Vegas: The Strip

One evening, we headed down to the strip to visit the Bellagio and ride the High Roller. We started at the Bellagio and enjoyed looking at the flower display, which was a Finding Dory theme, and watching the fountains.

Matthew wanted a picture with the sea turtle.

We got to peek at the pearl!

Matthew wanted the diver in a picture as well.

Megan wanted a picture with Nemo. It's a bit hard to spot the clown fish here--they're way up at the top. There's also another diver in this picture.

See the clown fish?

I liked seeing all the sea creatures done up in flowers.

We then went over to the High Roller. The kids were all super excited about riding it. We even had our own pod, which was great! Especially since the kids decided to play a game of tag (although we wouldn't have allowed that if there had been other people with us). The kids also really enjoyed seeing the planes fly in towards the airport. They weren't so sure about the lightning we could see, though.

Cheryl-Lynn, Kiley, Elizabeth (with her tilted head and tongue sticking out) and Luke.

Matthew.

Benjamin, Sarah, Andrew and Megan.

We saw the Bellagio fountains from the top.

Group shot!

Vegas: Discovery Children's Museum and Springs Preserve

One day, we headed to the Discovery Children's Museum and the Springs Preserve. The kids enjoyed exploring the museum. Sarah's favorite part was the ATM, although she was a bit upset that it only took her money--it didn't let her do withdrawals. We learned that the child we're most likely to lose is Megan as there were a few times that she disappeared. Thankfully we found her again!

Matthew's creation that he flew in different areas.

Luke, Matthew and Sarah in wind tunnel.

Megan, Me and Matthew in wind tunnel.

Megan doing some shopping.

Benjamin shopping.

Matthew and Luke working the cash register.

Sarah's favorite--the ATM! It was funny because she and Luke really did go over there a lot. Even as she complained about it "stealing" her money :)

Benjamin on Clifford's leg.

The younger kids enjoyed playing in the special Clifford exhibit.

Matthew showing the treasures he found while being an archeologist.

Megan and her treasures.

Elizabeth loved the water area! (And she loved turning her head and sticking out her tongue whenever she saw the camera. It was pretty funny!)

Megan in water area.

Matthew in water area.

Knights Matthew and Benjamin.

Beautiful Megan!

The Springs Preserve was free the week we were in Vegas so we decided to stop by on the way home. Because nothing says "botanic garden" like 110+ degree weather! Ha ha! There's actually a few indoor areas and that's where we spent most of our time, although we did go see the outside animals like gila monsters, rabbits, tortoises and foxes. Of course, they were all in their burrows (which we could see) because they're smart! There was a really cool light exhibit that we enjoyed exploring. We may have lost Megan again in this area. Thankfully we found her!

Matthew, Benjamin, Megan and Andrew riding the train.

They had a really cool flash flood simulation that we are waiting to see right here.

It was also Star Wars week. There were a few activities related to that. We even saw Chewbacca walking around! Here everyone is with BB8.

Me and the kids with some sort of trooper.

Add Andrew and Luke to the picture.

Matthew saw Chewbacca and wanted a picture with him as well.

Definitely a fun, busy, long day at museums!

Vegas: The Trip

The end of June, the kids and I headed to Las Vegas to visit my sister and her family. It was our first time visiting them in their nice new home. We spent a busy week exploring the city, visiting and playing. Activities included attending stake conference, watching gymnastics, lots of movies including Smurfs 2 at the movie theater, playing in the Adams home (Andrew and Sarah enjoyed creating activities for the younger ones to play and would even stay up late figuring out prices of "groceries" and such), swimming and playing games. We went to the Discovery Children's Museum, the Springs Preserve, Jumper's Jungle, the strip and Mt Charleston. Definitely a busy week! Here are some photos from the trip. (A few of the longer excursions are in separate posts.)

One day, we went to Jumper's Jungle, a place with bouncy houses, slides and an obstacle course. Which is, of course, why the kids played the big video game on the floor :) Ha ha! They did enjoy that game but they also bounced around a lot!

Sarah at the top of the big slide.

Megan and Matthew loved this area where they could sit on top of an inflatable pillar and have is sink down so they were inside it. They sometimes needed a little help to pull themselves out.

Siblings!

Group shot.

We had a couple of rebel spies running around the place. It's nice to know we had them on our side :)

Random picture of the kids hanging out.

One evening, we went swimming which the kids really enjoyed! Here's Megan and Matthew.

Andrew.

Luke. That tube was well-loved! Everyone wanted a turn with it.

Matthew.

Elizabeth.

The Adams' home has a great backyard that the kids loved playing in. There's a swing set, a sandbox, a trampoline and a tether ball. 

Megan and Matthew playing in the sand.

Watch out for Sarah's tether ball skills!

Other June Happenings

Megan and Matthew love taking pictures of their creations. Here are a couple of pictures from playing with the magnetic blocks.

We went to our friends' home to see their animals. They currently have 6 cows (they used to have 10!) plus a bunch of chickens. One of the calves is trained to come on a holster so we were able to pet him. We also got to bring home some fresh eggs. Yum!

Dad made train sandwiches for lunch one day.

We got a new bed. Matthew was quite upset by this so we got a picture of him with the old bed before it left.

The cinnamon oatmeal craze has spread. Here Sarah is eating some.

Sometimes when I download pictures, I find a whole bunch that I didn't know anything about. Sure glad we have digital cameras and I'm not paying to develop them all. Anyhow, here are a few of those from June.

Megan and Matthew continue making creations with the part of the dishwasher they unloaded. Sometimes it's Mickey, other times it's a waterfall or mountains or towers. Of course, they like to photograph their creations. Here are a few of their recent ones.