Taylor is Two

My little monster is TWO!  This is why he got a monster cake.  Can't believe he's 2.  We celebrated with my parents, David's family, and Clark's family.  They all came over for dinner and cake on Monday night, then on Tuesday we went out to Quail Resivoir to jet ski and play.  Wednesday was Taylor's actual birthday.  He is talking up a storm and is easily my fastest and best talker.  He says full sentences already.  He is Abby's shadow and especially loves his daddy! Yells "daddy!" and runs into Tige's arms every time he sees him.  We love this boy so much.

 Ready to dig into his monster cake.

Opening his present from Grandpa & Grandma Taylor.  They gave him a really nice dress shirt for church, some shorts, 2 books and some children's music CD's.  From us he got this slide, which he has been enjoying.

And a few pictures from the lake.  I took Abby and Taylor on a short jet ski ride because they both bawled the whole time.  So I traded them out for Kason & Bryce, and took them on a wild ride.  They were nervous at first saying "don't go too fast," but soon realized how stinking much fun I am in a jet ski and were squealing for more! 

Aladdin

 Tige and I took Kason to go see Aladdin at the Tuacahn along with David, Cristal, Bryce, Alayna, my mom and dad, and Char, Brock, Paige.  We all sat together and had a great time.  I loved the show! It was full of special effects, even 3D glasses for the cave of wonders and held the kid's attention despite the fact it was hot (95 degrees) and late (11:30 p.m. at the end).  Tuacahn sure does great Disney shows.

The whole crew.

We also went to Hairspray 4 nights later and it wasn't nearly as good.  It didn't have any special effects, and there were 5 swear words, which I was a little annoyed about because they were unnecesasry to the story and Kason picked up on them right away.  Our tickets were free for this one, and it was a good thing because I would pay for Aladdin again but not Hairspray.  The best part of the night was the Tige spiked his hair up and coated it with hairspray. 

Here's a picture of my boys.

Vegas Vacation

We took off to Vegas on May 27 for a week of vacation with Tige's brother's family.  We stayed at the Worldmark and had a great week being together.  We started off the week hiking in Red Rock Canyon.  Calico Tank was a pretty strenuous hike for 23 month old Taylor, but he did great and kept up.  This was his first hike walking on his own.  He developed this little "sumo" stance when I took pictures.  It was hilarious.  He's never done that before or since.

 Kason had a ball running around and climbing on all of the rocks.  The other kids all tried to follow him and climb on stuff, much to Kirk & Shalisa's dismay.  Tige had to rescus Braxton off a high rock when he couldn't get down on his own.  Shalisa and I both dressed in our "Team Hazleton" ironman shirts, and when the boys saw us, they followed suit.  So the 4 adults all had matching shirts for the hike which I thought was funny.  After the hike we enjoyed a picnic lunch and went back to swim and cool off and take naps.  We had naps everyday we were there, and it was lovely!

 Monday night Tige and I went on a date while Kirk & Shalisa watched our kids.  The next night we traded and they went out.  For our date we went to the Melting Pot.  We went there 6.5 years ago in Virginia when Tige was graduating from anesthesia school and it was divine, so we finally got a chance to do it again.  It was a great dinner and fun time with my sweetheart.

 Tuesday we went to the shark reef aquarium at the Mandalay Bay.  The good thing about this aquarium is that 5 and under is free, so we didn't have to pay for the 2 little ones.  We went to this aquarium 3 years ago when Abby was a baby, and Kason loved it.  We were there about 2 hours as Kason explored every single finsh.  This time (with the 5 kids in tow) it was much quicker.  None of the rest of them are obsessed with sharks like Kason was, and within an hour we had seen everything and were done.  There is certainly not as much to see there as I remember, so we were a little disappointed.  We did get to touch the sting rays though, so that was fun.  Abby reached for a while and I knew instantly when she finally touched one because of the look on her face!  She looked shocked.  I said "how did it feel?"  And she said "squishy!"  Yep, stingrays feel squishy and slimey.  Once she'd touched one, she wouldn't try again.

