Sister trip -- Las Vegas

The first weekend in April, I flew to Las Vegas to meet my sisters.  (I flew on a plane by myself.  I haven't done that in forever.  What a treat.)  Las Vegas, you ask?  We asked the same thing.  But it was a relatively central, easy place to meet where we could just wander in and around.  Plus, Megan had some extra time-share points that we fully took advantage of.  Otherwise, Las Vegas?  Meh.  Still smutty.  

My sisters are always good for a laugh.  Seriously, how did I end up with such funny sisters who teach each other how to flip ears and make stupid faces.  

The three days we spent together mostly consisted of laying out by the pool, eating, taking all the time we wanted to to get ready, talking, walking around LV (then avoiding it altogether), taking the monorail (because how to do miss anything that reminds you of Disneyland?!), people watching, blowing money on stupid cat-themed slot machines and trying our hardest to get tickets to the Country Music Awards.

We ate, and ate, and ate, and ate some more.  I don't regret any calorie.  Regrettably, my stomach hated me the entire time, so my diet consisted mostly of liquids.  Though those pina coladas, hot chocolate, and soups were mighty good.  Oh, and I was freezing cold the whole trip, too.  Weird.  

And lastly, seeing Ka, which was absolutely amazing.  I have never seen any of the Cirque du Soleil shows, and boy, have I missed out.  They are such a spectacle, so outside of the box, so weird, yet so incredible.  

I love my sisters.  I love who they are individually.  I love who we are when we're together.  I genuinely feel like we are helping each other be our best selves -- though we still can laugh our heads off and be silly.  We love each other.  We actually WANT to spend time together.  I couldn't ask for better friends to be my sisters.  

XO

Morning "Hike" at Beckemeier Conservation Area

About a mile from our house (which we've lived in for more than five years) I've always seen a sign about a conservation area, but I had never really checked it out.  One morning, desperate for something new to do out of the house, we drove by and pulled in.  It was a beautiful little walk through a wooded area.  

W was our fearless trailblazer.  

{surfboardin'}

Lizzie's excitement was a little more short-lived.  

Carrying Lizzie up the last hill was worth it when W handed me his gift.  

Memorial Day in TX

Steve and Sherry were brave enough to let me and the kids ride down to Texas along with them to spend Memorial Day weekend -- and Rees' birthday -- in Dallas.  The ten hour drive proved long, but manageable.  Winston got a Leapster game thingy; he probably could've spent another ten hours in the car playing that thing.  Lizzie, on the other hand, wanted to jump ship about an hour into the trip.  After about eight hours, she FINALLY fell asleep.  

We spent the vast majority of the weekend in Erik and Kristin's pool.  The kids couldn't have been happier.  

These faces kill me.  Kill me!

The drive home went really smoothly.  Dave flew down and then drove back home with us while Steve and Sherry flew home.  We strapped a bed frame to the top of the car (that was a trip -- think freight train rumble on top of your car), and after figuring out how to quietly get that home, we made the trip home.  We played a game of "Describe the Animal" in the car.  We could've played it for hours.  The kids loved it!  Lizzie kept describing in about two words a horse, then she'd just blurt out, "A horse?!"  Every.  Single.  Time.  I don't know if we were just exhausted, but we found it to be hilarious.  It was a fun memory just to be in the car together, no real outside distractions, just laughing and enjoying time together as our little family.  

Powerwasher splatter

We got the power washer out today.  I think W was a little surprised at how powerful it was.  

Muddy splatter and lots of it.  

Spider swinger

This just makes me smile.