Crazy hair day at school: Ireland was a unicorn, Brigitta was a hot air balloon and Liesel was cool in cat ears.
Let's take a closer look at that unicorn 'do. There's a rolled up piece of paper under there and somehow I managed to cut off some of her hair when I tried trimming it so it wasn't super tall. Oops...
Brigitta graciously offered to put all the scriptures away after scripture study... all at once!
Sydney came with me to vote and even though she is underage, she still got a sticker.
I recently discovered the reason birds love our roof (and seemingly no one else's in the neighborhood), is because we have cedar siding. They sit up there all day like they own the place and they poop which leaves gross white streaks. Drives me crazy. So now and again I enlist the girls to harass them.
In Brigitta's class, the Super Kid of the week gets a whole binder of pictures and compliments from other kids in the class. Flipping through them, this one caught my eye. I loved to see that Gita is "nise to like eveewun." So sweet.
Brent makes the best nachos. Had to make a record of that fact.
Sydney drew this picture and I love how she drew Brent with his beard. The girls love that beard!
Speaking of Sydney, she's learning some card tricks.
The idea for going to the CSO at the movies actually came from my friend Janeal. Knowing I'd have lots of family in town, I made the offer to everyone else. While Mom and Dad intended to come, they were concerned about driving back to Iowa City in bad weather so they gave their tickets to Reagan who brought along Piper. It was such a fun group!
We had dinner at Ditka's in what has almost become our booth because we always get seated there.
There's just nothing in the world like those pot roast nachos!
We cut it really close so I dropped everyone off at the Symphony Center and hunted for parking. I get really stubborn about parking in cities because I believe you CAN find parking if you are just determined enough (except DC- there really is no parking in DC)! I happened upon a spot just a few blocks away and then I sprinted back to the Symphony Center and took my seat just before the performance began.
Of all cool things we've done in Chicago, this definitely tops the list. I experienced The Empire Strikes Back with new eyes as I saw the sharp movements of the strings when Darth Vader was near. I saw the fluid movements when they played Leia's Theme. I heard the drums so much more powerfully than I did sitting in a theater as a kid watching it for the first time. Hearing a live orchestra just made it all so magical.
I'm so grateful Liesel was there with me. Reagan and Whitney both play the violin so of course they loved it and Piper had a blast. It really was such a cool thing to do on Thanksgiving weekend- I'd love to make it a tradition!
From the opening fanfare right up until the last roll of the credits, this was SO cool!!!
This year's Thanksgiving feast had all the classics, but it really came down to the desserts. Whitney brought her fancy schmancy apple peeler (she always has the best gadgets!) and made some amazing applesauce.
I pulled out the old family recipe of Death by Chocolate and made it into a trifle.
The Cousin's Play has gotten to be a THING, let me tell you! Piper wrote one called Wisdom Bird years ago when we visited them in Maryland. Then she adapted it to Wisdom Turkey for another Thanksgiving. Now it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving if the kids don't put on some kind of play for the grownups. Piper worked on it weeks before even getting here.
It was based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Story.
There's Ireland in a cloak playing the ghost of Thanksgiving past.
Taking their bows
Bravo!
The day after Thanksgiving found us at Pump It Up so the kids could get some energy out. Somehow knocking each other down on the slides became a thing...
Poor Rockwell, I think he likes to keep to himself and Brigitta is just all about showering him with love.
This video sums them up perfectly- as she drags him down the slide with her!
The older cousins were really good sports about this place even though it's a little on the young side for their interests.
Everything is more fun when cousins are around!
We stopped by Portillos for lunch and per usual, the place was packed!
Thanksgiving leftovers are great but a change of pace is nice too.
There is one day a year that Brent does not blend in with the other commuters. He stands out and draws a fair amount of attention. Not that he does anything different per se, he just happens to have these darlings in tow:
The girls' excitement for the annual Take Your Kids to Work day is pretty darn obvious.
After a hearty (ha!) breakfast of donuts, Liesel and Ireland ran off with friends they have made in years past so most of these photos are of the youngest two who aren't too cool to hang out with Dad.
New this year were balloons. Sydney got a princess and a wand. Brigitta got a mermaid, turkey, and a sword. Ireland lucked out with a unicorn. Liesel felt it was just going to pop so she opted out.
Face painting is always a big hit.
I sent Brent with four little girls and four unicorns came home with him!
Next was the Noah's Ark stuffed animals. After picking their animal, each of the girls received a star to kiss and put inside after saying, "Star light, star bright, I wish I may, I wish I might make a wish, on this star tonight!"
Most of the stuffed animals in our house are from past Take Your Kids to Work Days. Ha!
Glitter tattoos were such a hit, the girls did everything they could to preserve them in the days after the event. Arms were held high during Saturday night bath.
Lunch was hot dogs from Portillos and mac and cheese from Panera which was a HUGE hit! Brent's work really does this thing up right. The girls talk about it all year long.
As if they weren't conspicuous before, the girls really stood out with all their goodies on the train ride home.
