Quick Trip to Vegas

Michael and I were so lucky and so happy to get a few days away recently. Judy and Fred came in town to spend time with the kids, and knowing that they were happy and safe at home, we headed out for a few days of debauchery. And by debauchery I mean relaxation by the pool and some mild gambling at the craps table. 

Our room was wonderful - with its own dining and sitting area and two bathrooms.

We stayed at the Cosmopolitan, which I had never seen before. I loved the vibe of the hotel - it was fun and modern, with really cool art installations all over the place. 

We met our friends Russell and Alexa there. This was their first weekend away from their sweet babe, so we were all on the same page that we wanted to have an awesome time, but none of us wanted to be so hungover and exhausted at the end of the trip, like so many Vegas trips end up as.

Before Russell and Alexa arrived, Michael and I got to walk around a bit and have a cocktail or two in the Chandelier bar, which is a giant chandelier that you sit inside of...

The next day we spent all day down at the pool. It was warm out, but we had a shaded cabana and the water felt so nice. There were kids splashing around in the pool and we all laughed at how weird it was to be in the pool and not in constant alarm about the status of your children and their immediate safety.

A huge storm rolled in at about 3 and we tried to wait it out in our cabana, but eventually got kicked out because of the lightning! We made a run for it, got another drink inside and then headed upstairs for the standard Vegas 4PM Nap.

  

Fancy dinner that night at STK, followed by drinks and a cab down to Old Vegas, which is quite jazzed up from what I remember as a kid.

We had some fun at the craps table, me channeling my dad and trying to remember all the rules. 

The next afternoon we went to a different pool. This one was right along the strip, up among the buildings, so it had a really great view and feel. I even got to read a book! For pleasure! What is this sensation?

We had another great night - casual dinner, a cab to the New York, New York hotel and a few more rolls at the craps table. 

It was the perfect trip away. The right amount of time, the greatest friends, the perfect mix of relaxing and having fun. 

Around Here Lately

Concerts in the park with friends:

And let's be real here, the true hero of the day is this kid playing with a Santa shirt and Santa hat in the middle of June:

General shenanigans:

June wanting to take her sea shell to school during 'ocean animals' week, but being sad that it's not an animal. Me saying that animals live in shells, and listing off the ones that do. Her honing in on the list item "geoduck" (pronounced gooey-duck). Which is basically how she came to bring pictures of the things to school the next day. Michael tried to veto it do to the animal looking VERY phallic, but June and I would not be swayed. (We didn't tell June just what it looked like. "It looks like a worm!" she said.)

More swim lessons:

Morning at the Stables

My kids love horses.

So when I saw that a local place was having an open house for their stables, including pony rides and fancy riding demos, I was all over it. We drove 25 minutes to get there and the kids were so excited to see and ride some horses.

I was really surprised and impressed with the Cross Roads Stables. There were tons of people there to help, the kids got fun horse rides, there was a bounce house, snow cones and we got to see some cool riding. Not to mention - it was all completely free!

What a great morning!

Visiting Mom and Dad

I was SO lucky to get to visit my parents this summer. Of course, we would have all liked for it to have been a full-family trip, but that just wasn't in the cards. With dad's health and ongoing treatment, visits require a large amount of uncertainty and flexibility. Even flying alone, the week of my visit, I was unsure if I should be flying into Philadelphia or into New York to meet them. It's much easier for me to change arrangements, have long-ish car rides and sit with dad during cancer treatments than it would be with two kids 5 and under.

So I went alone, looking forward to spending some alone time with them.

We did end up taking an overnight trip into New York so Dad could get another clinical trial treatment. Mom and Dad were so apologetic about having my 'relaxing' trip be so on-the-go, but of course all I cared about was spending time with them. I didn't care if it was on their back patio at home or on a train into NYC! 

We did have a great dinner and got to go to a show - Fiddler on the Roof, which was amazing. 

Dad went back to the hotel to rest while Mom and I stayed out for a nightcap near our hotel. It was on the rooftop of a hotel and the view was absolutely spectacular.

The next morning, we walked around New York a little, Dad had a treatment and then we headed back to Delaware. 

Mom and Dad are staying in the coolest house - it was built around the 1780's, so it has this really great charm. I loved just getting to hang out with them, having coffee in the mornings or cocktails on the patio in the evening. 

While I was there, I got to go to Dad's company picnic, we got to eat out and eat in, walk into their adorable little town on the water, and spend Father's Day together!

Then I headed out to Phoenix for several days for work, meaning that Michael had a total of 10 days with the kids on his own! Of course the trip went by so quickly and I was sad to leave them when it was over. Now I've got even more motivation to get my kids out there for a visit so they can have as good a time as I did seeing my parents.

June, The Almost Triathlete

June has been getting an awful lot of practice in these days ... biking and swimming practice, that is.

We got June a new bike since her old one was a little small for her, so we figured it was as good a time as any to try moving away from training wheels. We live near a park that has a double basketball court, so I figured that was a great open, paved place where she could learn. I'd jog along side her with her training wheels on, get to the park, take off her training wheels and then we'd begin.

I don't know ... I had seen a lot of movie montages of kids learning how to ride a bike. This just ... didn't turn out like that. Our first morning together was so tough and tiring (for me, mostly). June had basically zero concept of keeping balance and I was running around holding her from two spots on her bike, wheezing and scraping my shins on her pedals every step. After a few minutes, I had June run off to play on the playground while I called in an SOS from a friend. "How do I teach someone balance and also how did you do this, help me, I'm sore and it's only been three minutes?"

She didn't have a ton of suggestions, but there were two things I really took from our conversation: that kids learn a lot from riding a balance bike (one of those little bikes without pedals at all) and that it's good to hold onto the kid's shoulders instead of trying to hold the bike itself. This is easier on the parent from a posture standpoint, and it also encourages the kid to have more autonomy with the bike's balance/steering. We tried a few more times, headed home and gave her a turn on her brother's little balance bike. 

I felt a little hopeless, but I have to say, by the end our our third day practicing, June was riding her bike home on her own, with me jogging along beside her in case of emergencies. She still had a hard time starting, stopping and steering perfectly, but it was such an improvement. June loved it and was always asking to keep going out to practice, so we have kept it up. She's now basically entirely on her own (I still get a little nervous about her being able to stop for emergencies) but is otherwise totally independent. She's also picking up speed, making it harder for me to jog alongside her (I like the exercise).

June has also gotten back into swimming lessons. I think it was past time, really, but last summer's lessons were a bit of a flop, so I anxiously signed her up for semi-private lessons twice a week. She's been doing great. She's worked her way up to jumping into the pool and swimming along with her head in the water, but she's still scared of popping her head up to breathe because she feels like she's sinking. She's a gentle, stubborn little creature, and I'm just happy that she eagerly gets back in the pool each time.

We didn't sign Bennett up for lessons because he's only 2, and because these little lessons are pretty expensive for a kid who probably won't retain much from one summer to the next. But he just loves the pool so much (we have friends who have a pool, so he has a bit of experience), so it was hard for me to keep him out of it. I was given permission to have him just sit on the first step of the pool, but then he wanted to go to the second step, then play with all the dive toys, then jump in from the side. So Michael and I have now signed him up for his own lessons, starting Tuesday.

There were a few moments when this one instructor would have some free time, so he'd come over and take Bennett out for a lap or two. He was so sweet to Bennett, and Bennett was just like a fish, happy to be out there, happy to dunk, happy to be thrown up into the water to do a cannonball. 

 

It's going to be a busy, active summer!