Family Weekend in Vegas

A few weekends ago, Eric and I drove with the boys and Bushia to Las Vegas. Our nephew, Wil, and his soccer team were playing there in their final weekend of national league play.  Beyond his team going 2-0-1 for the weekend we had a fun time exploring a totally different side of Vegas…with kids.  Yikes!

Caleb was so excited for a road trip, he was counting down the days for 2 weeks!  I guess he had a little island fever. ;)

We left Friday after school and with a car full of people and snacks we set out for Henderson, NV, because I couldn't bring myself to stay on the strip with my kiddos.  Plus we were closer to the soccer.

After a driving up Friday night and just hanging in the hotel…Saturday morning we headed to check out some views of Lake Mead before heading to Wil's game.

 It was so fun watching Wil play….I'm not sure I have ever seen one of his games.  Yikes.  He is the rock-star goalie…in the yellow.

Afterwards, we headed to the strip. 

 Took the boys to M&M world...

 …and gave them a bit of gambling lessons. 

 That night we headed to the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur.  The boys loved the show and Jonah LOVED eating without utensils! He was out of control shoving food in his mouth and chanting "fight, fight, fight!" any chance he could get.

 Sunday mooring was an early morning game and a winner for Wil and his team!

We even managed to sneak in some time to check out the fountains at the Bellagio.

And on our drive home…we maxed out in a 4 hour traffic jam during which we only traveled about 7 miles.  

Just Jonah and Mom

This past weekend, we made our first trek back to the mainland, with just Jonah and Mom.

We took the red eye with a layover at LAX and snuggled ourselves to sleep in our tiny little plane seat, just Jonah and Mom.

Since we arrived at LAX almost an hour ahead of schedule, we had lots of time to waste, strolling up and down the aisles of LAX, just Jonah and Mom.

On our flight to STL, we were asleep before take off and slept until after we landed, just Jonah and Mom.

Two and one half days of family, fun, and reminiscing.  Just Jonah and Mom.

Beyond the obvious highlight of the wedding and dancing with my sisters, cousins, nieces, and nephews, and being together with my family, my favorite part of the trip was a drive around St. Louis.  Driving around our old neighborhood and also sneaking past the compound.  It was sad.  It was fun.  It was therapeutic.  It was refreshing for my soul.  And in the car....you guessed it- just Jonah and Mom.  It was perfect.

As usual, I did a poor job of taking pictures, but here are a few I snapped as well as some favorites I snatched from others.

Dinner with Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Sonny!

And Andrew and Arianna! (and Alyssa too, but we missed getting a picture with her)  :(

 Our old house lost its woods behind it...new houses going in soon.

 Jonah getting his girl time in.  Not much of that going on here in Hawaii.

 Wings with Uncle Patrick!

My oldest niece (on my side of the fam) with Sara and I.  She is getting so old and as always is so fun!

 My two youngest nieces as flower girls!  They are even more gorgeous in person, if you can imagine.

 The boys of the fam, minus Eric and Al.

 The little kids doing their Call Me Maybe dance.  So cute.

 Cousins! (Well, sis and cousin.)

On our way home....an empty seat next to us from LA to Honolulu!  Woo-hoo!

 We took full advantage of that seat as Jonah only slept about 1 hour on that 5+ hour flight!

 Sunset over the Pacific.

 And everyone was so excited to have us home!  The boys were so cute in the airport beaming with excitement to see Baby Jonah again.  And of course Jonah was squealing with delight as soon as he saw Noah and Caleb.  It was so cute!  Everyone in baggage claim was pointing and smiling like they were witnessing a long lost reunion of brothers.  Haha!  And of course Jonah is still obsessed with Tiki...smothering him any chance he gets!

Japan

Not a family vacation, but a work trip for Dad.

Eric returned home safely after a week long trip to Japan. He had little to report, saying that you could have dropped him in the middle of New York City and he wouldn't know any better. :) I think he was looking for the Asian style homes with the "swooped roofs." Not so much in Tokyo. He mainly interacted with Americans on a military base there, but did venture out to try some local dishes. He called me from L.A. Saturday morning complaining about how STARVING he was. Either the dishes weren't so hot or he was missing those American sized portions!

