Viva Las Vegas

This past weekend I had a great time in Las Vegas with my girl friend Anne. Anne flew down from Reno and we met there in Las Vegas. It just happened to be Mothers Day weekend as well but since Keith and Oliver spoil me regularly, I was OK missing Mothers Day with my boys to be with my good friend Anne. We had a weekend full of food, fun and friendship!

This first night we took a stroll on the Las Vegas strip and stopped to see a fountain water show at the Bellagio.

You just never know who you will see in Vegas. Sometimes, you may even see a (wanna be) celebrity. We also saw Michael Jackson, live and in person on the street corner. Who would have guessed?!

We topped off the night with cocktails at Japonais in our hotel, The Mirage. Don't worry, mine is just fancy fruit juice in a cocktail glass. It's amazing how much better juice tastes when it's in a fun glass!

The next day we were all about the pool!

After a long winter (that seems to continue as it is currently snowing) the warm desert sunshine was very welcome to our pasty white winter skin.

It wouldn't be a pool day without a LARGE fruity beverage. Drink of choice for me, Mango Daiquiri since it was the only non-alcoholic option. It was YUMMY!!

I also notice at this angle, I don't even appear pregnant. Just wait until the next photo and it all changes.

Well, since everyone at the pool saw me in my itsy bitsy bikini, I suppose I can share with my blog buddies. I can tell you it it the only time I have worn a 2-piece swim suit and not worried about sucking in my tummy. Ha!

Good times were had by all, even our new baby boy.

Just to the right of our chairs was this fabulous water fall.

Straight ahead was a view of the pool with Caesars in the background.

Saturday night we went to see the Cirque Du Solei production, Love. I LOVED Love! The whole show is set to the Beatles music, which I am a huge fan of. No cameras were aloud inside, but we got a great photo before the show when we went to pick-up our tickets.

The entrance to Love. The floor changed colors!

So this may seem out of order, but once we picked up our tickets, we went to dinner and then to the show.

We ate at a place called Stack in the Mirage. It was fancy schmancy American food that was quite yummy. We teased that they put us at a date table since we were cozy in the corner. The food was great and we had a good time. (once again, fancy fruit juice in a martini glass for me)

Keith and Oliver were grilling hot dogs this night, so we thought we would have the appetizer pigs in a blanket in their honor. YUM!

Jen Stack - This photo is for you. If my purse was bigger, you might have a new steak knife :)

The best part of dinner was dessert. Raspberry jelly filled donuts with a vanilla dipping sauce. They were so fresh, they were still warm. SO Yummy!

Sunday we spent the morning at the pool and then went out for some shopping. Here is a view from the walkway outside the Mirage.

Inside Caesars Forum Shops I had to take a picture with this horse for Oliver. He's a big fan of horses.

The escalators were amazing! Yes, we got a little turned around trying to figure out how to get from these escalators into the rest of the mall.

Sunday night we went to dinner at Mesa Grill, but first stopped for some photos in our hotel entry way.

Nearly a dozen times a day we walked past this lounge. It was The Beatles lounge and these letters spelled out Revolution. I had to have my picture taken in front of my favorite letter, "O", for Oliver!

What a great weekend! It was so great to spend a weekend with Anne, soaking up the Nevada sunshine and eating our way from one restaurant to another.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...

Oliver and Keith had a great weekend with just the boys. Throughout the weekend I received photos, which I loved! I found them so fun, I wanted to share them with the captions that came along with them.

Good Morning Mom

To the slide!!!!

No caption on this one, but this is Oliver at Dinosaur Ridge, just down the road from our house.

T-Rex aaaaahhhhhggggg!

(love this photo! Such Fun!)

Happy Mothers Day

Love Oliver

O man hard at work!

Lunch is served! Outside seating please.

Everyone had a great weekend! Thanks to Keith for holding down the fort while I took a few days to run off and play!

Name Game

Now that we know we are having a boy, the challenge of finding a name for him has begun. I say challenge because there are so many options and Keith and I don't usually agree on the same name. Either we know someone with the name, it reminds us of something, the nick-name is unacceptable (to us) or we just can't decide how to spell it. I'll post a few of the options we have in our heads to the right and you can vote on what you like. I also thought it would be fun to reach out for ideas. We would love to hear from you. You can either comment on this post or send them in an email and we can add them to the list.

Oliver at the Park

We've had some busy weekends, but not much to document with photos and a blog post. However, today changed that. We live 1/2 block from an elementary school and they were having a 5K fund raiser. We first heard about this because a neighbor boy was asking for pledges to run in the 5K. The funds went for computers, smart boards, etc for the school. After we pledged to help him and the school, Keith noticed that he could run in the 5K as well. This kicked off a fun filled afternoon. Keith ran the 5K at 1:00 and then we stuck around for the festivities. Oliver enjoyed playing on the play ground. Unlike most times, this time had great music and lots of kids to play with. They also had jumpy castles that were a huge hit! I had no idea that my shy and reserved little munchkin was so ambitious and outgoing when it came to jumpy castles! We even ran into his buddy Charlie from school so the two of them got a round of jumping in together. It was great fun for all of us. We are also excited to say that the boy who we pledged to came in 1st place for pledges. Way to Go!!

