LAS BEGAS

Last night we arrived totally exhausted from our wild family trip to Las Vegas. This is the first trip that all three of us have gone on in a long time, and it was very fun to be together. It was also extra fun to meet up with Heidi and Craig who were there for a conference.

We flew in on Monday and that night we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It is always a joy of mine to walk through the mall at Caesars and enjoy the sights of the expensive stores under the fake blue sky. I love it, and was totally blown away with the new H&M there--it was crazy cool and apparently the biggest H&M in the whole wide world. After dinner and a little H&M we went outside and walked to the Bellagio fountains. Stella loves dancing water shows and she was amazed with the fountain shows we saw that night.

Before we left for the trip I asked Stella if she wanted us to bring her crib or if she wanted to sleep in a big bed with pillows. She picked the pillows option and was very much thrilled with going to "Las Begas and sleeping in a bed with pillows." Each day we totally wore her out and she always fell asleep right away. It was totally cute. I loved snuggling with her and couldn't help but be a little nostalgic about how the last time I shared a bed with her was when she was a tiny baby on her first trip to Vegas, and now she is my big girl who is too big for a crib.

No pictures from our day of shopping, but we had a great time (except for finding the Kate Spade outlet closed, which was a real bummer). We also discovered the adorable Fashion Square shopping center that I have driven by tons of times without ever realizing that it was the coolest little town-like shopping area. Plus it had the most adorable playground that Stella loved and we returned to it several times. We also had a yummy dinner at a restaurant there with the Gummows that night.

The next day was supposed to be filled with more shopping, but after driving to a closed Nordstrom Rack we decided just to head back to the hotel to enjoy the pool. It was perfect for Stella with a small shallow pool for her to enjoy.

That night it was just the three of us. We went back to Fashion Square for dinner and playground fun (where Stella made lots of friends), and then back to the hotel for bowling. Our hotel had a bowling alley, we had coupons, and Stella had never bowled, so we went. She was pretty tired at the start and at first there were several meltdowns:

1. She didn't get to go first because her dad had entered our names in order of seniority.
2. When she did get to go, she missed all the pins.
3. She hurt her hand playing with the balls as they come up the thingy.
4. She ran past the foul line and slipped and totally fell back and hit her head.

All this would have been almost funny if we didn't have 19 frames of bowling left to deal with. But in the end she got the hang of it and decided to have some fun. She was so tired, but with a little help from Mom and Dad, some handy bumpers, and candy, she actually ended up beating us both.

Before the trip I was talking to Heidi about how I didn't know what we would do with the hours we had before our flight out that night. I joked about driving to Hoover Dam...then suddenly I realized that perhaps we should. I had never seen it, and why not? I certainly have a great love for dam jokes. (I was in hysterics visiting the website: "Purchase tickets to the dam tour;" "the power plant tour takes 30 mins, while the dam tour takes....;" "You cannot purchase dam tickets online;" "the DAM TOUR is NOT accessible;" "parking garage available for those visiting the dam site.") I mean, come on, the people writing that have gotta think that is funny--I know I did! Anyway, we decided to go. We didn't go on any dam tours (tee hee) because the one where we could actually take Stella scared the crap out of Brent. But we did walk around. It was smoking hot (110 degrees), but we survived. After walking around the dam, Stella and I hiked up to the new bridge that is crazy cool looking and got a great dam view. (Are you sick of it yet? I'm not.) Overall, we had a great dam day! (Okay, last one.)

And that was our trip to Vegas. We had a great time and are totally worn out from all of the fun.

FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL

Stella didn't want to go to preschool today--she wanted to watch a movie. That is, until...we put on the backpack. That backpack made her officially ready for preschool. She told me that she was going to make new friends, and she went right in with no worries at all.

When I picked her up she was upset about leaving a second set of clothes there that we left in case of accidents--I realized when we got to the car that she was worried that other kids would wear her clothes. But after that concern was cleared up she told me she had a great time at preschool. She told me she made new friends and that none of them hit her. So that was good. I am glad she is making some non-violent friendships. She told me the snack was crackers (which she ate) and carrots (which she did not). She played with Play-Doh, practiced her name, and read books. There was also something in there about being an airplane as well.

As for me, besides feeling like I just sent my 3-month old baby to school I am proud of her. It makes me feel a little sad, but I know it is good for her to learn to be independent.

FIRST DANCE CLASS

Today was Stella's first dance class. She was so excited, and she told me while we were combing her hair: "I am going to make new friends."

Well Stella is best at new things when her mommy isn't around, but I wanted to stay today to take pictures. A lot of the other girls already knew each other and I know it made Stella nervous. She wouldn't dance and she told me she wanted to go home. She also kept almost sucking her thumb, but I could tell she wanted to be a big girl and not do it, and the whole thing kind of broke my heart as she tried to fit in. So I went outside for a bit and then she started to dance. I thought she was cool so I went in and took some more pictures, but that only lasted for a minute until she was all clingy again. So next week I am just going to drop her off and I am sure she will be fine. I think she was almost too excited for dance and it was all a little overwhelming. All the other moms seemed to be friends already too, and I felt a little awkward as well so I get where my girl is coming from. I suppose we will both have to be extra nice and do our best to make new friends.

RAZZLE IT DAZZLE IT!

Stella has her first dance class tomorrow and she is very excited about it. I thought it would be fun to show her one of my few childhood treasures: my Razzle Dazzle dance costume. I told her I wanted to have her pose just like me in the picture and she was thrilled with the idea. The only trouble: "Mom, we don't have the hat." It was true that we did not have the hat, but we still tried our best. Here are the pictures:

Michelle

Stella

After she did the pose I just let her play around. I love these pictures and find the superhero-styled ones especially charming. When she dances with my pom poms she yells: "Razzle Dazzle! Razzle Dazzle!"