Greek Fest 2011 - OPA!

Unfortunately, last year we missed the Greek Festival due to other things going on at the same time, but we were bound and determined to make it there this year. Myself, the kids, aunt Julie and Grandma and Grandpa Syrros all headed out for some good food and good times.

On our way there we thought the weather was going to get the best of us. Although the sky was mostly sunny, one small cloud opened up and it poured on our way to the festival. Once we got to the church though the rain stopped and upon entering the church grounds we knew our evening was going to be filled with lots of fun and lots of food.

The kids played in the children's area and of course had a blast. Then it was time to enjoy the food.
GyrosGreek Fries

Dolmathes (which were ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!)

Pastitsio SpanakopitaAfter dinner, we had to take in all of the YUMMY desserts!

Loukoumathes Baklava Kourambiethes and my ABSOLUTE Favorite,
Kataifi

The church (St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church) was absolutely beautiful that night lit up in all its splendor. We left with our bellies full looking forward already to next year! OPA!

Happy 72 Dad!

Grandpa turns 72 this year! We celebrated with a delicious dinner and of course, desert! Unfortunately (but in a good way) Dad had started Nutrisystem so he enjoyed the Nutrisystem Meatloaf meal, which he insisted was his favorite and couldn't have any of the chocolate cream pie that Grandma made to help him celebrate.

The kids helped grandma decorate the pie.And of course helped Grandpa blow out the candles. I thank god for every year, day, minute my pops is here with us. He is such an important part of my life and plays such an important part of my kiddos lives. Happy Birthday pops, here's to another great year!

The Neilson's Go Camping

We have been given a great opportunity. A friend of a friend needed somewhere to store her camper. She no longer uses it, as a matter of fact it has not been used in the last two years but she refuses to get rid of it. We have ample RV parking. In trade, we are able to use it whenever we like.

We decided to take advantage of it on Labor Day weekend. Since this was the first time, we didn't want to go to far from home so we headed out to Cottonwood Cove which is on Lake Mohave (just south of Lake Mead) and only about 45 minutes from home. Grandma & Grandpa Syrros and Pete, Julie and Cody drove out with us for the day. It was unbelievably hot so we learned our first lesson, do not set up a trailer in the middle of the desert in the middle of the day! Once we got the air conditioning cranked up we all cooled off and then decided to head down to the lake to do some fishing.

We found a great fishing spot but Charlie had to go the long way because the dogs could not go on the beach area of the campground. This required him to walk up a big hill, down a big hill, around the cove and along the shore in the water. By the time they met up with us they were all pretty tired.Brewtus decided to cool off and relax right in the lake!Charlie threw his line in and waited for the big bite!Kadence entertained us by singing and dancing on shore.Cole couldn't wait to throw a line in the water.Daddy gave Cole some fishing advice.And then let him give it a whirl.Uncle Pete waited patiently for the fish to bite.Cody tried a couple different spots but realized what nobody else would admit...there were no fish in this lake!Kadee Bug passed the time playing with the worms, her favorite thing about fishing!I caught the best picture of Kadee...this picture shows her personality like no other! She is so fun loving and a little crazy:)Well after Cody finally convinced us all that there were no fish in this lake, we packed it up and headed back to camp where we had a delicious BBQ meal!Grandma, Grandpa, Pete, Julie and Cody headed back to Vegas and we gave the kids a bath and to bed we went. It is amazing how tired you are at the end of a day camping!

The next morning we woke up early...how come it is so hard to sleep in when you are camping? I whipped up breakfast and mentioned to Charlie that I really loved cooking while camping, I am not sure why the same does not hold true at home.After breakfast was cleaned up we decided to play Uno. I remember many a camping trips when I was a little girl being stuck in the camper because of a rain storm and sometimes in Montana a snow storm and gathering around the table to play this same game.We headed out to the beach at Cottonwood Cove. Charlie, Kadee and Cole all took a dip in the very warm water. The kids got a kick of the huge Carps that would swim right up to them. Chance played it cool on the beach sporting his swimsuit trunks.Mommy and Chance bonded while we watched everyone else splashing around in the lake.After a while at the beach in the hot sun, it became apparent that nap time was approaching. We headed back to the camper and tucked the kiddos in snug as a bug! And boy did they crash!We got a pleasant surprise later that afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa decided to come back out for the day to play with us. After dinner we just sat outside visiting. Cole and Grandma swapped stories.Then it was time for SMORES!!! Unfortunately, because we were in the middle of the dry desert in the middle of summer, no fires were allowed so we had to settle for smores on the BBQ. But does it really matter how smores are made? Cole chowed down on his and his face was soon covered in melted marshmallow. Kadee made her own marshmallow mess!Yep, this has to be one of the best things about camping, you just can't beat smores!

All in all it was a great little get away and we look forward to many more excursions in our borrowed trailer!