A few weeks ago Jim was leaving for Vegas on a work trip. He kept asking if we wanted to come, and I kept saying it would be really hard to leave so last minute, especially since we JUST got back from another trip a few weeks before.
Eventually, I caved, and decided to make the Vegas trip a possibility. I told Jim if I could easily find a dog sitter for Corky, and find a substitute teacher for our Primary class, then the kids and I would tag along.
Guess what?
The first few calls I made took care of the dog sitter and sub issues. So, I started making plans and packing for Vegas!
Here are some pics and stories from our 12- day Vegas adventure.
Day one, we drove to Lehi, UT and stayed at hotel. We took the kids to the hotel pool, and swam with some straight-up polygamists. I don't know why that's important, but it took me a minute to fully digest what was going on when I saw the same dude kiss three different ladies at three different times. . . and the ladies had no qualms about it. . . and they all had kids. . . and I was like, "WHAT IN THE???" And Jim was like, "L-Dawg, they be straight up poliggies (he didn't say poliggies . . or L-Dawg. . .or they be)!" And I was all, "Oh." And then we kept swimming like it was no big thang. Cuz, it kind of wasn't. . . I guess.
Day two we made it to Las Vegas, and checked into our hotel. The room was HUGE, the bathroom was also HUGE, and the kids thought they had just won the hotel lottery, especially after we told them it also had a bowling alley, arcade, a movie theater, restaurants, and pool. They ran to the windows, looked down at the pool and golf course and yelled, "THIS IS THE BEST HOTEL EVER! THANKS MOM AND DAD!" In that moment, I was happy and relieved that we came on Jim's trip with him.
 |
| Hotel pool as seen from our window |
Our stay at the hotel included a breakfast buffet every morning, with everything you could imagine wanting for breakfast. . .even lox and kugel. That meant, almost every morning, we ate dessert with breakfast. I mean, chocolate cake goes great with bananas and Cherrios, right? I made my kids eat fruits and/or veggies before they could check out the dessert table (I made myself do this too). To be totally honest, after about four or five days of buffet style breakfast, I was kind of ready for something on a smaller simpler scale.
 |
| Hunter enjoying some chocolate cake in the A.M. |
Many of our days were spent hanging out at the hotel, playing with play dough, reading (I started The Passing Bells series (so good bye-the-way), and the kids and I have been reading Black Beauty together), watching T.V, swimming, visiting Jim at work, window shopping at all the near-by shops, going to the arcade, visiting with cousins, and napping. Hunter napped a lot. I guess the Vegas heat tuckered him right out! I was fine with this!
 |
| The kids playing with play-dough in our hotel room. |
On a few days, we met up with our Vegas cousins. One of those days, they came swimming at our hotel, and we were outside playing for a good long while in the heat. I, being the wonderful mom that I am, didn't really pay attention to my kids liquid in-take, and felt really bad later on when Hunter had heat stroke. Luckily, he was fine after a full day of sipping water and Gatorade, and staying relaxed and cool inside our hotel room. After this, I constantly forced water into my kids if we spent any amount of time outside.
 |
| Meeting up with the Vegas Jacobs family |
I'm not going to lie, this was kind of a great little vacation for me. I got to read a lot, I took naps with Hunter, and had a lot of fun playing with my kids at and around our hotel. Some mornings I even left Jim in the room with the kids, so I could go use the work-out room.
 |
| Hunter napped for 3.5 hours this day! I couldn't believe it! |
 |
Hunter and me in our hotel room
|
 |
| Getting ready to go swimming. Hunter was ticked that Tralee was on "his" chair |
One day in Vegas, the kids and I went to the Golden Nugget to spend some time with Tandra, my niece, on her 16th birthday! My kids had fun swimming with sharks, going down the water slide, and wishing Tandra a very sweet 16! It was also fun to spend some time with Adrienne and Cassi!
 |
| Inside the Golden Nugget |
 |
| This is not my picture. But, this is what the pool area looks like at The Golden Nugget. See that tube in the middle of the shark tank? That's part of the water slide. Pretty fun! |
 |
| Tand's birthday cake |
 |
| Tandra and myself making crazy faces after swimming |
Almost everyday, the kids and I had to drive to Costco at closing, so we could pick Jim up from work, and spend the last few hours of twilight with our hubby and Daddy.
 |
| I found these selfies Hunty took while waiting for Jim to come out from work |
 |
| I took this selfie of myself and sent it to Jim with a caption that said, "Come on Costco customers. Get out of there so my husband can come see us!!!" That's why I don't look too happy. I'm all, "Yeah, that's right lady! Costco is closed! No shopping for you!" When I saw a woman approach the door, and walk away after realizing it was closing its doors for the night. |
 |
| Tralee made this bird out of play-dough and wanted me to take a picture of it so, "the whole world could see it!" |
 |
| Tralee and her bird |
Cassi Jacobs and I decided to book a night at Mandalay Bay, and take our kiddies (minus Brynli) swimming for a day in the amazing pool area there. We also had a sleep-over with the kids that night. It was a fun day/night.
