Birthdays and Races - 59/365

Today we were finally heading up to Amherst for Andrew and Ally's parties! Andrew's was cancelled due to a winter storm warning, and travel on the turnpike was limited.

They couldn't make it down for Reagan's because of snow, so we hoped that the 3rd party was the charm. Sure enough, it was!. The weather was nice. No rain, no snow, which made the drive very pleasant.

The party was fun! Andrew was turning TEN! What?! And Ally was turning SIX! Again, WHAT?!

Time sure does fly! They are growing up to be wonderful, sweet, smart little adults! Just love them!Andrew had a sports theme and Ally had Sofia!

The kids had a blast playing, you don't even know they are there anymore. The girls basically played up in Ally's room, putting on her princess gowns and the boys played video games.

Nikki, of course, had quite the spread. There was pasta, sausage, chicken, salad, carrots, and cake! YUM! We were stuffed!

It's always a good time getting together with family.

This evening, Reagan was going to go spend the night with Nana and Papa, while Jim and I headed to night at the races.

D&E Counseling Center and the Children's Circle of Friends Foundation were hosting Night at the Races. It was a super fun night! Greg, Nikki, Frank, Judy, Sean and Barb were all there. Sean and Barb brought their special canned peppers and bread. It was delicious! Lots of yummy snacks were had and adult beverages. In between each race, they had a DJ pumping some fun music. It was a great time for a great cause!

 We bet on every race and also lost every one. We didn't care though. We had a great time!

 

 Happy Birthday, Andrew!

 Happy Birthday, Ally!

 Three beautiful princesses.

Night at the Races

Fun crew!

Race losers

 

Bruises, Bunnies and Boats - 58/365

Today Reagan was going to spend the day with Nana so I could rest my leg a bit. I had been on it a little too much lately, and it was started to get a little worse again and SUPER black and blue. Yuck!

I'm gonna give it a few more days, and then see if I should go get an MRI or something.

 I'm sick of it!

Nana and Reagan headed off to gymnastics today. She was excited!

After Gymnastics, they went to the Bob Evan's right there for some lunch. Reagan loves the themed Bob Evan's pancakes. This time of year, they have bunny pancakes. She was pumped.

After Gymnastics, they headed out to the mall to grab a few things. Reagan just loves the new train at the mall, so of course Nana let her go for a spin!

This evening, Nana, Papa and Reagan went over to Tippy for dinner. Reagan wanted to bring her new Frozen Fever dolls with her. John, Reagan's boyfriend at Tippy, went into the kitchen and got her a bread basket with a napkin to make them a special boat. She couldn't have been more excited!
She loved it!

Jimmy had a good day at work. He and Brinkley went on one of their long walks when he got home. Brinkley loves to go cruising the streets with his daddy.

My lovely bruised leg.

Bunny pancake

 

Riding the train!

 Reagan and the boat for her friends!

 

 

Bad Ballerina - 57/365

Reagan had school today, finally! She was excited to be heading back!

Today, they had an in-house field trip. A representative for the public library came with some books for the kids. Each child was signed up for a library card (she already had one, but, oh well), and got to bring two books home. She picked one book about dogs and cats and another about calves. She was so excited and couldn't wait to ready them after her bath.

After school, we headed out for a quick lunch with Nana and ran into Toys R Us to pick up Ally's birthday present. While in Toys R Us, Reagan spotted the posters for the Neverbeast movie. She is SO excited for this movie to come out. Since Disney World, it's ALL she talks about! We hope it's good!

Finally today, she was also back at ballet. I was excited because it was watch week. During watch week, you are able to go in the last 10 minutes of class and watch their dance. Reagan was doing nothing but showing off for me. She didn't listen to anything and was acting like a real monkey, curling her hand up in her armpits and rocking back and forth. It was funny, but not.

On the way home, we had a LONG talk about how ballerina's have to practice and if she doesn't do the dance right, she can't participate in the recital and ruin it for the other little girls. She can go to the recital, but she'd have to watch instead of be on stage. So, hopefully, she'll do it right next time. LOL! We shall see!

