Vegas and Back
Last week the boys made their second airline trip this year. We went to Las Vegas for a family vacation. Normally this would not be the type of destination for our family, we are more scenic outdoorsie types. However my brother moved to Vegas to take a job offer so this is where we decided to take our vacation. My parents have a time share condo company that we use, Worldmark, so we stayed in a very nice three bedroom condo just a few minutes south of the strip.
The boys did awesome on the flights. We scheduled them around their normal bedtime which worked perfectly. Forest slept soundly in his car seat and Logan slept in my arms on the way and across Brad’s lap on the way home. The first few days they were a little rough around the edges as they got used to the new time and all the “new” people. But by the middle of the week they were having a blast. Their favorite thing was the pools with Nana and Grampy. Hrm… maybe favorite is too strong a word because they really liked their Aunt Noly dragging them around the living room in the Mickey Mouse chair, cuddles with cousin Miry, Peekaboo with cousin Emily, and sitting on Uncle Bruce’s lap while he was on the computer. They had their first chocolate, first Uno game (a long standing family vacation tradition), and lots of loves from their family. Forest had some struggles being in a new place to sleep but that also got better by the end of the week. I think that another factor was that we had just stopped swaddling him a few days before the trip and he’s even now still working his way through that change (yet another post to come).
It was my first time to Vegas so Saturday night Brad and I went out for a few hours including a seafood buffet and walking around the Bellagio and Ceaser’s Palace. It’s definitely a sight and I loved the water show in front of the Bellagio. We also played the slots and I pulled the handle. I now feel that I’ve had the quintessential Vegas experience, complete with seafood buffet food poisoning, slot machines, people watching and the required sense of awe that such an amazing playground was created in the very barren desert.
I want to give a special mention to my niece who was a lovely house guest and so helpful with the babies for two weeks. She’s a very gentle and kind young lady and I’m very glad to know her.
One of the big reasons I enjoyed this year’s trip was because of my brother’s family. My parents started the “yearly condo family vacation” concept as a way to bring my brother and I together knowing how easy it is to get sucked into your own lives. And it’s true, for a long time I didn’t feel like my brother and I had much in common - just like when we were growing up and 4 1/2 years apart. We’ve even discussed how different our memories are of specific events and timelines in our mutual history. Although I did learn from my conversation with my niece that not all our memories are different because he’s told her some stories that I remember well. So my brother’s wife is a beautiful and amazing woman. She’s a great mother, always has a smile, and someone I enjoy talking with because she is so kind and friendly. My brother’s youngest daughter is a delight of imagination and giggles. And I’m really proud of my brother. He has worked really hard to put himself through college and law school while maintaining a family at the same time. They’ve had tough times but now they are about to reap the benefits of their patience. I’m really happy that my brother met his wife and found such a true and wonderful love. I’m honored to be the aunt to his special children. And I’m proud to brag about him and all his accomplishments. It was a lot of fun to get to see him playing with the boys since I’d never seen him with a baby before. He’s a great dad at all stages. So this years trip really was about enjoying family and being glad to have these people in my life.
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Sounds like a great trip!