Mommy's getaway to Vegas

My mom has two very close friends, Jane and Barbara. They've been around since before I was born so for me, they've been my "aunties" forever. This past week we went to Vegas to celebrate Barbara's BIG birthday. (I won't put a number up Barbara. :) ) After meeting up at our hotel Paris, we walked the strip and needed to stop for a quick bite and The Perfect Margarita at Margaritaville. Yum! Sue and her daughter Kelly are at the back of the picture and this was the first time we'd had the chance to meet them. Wonderful girls!

We checked out quite a few of the hotels on the strip and almost every one had some display in honor of the Chinese New Year. These pictures are from the Bellagio, beautiful displays.

Things got a little wild in the tram from Bellagio to the Aria. Sue was showing off her pole moves. :)

That night we had happy hour in our hotel room and honored the birthday girl.

After dinner we got crazy and hit the Wheel of Fortune machines, my favorite! Needless to say, the machines took $20 from me over the three days but I had lots of fun pulling that lever!

Here's the view from our window, amazing! You can even see the Bellagio water show in the background!

The next day we did a lot more walking through casinos and hotels. This is in the Venetian, I love this hotel!

No need to fly to Italy, just come here! :) We had a delicious meal at TAO that night and then went to the LOVE show with Cirque du Soliel which honors the Beatles. It was amazing! Happy Birthday Barbara, thanks for inviting us!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Celebration started a few days earlier with lots of creative energy. :)

Monday morning I made the gang these pancakes, cute and yummy!

Then I was surprised by this out on my door step, how romantic Garrett!

Tatum asked who it was for and when I said it was for me, she said she thought Daddy wanted to marry me. Too cute. :)

Erica and Jack came over for some fun. Look at these handsome men in their festive red.

Ty is such a smiler. He loves to smile at the camera, I hope this lasts. :) I didn't get any pictures but we made brownies that we cut into hearts with white frosting and sprinkles. We had those after our delicious meal from Daddy of steak, lobster ravioli and artichoke. Delicious! What a wonderful day of love.

Mammoth!

I can't believe that I've never been to Mammoth in the winter! I've lived just 5 hours away from it and never been there for the winter activities. After we had such a wonderful weekend, I think we hope to make this a yearly experience! We started out the trip Thursday morning in our rented minivan. I loved the minivan but quickly realized I'm more of a large SUV kind of girl. And so did Garrett since he kept ducking in embarrassment when anyone would look at us in the van. :)

Entering Mammoth, can't wait for the trip to begin! The kids did a great job in the car and it only took us about 5 hours with a 45 min. food stop. We hooked up our new DVD player for the first time and I told the kids it was a special thing for long driving trips so hopefully no one expects it the next time we drive up to Grandma's house. :)

We settled into our 2 bd + loft unit which was perfect. It was in a great location and had all the amenities that we could have ever wanted.

Friday morning Leanne, Garrett and I hit the slopes early. We were so excited! Look at those mountains and the snow!

It had been 5 years since I'd been snowboarding so I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to get up on my board. But it quickly came back. Here we all our doing our lean back. :)

There were so many runs and different lodges you could stop at. Here's one at the Mill Cafe where you could grab a drink! We loved these lounge chairs!

Around noon we stopped for a lunch of champions. :)

Sadly enough, I smashed my tail bone on the last run in a jump park (why the heck was I in a jump park?!) so I was having a hard time moving that night. Erica and family came into town that afternoon and we all enjoyed a Mexican fiesta in our unit. Here's Jack and Ty with Erica.

Ty let Jack use his booster seat and he enjoyed dinner at the table like a big boy. Such a little man he's becoming.

A fiesta wouldn't be complete without margaritas!

The "kids". :)

The "sitters". :) They were all wonderful baby sitters by the way, the kids had such a great time with Grandma and loved playing and sledding with her in the snow while we were on the mountain. Thanks Mom!

The boys getting into the games.

Look at these little men, so cute!

We hit the slopes again the next day. I didn't think I'd make it but I got out there and tried. I was so afraid to go down the mountain again for fear of hitting my tail bone again. Ouch!

Me and Erica.

After 4 runs and hitting the tail bone one more time, I couldn't take it anymore and I headed home to help suit up the kids and take them with my mom on the gondola up to the slopes. Tatum and Ty loved it and it was nice to show them all the skiers and snowboarders. We're hoping Tatum will be up for some skiing next year!

Sunday we all stayed together and had some fun in the snow. First, we went to a little area next to a parking lot that Erica found out about and did some sledding. Look at Tatum go on her own!

And Ty loved the snow and all the fun. Look at this little snow man!

It was hard getting the kids to sit together for this shot. As you can see, none of them were too happy. :)

Garrett was the sledder since I could barely sit down and he did a great job. Look at the air he got on a few of his jumps!

These two are so cute together. Even though we have some sibling rivalry here and there, for the most part, they get along well. Ty loves anything and everything about Tatum and wants to do anything she's doing. It's really cute.

Then it was time for making a snowman. Tatum and Ty rolled the snowball...

then everyone chipped in to help with the construction...

and here's the finished product! Grandma brought a carrot, buttons, wine corks and a ribbon so the snowman could have a very handsome face.

Later that day we went to the Village for some shopping. Look at these scary bears!

Leanne and Matt were on the slopes for another day so we picked them up and stopped for a drink during the beginning of super bowl.

The girls needed to get these matching shirts, too cute!

And the boys enjoyed some yummy avocado together. :)

I had to put this picture in because for one, Ty LOVED Matt and wanted to sit on his lap practically the whole show. And two, this is his new smile for pictures. Hmmm, not sure about that one. :)

Monday we packed up and headed home. Good bye snow capped mountains, we'll miss you!!