Reagan's library books

Excited for the Neverbeast!

Bad Ballerina

Coloring & Movies - 56/365

Today I was just going to hang out with Reagan most of the day and just run one errand. I didn't want to go to far with my knee still acting up, but I was ready to get out of the house by lunch time for a little bit.

This morning before we left, Reagan spent some time coloring some Color Wonder Barbie Paper Dolls she got for her birthday. She was loving them! She did such a great job!

This afternoon, Nana, Reagan and I headed over to Target to grab a few things. We did manage to pick up Big Hero 6 on DVD. We never managed to see it in the theater, but we've heard it was great, so we just bought it. Can't wait for movie night.

That was about it for my adventure on my leg. It was a little rough being out and about.

This evening, we played with Reagan and took it easy.

Playing Loopsies this morning

Barbie Color Wonder Paper Dolls

 Movie

 

 

 

Flying Home - 55/365

This morning we were up relatively early to fly home from Vegas. Our flight was at 10:00, so it wasn't too bad. Jenny arranged a limo again for us, so that was convenient. I was sad to be giving up my scoot though. It was hard using those crutches.

When we got to the airport, we were able to grab a wheel chair for me, to get to the gate. That helped a lot, but I hate having to be pushed.

We ended up having plenty of time at the airport, so we went for some breakfast before we boarded.

I was able to get priority boarding because of my leg. I was still about 10 rows back, but that's ok.

The flight was uneventful and a lot quicker going home than coming out. It's only four hours back. I watched some TV and surfed the web with the on-board wifi. We messed around with sleepy Aunt Pam, too, so it went pretty fast.

We landed, grabbed our bags and we were on our way! I couldn't wait to see Jimmy, Reagan and Brinkley!

Raymond went over to the house a few minutes early, so he could pick up Jenny. Reagan was having a good time showing him all her dolls! He was thrilled! LOL!

Reagan had a fun day today. School was cancelled again, so grandma came to get her a little early. Adrienne was coming down with the kids, to look through Mabel's apartment, so Reagan got to see Jillian and Evan for a little bit. She loved playing with them!

This evening, Jimmy was so great. He plopped me in a chair and basically told me to sit still. I got to cuddle with Reagan and watch a show, then he gave her a bath. I wanted to do it, but he wouldn't let me with my leg. He's such a sweetie. I'm very lucky! It's good to be home!

My preboard ticket

 Funny pics!

 Nana is already cold and we're still on the plane

Raymond enjoying some dolls

The doll Reagan got from Great Grandma Mabel

 

 

Hoover Dam and Daddy Time - 54/365

Hoover Dam, lunch at PBR rockers, chloe rode bull, 50 shades of gray

Today we were up and at em early to take an express tour of the Hoover Dam. We were meeting our Pink Jeep tour guide for our four hour tour.

The pink jeep was absolutely adorable and super nice! We were first to be picked up, so we got the best seats in the bus! Yay!

We just started off on our adventure when our driver Chris' phone rang. He asked Jennifer to answer it, since he was driving. She was a little taken aback, but she answered it anyway. Here, it was his office, so she chatted with them for a minute. It was nothing important, they just wanted to say he phone lines were down and to call cell phones if he needed anything. What a hoot.

He was a super nice guy and we enjoyed all his stories and jokes on the way to the dam. We were all throwing around a lot of damn dam jokes. It was fun.

One cool thing on the way, we got to see snow on mountains that the locals haven't seen snow on in YEARS. With the weird weather front that brought all the rain to Vegas last night, it left snow on the mountain tops. It was beautiful!

We finally got to the dam and I had forgotten just how enormous it was! HUGE!

I couldn't bring my scooter in the van, but I was able to get a regular wheel chair. I was kind of bummed needing people to actually push me around. I loved being able to just drive myself, but oh well! We really enjoyed the dam tour and then we hit the gift shop before we headed back out.

I was happy because I was able to get Reagan a couple pressed pennies for her collection. She has really taken a likening to them, so we've started getting them whenever we come across some. We keep them in a little glass bowl in the kitchen where we can look at them all the time.

