What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…

Yes, that is what all the commercials say.  Since I know there are folks in Vegas who read this blog, technically…this is staying in Vegas.  We went down to Las Vegas for Candice’s birthday, and to visit Josh & Leah who we hadn’t seen since they moved there in October.  It was great to catch up with them, see their new place, play with the dogs, and just relax away from work (and eat…and drink!).  Duncan and Tula have been infatuated by their new kitty housemate that has adopted the family (whose name I cannot remember). 

If you can’t tell from the front, they really are happy and excited…you can almost see their tails wagging.

There are two things we try to do every time we go to Vegas.  1) Stay in a new Hotel (this time we stayed at the Hard Rock, which was kind enough to upgrade us to an awesome two room suite.  Happy Birthday Candice!) 

2) Do some form of gambling I’ve never done before (this time I made a bet in the Sports book on Memphis for the NCAA championship which looked like a great idea until about 2 minutes left in the game where they CHOKED!) 

This time we also finally went on one of the rides since we always talk about it, but never actually do it.  We did the Big Shot on top of the Stratosphere, which was crazy and lots of fun.  We hung around on the top for a little while and took some photos.  Leah was paying me back for an earlier photo she was taking…

And a more proper photo…

80 degrees and sunny…it was beautiful.  When we arrived in Seattle it was 40 degrees and raining (then the next weekend it snowed).

We went to the comedy club at the Riveria one night which was fun even though they put us in the front row so we got heckled all night long.  On the plus side, we did get this picture taken of us.

 

Kate has new glasses

The next time you see Kate, please feel free to compliment her on her new glasses.

They’re not that drastically different from her last pair outside of the fact that they don’t have a giant crack in the frame across the bridge of her nose. 

I know how hard 4 year olds are on clothes but I didn’t think anything of her glasses until we went in to see if we could get an adjustment. Luckily we caught it in time.

Private Dancer (salute)

Jacob is a little dancing addict. It doesn’t matter the music source: the radio, TV commercials, the endless toys the kids have that play music, or big sister Kate singing a song. The boy will start rythmically swaying as soon as he hears a tune. It’s hard to capture in photos but here is Jake getting down to The Killers in Mommy’s office.

“I like the music, Mom.”

“Get down with yo bad self!” 

Warning… Hell may freeze over soon.

While playing the same level on Guitar Hero in coop play, Candice was able to pull off a more accurate rendition than her game worshiping hubby. The song in question–the irony here is beautiful–Woman by Wolfmother. Please help Candice revel in her temporary and fleeting glee.

The scores are circled in yellow and yes, that is Candice’s 99% on the bottom vs. Pete’s 98%.  Teehee!!!

Happy Birthday (officially) Jacob!

With Jacob’s first birthday falling smack dab in the middle of the week, we decided the best idea to celebrate his actual birthday was cupcakes at Tim and Lisa’s. Here he is with his cake while all his friends are singing Happy Birthday!

And Kate was able to join us as well for the short celebration.  So here she is waiting (not) patiently for her cake too. 

Happy Birthday Jacob! And thank you Tim & Lisa for the photos!

Jacob’s 1st Birthday Party

Jacob doesn’t turn one until Wednesday but we decided to go ahead and do a joint family birthday party for Jake and Candice today (Pete and Roo have already been sharing their family birthday parties with Kate for a few years now). Since first birthdays are oh so memorable for the recipient, we also decided to give Candice a break and have a nice quiet gathering (meaning small, very small ). Anyhow, it was lovely!

We decided to open presents before cake, less mess. Here’s Jake reading one of his birthday cards.

Jake got cool octopus Robeez from Auntie Amy so we put them on right away.

And as most of you know, the boy is addicted to cups. He got a new set that when fully stacked are as tall as he is.

After the present craziness subsided, we moved on to cake. Kate was up front and center for the Happy Birthday serenade.

And to help little brother blow out his candle.

We determined that there may be some question whether Jake is actually related to Candice–this is his response to the first bite of chocolate cupcake.

Then he decided that smashing the cupcake would be much more fun that eating it…

But we pressed on–giving him more bites of cupcake.

And again, he decided that smashing and sharing we’re the way to go. Here he is prepping to feed Auntie Tricia.

Brave Aunt, she took the bite.

After all was said and done and Jake was in a new shirt, we decided that some family photos were in order.

Love to all!

J-Walking Monsters?

Jake has been doing more and more and more walking. Everything from furniture surfing and cruising with help (only Tim and Lisa we’re privileged enough to assist with the walking until recently but now mommy and daddy are allowed too). So I thought I would share a photo of Jacob walking around in Auntie Tricia’s new monster jammies. Or as we like to call it, little J and the monster walk.

And little J and big Daddy enjoying a rest and a giggle after the walk about.

Major Trouble

I found the best shirt for Jacob while we were in Vegas. He has been very curious of late with his new found mobility and getting into absolutely everything. A typical conversation is “NO. NO. Jacob, get out of the shelves, off the stairs…  NO. I said NO.” If he doesn’t yet think his name is No, I don’t know how much more of this it will take for him to go there. So, back to the shirt. Let me introduce Major Trouble.

Here is an enlargement of the shirt so that you can get the full effect.

And for all of you “How I Met Your Mother” fans, please join me, Ted, and Robin in the salute. “Corporal Punishment” — salute again. Etc.

Candice’s birthday presents

Pete and Kate (with the help of Grammie and Bapa) went all out for my birthday this year. In addition to a trip to Vegas, Pete is feeding my Guitar Hero habit by getting me my own wireless guitar controller and GH2.  Here Kate is demonstrating her masterful whammy skills on my new guitar.

 And Grammie and Bapa helped Kate purchase some beautiful roses, she chose pink just for me, which she is expertly showing off here.

So a beautiful birthday was had while in Vegas and the fun just continued when we got home. Thank you to everyone!