Happy Fourth of July 2009

We were in Albuquerque for the Fourth of July this year. We had a great visit with friends and family. Saturday morning we woke up and rushed our way out the door to make it to the Rio Rancho Fourth of July Parade. We got a great spot on the curb and anxiously awaited for the parade to make its way down to us. Unfortunately, we all left a little disappointed. The coordinators of the parade would not allow anyone to throw candy. What is a parade without kids racing out to pick up handfuls of candy off of the street? What made it even worse is that probably 1/3 of the parade entries were politicians. Luckily there were some cool cars and motorcycles and a couple of dressed up characters but all in all it was a little disappointing. I am all about celebrating the independence of our country and God Bless America, however I just wish my kids would be able to experience the same type of parades I remember as a kid with decked out floats and yes candy being thrown from every entry.Our cousins



One of the cars stalled and had to be pushed, it was nice to see all of the crowd members pitch in to lend a hand.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the kids!

That afternoon we headed to Charlie's sister's (Robin) house to BBQ, swim and watch fireworks. Kadence had a blast swimming with her cousins and Cole enjoyed the water slide set up in the back yard. Our BBQ was temporarily put on hold while we got to experience one of Albuquerque's monsoon rains. Although the sky was gray it seemed like this storm came out of nowhere. The wind was whipping and it poured down hard! Twenty minutes later it was over with and we went back to our BBQ.

We had a great view of the Rio Rancho fireworks from Robin's house. We all sat out on the curb and enjoyed the bursts of color in the sky.Cole and Grandma Neilson enjoying the fireworks.

We had also all pitched in and bought the huge box of fireworks from Sam's Club so the guys took turns lighting those off. The kids all enjoyed the sparklers and poppers as always but Cole wasn't to sure of the other fireworks. He kept saying I scared and wanted to go inside. He finally warmed up to them a little but made sure to keep his distance.

Monkey Mania

On our way to Albuquerque I called my friend Tanya. Her and her family were heading out to Denver on Thursday morning so we were only going to be able to see each other the Wednesday evening when we pulled into town. We didn't get out of Las Vegas until 9:45 am so we would not get into ABQ until late that evening which would cut into our visit even more. Well as we kept calling each other and expressing how bummed we were that we wouldn't be able to see each other I soon learned that I was in for a big surprise. Tanya and her hubby discussed this and decided to not leave for Denver until Friday morning so we would be able to spend Thursday together. I felt so bad that they changed their plans but I was so excited to get to spend time together and to get the kids together to play.

We made plans to meet in the morning at a new kids place called Monkey Mania. We invited our aunt Cindy and Robin and our cousins, Kevin, Ari, Angelo and Gia to join us. We had so much fun. What a great place for kids. It was not too big but had enough variety to make everyone happy. There were several entertainment rooms including a movie room, a toddler room, an arts and crafts room, a game room, a monkey gym, a bouncer room and my favorite was a stage with an attached dressing room full of fun clothes for both boys and girls to play dress up with and come strut their stuff on the stage. We spent two hours here having nothing but fun.

Tanya helping the girls get crafty!

Ari's work of art.

Aunt Cindy helping the the girls getting ready for the show...

Rockstars or what???

Cole getting ready to peg someone with the ball gun.

Pretty Gia.

The boys giving it their best at the games.

The whole crew at Monkey Mania.

After Monkey Mania, we were all hungry so we decided to head over to another kid-friendly joint called "Itz". This is also a very cool place for kids to hang out. It is a huge arcade filled with a spinning ride, a roller coaster, bumber cars and a mini-bowling alley. It also has a kid friendly buffet and separate themed eating rooms (cartoon room, movie theater room, etc...). This is where I realized how lucky I was to have Charlie as a hubby. We decided that we would also take our niece and nephew in addition to our three kiddos to Itz, so we had five kiddos to feed, keep track of and keep happy. He kept his cool the whole time and we all got a pretty good laugh out of the fact that we were easily overwhelmed with all of the kids...but it was a blast. He was a champ when he was left at the table alone and Tanya's little guy somehow got parmesan cheese in his eye.