Here is a picture of the Tokyo Tower and a random street shot.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

For my 30th birthday, my favorite girls and I headed to Las Vegas for a weekend celebration. So many women in all different stages of life, marriage, dating, motherhood, and beyond. But when you put us all together, it was pure bliss. So much fun in so little time. Good dinners, good gambling, some shopping, fun cocktails, and lots of dancing. And with all the craziness that is and always will be Vegas, my favorite parts still remained about the girls. First the getting ready to go out. Trying on 12 different outfits each. Borrowing each others make-up and accessories. Music in the background. Debating on comfort or style. I love it! Second, is the bathroom talks. When your out and about, things are happening, and the quietest place in the town is the bathroom. So that's where girls talk. Strangers become your best friends. I love it! Third, is the morning after. Headaches and saggy eyes. Blisters and swollen feet. Piling into one or two beds....and then the stories begin. Retelling, reminiscing about the previous night. So funny, so fun. I love it!

No one can compare to the 8 women I shared my birthday celebrations with. They are beautiful, strong, smart, fun, and crazy women. And they all teach me a little different style of a hugely fun game of life. I've never been big on a large group of girlfriends. You know, girls to gather with on the reg and share secrets and good times with every weekend. It was only my teammates in HS and college, and that was only in season. I always thought it was because there was probably something wrong with me.....too bitchy, unfriendly, non girly, or just too lazy to put forth the effort. Which by the way are all probably true. But now (in my old age ;)), I know it is because my family is enough--an amazingly strong group of supportive women who will always stick together. No matter what. And the few non-blood close friends that I do have are better than 20 fake friends and/or acquaintances.

Thanks to my girls for celebrating with me and spoiling me with kind words and birthday surprises. You are the best!


(And yes Aunt Cha-Cha, I mean you too. Even if you were only there in spirit.)

Being a decathlete is like having ten girlfriends. You have to love them all, and you can't afford losing one. -Daley Thompson

Fourth of July Weekend, 2010

What a whirlwind weekend. I've yet to recover, feeling tired and crabby ever since the plane landed. And no, I am not pregnant!

Our weekend involved lots of family and friends in very little time. It involved puking on the side of the road, and in the back seat of our rental car. (by Hannah, not Eric ;)) There was a fish fry, fireworks, some swimming, family pictures, and our favorite parade of the year. I finally met baby Blair and saw Daniel walking. Too many memories and good times to recall in this mini briefing. So, in my typical fashion, I'll share a few photos that are a lame attempt to share our 4th of July Holiday.

First we'll start with a pic of a handful of the Ryans and Caleb....this was taken after our trip to the dentist, before the car-sick fiasco on the drive back to St. Louis. Hannah is getting in some practice, leaning out the window. :)

We had a few visitors Thursday night, but unfortunately, I did not break out my camera. I would have loved to get a few more pics of the Selter boys and Schoessel girls. Friday morning, a friend of mine, whom I hadn't seen in years, took family pictures for us. You can check those out here. I think they are simply amazing and I am so thankful to have reconnected with Rachel to have them done. Afterwards the boys snuck in a little swim time before heading out to Union for a fish fry at Grandma Debbie's.

We took Aidan along to the country and the boys had a blast playing in the creek, feeding the fish at the pond, and exploring through the tunnel.

They even had a minor lesson on shooting and gun safety.

Once back in St. Louis we joined an already in progress fireworks display. As usual, the family put together a pretty cool fireworks display that could rival any local town fair...although the picture isn't of much. :)

Saturday morning, we hit the parade.....my favorite time of year! Our crew keeps growing bigger and bigger every year....eventually, the entire block will be ours.

And this is where I stopped taking pictures. The weekend was becoming so hectic, I couldn't stop to take a pic. If you really want to get crazy, you can check out the 571 pictures taken on my sister's camera (or borrowed cam) on Saturday alone. You'll need a snapfish account to check them out. Otherwise, just trust in me that we had the best weekend in all the chaos that is our family. We LOVE St. Louis! Visiting from afar makes everything that much better while we are there.

