Viva Las Vegas! Part 1

Our sisters trip to Las Vegas started out with plenty of drama when Whitney and Mom almost missed the flight. The only reason the gate people at O'Hare held it is because I had Whitney on speaker, describing the gates she was running by, so they knew she was close. They had no qualms whatsoever about letting me know how annoyed they were with us. Mom wore slippery flats and couldn't run and by the time we all reached our seats, they were filled with other passengers who were not happy to go back to their original assignment. Eventually, we made it.

It's been a little while since I've been to Vegas but the moment we walked into the New York, New York, that casino smell hit me like a Mac truck. Reagan had been there all day and so she decided to do some exploring and then she saw the Magic Mike show. We went to the Shake Shack around the corner for a late-night snack and to get all the dirty details about the show. Ha! Pun. Whitney gave Reagan this hat which she wore the whole night.

That's exactly how people pronounce her name!

We all slept hard, and slept in the next day. It was so dreamy to take my time getting ready. To put on a cute outfit and do my hair and makeup. By the time we headed downstairs, it was lunchtime, so of course we had to hit the deli!

It's been a while since I've had a decent reuben and some matzo ball soup.

The black and white cookie was incredible! I ended up bringing one back for each of my girls because they were thick and soft and practically a meal in and of themselves!

After lunch we headed to one of my favorite places on the Strip- the Bellagio Conservatory. The installment did not disappoint! Check out this flower comprised of flowers!

The pumpkins were huuuge!

I wonder where they got those suckers...

I told Whitney they reminded me of how I felt the last days of my pregnancies.

Even the chandeliers looked amazing!

I stood in front of this one for a while trying to decide if I could replicate it somehow with enough imagination and trips to Hobby Lobby.

 So pretty!

After taking in all that loveliness, we headed back to the New York, New York to meet up with Katrina. We found her in the lobby talking to a random stranger (shhhocker). We relaxed and caught up for a bit before heading out for dinner. 

Even in the elevator, the excitement was palpable...

...and that excitement spilled right out onto the Strip.

Reagan was with me the very first time I experienced Vegas 19 years ago. I'm sure I'd have a very different opinion of Vegas had she not given me a heads up about some things. She made sure I was paying attention when we emerged drove out of the canyon and that dazzling land of lights was suddenly splayed out in front of us. Reagan told me the fun part of Vegas is how creative all the casinos are with their different themes. The most sage piece of advice she gave me was to not look down... because the porn handouts are all over the ground. 

Here's a picture of Reagan from that trip outside the Paris.

 Here's my pathetic attempt at a re-creation.

By now, the Strip was filled with showgirls and guys promoting their venues. Aside from drumming up business, they charge for photos with them so you have to watch out because they will try to rope you in. They lock on to someone like oh, I dunno, say Katrina...

...who loves to talk to people...

...and that's how they get you.

In the 30 seconds Katrina left our group to talk to this particular "GI Hoe", she found out he was married, his wife cheated on him, he used to work for the Thunder Down Under but they stopped paying for his schooling so he switched to GI Hoes because he is finishing up nursing school. Since his backstory was so similar to Reagan's, OF COURSE he had to take pictures with her!

This one is going to be July for the 2019 family calendar.

The nice guy told Reagan to look at him (presumably for another shot) and he landed one right on her lips.

Side note: the #MeToo movement has not yet reached the Vegas Strip.

In a weird way, it was kind of sweet.

The other guy really started demanding payment and no one but Mom had cash on them. She ante'd up so he would back off and then they insisted on photos with her as well. 

By now there was a sizable line of women waiting get photos, so we were finally able to move on. We had so much fun just chatting and taking in the sights as we walked along the Strip.

The Venetian is definitely one of my favorite casinos on the Strip.

Katrina used to live in Vegas and knows her way around. Her one request for this trip was that we have dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe in the Venetian. My dad surprised us all by paying for it because he wanted all his girls to have a good time. Awe! Thanks Dad!!!

For the first time in my life, I had a beef wellington and it was divine!

We took a little walk to burn off our big dinner. The shops at the Venetian are amazing, but I get lost so quickly! Whitney took some amazing pictures over the canals.

Everyone's energy was flagging so we headed out. Had I not been so full, I would have tried some of the gelato because this display was AMAZING!!!

My mouth is watering just looking at these pictures.

We took a Lyft back to our hotel and pretty much crashed. Ha! I was going to try to record all of this in 1 post but after all these photos, I think I'll break this into 2.

To be continued...

Sydney is FIVE!

We celebrated at school (I volunteered so I could be with her the whole day):

The cake actually isn't real, but they get to sing and blow out the candles which I think is pretty clever.

We celebrated in bed (many thanks to those who send cards! They make the traditional breakfast in bed so very special:

We celebrated at the dinner table:

I wanted to do something fun for her gift that wouldn't cost a lot of money but would have a big, magical impact. When I was flipping through a Restoration Hardware catalog, I saw a room with vaulted ceilings strung up with fairy lights and I knew that's exactly what I was looking for. Even though we've lightened up Sydney's room from the original chocolate brown, teal and tan, it still looked a little dark and drab. The curtains were dark and when opened, hung inside the window frame so those were the first to go.

