Vegas/Utah or Bust

Lion Habitat at MGM

Grant drinking a coke at the fountain

Grant with Coca-Cola Polar Bear

Which color do you want? ALL


M & M car!!!!!!!!!!

Stacey and I
Jeremy and Abagail

Grandpa & Grandma Hafbrauhaus
Beautiful, Baby Abagail
Brother and sister
The Boyz

Traditions...they die hard. Well, every year Scott and his parents are in a bowling league that has the final play-offs in Vegas every year. I bowled a couple of years and will probably start back next year. Anyway, I have been going to see my friend Stacey ever since she moved to Utah on the same weekend of the Vegas trip. So, Stacey and Jeremy just had a baby girl, Abagail...so even more a reason to go see them.

Well, our trip started on a Friday morning. We left with Grandma and Grandpa going to Vegas. We all decided to make a stop at a Bob's Big Boy restaurant!! Yummy! Then, we got to the hotel and the computers were down! That was not that fun, but within an hour we were checked in. We had reservations for The Hofbrauhaus House for dinner and it was fun. It is so much like the one in Munich...Scott and I always have to go back when we go to Vegas. They have entertainment and they encourage everyone to stand and yell and sing...what could be better to take a tired three-year old to??? Seriously, we were cracking up because Grant could have cried all he wanted to and no one would have noticed. However, he was too busy checking out all the entertainment.

The next day was the bowling tournament, so we headed for Utah to visit our friends. We stayed for a few hours and let the boys play while we ate pizza and caught up. Baby Abagail is so beautiful. She has the sweetest face...as you can see. Grant kept calling Joshua, "Baby Abagail." This was cracking us all up. I kept correcting him, but he would just go back to his old ways after a minute or so. The funny thing was that Joshua and Grant are like two peas in a pod. They both love the Cars movie and all of the characters. They decided to compare and take inventory of all the cars each one has in their possession. They both love the Wiggles and sang some songs, but Joshua has definitely got the dance moves, too!! They both like to run and play with balls. We had a blast and I was sad when we left. I miss them!!!!

Back to Vegas, we went to bed very quickly after we got "home" that night. We were tired and had a fun day of play. We had to get to bed because we would be getting up pretty early to go to M & M World!!!! And if we were lucky....which we were, then we would also go to the Coca-Cola store!!! Well, Grant woke up bright and early the next day. So, he and I went downstairs and ate breakfast at our hotel resturant. We then headed off for M & M World and the Coca-Cola store!! Oh, he was so excited when we saw the yellow guy outside of the M & M place. The place is located right next to the MGM Grand. We had a blast. The M & M World is four levels and fun on each level. Grant HAD to have some important things and his Grandpa Bill gave him some money to spend there, so we did. He bought some new M & M pajamas. Then he had to have a new alarm clock for preschool...so, we got one from the M & M store (it is so cute). We picked up some other items (of course, M & M's of all colors). We watched a movie there and then headed next door to the Coca-Cola store. At the Coca-Cola store, we were able to get a bottle of coke for $1.00 and sit at an old-fashioned fountain. We had a blast. Oh, I almost forgot...on the way back to our car, we saw some lion cubs at the MGM...you can see in the pictures above. Grant said, "That one is Willie and that one is Waylon." He obviously loves his kitties! In fact, everytime we go out of town (or even out to the store) when he is ready to go back to the house, he says, "We need to go home and feed the kitties. They're hooongry."

We returned to the hotel after having been gone nearly four hours. We went swimming with the family and that was nice and refreshing. Then, we went to our room and decided to get ready for our date. For Father's Day, Grant and I got Scott tickets to go see Spamalot at Wynn in Vegas. Scott had made special dinner reservations for us at Mesa Grill which is Bobby Flay's restaurant. We are HUGE Bobby Flay fans, so we couldn't wait. Grandma and Grandpa had dinner plans with their friends and were taking Grant with them!! Thanks! We had the night of our lives.

Then, the next day we all had some breakfast and headed home. We followed each other to the best Del Taco in the world (because it was the first location). This is a tradition, too! We had a blast in Vegas and Utah! Thanks to all!

Swimming at Grandma & Grandpa's House

Carol was watching Grant for me about two weeks ago. I walked through the house to the backyard to find our son standing in the pool by himself. Now, that does not sound like such a big deal, but it is. Grant has always been a stair-hugger in the pool. We have all encouraged him not to be that way (especially in Grandma & Grandpa's pool). Well, somehow he did it for Grandma. Carol proceeded to tell me about him swimming around the whole pool with just noodles (and by himself)!!! Our little swimmer is becoming more independent in the pool! As you can see in the pictures, we all went back that night to have some more fun and let everyone (Scott and Grandpa) see Grant's accomplishments, too!

