Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Travels

We had a wonderful time visiting our family and friends in Las Vegas! Could we have possibly packed one more thing into our trip? I think not...

Here are the boys enjoying the car ride. Even their stuffed animals were excited to go visit grandma and grandpa! Hooray for Scott (my youngest brother) who graduated from high school!!!
Now with high school checked off his list, next stop is his mission. He will be serving and teaching the very lucky people living in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area. We love you Scott!
Here are my future graduates trying the cap on for size.

The night of the graduation my parents got a suite at the Mandalay Bay. Wowee! It was sure nice. Two rooms, dining room, living room, view of the strip...Did I get any pictures? Nope. I did capture a bit of the shower in our room while the boys were rinsing off after spending the morning down at the pools.A visit with grandma and grandpa would not be complete without a trip to Chuck E Cheese ("Where a kid can be a kid" as Jake likes to remind us). We actually celebrated Auntie Lizzy's (my brother Jason's wife) birthday there. Jake's always such great help when it comes to blowing out the candles. We totally scored with a TON of tickets. Too bad they don't have the Deal or No Deal game there. I know I could have raked in even more...Let's see what else did we do? We went to story time at the outlet mall. The boys enjoyed the stories and I enjoyed some shopping. Pretty smart on the mall's part if you ask me. Tempt you in there with an innocent free activity and the next thing you know, you're reeled into some shopping. (Yeah for the Gymboree outlet store!)After story time all the children were treated to a free ride on the carosel, which was a good thing indeed.I got to visit with a good friend of mine, Sophia. We taught school together back in the day. We had a blast swimming at the club. It was here that Jacob learned his thrilling new trick...a "backflip" under the water. Here are the boys checking out the basketball players. (I know it's a picture of their backs...but unfortuneatly it's all I got.)The boys got an up-close and personal tour of Truline Trucking. It was fun for them to see their uncles and Grandpa Truman at work. Uncle Clay showed them a truck that needed the motor fixed. Uncle Paul let them get in this truck and check it all out. It was pretty high but we were all brave enough to climb on up.Josh liked riding in the chair while Uncle Paul made it go up and down. My hip attachment and I (Nathan is SUCH a mama's boy) even tried it out. Pretty cool stuff. There was a little computer in there for the drivers to sign off on their loads. I had no idea how technologically advanced it all is. Jake and Josh even tested out the bed in the cab too. All in all they came away from Truline thrilled with their adventure and totally sugared out. Candy at the reception area by Uncle Scott, Grandpa Truman pointed out the donuts, and Uncle Rod had a big jar of candy too. Fun times at Truline!Had enough? Well we're not done yet! We ran away to the circus one afternoon. The tigers were fierce.I liked the elephants the best. (I liked the ladies with bicycle handlebars built into their costumes the least.)The boys liked booing at the ringmaster when he wouldn't let the clown blow bubbles the best. At least Nathan was on my side. He liked the animals and would kick his legs and get all excited whenever he'd catch a glimpse.Josh likes to push Nathan almost as much as Nathan enjoys Josh running him around. I was trying my best to just keep them happy so I could shop!Here's the crew (my mom, my grandma, and my boys) posing at the District. We also enjoyed catching up with extended family at the Nelson family reunion in St. George, Utah. Of which I have no good pictures. I guess I was just planning on getting copies from everyone else that was snapping pictures all day (please send them my way). Here is Josh and Great-Grandpa Nelson.I LOVED shopping at the home decorating store in St. George I'd heard so much about, Tai Pan. Wonderful things at wonderful prices. I even got to visit a Cracker Barrel restaurant for the first time. Nathan enjoyed rocking on the front porch of the restaurant.At last, after all of that, you'd think they'd be ready to go home. Jacob was trying to be brave and shed only a few tears. Luckily they did really well on the long journey back home and back to our boring (compared to vacation) life.Sorry to all I didn't get a chance to catch up with. As you can see, it was a busy trip. There's always next time. We love our family and friends!

12 comments:

Karen said...

Why are vacations in Vegas so much more fun than living here. Where do you live now anyway?

Karen said...

We actually moved to the Northwest side of town, Tule Springs Stake. We moved 2 years ago in July. We love it out here.

hoLLy said...

we just got back from a roadtrip ourselves! 3 girls in the backseat instead of boys though:) looks like you had lots of fun! the circus is a great place to take kids to. its so fun-my sister in law actually was a clown for ringling a couple of years back so we always got hookups to ringling shows. sah-weet.

Nat Lud said...

I love reading about Vegas trips. Especially the suburb kind. Way more fun the strip kind. I miss the carousel rides and all that! Glad you got to meet my best friend TAI PAN! Isn't it the best store!

Anonymous said...

I was doing so good about not missing home until I read this! Looks like you had a great time!

Katie said...

Wow, what a trip! I love the picture of the boys in the shower (that sounds bad, but you know what I mean) with Jacob's nose pressed up against the glass. I haven't seen Scott in forever so it was crazy to see him in a graduation robe and headed to serve a mission. That's great!

Lindsay said...

Wow! What a trip! It looks like you guys had a lot of fun! Cohen reminds us all the time too, that Chuck E. Cheese it "Where a kid can be a kid!" We love going to the mall for story time and the carousel ride, but sometimes we'll go Wednesday after 5pm for just the free carousel ride(since that's the best part for the wiggly kids anyway). I'm glad you were able to experience Tai Pan! When we were in St. George over the weekend too, I didn't make it over to Tai Pan, but I made up for the spending at Robert's and the Shade outlet.

Janna said...

Your vacation sounded wonderful! I am sure that when I get back I am going to have a blog post quite like yours with all the fun things we are doing here. Glad to see everything went well! Did Willie go with you?

Yay! Hope you are well! Miss you lots!!

Cynthia said...

Oh man what a great trip. I love it when you guys come our lives perk right up. Next time we see you it will be fabulous. Can't wait.

Unknown said...

How fun it all looked! I would of loved to have bumped into you at Tai Pan Trading(addicted to that store)and my family just ate out at Cracker Barrel last Monday! Glad you had fun!

JoAnna Anderson said...

Your kids look very comfy & happy in the back of your car. You must have some fun road trips with them! I cannot believe that little Scott is all grown up! I remember him as just a tiny squirt! Jason too actually! It was great to see your whole family in your pictures. Looks like you guys are all happy & enjoying your time together! How long of a drive is it for you guys to get to Vegas?

We love our new home in Washington. Although we are only renting, it is a nice break! We get to enjoy the beach everyday so what more could I ask for? Can't wait to see you soon!

Kelly M said...

What a fun trip- and wow, you REALLY packed it in! Gotta love that. I bet you're ready for a vacation after a vacation like that!