Viva, Las Vegas!

Oh my gosh! I just got home from seeing Britney Spears in concert in Las Vegas and it was so much fun. Okay, so my "unofficial" Sister- in-Law, Christa, asked for tickets to Britney Spears for her birthday back in January. She told me she was going to take me but then Shawn got laid off and we were never able to go; she's been waiting since January to take me! It's been a lot of planning and waiting, but we finally got to go!

I flew out on Friday morning and Christa and I stayed the night at Bret and Heidi's house. Heidi was so sweet- she bought Christa some birthday cupcakes even though it wasn't her real birthday. But since it was kind of a birthday trip, Heidi wanted to celebrate with her. She's just so thoughtful!. And Bret made us a really yummy Mexican dinner (his salsa was AMAZING and he was really proud of his delicious "street corn"! haha).  Bella warmed up to me right away and we played together and she laughed, let me tickle her, throw her up in the air, and she sang Elmo songs for us....She is so cute! I'm so glad I got to spend time with her....and I felt my new niece kick me!  It was the best! I miss that feeling!!

Christa's "Birthday" Cupcakes

The next morning we went to the Bellagio's conservatory (the "Magical Forest," as Heidi calls it) and saw all the pretty fall Decor that they had up. Then Heidi and Bret dropped us off on the strip and Christa and I did a zip-line where we laid in the Superman position and flew down Fremont Street. It was so much fun! We really felt like we were flying!! It was just the best!  After that, we went to the Wax Museum- it is SO crazy how real those wax figures look.  I seriously felt like they were real and would jump out at me at one point.  I'm serious!

Loving my sister and my soon-to-be niece :)

That's Christa and I  zip-lining.  This was the only picture I had, but she has a few really good ones.  I wish I had them to post.  In this one you can't really tell what we were doing!  It was at the very end.

This is the wax figure of Britney Spears! (Christa looks so small cause she's not on the steps with us!)  She looks so real!!

Leo looked the most real out of ALL of them. I was scared to go up to him at first!

After we did the zip-line, we went to The Strip and just walked. We walked the 4 miles of the strip, plus we went inside all of the Italian shops at the Venetian to see the gondolas in the canal and all of that. We went into the mall to shop a little bit (I had to get a Disney souvenir for the girls!). We saw the "Eiffel Tower" and went to Planet Hollywood for the Britney Spears store, obviously. We walked all around. I mean I know the strip is only 4 miles long, but we probably walked 7 miles in flip flops- MY FEET WERE KILLING ME and they were SO swollen (not good for fancy, tight shoes later that night!). Because of all the sight-seeing we did, we were super late to get ready for our concert (only had 45 min til it started!) so we ran up to our room at the Bellagio and got showered and dressed in fast forward mode (the concert started at 9 and everyone told us we should be there no later than 8- we didn't get there until 8:58!!).  Luckily Britney started her concert 10 minutes late so we didn't miss anything, and also when we got there, there was nobody in the spots that we wanted to stand!  TALK ABOUT LUCKY! We had standing seats (first come, first serve in the front) right in front of the stage and there was a big open spot for us where we were literally just inches from the stage. It was so amazing!!! (Side note: Britney is so tiny! She doesn't look as small in her pictures, but holy cow! She is teeny, like maybe a size 1 or 2!). And Britney smiled at Christa and I!!  When she was in front of us we waved to her and she looked directly at us and smiled- AHH! She puts on the most amazing show. I was just in awe at all the amazing dancing and stage production! I've seen her in concert before and it was just as great, but since this isn't an album tour she was able to perform ALL of her #1 hits. There's just something about seeing your Idol perform when you're inches away from them that just gives you such a feeling of excitement! And she's so gorgeous- it's insane.  I know, I sound like a 14 year old screaming girl, but this was a weekend where I didn't have to be a Mom for a bit and I took advantage! 

Anyway, after the concert we went back to our room for a little bit and put our feet up since our they were killing us and we then left to go to Marquee where there was a DJ we could go see for free (remember- I had no kids with me and I wanted to stay up late for once!). Christa loves to dance just as much as I do, so we were dancing so much that night between the 2 shows and laughing and having so much fun. It was the epitome of a "GIRLS NIGHT OUT" and I haven't had one of those for a LONG time.

I texted this picture to Shawn and he said "Wow! How did you find my picture in Vegas??" HAHAHA!