We also were in for another special treat, our good friend from college, Erin was in town from Florida so she brought her nephew to Itz to meet us for lunch. It is always so good to see her. I wish we could have had more time to just sit down and talk but between us juggling 8 kids we did the best we could and were just happy to see each other.

Me and Charlie also were amazed at Tanya's patience. In our conversations about parenting she insisted to us that she was not the patient one in the family, her hubby was. Well all we have to say is she seemed amazingly patient to us. She was such a sport and chauffered five of the kiddos around in her car and kept up like no other.

After about three hours at Itz we decided the fun-meter had been pegged and it was time to head home. We dropped Charlie off at his parents so he could meet up with his old friend, Marc and me and Tanya decided we just hadn't had enough yet so off we were with all of the kids in tow to Tropical-Sno for some snowcones. I had my favorite, Tiger's Blood, Tanya had her favorite, Pink Grapefruit with a pucker pack (super sour powder you pour over your snowcone), the kids had Rainbows and we all enjoyed the sweet cool treat in the hot afternoon sun.

After that we went back to Charlie's parents where we all kind of collapsed from exhaustion. Before everyone left I got a great picture of the kids. It is funny how close they are in age and how we both had a girl, then a boy and then another boy! Baby Mark.

Our kiddos + Tanya's kiddos

Micaela with baby brother Mark.

An Amazing Feat

On Wednesday morning we left Las Vegas for Albuquerque to spend the Fourth of July with Charlie's family. This would be our first road trip with all three kids. I posted on Facebook that I was contemplating if we were crazy to drive 8+ hours with a two month old, a 2 1/2 year old and a 5 year old to which I got an overwhelming response that we may just be crazy! The kids were actually fantastic. We invested in those handy dandy DVD players that sit on the back of the headrests which kept Cole and Kadee occupied the whole time. And baby Chance was a champ and slept the entire time. We stopped in Flagstaff for an hour to eat lunch and let the kids play at McDonald's. I think all in all we only had one, "Are we there yet?"

Our road trip took us over the Hoover Dam and we got to see the progress of the new bridge they are building there. We always roll down our windows so we can get a good look at this amazing structure. I am posting some pictures of our recent view of it in July and some past pics taken in December 2008 to show the progress. It is amazingly high and makes my tummy quiver to look at it.

December 2008

July 2009

Happy Father's Day 2009

We had a pretty laid back Father's Day this year. Poor Charlie started the day off doing chores. I insisted that it had to be against some law somewhere for a father to do yard work on Father's Day but he insisted that he wanted to get it done. While he was out in the front yard one of our neighbors pulled up and said he was thankful to see that he was not the only father in the neighborhood that was doing chores. I still attest that I had nothing to do with it. My husband is a fanatic when it comes to his lawn and we have had a dry spot he has been trying to bring back and finally decided he had had it and was going to replace it with sod. The kids kept him company and loved digging up the grass.

After that it was swimming and BBQ time. My sister and her family came over and we cooked up some yummy Carne Asada...delicious! My sister treated Charlie and Pete to an ice cream cake from Baskin Robins that was also pretty yummy.

We did miss my dad this year. Him and mom went to Montana for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately they had to cut their visit short after my dad decided to give everyone quite a scare. He was having difficulty breathing and therefore not able to sleep for a few days once they arrived in Butte. Well he finally decided he better go to the doctor and ended up getting admitted to the hospital for a couple of days. Apparently his heart rate was way off and they needed to get it stabilized. After a few shots of cumidin (SP?) he was released and able to get back on the road to return home to Vegas. We will definitely be keeping a careful eye on him and are anxious to see what his doctor here in Vegas has to say when he sees him on Monday.

The Best Part of Baking...

The best part of making Brownies...licking the spoon!

Resident Tourists

I love the strip, always have, always will. There is something about all of the lights, fountains and people that just draw me in. I love flying in to town and getting a glimpse of the lighted boulevard out the airplane window or driving through the mountain pass from Boulder City into Las Vegas and just as you make the curve on the highway, there it is in all it's glamour and glitz. Since we have lived here for almost ten years now I do have to admit that I have become a little de-sensitized to it. I drive by it everyday on my way back and forth to work and really only glance over at it now to wonder how are they ever going to fill all of these hotel rooms they have constructed, or worse yet, will they even be able to finish these projects with bankruptcy looming over them?