By the way, when we returned to Phoenix, took the shuttle bus to the economy parking lot, exited at the last stop where we were parked.....our car door was open. Ooops! Needless to say, the car didn't start and we were stranded in a hot parking lot with our only shade at the bus stop. Airport assistance is a blessing. And many thanks to our amazing dog sitters who spoiled Molly to the fullest while we were gone! We are very thankful for our friends here in Phoenix too!

New York

On Wednesday I flew to NYC to meet my mom and my niece, Kate, for 3 days in the Big Apple. We had so much fun and did so many things. Here is a quick run down....
We rode the Ferris wheel at Toys R Us,
visited Times Square,
walked along Central Park,
shopped on 5th Ave,
played on the Big piano at FAO Schwartz,
went on The Today Show and met Meredith....and Lenny,
took an NBC studio tour (where we watched Tom Petty warm-up and Alec Baldwin during his photo shoot),
saw The Lion King,
watched some street performers,
rode the Subway,
had lunch in Chinatown,
visited Ground Zero,
toured the Statue of Liberty,
saw West Side Story,
and ate at a street vendor.
Oh, and we walked for miles....which led to Kate getting some new tennis shoes! Woo-hoo!

As if the list wasn't exhausting enough, here is my trip in a few photos.




Eric and the boys had a great time while mom was out of town. No one is really speaking about it, but I do know that Noah threw up at school on Friday morning and there are blood drops on the hall floor in our house. Always an adventure when mom goes out of town. :)

Holiday Marathon

The last two weeks have been a blur. A blur of fun, family festivities. I'm going to do my best in recapping everything here....

Before leaving for St. Louis on Christmas Eve we had our first holiday get together with our family here in Phoenix. The kids opened presents and we made cookies for Santa.

Christmas Eve morning began at 4:30 a.m. We were quite the sight to see working our way through the airport with all our "stuff."

Finally in St. Louis, we had lunch on the Hill and headed to SHF for mass. So good to see old friends, I'm pretty sure we talked through the entire service. :) After a quick note for Santa, hoping he would find us in St. Louis, we headed to bed. Christmas morning came, and we got everything we wanted.....including snow!

Christmas day was spent with my family. Filled with all the expected moments of family get togethers, awkward conversations, over consumption of food and beverages, lots of laughs, a few tears, secret bear meetings, and even some caroling.

Saturday morning, brunch at the Ohler's with my Dad and of course more presents for the boys. That afternoon we headed out to Union for Christmas with the Helling's. It seems to be a horrible tradition that I am starting, but I again forgot to bring my camera with me. The food was amazing, as usual, and the company just the same. Noah, of course had a blast running around with his cousins and Caleb spent much of the afternoon playing with his Great Grandpa.

Sunday it was one more Christmas celebration at Bushia's followed by an old school football funday. More presents. More food. And more fun. The rest of the week was filled with outings, basketball games, Christmas lights, and dental visits. Living so far away from "home" makes the holidays that much more special. Every get together becomes a huge deal and a major event. The only problem is that there is never enough time to see everyone and to do everything...especially with out our own car. A huge thanks to everyone, including Uncle Dave for letting us use his house, Bushia for letting us basically steal her car for the week, and to the Ryan's for all entertainment.

Fall Break

San Diego was so much fun! We finished up the week with a trip to Legoland on Thursday and a beach day Friday...both which deserve their own posts, but who has time for that? Legoland was perfect for our family. Two little boys who love Legos and love rides! Caleb learned quickly to stand on his toes to get on the roller coasters, although he probably didn't have to. And the beach on Friday was perfect! The high was in the mid 70s and the sun was shining bright. Even Bushia was able to stay on the beach all day because of the cooler temps! The kids built castles, dug for treasures, and ran in the waves. We didn't get to use the boogie boards because the waves were too big...and the water was too cold for mom and dad! Here is a video of the ride Eric made for the boys.

And just to catch up, here are some of our favorite pics...