Oliver flirting with some girls under the stairs to the slide.

He thought it was great fun to see them down below and flirt with them. The girl on the right lives two doors down. She is the only girl on a street block with 6 boys (soon to be 7). Her and her friend were good sports and enjoyed making funny faces at Oliver, which he thought was hilarious!

Oliver even got to check out a real fire truck! He thought it was great, and then he was amazed and a little shocked at how high up the drivers seat was.

When we got home, Keith noticed the neighborhood squirrel, basking in the sun in his "usual" spot! Madalyn isn't the only one who enjoys sun bathing in our back yard. This squirrel seems to enjoy the corner of our deck. I took the photo through the window because I knew he would run away if we opened the door. I guess we have the safest back yard in the neighborhood. Even Madalyn doesn't frighten him.

Moments later, we noticed the squirrel going for a snack out of one of our planters. This winter we spotted him hiding food in our planters. Hmm... well... I guess it could be worse. This picture also reminds me that I'm longing for nice weather so that we can brighten our yard with flowers. Warm spring weather is taking it's sweet time arriving this year.

Oliver's Class Photo 2010

Below is Oliver's class photo for the Early Preschool I class. Several of these kids he started with as an infant. A few of them we have no idea who they are because they arrive later in the morning and leave earlier in the afternoon than Oliver does.

Back Row: Ms Melissa, Kaia, Hayden, ?, ?, Haley, Carson, Patrick, Oliver, Rosalyn, Ms Michelle.

Front Row: Francisco (Cisco), ?, Charlie

Shane and Rio Visit Colorado

This past weekend Shane and Rio came to visit from Washington. We all had a great time and the boys got along famously. It was also a little insight into our future with two boys since Oliver and Rio are about the same age apart as our two little guys will be. The weekend was full of fun adventures all over Denver. The weather wasn't the best, but we made the most of it. The boys also had a great time going to the park and playing in the yard. I didn't get any pictures of that though. I was usually catching a cat-nap or a little rest while they went outside with Keith and Shane. That's pregnancy for ya.

Oliver and Rio having a great time coloring.

I scream

You scream

We all scream

For Ice Cream!

Friday I took Shane and Rio to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. They were quite amazed with it. Maybe next time there will be a concert in town that we can go too. Friday afternoon we met up with Keith so that he and Shane could tour the Never Summer snowboard factory here in Denver. It is a small shop but they both loved the tour. Shane is a huge fan of their boards and Keith is now a converted fan. I guess there is a new snowboard in our winter '10/'11 future. BTW... I hear they are the last American made snowboard available and they are all 100% hand made.

Rio and Oliver having a fruit snack Friday afternoon.

This is one of many snack times. When you run around for hours on end, you can really work up an appetite!

Saturday we took Shane and Rio to the zoo. It was Rio's first zoo experience. We saw everything on his list, including: bats, sharks (tiny ones), penguins and bears (three kinds). We also saw all of the animals on Oliver's list including seals, a hippopotamus, a rhinoceros, elephants and snakes. Of course, that was just a few of the many animals we saw.

For ease of travel we rented a "jeep" for the day. It was a choice of a wagon or a jeep and Keith thought the jeep was the best idea. I must say, I agree. The boys loved it and it was easy for them to jump in and out of. For some of the animals they could stay seated like they were on safari and see the animals from their jeep. This came in handy when we were trying to make quick progress through some areas and when they were getting tired.

Here is a photo of Keith testing the jeep on some steep and twisty terrain.

Oliver and Rio checking out how far they have to grow to be as tall as a polar bear. Looks like they had better keep eating their Wheaties.

In the tropical section the boys got a sneak preview for what they would see at the aquarium the next day.

Admiring the elephants.

Whew! Looks like they have it made on this height chart and they are taller than the penguins.

A trip to the zoo wouldn't be complete without a carousel and train ride.

Rio and Shane on the carousel.

The four of us on the carousel.

Time for a train ride!

After watching the clouds move in all day, it started to rain. The kids didn't mind, they had jackets to keep them warm and dry and an umbrella to keep the water off of their head.

Shane pushing the boys to the front gate. The rain really started coming down hard and we had been at the zoo for five hours. It was time to call the zoo a wrap.

On Sunday we took the boys to the aquarium. Rio really wanted to see sharks. He saw some! Several really big ones! I didn't get any good photos of them, but they did witness big sharks at the aquarium.

Here, Rio and Oliver are checking out the otters swimming.

Fish, Fish and more Fish!

A turtle swimming over head.

Rio and Shane checking out some medium size sharks that were taking a nap. Who knew sharks actually napped in the bottom of the ocean (or tank in this case)?

Rio in one of the observation bubbles with a fish floating by over head.

We had a great weekend with Shane and Rio. We already have big plans for all of the fun stuff we want to take them to see and do next time they visit!