Hoover Dam, Bellagio, and Pawn Stars

Jeff and I wanted to take the kids on a trip before the baby is born.  Jeff's parents were headed to Vegas so we joined them for the weekend.  The three things on our to do list were Hoover Dam, the strip, and the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop.  The second day we were there we drove to Hoover Dam and took a tour that takes you down inside the Dam.  

 

It was chilly, but cool to see the big pipes and the generators....

As impressive as the Dam, you first see the bridge as you drive to the Dam.   It's incredible and makes you feel rather insignificant due to it's massiveness.  

I always think there will be so much for the kids to see on the strip but forget how much walking you have to do to get to the different places the kids would like.  We walked around a little and waited for the fountains at the Bellagio to start.   They were as impressive as always.

You can't do Vegas without eating at a buffet or two...our buffet of choice was the Bellagio.  We liked it so much, we went there twice.  The food and desserts were A-mazing.  Jeff and I enjoy looking for famous people and got lucky when we ate lunch a few tables away from Mike Tyson.   We wanted to get a picture with him, but he's not someone you really dare ask.    

Jeff and Jaxon love watching the show Pawn Stars on the History Channel.  We went to the shop one of the days....it was a short wait to get in and was cool to see some of the things that have been featured on the show.  

    

Mom in Training

I love having a little girl in our house.  I love that she picks out her own outfits and adds accessories.  I love that she likes to cuddle and that she loves princesses and the colors pink and purple.  I've noticed that she copies way more of what I do than Jaxon ever did while Jaxon does much more of what Jeff does.  Not that this surprises me, but it's been interesting to watch first-hand.  Her imagination has taken off lately and I enjoy watching all the cute things she has picked up.  Here are some of the things Claire enjoys...it's an added bonus that they will help her be a mom one day.  :)

She's been working on her grocery shopping....
She pulled out my recipe book and was saying "ok, we need milk and eggs" and then she would scribble her grocery list on the paper.  She's got the meal planning and list making down.

And she's already figured out how to pile the maximum amount of items on your grocery cart...kids included.  

She's learning how to cook...she asks me every morning if we can make French Toast for breakfast.  Most mornings we end up making it with her doing most of it by herself.  She also loves to help make biscuits and cookies. 

She has learned that a girl can't have too many purses...I think she has 7 or 8 play purses that she is constantly switching between.  She also knows how important it is to talk on the phone.  She usually has a phone in her purse and will say exact things that I've said during conversations...times I didn't know she was even listening.

She's started driving lessons...now to teach her how to drive without getting distracted...

She's learned that sometimes it's more fun to sit by the pool and color (or look at magazines) instead of swim...

She knows how to take care of a dog and knows that he needs to be walked often...doesn't matter if he's on a leash or in a stroller....

Can I just say how good of a dog Toby is...he was in that stroller for her for over 20 minutes...

She knows you gotta have the sunglasses.  I can't help but think how grown up she looks in this picture.  She has been wanting a Hello Kitty shirt for a while so we bought her one at H & M in Vegas.  She was so excited about it she woke up at 6 in the morning to ask us if she could wear her Hello Kitty shirt that day.  She went back to sleep after we told her she could.  Another lesson learned...how fun it is to wear new clothes...especially clothes from H & M.  :)

A few weeks ago, I found our stairs like this.  She had put all her babies to bed.  She is quite the little mom...she always has a baby with her or close to her.  We took two of her babies to Vegas with us and she had them buckled in their own seat belts.  I love watching her when she holds the babies.  She'll wrap them up in a blanket and bounce them on her hip.  She is so sweet with them and takes such good care of them...I think it's interesting how much of it is just in her nature.  She knows what to do and how to hold the babies, yet she's never seen me hold/rock a baby.  I know she is going to love being a big sister and will be a great help with the baby.

And last, but definitely not least, she's learned how important it is to hang out with friends and to just have fun!!!

Planet Play...

My mom and dad flew in to Utah for a visit last weekend.   We spent most of Saturday at Planet Play (what used to be known as Incredible Pizza).  We had a killer coupon and got the buffet and unlimited rides for $10.00.  The kids had fun going between the race cars, the bumper cars, mini-bowling, mini-golfing, and laser tag.  

Ty, McKay, and Jaxon...having fun together as always.

Let the race begin...Grandpa and Claire versus...

Grandma and Jaxon...

And the winner is....Grandpa and Claire....

I was impressed with both the food and the rides/entertainment.  We stayed way later than we were planning on since everyone was having so much fun.  It was a perfect way to spend a rainy Saturday.

Monster Truck Jam

For Jaxon's birthday party this year, we got him and a few of his friends tickets to the Monster Truck Show.  He couldn't wait for the day to come and asked me many times how many more days he had to wait.  The kids came to our house before to do cake and presents. 

We couldn't find a monster truck cake so Jax chose a fire engine cake.

A few of the kids were calling the walkie talkie's he got loffy toffy's... it cracked me up.   

We packed up the kids and with our car full of carseats (six total), headed to the show.  Some of our friends came with us to help out...which was greatly appreciated.  They also brought earplugs for all of us which were a must since it was really loud.
 

Gravedigger...most of the kids picked him as their favorite truck...

The kids were fascinated by the fire car....so were the adults.  We didn't get pictures of them, but there were also snowmobilers who would go off a huge ramp...one of the guys did a backflip with his snowmobile...it was pretty extreme.

Love their big eyes taking it all in...

We were looking forward to Grave Digger's freestyle round...they get 2 minutes to do whatever they want...He went up the first big ramp...

And rolled down the side...wish we could have seen more of him, but the kids thought it was pretty cool that he tipped over.  

Jaxon with his friend's Brayden, McKay, Michael, Ty, Kaleb, and  Rory(who wasn't in the picture).  The kids did amazingly well and had a lot of fun. They talked about it the whole drive home and then some. Jaxon had a great birthday and I'm grateful as a mom for the good friends and cousins he has!