"Family Road Trip-Spring Break 2011"

6 states in 8 days!!!!!!!!! 2500 miles and 42 hours in the car! We covered ALOT of ground. Saw lot of scenery. Watched lots of movies in the car. Tyler and I watched our theme movie for the entire trip "Vacation!". Griswold style...................... We let Nicole drive thru Boise ID. I'm not sure what we were thinking because it was rush hour, tons of construction, semi-trucks everywhere. I just turned up my volume and didn't look out the window. I was hoping this wasn't the last time you would see me alive!!!! lol

15 hours to get to Salt Lake City.............(our entire trip we drove thru Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, California, Nevada). We had alot of time in the car.................I was prepared (like usual!) and when we stopped for gas I made everyone bagels with cream cheese, fruit, coffee and juice.

Back on the road! And my awesome sister Donna made me a fab new quilt and I begged her to finish it before our trip. Well.............she thought we were leaving Saturday............ummmm no.....Friday! So she was awesome and finished it late Thursday night and Nicole drove me over to Lebanon to get it for our roadtrip!(Nicole had to drive me cause I had already started vacation with a little wine and was in no shape to drive and needed to finish packing!) Nicole washed it for me and the morning we left it was really cold out so she put it in the drier and took it out warm for the car! Thanks awesome sister and awesome daughter!

So I decided since we had so much time in the car.............I would polish my toes (bright pink!). Who does that? Who brings nail polish in the car? I didnt do the best job, but better than no polish at all! It will eventually wear off my skin right? hahaaa.....I needed to organize my purse..........lots of time for that! And surprisingly enough.......the kids got along GREAT! in the backseat. Being nice to each other and sharing. Who are these kids are where are mine? At one time (lot of time to think too) I thought it would be funny if LeRoy and I got in the backseat and took a nap and let Nicole drive and Tyler sit up front. We would probably have ended up in Canada or something. Idaho was kinda smelly and icky. Are we there yet??

We finally arrived at our friends Mike and Angie! Thanks so much "Hotel Lindquist" for the hospitality! They were wonderful and so gracious to open up their home to us! And gave us a tour of their city. We went to the Mormon Temple. Downtown SLC on the TRAX, and awesome outdoor shopping mall. (Nicole and I could have spent lots more time and money there! I got a really cute pair of blingy jeans!) And Lady Gaga was having a concert at the Arena that night so we saw lot of crazy people walking around downtown. Guys in leather shorts and fishnet stockings. The weirdos were out! Very entertaining! (and then Lady Gaga followed us to Vegas cause we saw she was there the same time we were too!)

Mike, Angie, Devin and Dillion! Thanks for such a great visit!(and Mike...........thanks for putting hot pink tips in your hair just for me..........I loved it!)

We went up to Park City, UT. (looks much different with snow, than last summer when I was there and it was HOT!) Lots of snow. We walked thru all the shops and showed the kids the sites. When up to the ski area. So beautiful. Showed them where alot of the venues were for the 2002 Olympics were held.

We managed to find candy shops everywhere we went! Doesn't Tyler look sweet? hahahaaaa

Salt Lake City is surrounded by mountains. Such a beautiful place. Nicole loved the big city and wants to move there!

Tyler had so much fun playing with Devin and Dillon. We didn't see much of them for 3 days. (they have a game room with video games..................little boys dream.............) We had lots of snow in Park City.

And for anyone thinking that SLC is strictly made up of strict mormons??????? WRONG! hahahahahahahaaa...............have some hilarious stories but cannot post them on my blog. Not appropriate and definatley not family oriented. My friend Sheila from CO knows what I'm talking about. We were texting the entire time and I'm still laughing OUT LOUD at those texts.

And I also stalked my sister Donna the entire trip. (I can fill you in on the "conservative-little-mormon-town" if you want a good laugh!)

We were going to stop at Zion National Park on the way to Vegas. Well.....................when we got there it was snowing. Blizzard! No visibility so we couldn't see anything so we kept on going..................

Somewhere in Arizona!!!!!!!!!!!!! We saw sunshine!

Are we there yet?

'Vegas...................here we come!! part 2"

Made it to Vegas baby.................... Checked into hotel.........freshened up and took the kids out to check out the town! We had our car so we just drove around. The strip was so busy and crazy! Kids were taking it all in. I asked them what they thought and Nicole says "it looks like Disneyland for adults!" How right she is! Was a balmy 63 degrees when we arrived. Alot warmer than Salt Lake City! It was starting to get dark so we drove down the strip again to show them all the lights and hotels. Nicole's main goal was to ride the roller coaster on top of New York New York. So we drove her by. She was so excited! That was on the agenda for the next day!