 |
| The kids and their tubes |
 |
| Cassi and myself, being the hot mamas that we are. We have no shame. None at all. We realized how amazing we were when as we were asking our six and seven-year-old daughters to take pictures of us in tubes, instead of taking pictures of our children. As we were saying stuff like, "Wait for Mommy to fix her hair!" or "Make sure to get both of us in the shot!" we realized the extent of our awesome-ness. |
 |
| Another cousin shot |
 |
| A guy passing by asked if he could get a picture of all of us. Heck yes you can! |
After swimming and dinner, we spent the rest of the night in our room. The boys made forts out of the inner-tubes, and the little girls, spent a long time in the hotel bathtub watching TV. The moms laid on the beds, watched TV, and played on our phones. . . everyone was happy.
 |
| Hunter is in there somewhere |
 |
| There he is! |
 |
| Brody's fort |
 |
| The view from our hotel room at Mandalay Bay |
 |
| They stayed in the tub for a really long time watching TV. |
The morning after Mandalay Bay, Cassi and to wake up early, and go home in time to pick-up the little girl she watches during the day, and her daughter Brynli (she had a sitter the day before). That meant, I was in charge of getting the four other kids up and ready, and downstairs when Cassi came to pick us up. I realized after wrangling four children (who were all tired, hungry, and had sugar hang-overs from the night-before) that I am definitely a mom meant for two.
At one point, we were trying to make our way down an escalator. I had our luggage, and two inner-tubes in my arms. Each of the children also had inner-tubes I was making them carry. As I was trying to get everyone on the escalator, Brody ran off, Tralee was mad at me that I deflated her inner-tube and was making her carry one that wasn't hers, Hunter had a jelly bean in his mouth that he hated, and wanted to spit out, so he was crying and looking like he was about to barf, and Lexi was half-way down the escalator when a Mandalay Bay worker said, "There's an elevator right over there!" I looked at Lexi and she started running back up the escalator with an inner-tube in her arms. She as doing great until the very end when she tripped and fell. She got up to try again, and tripped again, this time crying and hitting her chin on a stair. I told her to just go down the rest of the way, and we would meet her there. Poor thing.
I sent Brody down next, then Hunter and me, and when I looked up Tralee was still at the top. I told her to take the inner tube off from around her waist, and GET ON THE ESCALATOR!! I think the Mandalay Bay worker came around another once or twice to tell me, "There's an elevator right over there." Thanks lady. Thanks.
At the bottom of the escalator, Brody decided to sit down on the stairs. I had visions of his clothes getting sucked in, so I yelled, "Brody! Get off the escalator! WE DON'T SIT ON THE ESCALATOR!" He got up, ran off, and then I went up to Lexi to check out the damage. Her chin was cut and bleeding! Not bad, but I felt like the worst Aunt in the world. I took part of my shirt and put it on Lexi's chin, and tried my best to comfort her. Meanwhile, Hunter still has tears streaming down his face, and his mouth clenched tightly, refusing to swallow the icky jelly bean. Brody is running around, and Tralee is still mad at me about her inner tube. She came up to me and said, "I bet this wouldn't have happened if I was carrying MY inner tube." I might have shot her the Mom-look of death at this point. She slowly backed away, and we managed to find Cassi outside waiting for us.
Luckily I had antiseptic and bandaids in my luggage. So, we got Lexi bandaged up. Hunter was able to spit the jelly bean on the pavement outside, Tralee steered clear of me and my Mom-look and sat inside the car, and Brody climbed in as well. All the kids were accounted for, and I was exhausted. . . and it was only 9am!!
After dropping my kids and me off at the hotel, Cassi took Lexi to be looked at, but she didn't need any stitches. She'll probably have a nice scar on her chin to remind her of the time Aunt Leslie was a crazy lady that thought it would be fine to have her run the wrong way up an escalator. I apologized and told her that won't happen again. . . at least not on my watch! I also promised myself that I was DONE having kids. I'm just not a four-child Mama! Two seems to be perfect!
Anywho, after that exciting morning, the kids and I kind of laid low and napped off our Mandalay Bay Sleep-over Extravaganza! I took them swimming later on, and we waited for Jim to come home from work.
The next few days in Vegas weren't as exciting. We went and played with the cousins one more time, and then just hung out around our hotel.
 |
| One day Hunter said to me, "Mom, you're my true love!" It melted my heart! I want him to stay little forever. |
 |
| One night Tralee fell asleep like this. What in the world? I was giggling when I took this picture. Then I fixed her up real nice on the pillow. |
Before too long, it was time drive back home. We stopped in St. George to visit with Adrienne and her girls. That was fun.
 |
| Jim squishing Tandra and Cassi good-bye with the help of Tralee and Hunter |
We stopped to spend the night in Salt Lake City. We stayed at a cool old hotel by the temple, and had a good night's rest. The drive was pretty uneventful. We had a few moments where the kids fought, and/or Tralee looked like this:
I can't remember what Tralee was mad about, but Jim and I tried our best not to let her know we were laughing up front, while remaining stern while talking to her. I snapped this picture without her knowing, and showed it to her later. She laughed. Silly girl.
 |
| Hunter catching a ride outside our hotel in Salt Lake |
I'm so glad our Vegas trip worked out! Fun was had by all!
