Las Vegas Hoopla

Time to tell most of what happened in Vegas:

First we left on Friday, July 3 to go visit some of Jason's friends and have a BBQ. Good stuff. Then we drove to NWArk to visit my family. We got there about 10:30 and immediately decided that Pat and I would go get fireworks. We got a stash and shot them off until about 1am in the morning (late for me). Fun times!! 4th of July we went to the Rodeo of the Ozarks parade 1) because it was cool (literally and figuratively) and 2) because Alex and Emma were in it! The rode in the back of Drew's pickup and waved to the crowd with the Rounders, girls and their horses.

Came home and it started raining so we took naps. Yummy.

That evening we went to the Rodeo of the Ozarks and watched. The nieces were featured with the Rounders, who have a special program for disabled children. So sweet. We finished the night at the rodeo with fireworks and a round of God Bless America with Drew singing at the top of his lungs!! (me too but not so loud).

Alex and Emma waving to the crowd.


Dad with Alex


Drew with Emma


Rodeoing in the Ozarks

Sunday we went to church and then hung out with Dad and watched Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 3D. Cool.

Dad grilled some chicken and, as always, it was terrific!!!

Monday we got up and did all our laundry so we would have enough clothes to last us til Friday and then we headed for the OKC airport. Got there in plenty of time, flight was delayed and then once we were in the air, headed to Denver, no, I mean Colorado Springs, no I mean Denver. Because of thunderstorms we circled around Denver for about 30 minutes and then were diverted to COS because we were running out of fuel. Immediately after we landed we were told we could go back to Denver...not until I use the bathroom, mister!! It was a dire situation for me and several other people.

We got back into the air and landed in Denver with no other problems except that we missed our flight to Las Vegas so we high tailed it to the gate with the only other flight out to LV and was able to hop aboard. Needless to say that we were bushed by the time we crashed at our hotel. The Luxor, by the way...yeah, the pyramid.

A view from our room at the Luxor
(we weren't actually in the pyramid which was good because of the height issue.)

Hoover Dam


Bridge at the Hoover Dam being built to divert heavy truck traffic.
(Saw a Modern Marvels special on this...way cool.)


Typical south Nevada and Arizona scenery.


...and of course, the strip...

Monday we took a day trip to Laughlin, NV. Stops on the way included Hoover Dam and a rinkydink roadside souviner shop but it was fun. The mountains are awesome and I tried to picture the first people out there and how they determined why they wanted to live there. There isn't ANYTHING out there in the rocky desert!

Laughlin, NV was nice. It was on the Colorado River (beautiful), but it was dang hot. I could feel the tops of my toes cooking. We played the slots with about $10 each and Jason got a jackpot of about $100. Awesome! So we went across the street to the outlet shops and did some shopping!

Next day we toured the strip via monorail and scoped out where we would eat that night near the Ka Theater (Cirque de Soilel). We ate Asian food and the show was AWESOME!!!!! I won't even describe it because I can't...awesome acrobatics, martial arts, music and the storyline was good too.

Thursday we got up and ate breakfast, came back to the room and slept, got up to eat lunch and came back to the room and chilled and the went to supper and toured the strip at night. Very cool. We saw the Bellagio fountains and the Mirage's volcano and the gondolas at the Venetian. Don't forget about the Forum Shops at Ceasars Palace...incredible!!!!

Friday, we pretty much got up, got McDonald's and headed for the airport with no incidents!!! Yay! Got home about midnight and now it's back to reality....and the yard...which mocks us and says..."yes, you must mow me every week!! MWWWHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!" Dang.

For more pictures...I will be uploading them to my Facebook account.

Quick note...on grass...

Just a quick observation...today we (and when I say we, I mean Jason) mowed the grass for the first time since our move in date. I found it very satisfying actually. Yes it was at 7am in the morning and it was still warm but I felt like we accomplished something. (I raked grass and other debris).

I used to HATE...no hate is not the right word...DESPISE it when Mom would come in early Saturday morning and say something like "lawn day" or "get up, get up, we need to do some chores!" I don't even know how to describe the irritation in my being when I heard that. Before Drew and Pat were old enough, I had to mow the lawn. We always had lawn mower issues...the issue being there was always something wrong with them. They would not start, flat tire...whatever... We also had a variety of lawn mowers too. Push and riding. I liked the riding...no biggie...except when I mowed under the apple tree. It would scrape my back while I was trying to duck underneath the low hanging limbs...those things were like steel with pointy objects!!! The push mowers were awful. We had a huge yard and mowing would take forEVer!!! And not to mention I get blisters very easily and I would have blisters from holding down the little bar to keep the mower going. (What can I say, I have delicate skin).

So all that complaint to say, I never appreciated the work that was involved and the outcome of having a pretty yard. I hated it then, and not lovin it now, but the satisfaction of saying, "look at my yard! I did that (or my husband did that)." It is pretty darn cool.