She road the roller coaster and said it was FAST! She tried talking me into going on it with her. NO THANKS! I would be motion sick all day, so I just held her purse. hahaaaa...And we had just stopped and got candy from this awesome place. Didn't want that comin' back up!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh................sunshine! Nicole and I took advantage of a little bit of sun! We layed down by the pool for a few hours. The boys went to find a store for a camera battery.....My camera has been acting up since we left Park City. So we stopped at a Walmart somewhere in Arizona and bought a new memory card. Back on the road..............realized it wasn't memory card...........must be battery..................still nothin'..........why does this always happen to me? Well I can't really go the rest of vacation without a camera! My phone camera just doesn't always cut it! So my sweet, dear husband found a Walmart out in nowhere-Vegas and just bought a new little camera! Thanks honey. But he wasn't in a very good mood when he came back.................Thanks goodness Nicole and I were laying by the pool..........

Nicole thought the entire Spring Break should be sunny like this...hahahhaaaaaaaa......we saw way more snow than sun! And she wanted to wear her new swimsuit!

We walked around and saw lots!!

So inappropriate..........................but funny!

I have a picture of LeRoy with Spongebob from our 10th anniversary when we went to Vegas. We had to go find Spongebob and get a pic with the kids!

We found and In-and-Out burger..............Heard it is really good.............Food is food and we were hungry! Nicole was good and wanted to work out when we got back to the hotel. I didn't. lol. So I sent LeRoy and Tyler with her to the workout room. It was 3 doors down from us with an amazing view of the strip. I really did waste good workout time but I was tired and just didn't feel like it. So when they were down there I crawled into bed looking at the view of Vegas from the 27th floor RELAXING! Tv off..........dug out some new magazines. Sad I have to leave the state to relax and read................hahahah. Only lasted about 1/2 hour........but I will take what I can get!

We walked.................and walked.......................and walked.............................. (I had warned the kids we would be walking alot even tho we took the monorail...............I don't think they realized HOW MUCH walking we really were going to do!)

Took them to the MGM for the Lion Exhibit. They were all out and were baby cubs so Tyler loved watching them play.

Had to go to Hooters..................Nicole wanted a shirt.................Like I said...............inappropriate but funny...........

We went to Paris....................

Hope your wish comes true buddy!

Walked and walked and walked....................

Water show at the Bellagio...........

Atrium at Bellagio is always decorated for the season................SPRING...........so pretty!!

and walked and walked and walked..................the boys were DONE! Nicole and I were good! Went to Ceasars Forum shops, Treasure Island, Cosmopolitan, Venetian, Bally's, MGM, Paris, Sahara, Planet Hollywood, New York New York, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excaliber, Bellagio, Sephora and anything in between. Lots to see!

We ate at Planet Hollywood....................wanted to go back to MGM Rainforest Cafe (my fav!) but was too far away................kids would have had a major meltdown if we would have taken the time to get back there............Tyler had a little altercation with Rocky............

Vegas was so fun! Kids enjoyed it (except for all the walking). Didn't get to see everything we wanted because we ran out of time! Off to Reno..............

"Reno, NV......part 3"

Are we there yet?! Headed to Reno.....staying at the Peppermill Hotel. Can't wait to get there and eat some dinner. Tired of being in the car! Road to seemingly nowhere!!!! We have covered alot of scenery/countryside/uninhabited desert!

And the closer we get to Reno (about 8 miles out)..................the weather turns into a blizzard!!!! What the heck! We just left sunny, warm Vegas and it's snowing! So hard we can't see and missed our exit..................Once again our little friend GPS saved the day and got us safely to our destination...........

Ahhhhhh..................finally we made it. Rooms were so nice!

We really wanted to lay by the pool....................but it was a little snowy....................

Nicole took full advantage of the amazing fitness facility.................Me????? Not so much! I took magazines and sat on the couch and watched her run. lol. I really wanted to take my wine with me but thought they may frown on that?

Next day was sunny but COLD! Crazy people out there swimming. Pools were heated but you still had to get out!

Tyler lost a tooth while eating wheat thins at the hotel........................so I gave him his "tooth fairy" money $1. hahaha. So I told him to go spend it at the arcade. He had some money still to spend and Nicole and I were down in the fitness room. LeRoy texted me and told me he had won a PSP player out of a game/machine!!!!! I was so happy for him! Those run about $180 and he had spent about $25 to get it!!! Yay Tyler! And on the way home.......................I realized I forgot his tooth................in the hotel........................hahhaaaa...............I'm sure the maid was like "WTF"?