 When Kirk and Shalisa were on their date, we broke out the "Bendaroos."  The kids had a great time playing them with Uncle Tige.  He made bracelets and necklaces and rings for everybody. Who knew Tige was such fun playing Bendaroos?

Wednesday we went to and Adventuredome at Circus Circus.  Having never been there before we didn't know what to expect and have heard it could be a little "ghetto", but we were pleasantly surprised.  It was really fun for the kids and we ended up spending almost the entire day there.  There were kid rides for children between 33 and 58 inches (for the 4 little kids), and adult roller-coaster-type rides for 48 inches and up.  So lucky Kason fit in the 10 inch window where he could go on every kid ride AND every adult ride.  He ran around like a wild man riding rides as fast as he could.  When he wore Tige & Kirk out, I took a turn on the "big" rides with him.  I went on 3 rides that went upside down.  How many fat moms do this?  I'm a darn good sport!  Anyway, there were two 4-D movies we watched and we had a great time.  We will certainly go again.  If you had a kid between 48 and 58 inches tall, this is the place to go!

Abby said something really funny on the ride below...It was one of those pirate ship rides that swing back and forth.  I took Abby and Taylor on it, and they liked it for about 3 swings, but once it got high, they went berserk!  They were both crying and I was holding them tightly.  As it was slowing down, they both started to laugh.  Crazy kids.  I said to Abby "do you want to go again?"  She said "No! I want to go down there WHERE IT'S SAFE!"

We enjoyed the hotel's pools a lot all week, but were sad when the lazy river stopped working on Wednesday and they didn't get it working the rest of the week we were there.  Abby swam with her life jacket on, and by the end of the week, we took it off and she was swimming around without it.  4 years ago Kason learned to swim without his lifejacket in the very same pool!  Tige threw the baby up in the air and then they'd blow bubbles in the water and their shake their heads.  He was very cute to watch.

Thursday morning Shalisa & I went shopping while the boys took the kids to a park and splash pad. 

Then Thursday evening we drove down to the Bellagio to see the conservatory and the fountains.  The fountains go off every 15 minutes in the evening, and the kids liked the first one so well, that we stayed for a 2nd one.  Did you know it's NOT she same show?  Each time is a different song with a different fountain routine.  We ended up staying for 3 fountain shows!   I've never been through the conservatory and main entrance of the Bellagio.  It is stunning!

Friday we went to the Silverton Casino where Shalisa had read there was a "Mermaid Show."  The mermaid show ended up being one mermaid that swam around and waved at people.  The kids liked seeing her (except Kason who insisted she wasn't real)!  I guess wearing the goggles and breathing into the air tank every 30 seconds gave it away.  It was really cute when Taylor leaned up to give her a kiss!  Then Tige needed one too!  They also liked walking through the Bass Pro Shop to see the animals there.

It was a great week, but the beds were hard and we were glad to get home to our own beds.  The kids were on Nevada time for a good week after the vacation, so it was nice for them to sleep in until after 8 a.m.  Sadly, this wore off and they are back to wake up times at 6:30 for Kason, 7:00 for Abby, and 7:30 for Taylor.

Lost Cruise Photo

When we went on our Caribean Cruise in April I spent $40 on this professoinal picture and was devastated when I discovered I'd left it on the ship in our cabin.  A month later I couldn't get it out of my mind, so I called Holland America and asked about lost & found.  The lady was so nice! She submitted an inquiry, but told me chances were VERY slim that I'd ever get it back from lost and found.  She suggested that I contact "Ocean Images" who is the company that takes the pictures on their cruise ships. She gave me their contact info and I e-mailed them.  Again the lady that contacted me was nice so and helpful.  I told her the night the picture was taken and the approximate time, told her where in the ship it was taken, and what we were wearing.  A few days later, I got an e-mail saying they found the picture and asking which pose I had purchased.  I told her and 2 weeks later, it arrived in the mail!  I am so thrilled to have this picture gain.  And also glad that they didn't charge me a penny to get another copy, not even shipping!  Customer services is alive and well with Ocean Images and Holland America!