I found a curtain rod long enough so the curtains could hang outside the window frame when opened. Because I'm a stickler for details (and maybe because I'm a glutton for punishment), I sewed scallops into the bottom of the curtains so they would echo the half-circle of the window as well as the bed frame. I'm pretty sure no one will ever notice the bottom of the curtains, but they are there! Unfortunately, Amazon sent the bright white lights instead of the warm white. I strung them up and they looked, I don't know, cold? I really wanted warm white so I packaged them up and sent them back. 

At long last the warm white lights came and stringing them up went much faster since I'd left all of the hooks in place from the first time around. Both Sydney and I fell in love with the finished product. For me, the lights highlight the vaulted ceiling and combined with the curtains, made it feel bigger and lighter. For Sydney, it added a touch of whimsy and gave her new light for reading in bed. We put them on a timer so she could fall asleep with them on and my favorite setting is the one where they gently fade on and off.

I took this video to capture just a little bit of Sydney's rapidly disappearing baby talk. Words like "Fursday" and "firsty" will not be around forever. She used to call Brigitta "Dita" and I loved it but that one left her vocabulary a while ago. 

Every now and again, Sydney will really pump her arms and walk with so much purpose.

I love you so much Sydney! You are a light in my life, butter to my bread. Happy Birthday sweet girl.

Happy Halloween!

This may be the last year we have a princess year for Halloween. Liesel was rather uninterested in getting a new costume. Ireland was campaigning hard-core for Mulan since the live-action movie is coming out soon and the costume was really beautiful. I reminded her there are lots of princesses and she could be Princess Leia or Princess Buttercup who aren't a product of Disney. Even so, Liesel was less than thrilled. Eventually she went with classic Cinderella but I think this is the end of the line for her. 

 The ward Trunk-orTreat was particularly fantastic this year! The exact same elements were at play: games, parade, chili cook-off and the actual trunk-or-treating, but it was an hour earlier than usual and they stuck to the schedule. The whole thing was completely wrapped up (and I mean even the tables and chairs were put away) by 7 PM which is AMAZING!!! The kids went to bed right on time which was such a blessing since our Primary Program was the next morning.

I pulled out my Hester Prynn costume while Brent happily wore his outfit from our White Trash Progressive Dinner. We were colonial era and modern versions of white trash. A few people whispered, "Shame, shame" at me and it made me laugh.

 They always do such an incredible job with the photo background! Brigitta was excited to finally get her crack at the Elsa costume. The shoulders and sleeves are made of really thin material and I'm happy to say that costume will make it through all four girls! I was sure it would snag or wear a hole but they've all been really careful. 

I've always thought the Rapunzel costume was kind of cursed because whoever wore it had some kind of a meltdown in the middle of Halloween festivities. Every. Single. Girl. But Sydney managed to make it through with nary a tear!

 Love these little ones! Ireland stayed home due to some big-time sassing and ended up loving an evening of watching a movie on our bed. Liesel ran off with friends the second we arrived at the church so Brent and I hung out with the little girls. 

Sydney's classroom party was up next. The kids showed off their costumes and the teachers always pretend they don't know them. When Mrs. O'Malley said, "But wait, is this really Rapunzel? Who is this?" Sydney pulled off her braided crown and said, "It's MEEE!!!" It was so adorable. 

FYI- that Fly, Fly Witchy song is an earworm. Which stays for days.

We had lovely weather for the parade at the elementary school. Ireland was living it up as Belle and she gave me a sweet spin. 

Liesel's reticence about a costume led me to believe she's just getting too old for Halloween in general but she lit up when she saw me in the parade. Phew!

Even though they had their official party the day before, Sydney's preschool said they could come in their costumes again on the day of Halloween. I asked her if she wanted to be Rapunzel again or if she wanted to try the angel costume and she was beyond thrilled to have an excuse to wear shimmery wings.

Her hair is still baby fine so I had to get creative when making it into a halo.

I know this costume is really on its last legs, but I love it so much!

Brent came home from work early so I could take the girls and some of their friends Trick-or-Treating. They really did me proud this year. Liesel actually brought an extra bag this year to hold all of her spoils.

Brigitta even hung in with us to the very end which means she got to hit the full-sized candy bar houses. Because they were the last trick-or-treaters of the night, they were given two or three candy bars at those final houses.

Logically I know it's dumb, but I feel like this is where we recoup the cost of costumes. There are few life scenarios where there is such instant gratification for hard work. It always makes me smile seeing them run from house to house.

Our neighbor does a "Switch Witch" who leaves the kids a present in exchange for the candy. She asked me what we do with all of ours and I had a hard time admitting it gets eaten over the next month or so. We slip some in the girls' lunches, we save some for movie nights, we leave some out for guests to snack on... and Brent and I reap our annual parent tax. After Trick-or-Treating was done, we made the girls eat some chili and cornbread Brent had made while we were out and then they could pick a piece or two for dessert. 

This year I tried something new- a glow stick bath. Everyone had makeup and all kinds of hair products on, not to mention they were pretty hyped up from the evening. While I scrubbed Halloween off of them, they calmed down and were much more ready to settle in to bed. That one is becoming a tradition- for SURE!