We ended up extending our stay one night due to the snow. Day we were to leave was blizzard again. Pass was requiring chains and others were closed. Didn't want to take the chance of getting up there and having to turn around and come back. Especially when I had a comfortable hotel. I was ok staying an extra night and extending our vacation a day. If we went home I would still have to do laundry, and finish my taxes and get back to reality! Plus I wanted to sleep in. Haven't had much sleep at all this trip. Go, go, go. So we stayed an extra night. Next day......slept in.........................breakfast in bed................boys went down to arcade and Nicole and I stayed in bed and read.......had a great view of the city...................relaxed!!!!

Finally got out of Reno a day later......Sierra-Nevada mountain pass was BAD!!! So much snow. About 12 feet on sides of road. Slow movin' home. That was the longest 10 hours of my life.

Tired of being in the car. Tired of sitting. Just want to get home to my comforts of my house. LeRoy got us home safely. Home never looked so good!

Tyler pretty much watched movies the entire time in the car. Thanks goodness for DVD player. He probably watched about 30 movies! Had a great trip. Lots of family time. (Nicole was over it by the last leg of the trip. hahah). Lots of great memories for us. I'm sure we looked like the Griswolds......................

Griswold Spring Break Family Road trip 2011.................................

"sadie hawkins dance....and a fashion emergency!"

Finally!!!! The Sadie Hawkins Dance was rescheduled! (was cancelled due to our little snow storm a few weeks ago.)
It was Friday night and Nicole had school...........and then softball practice in the rain! So we were very short on time to get her ready. Once she got home she jumped in the shower. I needed time to do her hair (including hair extentions, and polish her nails) and she said she could handle her own make up. I don't know why I always like to take goofy before pics while she is getting ready.

We were doing great on time. Her hair was turning out fabulous...............

Time to get dressed................7:45....................Jason would be here any second to pick her up. As was grandma and Jason's mom to take pictures.

Put on the dress................had a hard time with the zipper..................

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Zipper was faulty and split.......................OMG...........what do I do????

Fashion Emergency!!!

I panicked for a minute. Asked Nicole if she had a backup dress? "Mom, I'm wearing this dress, she says calmly.........and my nails are already painted blue to match my dress, and my shoes are blue and I want to wear this dress." Ok................................So I pinned it so I could think......told her to sit down and don't move. DON'T BREATHE! LeRoy pipes up from the other room and says "why don't ya just sew the dress on her?" BRILLIANT!!!

Needle and thread and sew, sew, sew and double reinforce! VOILA! Problem solved! And so glad it happened before she left.....or got in the car......or god forbid was at the dance gettin' down and her dress busted open!!!!!

Goldie-Locks............

Hair turned out amazing!!!!!!!

Jason made it. Remembered the flowers. Everyone got pics and they were off to the dance.

ha ha......I accidentally posted this pic twice................there were lots of shinnagins and silly......those are the pics I like.........

Gorgeous...... (and still had all her birthday festivities up!)

I always love the pic of the corsage with her dress. I started that tradition last year and have been doing it for every dance. (she has the tiny-ist waistline ever!!!!!)

They didn't want to go out to a restaurant.....................as usual asked me to cook.......healthy.

As per their request.............homemade vegie soup, crusty wheat bread, strawberries and lowfat cupcakes............

When she got home I literally had to CUT her out of the dress!!! I think they had fun...........haven't had much time to talk to her! We have all been so busy. Her and I both worked Saturday and she ditched me last night to stay with a friend.

And since it was Sadie Hawkins dance............ girls ask boys......................
Nicole pulled off a good one! All by herself (well, help of some friends, and clearance from the teacher. I didn't know anything about it!)

One of her friends works at the same pizza place as Jason. Nicole had her make a heart shaped pizza and deliver it to Jason in his 4th period class at school! And had written on the outside and inside of the box asking if he would go to the dance with her. HOW CUTE IT THAT? I'm sure that classroom smelled good and everyone was a little envious. And Jason asked where Nicole was and she was hiding outside the classroom, peaking around the corner............and he made her come in, in front of the ENTIRE class so he could give his answer! She said she wanted to DIE. So embarrased! I told her SHE should have been the pizza delivery girl! (this was all that was left of it by the time I saw it after school).

Glad the dance is over. On to the next thing. Today was my only day off this week. Weird day......power outage for a few hours...............silver lining in that was I was FORCED to get my tax stuff done! Have been putting if off. Was just enough light coming in the dining room window I got it done (with help from my hubs :) thanks Big Poppa... taxes make me CRANKY!) House got cleaned. And I told the family to get in the car cause we were goin' out for pizza! I'm not cooking. Daylight savings today so I'm not tired but need to get to bed. Working crazy long hours this week................