 I put my hand up to show how close we were to her. See? I am not zoomed in!  We were only a couple of feet away!  I didn't bring my real camera so the pics are a little blurry, but luckily my phone captured some.

We are standing in front of the outfits that Britney Spears as wore in her Music Videos

We were in Vegas, so we HAD to "gamble."  However, both of us are absolutley terrified of gambling so we only put one dollar in each of our slot machines.  Christa lost hers immediately and I won $1.25.  Haha, I  was  rich for a second!

Luckily in Vegas, there are food places open at all hours, so afterward, we got some warm, cheesy, delicious sandwiches and went to bed at 2:45 Vegas time (5:45 New Hampshire time), and that's what time Lucy and Piper woke up for Shawn that morning. So I literally went to bed at the same time that my daughters woke up. Isn't that just crazy? I am almost 100% sure that I will NEVER be able to do that again....and I don't really want to.  Haha, once in a lifetime is good enough for me.

We were only able to sleep for 90 minutes before our evil alarm clocks went off for us to catch our 7am flights on Sunday morning.  Flying across the country doesn't give you many options for flights, unfortunately.

I'm SO glad I went to Britney's Vegas show (if you know me, you know how much I LOVE Britney and always have since I bought her 1st CD in the 6th grade!!!!!!!).  I didn't think I'd be able to go in the 3 years that she's contracted to be there, so when Christa invited me, I jumped at the opportunity!  She's just the sweetest!

Now that I'm home, I can say that I have no desire to go back to Vegas anytime soon.  Well, at least not to the strip.  It's just not my scene, haha!  I've experienced it twice in my 20's and I think that's good enough for me.  My REAL loves were waiting at home for me, safe and sound and warm in this toasty house of ours.  And I couldn't have missed them more!  I have never left them before. Never flown away from the girls, and I can't tell you how badly my heart ached for my precious babies!  Britney was fun, but Lucy and Piper are my heart and soul!  I am SO glad to be home!

Now let the responsibility begin!

October Shenanigans

After a particularly hard week with the girls (Piper escaped,the neighbor yelled at me for it, major fits were thrown, no one seemed to be sleeping through the night all week, the house seemed EXTRA messy each day, etc.), I was so relieved to have some down time this weekend!  Shawn was out of town all week again and for some reason, it was just a bad week- you know how that sometimes happens...

Anyway, we did the whole Pumpkin Patch and Pumpkin carving/painting over the weekend and made some good memories :)  Piper sure knows how to crack us up!

Usually we don't carve pumpkins this early in October, but I will be gone next weekend and so we decided to go for it.  No one cares how your pumpkins look on Halloween anyway- they only care about the costumes(and the candy!)

The pumpkin patch here is tiny, but the girls had fun doing "Pumpkin Bowling," beanbag tosses, horseshoes, and swinging on a swing-set. It was a perfect day to get out of the house after being stuck inside all week.

It was chilly- but isn't that how it's supposed to be this time of year?  There were still ducks to feed too, so we managed to give them a feast before they migrate for the Winter! It doesn't matter how often we go, feeding the ducks will ALWAYS be my girls favorite thing to do.  We all love it! 

Painting Pumpkins actually started off as a clean activity!  Little did we know it would soon turn into such a hilarious mess!

And so it begins.....

Never a dull moment with this stinker.

Shawn and I carved Olaf for the girls!  I'm pretty impressed with us.  The girls LOVE it!

There is something about this picture that captivates me.  I love this little girl something fierce!

Certainly I'm biased....but that doesn't mean that she isn't the most beautiful little girl in the whole world ;)

I spy with my little eye.....a REAL LIVE DUCK!  He's a duck whisperer....

I really wish it would stop flipping my pictures and not allow me to flip them back.  Sorry guys! Lucy got a strike though!

Piper's version of Pumpkin Bowling was to drop the pumpkins right on top of the pins :)  But she got a spare! Haha!

This is my view of the world each and every day.  It's gorgeous, and when the fog rolls in it makes it look enchanting!  I love heavy fog!

My 3 year old is looking so old!  She most definitely does NOT look 3 here.  She is just gorgeous!

She's like an adorable little puppy with her tongue hanging out and her face in the wind as we're driving home....Silly Piper!

Well, I'm off!  Can you believe we caught some snowflakes tonight??  Just a little dusting of teensy little ones, but they were there and I was SOOOO happy to see them!  Winter is just around the corner!  Woo hoo!