Lately

Happy 4th, peeps!

I hope your weekend has been filled with watermelon, fireworks and fun. 

Beach pics......it's full fledged summer in California.  Everyone is at the beach.

Blake sat drooling over this group.  He is dying for that tent and the all terrain wagon with cooler caddy.  All in good time, hun.

I love this picture.  I hope we're lucky enough to live here when Carter is a teenager and can ride his bike to the beach to lifeguard.

Love those legs, too.

Daddy found a heart shaped rock for his sweetheart.

Caroline arrived on Sunday.  Few things make me happier than seeing her.

Same for the punks.

Yall, she looks so good.  Healthy and happy and strong!  She has been picking up both Jack and Lainey.  Lainey's a shrimp, but Jack is not!

As always.....a stop for lollipops.  Caroline is awesome at creating memories for our kids.  So grateful to have her.  Simple little consistent things.......that the punks will always remember.

We came home to unpack a bit and then later that night, headed to the San Diego County Fair.  Our first visit.....super fun!

We are State Fair of Texas snobs......so it was going to take a lot to live up to our expectations.

Happy to report that it did!

Some advantages.......by the ocean, so it's cool and breezy.  Smaller in size.....but the same types of attractions.

And, of course, chocolate covered pickles.  If I wasn't watching every damn calorie right now, I would have indulged.

They had all sorts of kooky stuff that I had not seen before.

*fried koolaid

*chocolate covered bacon

*deep fried Krispie Kreme chicken sandwich (in between 2 doughnuts)

*chocolate covered corn dogs (with sprinkles)

Etc, etc.

Of course, my yahoos wanted chocolate ice cream....no different than a Frosty from Wendy's......but 4 times the price.

Pay no attention to the grump on the left.  He ate his and Lainey's, too.

Kiddos checked out a few rides.  The bumper cars were a hoot.

We are on a tight budget with all the travel we have planned ahead......so we only allowed a few rides.  When Blake saw the sheer joy this one provided to Laine, he considered holding up the ticket booth so she could ride again and again and again.

These bumpers were for little bitties......so none of them knew what they hell they were doing, including how to drive the cars.  Just before the ride ended, Jack finally made his way over to Lainey and showed great effort in trying to give her whiplash.

I can't tell you how many people we saw lugging around goldfish.

If you are dumb enough to play this game, I assume you're dumb enough to enjoy walking the fair with a goldfish.

This just in:  Jack rode the train.

And, Blake insisted all 3 punks go through the mirrored fun house.  Why?  Because he hasn't stopped laughing at Carter walking into the glass at age 3 in Texas.

It doesn't take much to amuse him, folks.

Yes, they all did it.

Punkin Laine loved the slide down.

Caroline loved the caramel apples.  Can you tell?

Another fun house/slide combo was next.  Little Laine was too small.  Sweet girl teared up, but cheered the boys on and waved to them during the ride.

Proud of my girl.

She got to ride the next one on her own since she missed the previous attraction.

Yall, I know she's mine and of course I'm going to think she's beautiful, but sometimes it's just too much.  Love this kid.

Nice one, Aunt Caroline.

They never miss an opportunity.

Notice who is missing.  Jack-a-roo.

"No fanks.  Dose are stupid."

Pink's from Hollywood!

OK, so I'm not a fan of heights.....but this just looked so cool.....and it provided a great way to see the entire fairgrounds.  Which, are at the Del Mar racetrack.......same one where the OC housewives go to see the horses race.......lots of awesome things to see.

Kids loved it.  I cried 2/3 of the way.

Caroline wisely put me with Jack and Lainey and I was a nervous wreck the entire time.

Awesome experience if you take the fear factor out.

I adore this picture for so many reasons.  I think yall know that Caroline has made leaps and bounds health wise.  I couldn't be more proud.

My two Carolines.

Ended the evening with Orange Julius.  Not bad.

Caroline and I stayed in today while Blake met up with the Davidge family on the beach at Camp Pendleton.  I can only imagine what an awesome 4th of July celebration they have over there. 

We are packed up and ready to tackle the crowds to see the fireworks in the San Diego Bay.  4 barges stocked on the water with all sorts of luminous delights.  We're going early to grab a spot and hopefully beat the 850,000 people expected to attend. 

The official deets:

The 11th annual awe-inspiring fireworks show starts at 9 p.m. Fireworks will launch into the air around the San Diego’s beautiful bay off Shelter Island, Harbor Island, North Embarcadero, Seaport Village and Chula Vista. The choreographed and musical display will last about 17 minutes and more than 850,000 are expected to come.

Easy peasy.

Off we go!

Las Vegas - Day 5 + Some Notes on Our Trip

The final day. 

