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.

Fifty Nifty United States

The fifth graders presented the America program last week.  I wouldn't have even known there was a program if I hadn't read the school calendar closely just a couple of days before - Sambo hadn't said a word about it.  When I asked him about the program he said, "It's no big deal Mom, I just sing a bunch of songs."  So different from Millie...when she was in 5th grade I knew every detail about this program and she even had a speaking part.  It's just funny the difference between those two (or is it the difference between boys and girls)?

Anyway Sambo did a great job and I loved that he was in the front row where I could easily watch him the entire time.  Being 11, I know it's not very cool to sing songs and do the hand actions, but he did both and he did it with a smile.  That kid has a smile that takes over his whole face when he grins.  So cute.  My favorite song was "Fifty Nifty," probably because I remember this song by heart from my very own school program as a 5th grader.  Good job Sam!!!

Front row, behind the microphone

I had to snap a pic of Will walking in with his class to watch the program...

...But Quincy was not so willing to have her picture taken in front of her class:

 

Beauty and the Beast

Our local Elementary school put on "Beauty and the Beast" and I knew this was a perfect chance to take Quincy.  I knew she would love the young characters.  I couldn't believe how good the musical was, considering it was Elementary age kids.  Belle and the Beast were 6th graders and sang their hearts out!  My cousin Mark and Courtney's kids Jenna and Brooke were in the play so it was really fun to watch them.  Thanks Quincy for a wonderful GNO :)

Quincy and Brooke with Belle and the Beast

I wish I were in Dixie

 In February we were lucky to take a trip down to St. George.  It just happened to be the week of Quinny's birthday, so of course we turned it into her birthday party!  Every year in late winter we get the itch to go South and we are fortunate that BS has always had work in St. George.  While we are down there we always wish that we lived there.  Of course it has something to do with how sunny and warm it is in comparison to the cold winter up here.  

Even better, my cousin Shelly and her family live down there now so we have even more reason to go down and visit.  And then there is Uncle Denny and Aunt Marcia - they live down there and we always  love to visit them.  In fact this time, Grandma Cindy rode with us so she could visit her brother Denny.

It was so great having her vacation with us!  She had to go home on Saturday (we were leaving Sunday) so she did something new: she rode a shuttle bus home!  Actually she said it was a great option because it only cost $45.00 and it was clean and she could read and sleep :)

We stayed at the Worldmark condos again (thanks Grandma) and were pleasantly surprised to find that the pool was heated!  We spent quite a bit of time at the swimming pool.

Wilbur

Mills

Quin

Sambo

We also spent a night at Shelly's beautiful home.  They showed us a great time and we had a blast hanging out with them.  The Parade of Homes was going on so we spent a day going to the home show and seeing all of the new and wonderful ideas.  Thanks Parkinson's!

Shane, Shelly, Jordan, Kamryn

One of the amazing yards at the home show

A trip to St. George is not complete without a hike or exploring of some sort.  While me and Millie were with Shane, Shelly, and Jordan at the home show, BS took the other kids and Kamryn hiking to these Anasazi ruins outside of Santa Clara.  They loved it!

  

Adventurous Sambo!