A couple of times after shopping trips to the Fashion Show mall I would drive the kids down the strip to take in all of the sights. On these excursions I would always promise Kadee that one day we would come down and walk the strip so they could see the Fountains at Bellagio, the Volcano at The Mirage and the Pirate Show at Treasure Island/TI. Well we figured this weekend was as good of a time as ever. I packed up the car with myself, Kadee, Cole, Chance, Julie, Dani and Cody and we headed into town. We were a little nervous because the wind was off and on but we figured we would just make a go of it and hopefully get to see everything. We valeted at Ceaser's and headed over to the Bellagio to catch the fountains. They are my favorite. I fondly remember one time my friend Kelly came to town and we sat in front of them for well over an hour taking in all of the shows. The kids loved them as much as I did. Cole kept saying "Wow" and Kadee enjoyed the light mist that caught us every time the fountains burst into the sky. Chance was tired so he slept through them, oh well, just another excuse to bring them back down when he gets a little older. From the Bellagio we headed toward Treasure Island (or TI as it is now named...it will always be Treasure Island to me!) At this point I realized why residents of Las Vegas don't usually tend to go to the tourist attractions along the strip. There were way to many people, we could hardly wind our way through the crowd and once we got to a good stopping place more and more people kept surrounding us. My claustrophobia kicked in and I had to keep looking up to the sky so I wouldn't freak out! The worst part about it was after waiting almost half an hour the show was cancelled due to high winds. The kids were not happy but we still had the volcano to see so I was able to use that to keep them in good spirits. Walking back to The Mirage I realized, "Oh my gosh, I am that mom that has her kids out on Las Vegas Blvd. at 10 o'clock at night!" Oh well, what the hell, you only live once! We got to the Mirage only to be disappointed once again, the next volcano show was not until 11:00 pm. We had all had it by then so we decided not to wait and just head home. The kids eyeballs were on the floor and I didn't really think they would make it until then anyway. So with a few sobs here and their (not only from the kids, I was pretty tired too) we made it back to the car and were on our way. We drove down the strip just so we could try to catch one more show of the Fountains. My timing was impeccable and we got to see the whole thing from the street from start to finish. The song playing along to the fountains was none other than "Viva Las Vegas"...Amen to that!

Dinosaurs, Sharks and Fun!

Kadee's last day of her school break was Tuesday so I promised her we would go somewhere fun...her choice. She decided she wanted to go to the museum so we loaded up the car, met daddy for lunch at our favorite Sushi spot and then headed to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum. The kids really enjoyed the marine life exhibit and spent a lot of time at the shark tank observing the sharks and stingrays. We even lucked out and got to watch the trainers feed the animals in the tank. Kadee had lots of questions to ask and once again I just tried to keep Cole from jumping in the tank!They had an exhibit of shark eggs that I found totally intriguing, it was bizarre to watch these little guys squirm around in their eggs.We also enjoyed the dinosaurs although Cole was a little leery and absolutely refused to stand in front of them for a picture. "No mommy, I scared," he said. They also had a Junior Science lab that was pretty cool. The kids got to dig for fossils, check out lots of bugs and reptiles, explore the inside of an aquarium and play in a submarine. After the museum we headed to the closest Starbucks for some Strawberry Creme Frappacinos to top off our fun day.

Our Shark Reef Adventure

On Friday night after a yummy dinner at our favorite new restaurant, BJ's, Charlie took Chance home while I took Kadee and Cole to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. I have been trying to get them out of the house to do fun activities as much as I can.Kadeebug checking out all of the fish. The kids in front of the Piranah's...Yes Cole, they bite!

The kids had a blast. Their favorite was the touch pool where they got to pet the Stingrays. My only challenge was to keep Cole from falling in, he wanted to pet them so badly but had to lie on his belly and really reach in just to touch the water so every time a stingray came by he scooted a little further to touch them. The kids also got a kick out of the Jellyfish and Octopus. We took our time and were there for about an hour and a half. I wanted to make sure we got our money's worth! Watch out behind you!