After our tour, we hit the Miracle Mile shops to find a lunch place. We ended up at a cool western themed bar, with AWESOME food. They gave you so much it was CRAZY! Mary Jane and Jennifer's hot dogs were longer than their plates. It was awesome!

The restaurant had a mechanical bull and you got a free ride with a restaurant receipt. Of course the birthday girl had to give it a go! Chloe did fantastic. She stayed on much longer than the rest of us could have. It was a hoot to watch.

After lunch we decided to take a little rest. We were going to take it easy tonight and just catch a movie.

We decided to see 50 Shades of Gray. It was a good movie and we're glad we finally saw it. Jennifer and I giggled like little school girls through the whole thing. I made Nana sit on the opposite end from me, too! LOL! It was a little intense, but very good!

After that, we went to have some drinks and some food at Planet Dailies before we went upstairs to pack and get ready to head home tomorrow.

Meanwhile at home, Reagan and Jim continued their playing around the house and watching television. They really have been having a good time. Jim doesn't get a lot of one on one time with her, so he is for sure savoring these special moments.  

Relaxing with daddy

 Game time!

 Sofia Tea game!

 The girls on the Dam tour!

 Jenny talking to the driver's office

 Hoover Dam!

 Us with "Crazy Chris" as we called him

 Chloe Riding the bull!

 Jenny and her giant hot dog!

 

Scooting Around Vegas & a Birthday Party - 53/365

So, this morning, we headed down to the hotel lobby to rent me a motorized scooter. We called down to ask how to rent one and they just happened to have them downstairs. Yay, I guess....

It was a little embarrassing at first, but then it was kind of fun. It had a fun little horn and went pretty fast! They actually said to keep it toward the "turtle" setting because people have flipped them. I cranked it up to "rabbit" a couple times and was gone in a flash!

After we got my scooter, we headed over to Caesar's Palace to do a little wandering. We stopped and did a little gambling as well. No one really hit too much, oh well.

After Caesar's we went back to the hotel and napped, because we were still pooped from our adventure at the ER all night, last night.

We got up around four and got ready for dinner. We were heading down to the Venetian to have dinner at Zeffarino's. We ate there last year and just had a wonderful meal, so we wanted to go again. It did not disappoint again this year!

After dinner, we were heading over to the Mirage to take in the Boyz II Men show. We were pretty excited for this show, too! Turns out it was AMAZING as well! They were phenomenal and so humble. At one point during the show, they were giving out roses. Nana and Chloe headed down to the front to try to get one. Nana was able to grab one after one of the Boyz II Men guys accidentally fell off the stage! He was ok and laughing about the whole thing, but he loosened his grip and she was able to get one!

After the show, it was pouring down rain. Yep, in Vegas. I had the scooter, so we had to wait for a handicapped equipped cab, to come. One finally came and now we were heading down to Mary Jane and Chloe's hotel. They were staying at the extremely fancy Mandarin Oriental. Chloe is doing an internship with them, so they got  a bit of a discount.

The hotel was amazing! They had a beautiful bathroom with a bucket filled with wonderfully smelling bath salts. I just wanted to take a quick soak, they smelled so good. They also had a beautiful bedroom area, with an absolutely HILARIOUS video playing. It was supposed to calm you down, but we just laughed. There was a lady bouncing on the couch and a lady walking through a forest! The room even had an "intimacy kit" we all giggled about.

The hotel left Chloe a little surprise of Champagne and a beautiful cake. Chloe was nice enough to pop the champagne and share with us for a little toast. It was so sweet!

After we hung out for awhile, we decided to head back and get a good night sleep, since we were off to the Hoover Dam early in the morning.

Meanwhile back at home, Reagan and Jim took in a birthday party today. Samantha, Amy and Mike's daughter, was turning one! Jim said Reagan was a little shy at first, but warmed up quite quickly to everyone! She had a blast and absolutely loved the cupcake decorating part of the party! They had a good time.