I'm an early riser so I was up long before anyone else. I grabbed a shower while it was available and tried to get the casino smell off of me. With all that smoke, my eyes were bloodshot and my asthma was acting up a bit. As everyone else started to wake up, I did a Starbucks run and suddenly realized Vegas is not a Lululemon kind of town. Whitney, Reagan and I wanted to drop in at a CrossFit box so I was in my workout clothes and I stuck out like a sore thumb. Vegas does sparkles. Vegas does skimpy. Vegas does kitch. Vegas does not do Lululemon.
Thanks to Reagan insisting we all watch Target Lady videos on You Tube, we yelled "APPROVED" any time we had to swipe a card for anything.
Mom and Katrina hung out in the hotel and chatted and when we returned from CrossFit, we did the same as everyone slowly got ready. Reagan had a date and we returned to the deli for lunch. The poor guy actually came in and met all of us and well, with our rapier wit, we can be a hard group to handle. I think he's still recovering, ha! Eventually, we headed back out to the Strip to catch the Bellagio water show. I love these next photos because you can really see how much fun we had just being together.
I'd like to think I'm funny, but it's when I get around my family that I know for sure I am funny and they are downright hysterical! We not only appreciate each other's sense of humor, but we can play off of it. Here's a prime example: We walked by a couple taking a selfie and Katrina offered to take one for them. They politely refused and I called over my shoulder, "Good thing because she steal cameras!" Without missing a beat, Katrina pretended offence and said, "Only every third one!"
At one point, I was walking with Katrina and asked her if she missed Vegas at all and somehow that morphed into how they almost moved to California. For various reasons, we were agreeing that's not where either of us would want to live. The guys walking behind us were suddenly quiet so we asked if they were from California and it turns out they were and we had just kind of insulted them. One of them asked where we were from and Katrina said we were raised in Iowa and he said, "That's where they grow potatoes, right?"
Ok, anyone who has grown up in Iowa has had their home state confused with Idaho which is nowhere nearby, isn't shaped the same and no, doesn't even have the same main crop as Iowa. We do corn and hogs. They do potatoes. Big difference. Maybe it's the mix of vowels that throws people off, but COME ON!!! Katrina gently pointed out the difference to this poor guy and I threw in, "There's that California education at work, eh?" He said yeah, that was true and we all laughed.
I laughed a lot in Vegas and even more so, I enjoyed making my mom and sisters laugh.
Seeing the water show was at the very top of my Vegas wish list but unfortunately the walkway was pretty crowded by the time we arrived. It wasn't the best spot to see it, but I LOVED the music!
The song is called Footprints by Tiesto and it's on an album titled "A Town Called Paradise". I can't help but wonder if it's meant to be a tribute to Paradise, California which was destroyed by the wildfires. Whatever the case, that water show was amazing and that song is now my favorite.
Whitney happened to snap this photo of me when I looked over my shoulder at her during that song.
Pure joy!
Katrina hadn't seen the Bellagio Conservatory so she and Mom took off to go inside. Whitney wanted to try her hand at craps so we headed over to Caesar's Palace. We happened upon a Hell's Kitchen restaurant and since Brent is a fan, I asked Whitney to take my photo...
...when this random guy jumped in! There was some kind of military ball going on because we saw a lot of men in uniform. Whitney demanded that his date be in the photo as well so it was less creepy.
I reiterate the #MeToo movement has not yet reached Las Vegas!
Before we even got to the craps table, Reagan wanted to do a dollar slot, just for the photo op. One pull and she won $20!
Craps is actually an interesting game because the people working the table explain it all to you. There was a couple there who clearly knew what they were doing so we watched for a bit and then my sisters tried their hand.
Again, Reagan cleaned up. All told, she won $250!
She wore the perfect t-shirt for it too.
I honestly had so much fun just chatting with the guys who worked our table and one of the pit bosses. I asked if they actually ever say, "Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner!" and he smiled a wry smile and said he does if it's a big win. I asked if he's seen superstitious people and he had endless stories about rubbing heads and bringing good luck tokens to the table.
After we picked up Reagan's winnings, we headed back towards the Bellagio to meet up with Mom and Katrina and this time we got a good spot for the next water show. Katrina's friend Amy Jo had told us to be wary of people dressed up as children's characters on the strip. It's not uncommon for them to be sex offenders and they use the costumes as a way to get close to children. Because they are masked, police can't tell who they are. So when Mickey Mouse came over to say hi to Reagan, it scared her half to death!
That's another thing about Vegas- it seems like Halloween never ended!
The show was fantastic and that memory of singing along (I'm the one off-key in the video) and hugging each other is one I want to savor forever.
We found Mom and Katrina and headed back to New York, New York so they could get ready for the Michael Jackson experience. Mom and I just hung out and went to bed early but my sisters shared some photos of the night and I'm so glad they had fun!
At one point, an usher loaned Reagan his fedora which is the exact same kind Michael Jackson wore. They are made in London and cost over $200!
Whitney and Reagan had a really early flight the next day so we said goodbye in the wee hours. Katrina's flight wasn't until late but she wanted to see if she could do standby on an earlier flight. Thanks to Whitney, I was learning how to use Lyft and we all headed to the airport together. We had time for a leisurely breakfast before boarding.
