Vacation Part 2

After visiting the Grand Canyon, we traveled west to Las Vegas. Tevye really wanted to go there, so I put aside my distaste for this location and let him have his way. Arriving very late at night, and after waiting an hour or more in line, Tevye had finally checked us in at Circus Circus. The room was nice, the bed was very comfortable, and the air conditioning worked well. The next morning, we ate breakfast at the buffet, and then I stayed in the hotel room, trying to feel better from my cold, while Tevye took Caden and Vance downstairs to the rides and games they have in the hotel.As you can see, the boys had a great time and returned to the hotel room with two large plastic bags full of stuffed animals they won as prizes. Later that afternoon, we all went to Mandalay Bay to visit their aquarium. It was small but impressive. All of us enjoyed it. Finally, after eating an over-priced meal at the Red, White, and Blue Cafe inside Mandalay Bay, we headed over to the theater to watch "The Lion King." This was the first time we had taken the boys to see a musical on stage, and I was worried that they would get antsy or fall asleep. To our delight, they loved it! The sets and performances were great, and as always, I got emotional at the beginning and the end scenes.

Thanks, Tevye, for taking us to see "The Lion King"!

Our Big Vacation Part 1

Since we had a family wedding reception to go to this month, we took advantage of the opportunity to take a two-week vacation. As Tevye started planning the trip, we realized that we could fit a lot of stuff into this trip, figuring that we won't be having another vacation for a very long time. We had a great time and were able to visit or drive through seven states.

Our first stop was Williams, Arizona to ride the Grand Canyon Railway 65 miles north to the Grand Canyon. It was cold, and it actually snowed on us while at the canyon! Luckily, we were a little bit prepared for the cold weather since we new our travels would be taking us up to Wyoming where it is still cold this time of year. We had a great time in Williams that included a comfortable hotel, a great buffet dinner (breakfast not so great), a funny Wild West show, and an entertaining train ride.

Our time at the Grand Canyon was limited to about 3 1/2 hours, but really, once you look at it for about ten minutes you have a really good idea about what it will look like in another ten minutes. We ate lunch at a restaurant there and looked around in the gift shop. That's when it started to snow large flakes. The weather wasn't cold enough for any of it to stick to the ground, so the boys walked around trying to catch enough in their mittened hands to make a snowball.

On the train ride back to Williams, Tevye decided he wanted to take the boys to the cafe car for a little treat. When Vance asked him where he was taking them, Tev replied that they were going to jump off the train. I didn't expect Vance to believe that his dad would have him jump off the train, nevertheless, the fear washed over Vance's face, and he refused to go. After a couple of minutes, Tevye managed to get the boys to come with him. A while later, back they came, happily carrying their icecream treats. "Mom," Vance excitedly proclaimed, "we got icecream and didn't even have to jump off the train! What do you know?!"

About halfway back to Williams, the "train robbers" borded the train. Caden was sitting by me when it happened. Even though he was trying to act brave, I knew he was scared because his body was pressing so tightly against my arm. "Don't worry," I assured him, "it's just pretend." Immediately, I felt his body relax, and he said, "I know."

Breakfast Chat with Vance

The other day, while Vance and I were waiting for Caden to finish his state testing, I took Vance to a nearby McDonald's for breakfast. He ordered the pancakes, which I proceeded to cut up and pour syrup on.

Suddenly, he exclaims, "Damn!"

Surprised, I held in my breath and began to frantically search my brain to figure out where he would have picked up such language. Being the overprotective mom that I am, I quickly devised a plan to alter our media habits, etc.

"What," I asked him. Very pleased with himself, he looked up at me and said, "The pancake made a dam. It stopped the syrup!" Dam- not damn- BIG difference.

We have been talking about our upcoming trip to the Hoover Dam, and he was proud of himself for making his own dam. I love that guy!