Vegas Baby

This past weekend Eric and I headed to Las Vegas with a few friends for a quick get away. We left super early Friday morning and were headed to Harrah's for our favorite breakfast buffet around 10, Eric is in love with the cinnamon rolls there and it has become Vegas tradition to start our trip off this way. After eating we sought out Rapid Roulette and played for awhile. As cheap as I am, I am still not sure how I gamble at all but I like this game because you can play for a long time and not lose all your money, which is my kind of gambling.

For the rest of the day we divided our time playing in Casino Royle, Harrah's, and the Venetian (our hotel) and in the afternoon we all relaxed in our room for a bit and went down to the pool/spa. For dinner we headed to the Grand Lux which is inside of the Venetian, I really like this restauraunt and have loved my food every time we have been there. The Grand Lux is the same people who do the Cheesecake Factory so if you have ever eaten there you know how big the portions are, they have the biggest pot pie that I have ever seen!

Saturday we decided to walk down the strip and go to Circus Circus and Slots of Fun. On our way back we stopped in the Encore to check it out as it was just being finished the last time we were there. It was beautiful and I was excited to find video Blackjack, by far my favorite game but really hard to find in most casinos for some reason. After getting back, we split up for lunch and Eric and I headed upstairs to the shops in the Venetian for Mexican food. I was pleasantly surprised by our restauraunt and my food was really yummy.

Around 5:30 we headed for the airport and after some delay were headed back home after a really exhausting 36 hours in Vegas. I have come to love this turn around trip and don't know if I could handle much more time in the City of Sin. I love the group we go with, there is never a dull moment with them and somehow we come home with more jokes than the last time and keep laughing until we part ways. I am already looking forward to our next trip back.

Eric and I outside the Venetian

For staying at the Venetian, they gave us a $25 credit to use in the slot machines. This is our friend Dave using his free Venetian money to win big and being totally surprised by it!

Me using my free Venetian money to not win big! Note the sweater, it was freezing in the casinos.

Eric loves these cinnamon rolls so much, we had to have photos of them.

Dear God

Please give me strength to make it through the rest of this week without Eric home and without me going bonkers!

Sincerely,
Running out of patience

My guy

Josh is at such a fun age right now. He is a doll of a baby and has such a lovey personality. He loves cuddling, giving kisses, holding hands, sitting on your lap, and smiles constantly. He follows Emma around like crazy and imitates everything that she does. Today she was making silly faces at him in the car and he laughed and laughed every time she made a new face. When Emma is in time out he immediatley goes in her room, sits on the floor and stays there until she is allowed out. He doesn't disturb her when she's in trouble and I think he just wants to be near her and wants her to know that he loves her. He has a vocabulary of about 15 words right now but you only hear 2 of them on a regular basis, hi and dada (Eric gets both words together while myself and my dad get called dada regularly). I am working really hard with him on asking for more which I know he understands and can even say but for some reason pointing and grunting have been a way more effective means of communicating thus far. Poor kid is going to get so sick of hearing me say more he might wish his mom didn't have the summers off! Josh also loves people, he walks around waving at everyone and loves to play peek-a-boo with random people in stores or restaurants. I remember saying when we found out Josh was a boy that I was worried because I had zero experience with little boys and now I can't imagine life without my guy.

Playing with Emma's Minnie ears

Just keep swimming

In the past week, our family has turned into a bunch of fishes, we spent time in the pool on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I guess when it's 110 degrees outside what else is there to do but swim. Despite the high temperatures around here, I am a wuss about the pool water, it has to be just right or I don't go in. That was until now. With two kids it's hard to manage them in the pool alone and so I have been finding my way into the water early this year in an effort to help Eric out. I must say that on Saturday and Sunday it was cold but by yesterday it was pretty warm and I was able to get right in. Emma loves the pool this year and gets right in, Josh is a little more hesitant but has done done better than Emma did when she was his age. I like being in the pool with Josh because it is the one place where he prefers being with me over Eric. I guess he feels bonded to me over our common dislike of cold water! Here are a few pictures from Sunday at Eric's parent's house.

Home

Yesterday Eric got home from a five day, four night trip to Florida to see his grandparents. The kids and I had a good time while he was gone and we definitely kept ourselves busy with play dates. To tell the truth the week was not as overwhelming as I thought it was going to be but I am still happy that he is home with us again!

Playdoh

Today was Playdoh day in our house. Emma got a truck load of it for her second birthday, when Josh was born as a big sister gift, and even more for her third birthday. Our table was literally filled with Playdoh and all the accessories you could ever want this afternoon.

Today was Josh's introduction into the world of Playdoh. I really expected him to eat it but he surprised me and never once put any in his mouth. He was content to take small pieces and put them into a container, put the lid on, take the lid off, and put more pieces in.

While he repeated this sequence about 10 times, Emma and I made playdoh pizzas. Normally I am a freak about not letting the colors mix but how lame is that for a 3 year old? Plus she got a box of 50 (really 50) different colors from her Godparents for her birthday so now I am happy to let her mix colors to her hearts content!

Here is Emma and her pizza


And here is my pizza.

I think I may go into business as a Playdoh chef!

Tutu

My mom and I found these adorable tutus for $16 at Costco a few weeks ago for Emma and Abby. Such a silly purchase but I think its only right that every little girl have her own tutu! These two girls love playing with each other and Abby does a fantastic job including her little cousin Emma.