Vegas Vacation

Back in July, the kids and I were able to fly back to Vegas for a little summer vacation. Trent was unable to come due to school and work conflicts and we missed him. Thankfully there were so many others around the house to keep the kids' minds off missing their Daddy. Visiting the Family in Vegas always means good food, lots of playtime, fun in the sun hanging poolside, tennis, movies, ping pong, and bedtime stories.
Kyleigh and Brenden are so lucky. Bama played narrator for bedtime stories. Soon there may be more than just one on each side of her. Doubt she'll mind.

These are things we remember from visiting at Grandma and Grandpa's house. And I'm quite glad for it.

Hopefully the kids will also always remember watching their Bama kick butt out on a tennis court. And will be a tough contender for many years if they choose to keep up their tennis inclinations.

(Hope Grandma doesn't mind these photos of her in such a public forum. She may not have to worry as there isn't a whole lot of traffic to this site).

She got this one. Good hussle, Bama.

Water break included hugs from the grandkids.

B chatting with the ladies.

Kyleigh taking notes for future reference.

Nice morning. Bagels, smoothie, tennis...I'd say we started off this vacation the right way!

As soon as we got home and gave Poppy back his car, he had to leave to go to work. Kids didn't like that part.

Lucky for them, they got to participate in some tennis and swimming for the first week we were visiting. It was hot outside and the poor Ohioans were not used to sunshine and heat...but with plenty of sunscreen and water breaks, they managed. Kyleigh was more focused and intense during the practices. She really tried to get it right and do what the coaches told her to do. B was happy to take a swing, or sit on the sideline or push the ball pick up machine thing.

Probably not going to go very far with that kind of form...but she's young and there's still time to correct it.

Lucky for her, Phil was there to instruct her on the right way to swing at the ball.

Ahh, that's better.

B did pretty well. For his first time.

They were about the youngest in the whole group and joined near the end of the session...so it was nice they had each other.

Touchdown!! oh dear, looks like we have to work on our appropriate sports lingo.

I'm not kidding when I say that Kyleigh liked tennis. When they called everyone back after a water break, Kyleigh was about the first one back on the court with her raquet trying to swing at balls that she held against her raquet...until Phil came over and threw some balls to her. After we got back to Ohio, for her birthday we bought her a small raquet and the youth balls that are larger in size and don't bounce as far as the normal tennis balls. And she jumps at the chance to go hit some balls at the local courts. It's kinda fun for both of us.

She keeps this up....I'll have alot of games to attend...and I don't mind.

Meanwhile, here's B using up his downtime before they move onto the next activity.

Two racquets are better than one any day.

It was in the upper 90s or low 100s for these unaccustomed mid-westerners.

Some games before swim time.

They just kinda stuck together. Partly because they were so much younger than much of the group and showed up in the tail end of the session and probably mostly because they're about the only ones who didn't know how to swim. These desert rats learn to swim about the same time they learn to walk. It's a necessary skill for summer survival out in Las Vegas. (And something absolutely unnecessary out in Ohio. It's really only hot enough to swim about a couple weeks in the year. Nothing survival related).

Speaking of swimming, one of my friends from High School/Young Woman days, Pilar Fish Ahlstrom, came over with her two cute boys for some swim time. It was so incredibly great to see her again. And even better that she was just about as pregnant as I was. The kids also had a blast. One of their favorite features was spraying each other and themselves with the cold water hose inside the hot tub.

Gavin and Brenden enjoying the dude time.

When it's really hot outside, the slide on the tree house gets real hot as well. So when Grandpa or any adult pulls out the hose and lets the cold water flow down the slide, it's an incredibly fun ride for the kids who are brave enough to go down the fast slide.

Gavin spraying himself.

This pool right here: fun for all ages.

Need to build her endurance or add body fat to this little girl. She doesn't usually last too long in the 'cold' water. She likes to go in, but she doesn't stay submerged for long. Most of it is playing and going for a little dip every so often. While the rest of us find it pretty refreshing. But hey, she's having a good time all the same.

Gavin was begging his Mom to throw him off the rocks. She complied. Fun lady.

There's usually a ping pong game to be had sometime during a trip to Vegas. But you may want to stop and watch awhile if you see these two play. They are good.

Another must during a trip to Las Vegas is some Bugs Bunny viewing. I'm not kidding. Try to get away with it. These two won't let you forget. And it's the one cartoon that they will just about always agree on. (Baby Kent better just know it's part and parcel of coming into this family and there's no complaining if he wants to get along peacefully with his siblings).