Exploring Around Town

This week the boys and I have been exploring the city and finding all kinds of fun parks to go to and play.  Before I get to all that fun, here's a picture of our house we are buying.  Everything is going smoothly so far (except for the far away closing date).  So excited and can't wait to move in!

On to the fun....We went an outdoor mall south of the strip that has a really cool children's play area.  They have this turf maze that the kids loved running through.

They also had tree houses as their main playground equipment.  Pretty cool place for moms to get the energy out of kiddos while shopping.

 Next up, I bought a Groupon the first week we were here to an indoor bounce place.  I thought "why not" since it was looking like we would be at the hotel longer than expected.  At first when we got to the place I thought it was pretty lame, but then they opened up room #2 and it was well worth the time and money.  The kids wore themselves out on this sky jumper.  Hmmmm....wonder if I could get one of these for the hotel room?!?!?

 Then they had a boxing bouncer and the kids thought it was hilarious to put on the oversized gloves and helmets.

 Getting their frustrations out on each other.  HA!

 Then they had this contraption....never seen one like this before.  Giant spider web for kids.

 Near our new house, there is a fantastic little park.  It was really cool and very beautiful.  They had the whole park as an old western town in the middle of the desert.

 But then on the other side of the park, you had this lush green field with a splash pad.  Pretty interesting.  For living in the middle of the desert, Las Vegas has some really awesome parks for the kids to play.

 And of course when we are not running around town trying to find things to do, we are chillaxin' at the hotel pool.

All of this time together is forcing them to bond.  Look at these two snuggle bunnies watching a morning cartoon!  Ah...brotherly love.  Let me relish in this moment.

Our First Week in Vegas

Since we have arrived in Vegas, we have been busy.  We arrived on a Friday and got into our very nice room at the Homewood Suites.  This is the view from our balcony!  Gorgeous.  We have a nice place - probably the nicest temp housing we've had on any of our moves.

Saturday we were up and running with house hunting.  Poor kids, they didn't even get a break from the car.  The house is a long story, but to make it short, S had found us a house when he house hunted back in June.  After the appraisal, the seller backed out because it appraised lower than she liked and we weren't forking over the extra money.  The market is horrible here and I did feel sorry for her because her house was worth more.  Believe it or not, I was not stressed...I knew we would find the perfect place once there.  AND, we did.  Sunday we looked at two houses and one of them being the house we put in an offer.  They accepted on Monday.  The bad news is we can't close until the end of Aug.  SO.....hotel living it is for 6 more weeks.  UGH!  I know I should feel blessed to be in a nice hotel with maid service and breakfast everyday.  However, have you ever lived in a hotel suite with 3 energetic little boys?  Well, needless to say it's a chore.  We are getting out everyday to explore new parks and other places.  Fun, yet exhausting, for this momma in 100+ temperatures.  Here's some fun shots from our week of park adventures.

Lots of pool time at the hotel

Cool splash park that we were told about from a lady I met in hotel.

Look at the background in this one!

A drive out toward Red Rock Canyon.  Can't wait to hike around this place when the temperatures get cooler.

So that's our week in a nutshell.  Hope I can maintain this much energy for the next 6 weeks. It's gonna be long but hopefully we can make the most of it.

Our Road Trip Recap

Where to begin for our two week journey West???  Well, to start, we did our trip right!  We took our time and slowly adjusted to the time zone changes.  Plus, it gave us a ton of time with family to have fun along the way.  First off, we drove to Gatlinburg, TN where we met the Jones family for a little "vacation".  We spent time at the Aquarium and doing a lot of shopping.

Next up, we headed to Texarkana but stopped halfway to stay with Uncle Russ in Memphis.  It was fun to get to see their house and their little doggie, Winston.  Now Will is obsessed with getting his own dog....sorry no pictures.

When we arrived in Texarkana we had a great time fishing,

Riding four-wheelers and the EZ-Go,

And celebrating the 4th of July with our own little fireworks production.  The best part was terrifying Rhonda with some little zipper fireworks that shot off in crazy directions.  

After a few days of fun on the farm, we headed back to Little Rock to spend some time with Shea's parents at their house.  The kids loved the backyard and I loved how they were getting so much energy out on this entire trip :).  We jumped a lot on the trampoline,

went to the Discovery Museum downtown,

and had lots of fun with this pretty little girl, their cousin Scarlett.

After our time with family, then it was time for our 3 1/2 days of traveling westward.  At first I wasn't sure how this was going to pan out.  It could be fun or horrible due to children in the car.  The boys did GREAT!  However they were coma induced with electronic devices for the entire time.  First stop was a short day to Oklahoma City.

After OK, we headed to Albuquerque, NM.  We stopped in Amarillo to take advantage of a photo shoot at the iconic Cadillac Ranch.  

We also took a little rest stop in Tucumcari, NM.  I had to take a picture.  This was the town my PaPaw was born in.

Another stop along the way at the world famous Cline's Corner.  (it's ok, I wouldn't have known what it was but we used to stop there on every youth trip to NM.  It really does boast to be world famous)

After Albuquerque, we headed to Flagstaff, AZ to spend the night.  I guess I didn't take any pictures.  I was quite surprised at how different it was then I expected.  It was 7,000 ft above sea level and full of pine trees.  Pleasant surprise.  After Flagstaff, we had half a days drive to Las Vegas.  We stopped at the Hoover Dam just outside of town to stretch our legs and take pictures.  It was breathtaking!  This is Shea at the middle of the dam looking out.  That bridge in the background was what we drove on to get there.  The dam is not part of the interstate anymore.  You can drive or walk across it after you enter the visiting center.

I'm so glad we chose to drive.  Although long, it was one that I won't forget.  The scenery was beautiful and we saw a lot that we would not have otherwise.  I told S when we began that we were crazy for even attempting it but we did it!  This definitely goes down as a family memory we will all remember.  Next time we need to rent an RV though.  ha!

Where have I been??

 

If you read my blog and wonder where on earth I have been, well we are currently on our way to our new home, Las Vegas.  Check back in a week or so for pics and details of our journey.  We have been on the road for two weeks visiting family along the way.  The boys are having a blast and adjusting well to a new bed almost every night.  We arrive in Las Vegas on lucky Friday the 13th.  HAHA!  We would appreciate your prayers for safe travel.