Game loving kids

We brought a bunch of games with us to Las Vegas. The kids really enjoyed playing them together. They would even play them on their own. This was what I found one morning when I came downstairs: the five oldest kids playing Get Bit! U would be proud:)

Spring Break Trip to Vegas

We went to Las Vegas to visit my sister and her family over Spring Break. By we, I mean me and the kids. U was working, of course. It was a pretty last minute decision to go. Last minute as in we decided to go Thursday morning, packed and left before lunch. For those who know me and my packing habits, this is pretty remarkable. (Normal packing=a list weeks in advance with packing started days in advance.)

We arrived at my sister's home around dinner time. Sarah went with Luke, Andrew and Uncle K to meet Brandon Mull and Chad Morris, a couple of children's authors. She really enjoyed that and came home with a couple of autographed posters that now hang in her bedroom.

The next day, we mostly hung out around the house since Luke and Andrew were at school. We did take a bike ride to a local park after everyone was home from school.

Sarah and Megan to the rescue!

Cheese!

On Saturday, we went to the Discovery Children's Museum. We hadn't been since they'd moved to a bigger location. The kids had a lot of fun!

Mechanic Matthew is happy to change your tires.

Andrew fitting the gears together.

Megan turning the pulley.

Cashier Sarah and customer Luke.

A close up of Sarah.

Elizabeth came too:)

Matthew making smoothies.

Megan rings up people smoothies.

Captain Matthew flying the plane.

Elizabeth and her mommy.

The kids all enjoyed playing in the water area.

Sunday, we went to church. One of the songs during Sacrament Meeting was "I Stand All Amazed" which the kids are learning in Primary this year. All of the Primary kids were singing with a lot of energy! It was fun to hear.

Luke, Andrew and Sarah enjoyed eating their meals outside together.

Happy Megan.

What a cute kid Benjamin is.

Elizabeth likes cooing at everyone.

Silly Matthew!

We went to my aunt and uncle's home in Henderson. It was really nice to see their family.

Every good visit should include a light saber fight.

My cousin Taryn, her daughter Aubry and my cousin Aurianna.

My cousin Garth, his wife Rachel and their daughter Emmy.

Cheryl-Lynn and Elizabeth.

My cousin Kiersten and Emmy.

Megan loves Thatch.

Aunt Connie and Emmy.

Funny story: They had made some yummy treats for us (brownies and lemon bars). I'd brought some Matthew-safe cookies with us in case this happened. As we came back into the house with the cookies, Matthew informed me that he was going to eat all 10 cookies in the bag. He didn't because I gave one to Megan. But he ate the other 9. He was sure proud of himself!

Sarah liked playing with Elizabeth. Here, she really got her cooing.

Me and Elizabeth.

The kids all loved holding Elizabeth and playing with her.

All the kids.

Silly faces! I like that even the younger kids are making faces.

Mud puddle

We have a mud puddle in the middle of our back yard. We're not sure why it is there--maybe there's a sprinkler head that isn't popping up. Anyhow, the kids love the puddle and make sure to fully exploit its possibilities.

These particular pictures were taken by Sarah the morning of the Gilbert Temple dedication before I was aware of the presence of the mud. I was going to call the kids in to have lunch before we left. Instead, I took one look at them and called them in for baths. Some of the clothes will never be the same.... (The pictures must have been taken before they were super muddy. I think they actually sat in the mud at some point.)

Green hat

On March 17th, we found a small green hat in our yard. The kids tried it on for size:

Unfortunately, it didn't fit any of them. So they put it back where they found it. They did, however, keep the Skittles, bubbles and stickers they found in the hat.

While searching for the hat, we found this in one of our trees.

A Tale of Ties

Matthew loves to wear a tie. He wants to be just like me (the U me not the Me me). He was pretty set on the black tie but had to try all of them on.

The girls thought they should get to wear them too so the convinced him to share.

He did end up wearing the black one to church.

Ostrich Festival

We headed out to the Ostrich Festival. Overall, we had a good time, although a few of the shows we planned on watching didn't go according to the schedule. Next time, we will remember to go to the animal shows BEFORE dark, even if the schedule says there will be shows after dark. We will enjoyed a lot of shows--BMX freestyle, Ostrich races, thrill show, magic show, ax cutting demos, an abbreviated bird show (with an amazing talking bird!) and part of the Rhinestone Roper's show. We also enjoyed the petting zoo.

Megan and Matthew liked petting the animals.

This baby goat was born about 6 hours earlier. You could still see the umbilical cord! It was super cute to see the little goats and amazing how independent they were at just a few hours old.

Waiting for the Ostrich Races.

Sarah climbed around under the bleachers while she waited.

The burro races. It was funny because the one burro leaned right up against the other one the entire way around the track. Overall the races were kind of weird--I don't know that any races had all the animal finish and I think there was one when none of them did. Plus the riders were often off the ostriches from the start. It was definitely entertaining!

Sarah helping out with the magic show.

What a cute little lamb!

Matthew watching Sarah.

The kids liked having a little time to run around between shows.

Cute girl :)

Sarah figured someone should take advantage of the empty seat.

Sarah demonstrates her lassoing skills.

Megan tries to figure it out.

Matthew swinging his all around.

Matthew must be pretty good--look who he caught!