in 4 days. Zero packing done pre-trip. Whoops.  Let the adventure begin.

 What welcomed us home to Nebraska:

oh, how I love him.

At quick glance through our family pic proofs, I died and went to heaven when I saw this one. A perfect capture of my sweet/spunky/fun-loving son. I'm pretty crazy about that guy in the background too. :blessed:

busy, busy.

I have been a lazy blogger but not living a lazy life. We have been busy, busy! Definition of summer, right?

This week alone, I've been gone every evening.
Sun: open houses, work appt.
Mon: work appt.
Tues: STOP class (4 hours of torture for going 5 mph over the speed limit. boo.)
Wed: a fun repeat of STOP class
Thurs: work appt. then coffee with my girls
Fri: work appt.

I can't complain too much. I sell real estate so busy is good. I'm collecting acorns for the winter if-ya-know-what-I-mean.

Fortunately, I'm still getting pool time with my favorite little fireball. Life is good.

 

Stay tuned for posts about my husband and I's Vegas getaway for my 30th (next week!! weeeeee!!!) and our big move (yes, we're moving!!) followed by planning and executing Declan's THIRD birthday party next month (sniff, sniff).  Rest is for losers. Just kidding. But I don't see rest in my future until September. :)

Homerun Derby

These crazy kids organized a family outing to Omaha's Home Run Derby this Saturday. Decs loves his Uncle Jase & Aunt Kins!

How to get a 3 year old to sit still? Keep the food and drinks a comin'!

 sis-in-law & mother-in-law:

 Kinsey and I waited in line for-ever for a yummy fruit smoothie. Declan stole it and I never got it back. What the heck? ;)

 someone had a blast!!

 flooding the field for fireworks:

 This was when we thought our 2nd level seats were pretty sweet! (Little did we know the fireworks would be shooting above our heads and dumping firework debris on us! Very strange experience. "Ummm...is it over yet??!"

 Decs would not let me take my hands off his ears. Bless his little heart. He got a chunk of firework debris in his eye and it was all down hill from there. He clung to me like a koala baby the rest of the time. Today, we had to hit up Urgent Care because the above mentioned debris-in-eye incident was irritated today. He's fine but we're left wrestling him down every 4 hours for 5 days to put antibiotic drops in his sore eye. Super.

 Overall, we had a blast. Nothing beats a summer baseball game with family. We've mentally recovered from the too close fireworks show and are ready for a (smaller scale + safer) hang out tonight. 

Happy 4th!