Carter took my camera downstairs and took some pics.

Yum.

Even yummier.

Typical.

After sleeping in and eating breakfast, Blake took a conference call, checked out of the hotel and loaded the car.

I took the punks to the top of the Stratosphere tower again.

Love this......

We watched a couple of people do the jump again.  This is the guy who works there.  He puts on quite the show by swinging WAY out to grab that rope.  Everyone gasps.

Carter bought his ticket for Insanity.

Here it is in the daylight.

My little dare devil was the only one with his arms up.

So cool.....didn't even flinch.....and wanted to ride it again!

We met up with Blake and headed out of sin city.

First, though, we stopped at the Sahara, which is closing down, after 59 years of business.

We learned about this from the news program the night before....and that they were selling most of their inventory.

Who I am to pass up a sale?

I did not need any toilets, though.

Or chandeliers.

I would have LOVED this.....and several more like it.....how cool would that be to have in your house?!

It was a hodgepodge of everything. 

I wandered around for about 10 minutes.......looking at the remains of what was once a very hip casino. 

Some trivia:

It was the last remaining "Rat Pack" hotel. 

It was the 6th resort to open on the original Las Vegas strip.

It was built by Del Webb, who now builds a plethora of retirement type neighborhoods.  Quite a change, huh?

It was the last place Abbott and Costello played together.

It often housed the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon, that you have no doubt seen on TV.

Everyone who was anyone played there, including Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.

The 1960's version of Ocean's Eleven was filmed there.

The hotel and casino closed on May 16 of this year.

It was cool to walk around and wonder who had walked in the same place I was, what happened at these tables, who sat in the chairs for sale. 

I wish I had majored in history.

I didn't see anything I needed, though. 

Except for this camel, but Blake said I couldn't spend $12,000.00 on it.

Party pooper.

As we were leaving, we spotted "Mr. Vegas" (according to his license plate) leaving.  I bet he bought a few things.

We almost killed each other on the ride home.  It wasn't pretty.  At one point, Carter was in tears while Jack and Lainey fake vomited in his lap for about 20 minutes.  I was no help at all.  Couldn't stop laughing.

Finally.  Back to civilization.

A couple of notes I forgot to mention before:

*Upon leaving San Diego, Blake called to get the exact address of the hotel to type into the GPS.  It was 4:00am.  The hotel's answer:

"Sir, would it be easier if we sent someone to pick you up?"

I guess they get that question a lot.....and assume that it's not from a dorky father of 3 and instead some lost, drunken soul who can't find one of the biggest casinos on the strip.

*As we entered the security checkpoint at the dreaded Hoover Dam, Lainey became hysterical.  She insisted we ask the guard, "What's your faborite ride?!  What's your faborite ride?!"

Carter's response:

"This isn't Disneyland, you dork.  Pull yourself together, Laine."

Awesome.

And, finally.....a few tips on traveling to Vegas with kids.

1.  Choose a hotel that is in your comfort zone.  Whether it be non-smoking or a boutique hotel or one without a casino, make sure your home base is where you want to settle each night.  Vegas is "on" all the time.  Don't expect to return to New York New York or MGM or the like and find it quiet and relaxing.

2.  Plan your outings.  Several hotels have fabulous things for kids to do.  But, each one is costly and so we couldn't afford to do all of them.  The Golden Nugget has a pool encased inside an aquarium.  When you go down one of the tube water slides, you are essentially sliding next to sharks.  Mandalay Bay has a plethora of pools and a fabulous "underwater experience". 

Most of these options cost around $20 per person.  Since the MGM had so much to offer and because their pools were included in the cost of our stay, we chose to swim there and then tour the town.  Next time, we'll indulge in one of these other 'experiences'.

3.  Be ready for the heat.  Bring tons of water and keep kids hydrated. 

4.  The Hoover Dam is cool and if you're like me, it's one of those dorky sites all kids should see if possible.  I knew they wouldn't care much about it.  But, like so many other travel destinations (Mt. Rushmore, 4 Corners, The Black Hills of South Dakota, Buffalo Bill's grave, etc, etc), I think it's worth the visit.  Make them stand there, looking miserable and get their picture.  Chances are, they'll drag their kids to see it one day and so the cycle continues.

So, that's that.

We spent Friday and Saturday at the beach and now we're anxiously awaiting Caroline's arrival tomorrow.  

Surprisingly, we don't have a ton planned.  We'll certainly be going to the fair in Del Mar, California.  Perhaps a visit to Legoland.  Otherwise, just some sister time, 4th of July baking and a walk or two on the beach.  

Back soon!  Yall have a safe and happy holiday. 

Las Vegas on Dwellable