Spring break continues in Las Vegas!

After spending 5 days in California, we drove back to Las Vegas to meet up with the Clarks and spend 4 more days! All but Candice and Doug were able to come so there were lots of cousins! 

We stayed at The Mayan Resort which has an awesome pool with waterslides! 

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! It was so fun having baby Sunny, Nixon, and Jace there too!

   

Here the kids are messing around at the outdoor shopping on the South end of the Boulevard: 

 The last day we hiked up Red Rock Canyon and the kids were troopers!

Everyone had a blast and it was so fun to be together with this crew!  It is getting harder and harder to go on trips because there are so many family members. Good times!

FaLL BReaK in ST. GeoRGe!

Another Fall break, another trip to St. George!

  Due to this last minute decision and late planning, we stayed a couple of nights at our usual hotel, a night at the condo, and a night with Uncle Denny and Marcia :)  It was great to spend some time with them and catch up.  Their hospitality is over the top!  Thank you!  It was a bummer that Parkinson's were out of town so we didn't get to visit them.

We swam a ton, including a trip to Sand Hollow Rec Center while it poured rain outside.

We met up with our friends the Sunderlages a day and had a lot of fun hanging out and hiking the red rock playground.  While the girls relaxed and went to the art festival, the boys went dirt biking.  On Sunday we took the kids to the Jacob Hamblin home and learned about his family and farm.  And we always go to Judd's and the splash park.  And of course, a few stops at Swig for Mango Mountain Dews, Dirty Dr. Peppers, and sugar cookies!  Fabulous trip!

 

Seth, Will, Sam

Quin and Sage

Sam, Seth, Will

 

Soup and breadsticks at Judds

A Birthday and a Green Day in Vegas

This half Leprechaun had a birthday!  Yep, he turned 9.  And what better place for a money lovin' guy to spend his birthday than in Las Vegas?! 

Actually, we were hardly near any slot machines or casinos because this year the 6 of us stayed just outside of town instead of the Polo Towers.  We went down with the Clark clan for their traditional Spring Break trip (for the college students), but because we are a big family we got our own place that was a mile outside of the action.  The best thing about the condo was definitely the swimming pools which included a lazy river!  The weather was in the 80s all weekend and we couldn't have asked for better weather.  It's always so great to get the kids all to ourselves and away from the hustle and bustle. 

 

Quincy is a total fish. She loves to retrieve diving sticks and pennies from the bottom of the pool.  At first the lifeguard kept telling her she needed to be with a grown up in the lazy river but he soon discovered that she was as good a swimmer as the grown ups! 

Another good thing about where we stayed was the convenience of yummy food options and the new outdoor shopping mall just down the street.  Dunkin Donuts and smoothies (can't remember the name) for breakfast.  We discovered a drive-thru called Raising Cane's which has delicious chicken fingers, fries and fry sauce, garlic bread, and good ice.  Random but yummy.  We went there twice in 3 days.  And *BONUS* they had GREEN lemonade on St. Patrick's day!

We didn't make a big deal out of St. Patrick's day this year because we were too busy enjoying our vacation, but thank goodness for the green lemonade to save the day.

We also went to one of our favorites, Qdoba.  Yum!

Our family likes to explore and go on hikes (as long as you don't call it a "hike"), but we have never ventured out in Las Vegas.  BS did some research and found an awesome hike that was in Red Rock Canyon called "Calico Tanks."  We filled up the Camelbaks and headed up the trail.  It ended up being a perfect hike for us with the right amount of exercise and fun.  It took about 3 hours both ways.

This is our 4 little troopers at the top.  You can see the tall hotels on the strip in the background:

There were lots of fun rock stairs, caves, and structures to play on:

Love this guy

 We met up with the rest of the Clarks (Grandpa & Grandma, Adam & Jess, Sean & Meg, Jordan & Jenny) a couple times at their place.  The girls went shopping at the Miracle Mile shops while the dudes went to the "Pinball Hall of Fame" and The Zombie Museum
(except for Quincy - she's half boy sometimes).

Just when they didn't think it could better than a Zombie museum, Uncle Adam took them to the Pinball Hall of Fame which is the best Arcade ever!!!

Uncle Adam, Uncle Sean, Uncle Jordan went too!

Then we all met up together for Will's birthday dinner.  We went to Caesar's Palace, of course.  We love the fish tank, the Atlantis show, the shopping, designing shoes at the massive Nike store, and Cheesecake Factory.

Quincy could have spent hours watching the sea life.  She named all of the fish.  This one is Peppermint Patty

And finally Will's party!

Good food, good company, and good dessert at Cheesecake Factory.

He couldn't be happier.  What a day!  What a weekend!

Everyone knows Will loves to get money $$$

When we got home, we had to have yet one more celebration because it was his actual birthday.  But we kept it boring with brownies and ice cream on the Special plate.  He got an XBOX 360 remote and 500 water balloons.  Just want he wanted :)

And we couldn't forgot Pork Chops...it's his birthday too.  Happy 3rd birthday good ol' boy!

Here, have a bone.