Grant Had Pink Eye, So We All Go Camping

A thought while watching the waves

The Crab Cooker
Newport Beach Pier
Bolboa Bars

Just A Little Wind-blown

Mother/son love

Super Glam
The Bird Man

Huntington Beach Pier
Huntington Beach
Surf's Up
Flying His Kite

The Pink Eye
Where's Grant?
Skippidee Doo Da

Awe!!! Father/son love

Grant woke up with pink eye the second Wednesday in August...his eyes were swollen and yucky looking. He ended up when I was getting up for my conference in Palos Verdes (a very nice beach area). We felt so bad for Grant and realized that we couldn't do any of the plans that we had planned for that weekend (per doctor's orders), so we decided to go CAMPING.

My conference ended at noon on Friday, so I met Scott and Grant (and our circa 1970s RV that we LOVE) at a RV place in Huntington Beach (but really close to Newport Beach). We ended up staying for a long weekend and not coming back until Monday. Who went? Just the three of us and it was delightful!!! Don't get me wrong, we like to travel with others, but we found being with ourselves fun, too (plus, doctor said we shouldn't be around others). :)

Okay, what did we do? Well, the first day we got there and set up everything. We then cooked played some games and cooked dinner. We walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. It was beautiful. Then, back to the camper for some more games (after a shower). Grant loves to play Chutes & Ladders (Sesame Street-themed), puzzles, Hugry Hippo, Ants in Your Pants, Cootie, FlashCards, Thomas Memory Game (Numbers and Letters), Backyardigans Memory game, OMG...I almost forgot Hi-Ho Cherrio!

Anyway, Saturday we went to the Huntington Beach pier and shopped. We watched surfers and bodyboarders, we ate at a cool restaurant called The Longboard, Grant literally ran around with another little girl he met, and rode our bikes. We had a great time and went back to the camper place and went swimming. We then ate dinner and head for the beach to fly our kite. Now, the great thing about the flying of the kite is that Scott and I could not for the life of us get it to stay up, but Grant could fly it for half an hour without the possible threat that it would come crashing down. He would keep repeating what we kept saying, "Onwee (only) tree-year olds can fwhy (fly) a kite." That was cracking Scott and I up.

The next day, we did kind of the same, except went to Newport Beach and pier. We rode our bikes to a park on the way and then ate a wonderful Balboa Bar ice cream and at the Crab Cooker (which was yummy). Grant met the "bird man" for a second time. Once again we shopped around and watched the bodyboarders. Grant insisted that we play in the water, so we were totally game. We couldn't get him to not be afraid of the ocean, so we were excited when he wanted to go. He had a blast because the pier at Newport Beach had less intimidating waves coming in and way more kids running around. He had a good time. We ended up flying a kite again and only the three-year-old could do it (no joke...and we actually really tried). Grant loved the fact that he could do it and we could not. We were glad to have had the extra day.

Lastly, on Monday we took advantage of the whole time we were there and didn't roll out of the RV park until we had to check out. We spent the morning at the beach and Scott bodysurfed. That was cool until he got a pretty big raspberry on his arm. Grant DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE!! We convinced him by reminding him that the kitties wouldn't like it if we spent another day away from them.

Our Friends Came to Visit!!!!

Grant was so excited (as we all were) to have our company coming in from Arkansas!!!!! Our friends, Christi, Scott, Tyler and Madeline came to visit. They went to a wedding in San Francisco earlier in the week and came to see us the last couple of days!!

We were so excited to see them!!! Before they arrived, Grant and I went to California Adventure (a theme park of Disneyland). We have not had the chance to go to California Adventure and enjoy their water section of the park. There is a water play area where kids can run around (with shirts and shoes...so, I learned very quickly) and get super wet. I have always not remembered to bring swimming gear or we've been too busy on rides and stuff. So, this was the perfect opportunity and GRANT LOVED IT (as you can see in the above photos).

Next, we went to the Disneyland side when Christi and Scott called. When they walked through the gates, we couldn't wait to hug each other and the kids felt the same way. Madeline and Tyler made a Grant sandwich...it was too cute. We headed off for two days of fun at Disneyland, but I am afraid Christi, Scott, Tyler and Madeline were tired out by the end of the second day...LOL

We had a great time and I wished that we could make that a yearly thing. In fact, I wished more people would come visit us. We do have a lot to offer...I mean Disneyland, Universal Studios, Kids Zone, LA Zoo, Sea World (in San Diego), beach, Matthew Mcconaughey...and did I mention Matthew Macconaughey!! Seriously, I am trying to get to meet him. I have read that he stays in a RV (Airstreamer) at Malibu....anyone that comes to visit, we can certainly go and try to meet him. :)

Okay, I forgot for half of a second that we were talking about our fun time at Disneyland with our friends! Oh, and thanks for the jibbitz!! Go Hogs!