When they came home, they just hung around the house and played games and watched shows. The weather has been so crappy, they haven't been able to do much!
They had a fun day though.

Reagan decorating cupcakes at the birthday party!

 Enjoying some shows this evening.

 Me in my scoot, next to a "Wet Floor" sign

 Dinner time

 The gals

 Boyz II Men

 After the show

 Nana and her rose

 Champagne toast

Vegas, ER & a Snow Storm - 52/365

Today we were going to start our day with a yummy breakfast at Planet Dailies.

We all decided on a yogurt, granola, fruit bowl and a side of the crème brulee French toast. It was SO DELCIOUS!!! We all loved it!

After breakfast, we walked around the Miracle Mile shops. We hit Brighton for some charms and Alex & Ani for a couple bangles. I just love the Alex and Ani's. I have most of the Disney Ones, but I wanted to see if there was a Vegas One. Sure enough, there was! YAY!

After breakfast and shopping, we were going to walk around and enjoy the sunshine. It was going to be in the 70s again, which felt like 90s to us, after all this cold.

We walked down to the Linq and hit a few stores. Chloe wanted a tall, slushy drink you could walk around with, so we ended up at the Purple Zebra. We all chose some fun glasses and most of us decided on the coconut drink. It was so yummy, too!

After we got our drinks, we decided to hit the high roller. We had done it at night time last time, so we were excited to see the view in the day time. It was amazing and did not disappoint. You could see all the mountains, watch the planes at the airport and even see a few golf courses, which is funny against the Las Vegas desert. We enjoyed it very much!

After that, we decided to head back to the room a bit, to take a rest before we got ready for the Britany Spears show.

We were meeting the whole crew for some dinner before the show. We decided to just walk around the Miracle Mile and stumbled on a pretty decent place. I think it was called Harbour House.

After that, we headed over to the show. The Britany show was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! That girl can dance. The dancing and special effects were probably the best I've ever seen. I had even forgotten just how many songs she had that I knew. We were all singing away to every one. Amazing!

After the show, we stopped in the Britany store to get some souvenirs. Jenny and I both got "Work Bitch" t-shirts and what we called "Britany pants". They were just leggings that had names of the songs all over them. They were a hoot!

After the show, MJ and the crew were going to go to a club, being we were still on Ohio time, we were pooped. We decided to just go grab a nightcap at the bar section of Miracle Mile and call it a night.

We ended up at a lovely Mexican place. We had some snacks and a drink, then headed back to the room.

We were walking along, just talking about the show when suddenly, I went DOWN...HARD!

I slipped in my foam flip flop on a small puddle of water and screwed up my knee pretty bad.

They ended up calling the ambulance because I couldn't walk. I ended up at Desert Springs hospital amongst all the crack addicts of Las Vegas. When they were wheeling me in, they said to Nana, stay to the side, because they will grab at you. They were moaning and getting threatened to be restrained. We ended up being there like four hours. It was horrible. Nana, Jenny and Pam ended up using a sheet they gave me, to cover up the chairs because it was a dirty hospital, too! YUCK!

They did an x-ray which was negative for a break, thank goodness. I got a shot in my knee to help with inflammation and some pills.

Finally, I was released on some crutches. What an ordeal that was. It was CRAZY!

My leg is super screwed up, but we'll just have to see what happens.

Meanwhile at home, Jim and Reagan were trapped in the house all day because of a winter storm warning. They spend most of the day playing in the snow, then hanging around the house watching movies and playing games. Her new favorite game is now Sofia the First, Magical Tea Party. The tea pot puffs air into the tea cup and changes your tea into different colors. She loves it.

Jim also had to cook Brinkley his ground beef, rice and gel meals today. It seems to be helping, so hopefully he be back to normal soon!

Breakfast!

 High Roller

 Britney

 Ambulance Ride

Waiting for me.....while hanging with the crack heads.

 Crutches at 3:30 Vegas time!

Ready to play in the snow!

Snow STORM!

Watching Movies

Sofia Tea Party

 Brinkley's gourmet meal!