A Trip to the Museum

So I had been promising J that I would take him to the Children's museum here in Vegas. Although not in the best part of town (however, what "part" of Vegas is really "the best?!?!?"), I ventured out with him last Friday. We needed a break from the sun outside and I could not stand being inside any more.

We arrived at opening time, only to discover many other Moms and kids wanting a chance to be inside for a few hours! ( I don't blame any of them...I believe that day the high was forecast for something like 110 degrees!!)

Similar to our "Children's Museum Experience" in North Carolina (only on a smaller scale), J enjoyed a kid-sized grocery store (which was his favorite!), carrying shapes from one area to the next and sending them into a pulley system, piloting a play airplane, repairing a car, making big bubbles, dressing up, playing the plumbing pipes like "The Blue Man Group", learning about all sorts of science, and climbing through a cool tunnel playscape!!




It kept him going for 3 hours...and he probably would have stayed longer, except for the fact that there was no cafe and we were way beyond lunch time!

We'll have to go back some day, I have been informed.

Stripes GALORE!!

Jackson wanted to change his shorts after spilling juice on them. Fair enough...so I told him to go get some shorts and change. Observe the picture below:

The conversation about this outfit went something like this:

Me: Jackson, those shorts do not match that shirt.

J: Why not?

Me: Well, look at them.

J: Yeah, they match. They're both stripes.

I laughed...Why is it that little kids always think that any kind of stripe matches any kind of stripe?? I did inform him that if we left the house, we'd have to change his shirt or his shorts.

Signs that I Know My Son was Born in Japan

1. He now knows that you get a Spicy Tuna Roll from a Japanese restaurant (...and that that is what Daddy eats there).

2. He eats steamed rice with his very own set of chopsticks...no spoon for him!!

3. He eats Shrimp Tempura with no hesitation.

4. He is "ooed and ahed" over at the Japanese restaurant we regularly go to (just like Japanese culture!)

5. He asks to eat "edamame" at home (which, thanks to Costco, I can provide from the microwave in about 3 minutes!).

6. He knows he only eats the bean inside the pod!

7. He can successfully pop the edamame out of it's pod on his own.

8. He eats CoCo's Curry (if only once...he still ate it and enjoyed it!)

9. HE knows who was born in "Okinawa!" (Him, of course)

Birthday Parties in Vegas

Last night, was a "Girl's Night" in Vegas! A great friend of mine (someone we were stationed with in Japan...on a side note, it was kinda fun because out of the 8 of us that were out that night, 5 of us had all been stationed in Japan together! It's a small military!!) was celebrating a birthday, and since her husband is deployed right now, we only thought it fit that we should help her celebrate...sans kids and husbands! We had a great time! We started the evening out with a fabulous dinner at Kona Grill and then moved on to, none other than The Strip for some great music and dancing!

We started out at "The House of Blues" and then moved onto Mandalay Bay where we went up to the Foundation Room that has a fabulous view of Vegas!




At 1:00am, we decided to call it quits...as we realized that all our little ones back home would be getting up in a short few hours (and, let's face it, most of us were exhausted at that point...I mean, when was the last time I was up past 1am?!?!?)!

Happy Birthday, Sadie! Hope you had a great night!

He's A Fish

Well Folks, we have a swimmer!

After 2 1/2 weeks of lessons, last Wednesday a lightbulb went on in Jackson's head! He is now confident swimming along a surface that he can touch in (which, by the way, is NOT our pool as we have NO shallow end...but we do have a rather large shallow second step! Who thinks to ask if the pool in the house you're buying has a shallow end?? We have concluded that the pool was designed as a game pool, with volleyball net post holes to boot on either side of the pool!!), without his swim vest on and can swim to a person just a short distance away from him. He is gradually learning to put his face under while swimming but frequently just has his lips under the water with his cute, little, bug-eyed goggled eyes sticking out of the surface of the water! With a swim vest on, he is jumping from the side of the pool in and even jumped from a diving board this past weekend!! With 3 more days of swimming lessons left in the summer, I'm hoping that he will only become more and more confident! One thing's for sure...he LOVES being in the pool!!

So proud of my little swimmer!!

It's An Annual Thing

Aaaand, of course it's annual, it's the 4th of July! Aaaand, as usual, our 4th of July weekend is full of fun! Cody's Birthday was Friday. We had a fun time celebrating by opening presents in the morning, being in the pool in the afternoon and then I had gotten our "first" sitter here so that Cody and I could go out to dinner that night. (Turns out we have babysitters that live 2 doors down from us...SWEEEEEET!) For his birthday, Cody got a Ukulele from his brother (they get really creative with gifts...I thought it was perfect!!) to play Hawaiian music by the pool! Cute thing, though, Jackson immediately ran and got his from his play stuff and they started playing together! I thought it was great!

Saturday, we trekked over to the park behind our house and watched the fireworks put on by the City of North Las Vegas. Two hours and 2 glow sticks later, we came home, having enjoyed American fireworks in America for the first time in many years!

Then, Sunday, we had a 4th of July barbeque...which apparently is becoming tradition for us! On Wednesday morning, we were planning on about 6 people coming. And then Friday, we seemed to have added a "few" more. I think we ended up with about 20 people...Americans, Australians and British all included! It's kinda cool that we had 2 British people that had been at our party last year in Scotland with us this year in America!!




We had a great time swimming, cooking, talking and eating more than enough food!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day! Thank you to God for sending His son to set us free and thank you to all those troops serving our country so that we can all be free...for freedom isn't free!

Daddy's Home!

Well, I've realized that it has been a week since Cody got home. This was one of those work trips that was scheduled to end on a Friday but ended up lasting until the following Wednesday...so, yes, five days longer than planned. When I told Jackson that Daddy was not coming home on Friday but SHOULD be home on the next Wednesday, his response made me laugh. He simply said, "Oh well, things happen. It's fine." I guess he's catching onto the "military lifestyle" that we live!!

We had a great time meeting Cody at the jet. Although it was about 107 degrees outside, we stood in the heat of the day to welcome him home. Here are some pictures of our hero!!