Let's Get Outta Here!

We took the kids to Las Vegas for a quick road trip. We stayed at the SouthPoint hotel and casino, which I would recommend for it's large, new rooms and it's off the Strip location. It has a bowling alley, swimming pool, movie theatre, nasty buffet and a Bingo room. Everything you could ask for in a Vegas resort.
My 1/4 Irish children looked like they needed to be taken to the Emergency Room for sunstroke each time we took them out of the air conditioning and into the heat of Vegas.


We stopped at Calico Ghost Town on the way into Vegas. We could only take the heat for about 30 minutes. Fortunately, it only takes 20 minutes to see every thing there was to see so it worked out fine.
I don't know if Cigar Store Indians...I mean Native Americans are still PC but we took a photo anyway.
We climbed up to the top of the hill and this is the view of the Ghost Town from the top.
Rachel and Allie at the Bellagio garden.
Get me OUT of this stroller!!!!!!!
Bellagio garden again.

We had so much fun packed into 4 days. Lance hadn't gone on an official vacation for 2 years and it was great for him to get away. We might have to make the quick trip to Vegas a yearly tradition.

School OUT

The last day of school was WILD. We were running between school parties and plays, trying to keep Jackson in his stroller and not screaming. I can't believe Allie has finished Kindergarten.
Allie and her partners in crime....I mean friends.
Rachel at her end of school party.
Rachel starring as a "tabloid reporter" in her school play.

Boys are Sure Different than Girls

Jackson LOVES making messes.  You can't tell from the pictures, but there is chocolate milk spattered all over the wall behind him as well as all over his shirt and mine.  He kept slapping the tray of the high chair and laughing, spattering more milk to a wider radius.   The more I screamed "STOP IT JACKSON!!!!!," the more fun he had.   I was laughing, crying and yelling all at once.   As I was taking the pictures, he picked up his half-eaten string cheese and hurled it at me.  And then he laughed some more. Rachel and Allie never did things like that.  Naughty boy.   

Me and My Shadow

Jackson follows me around the house like a stalker.  When I close the door, he cries and puts his little hands under the door to reach me.  He does it all day long.   Poor little guy, it makes me feel sorry for him a little bit but can I have some privacy please?  

My Beautiful Fairies

Another dance recital has come and gone.  This time the girls were woodland fairies.  They were so excited to perform their parts in the ballet and they were so cute.  They got to wear makeup and that is always exciting when you are a little girl.    I can't believe how grown up they are both getting.  

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee

Jackson looks like he is a prize fighter this week.  Rachel's nomination for Babysitter of the Year has been rescinded and I can't take a shower without putting Jackson in his crib for safekeeping.  I'm getting tired of  hearing all the "you guys should think of better ways to discipline your children" jokes already.  How do you get a black eye from a COUCH for crying out loud?

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

Now you can see why Allie is so so skinny.  She sleeps through meals.  
Jackson giving Daddy kisses.  He hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet.
We took the kids to Griffith park for a picnic.  
It's all fun and games......
until somebody takes away Jackson's Diet Coke.


We visited the National Cemetery, located a few blocks from our apartment.  Every year, the Cub Scouts put a flag next to each headstone for Memorial Day.  We took the kids and talked to them about the sacrifices so many men and women have made in defending our country.  It is a great place to pay your respects to the brave people who have served in the military.   
We watched Lucy, our friend's dog this weekend.  Jackson was OBSESSED with Lucy.  I think she was glad to be picked up on Sunday so she could have a minute without a toddler mauling her.