Last Day of Vacay

I told the kids on the way in that a few years ago I rode one of the rides on top of the Stratosphere and it scared me to death. So of course, they wanted to do it...they're a lot braver than I am! I was terrified just being up that high again.

We found out they now charge you just to ride the elevator to the top, plus the cost of the ride so Brian decided to stay downstairs and wait for us. I only paid to ride up so I could get some pictures.

 This ride takes you off the side of the building and points you downward and spins you in a circle. I don't know if this picture shows it very well, but Hailey and Courtney were thinking they were pretty cool by putting their hands up in the air as it started...I wanted to go out there and slap their hands down and tell them to hold on for dear life like normal people...but that would require me letting go of my death grip on the bar of the building and that wasn't going to happen!

 Nick also wasn't afraid at all and was enjoying looking down at the view. This makes me nauseous just thinking about it!

 I'm pretty sure Hailey was praying for her life here!

 They lived!!!!!

 ...and we all ate giant slices of pizza and lived happily ever after!

That night Nick and Courtney were determined to catch this little baby lizard they had been seeing all week and after an hour or two of trying, they succeeded. Wanna take any guesses on if Nick snuck this lizard home with us or not?

It was a great week and I am so thankful to have had this chance to spend uninterrupted time with my family that I love so much!

Vegas Vacation continued...

After a few days of floating around the pool, we decided to venture out and went onto the strip and saw the white tigers...which of course Nick loved. There was also a dolphin exhibit here but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that. I love dolphins!

 He was getting tired of posing for so many pictures...not his thing. :)

Then we went to grab some dinner before heading to the Cirque du Soleil show. We grabbed hamburgers at this restaurant in Treasure Island and a burger, fry & shake/drink meal for 5 ended up costing us around $150 with tip. WHAT?????? Didn't make that mistake again!

 Funny picture Court took of us all on our phones waiting for our food. Notice Hailey is pretending she isn't on her phone...yeah right! :)

We were told shortly after taking this picture that there were no pictures allowed in the theater. It was an amazing show!!!

 The pictures dropped in out of order but this is our outlet shopping day. It was SO HOT we didn't last very long there.

 ...and Nick of course needed his picture taken with a Show Girl! He said this was the highlight of the trip for him...haha.

Vegas Vacation...Day 1

For our summer vacation this year we rented a house in Las Vegas that has a pool in the backyard so we could go spend a week relaxing. So we packed up the expedition and headed down.

 We were happy that Courtney could come with us and she and Hailey made their own entertainment taking awesome selfies. :) Nick slept most of the way down...that was his form of entertainment.

 Of course the first thing we all had to do was jump in the pool. It was a lot smaller in person than it looked in the picture but it was big enough for me to float around in for hours on a floatie which was exactly my plan for the week so I was happy. :)

I feel more relaxed already!

Happy Birthday Nick - SEVENTEEN

My little tiny preemie baby is now 17. Impossible!!!!!

Nick had to work on his birthday so he went to dinner with his friends the night before. It's so different then when they're little and you do fun friend parties and have lots of cute pictures. :) I have no pictures from his dinner, just these from the morning opening gifts.

His work people were super sweet to him though and bought him lunch and 44 oz drinks and had all the people in line for the pony ride sing Happy Birthday to him. :)

Hailey and I took cake and ice cream over for him to share with his co-workers that evening.

Then after work his buddy Nick took him out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. 

Pull Ups, Elder Morrow and Flow Rider

Very random but I love these pictures of Courtney trying to help Hailey do pull ups. She does "negatives" during conditioning with basketball, meaning she jumps up to the bar and slowly lets herself down. Now she wants to do real pull ups and Courtney said it's easier when you have bands holding your legs...only our bands wouldn't fit around the bar so Court is holding her legs...

 Yeah, it didn't quite work the way they expected it to. :)

 We have noticed a trend that many of the pictures Bryson sends us involve dogs. That boy LOVES dogs!

 Bike wreck.

 His service this week was grooming these people's dog. :)

 There's the guy we know and love. :)

 Hailey will do anything not to make a second trip for groceries. :)

 Hailey and her friends had a blast riding the Flow Rider...they got the hang of it pretty quick and were so fun to watch!!!!

Wisdom Teeth and Wicked

Nick got his wisdom teeth out and it was pretty much the easiest surgery he's ever had. The didn't have a deep root system so they popped right out and he was in a little pain but nothing too bad.

This is two days after the surgery and he's barely swollen.

Hailey and I finally got to use her tickets from her birthday and went to see Wicked. It was AMAZING!!! I loved it just as much as I did the one on Broadway. So awesome!!!