Las Vegas with Megan

Megan and I just returned from a weekend in Vegas, just the two of us, from Thursday until Sunday. It was glorious. We didn't get too much sun, we didn't spend too much money, we didn't gamble too much, we didn't drink too much and we didn't eat too much. To me, in Vegas, that's a serious accomplishment! We stayed out later than midnight, which I was proud of because I was unsure it was going to happen on my end. And, naturally, Walgreen's. Speaking of Walgreen's, the one attached to our hotel (the Palazzo) was the busiest and most well-stocked Walgreen's I've ever seen! It had a frozen yogurt bar and lots of sandwich and fruit options. It also had plenty of beverages and lots of Vegas paraphernalia.

TAO in the Venetian

Dessert platter at Firefly Tapas

Dinner at Andreas in the Wynn

Getting big hair - from YouTube tutorial. hehe.

CRAZY pool party at Encore. We got in free, stayed for 10 minutes and jetted.

In lieu of gambling, purchased this beauty on sale.

Just outside Pasco en route home.

Dae texted me this photo and captioned it "we have our own fancy dinner tonight". With my expert eye I spot a Fujiyama dinner...(along with a couple Kornese and lots of Koreans)

Random Schmandom

1)

"The butterfly drinks nectar with his proboscis"

2) In case you wondered...here's the proof that Megan and I actually seek out Walgreen's when we meet up for girls' weekends. We're headed to Vegas this weekend and, squeezed in among the research for hotels and restaurants is the imperative scouting of the closest drugstores!

3) Today at Pelican Bay. I am enjoying the mini-water park that's included in our gym membership. I'm feeling thrifty right now, so free is the right price for me!

He turned down a Kellogg's snack bar for Cheez-its. He looooves his Cheez-its.

4) Bunny-sitting today:

Check out the orange shorts...

That's right. They're 3-6 month. I hope this is an indication that my children are not predisposed to Thunder Thighs! ha! Halmoni dressed Olin this afternoon.

I forced him to do a real smile.

5) Magic show at the Richland public Library today. The magician was a real gem and full of energy, and the kids loved him. Every time he asked for volunteers, most of the hands shot up, including both my kids! Olin probably had no idea what he was even holding his hand up for, but every time I saw that chubby little thing go up I started laughing.

Gift Cards from Christian

Summer has been pretty enjoyable so far. I am soaking up the kids and am laughing with them more than yelling (I think), so that's a modest success in my book.

I gave both of the kids these little Post-it pads from Dae's days at the patent office in Washington, D.C. that, at this point, have some seriously questionable adhesion. We're talking late 90's office supplies. Leelee quietly, secretively, and carefully colored on the pad. He then said "mom, don't look!" and ran downstairs, hiding his drawing. He then came back upstairs and said "don't look!" and then presented it to me and goes...."Ta da! A gift card just for you!"  It is one of my favorite drawings I have gotten from him. I found several things so cute: 1) He called it a gift card. 2) It is pocket sized - so I can carry it around in my wallet. I told him I was going to laminate it and he said great idea and then laminated it himself with Scotch tape. 3) He made up a little book to go along with it and drew out the very specific mouth or nose of a butterly. He could not remember the name of the mouth/nose so he had me/Dae google it to discover that it is a Proboscis. He then made me write it down so he could copy it onto his book. He then asked me to write down 'drink', 'nectar', and 'the butterfly' so he could copy them.  By this time it was 8:30pm and Olin was already ready for lights out, so I 86'd any further artwork and spelling and told him we'd have to continue it tomorrow. He was pretty disappointed.

I love this drawing!

Tonight, Dae and boys made Jell-O (from the pon-try. haha) while Halmoni taught me how to make cucumber Kim Chi. I love that stuff. It's so crisp and refreshing and light.

Cousins & Camping

Ev, Jeff and kids rolled into town for the weekend for their annual camp trip. We spent almost the entire weekend together, alternating between campsite lounging, swimming, eating, and a local event at the Richland airport. And, as usual, a stop at Mandarin House and Maui's Apple. A good time had by all!

Olin's intepretive swimming. Otherwise known as not swimming.

All 4 blue-shirted kids in the back seat of the van.

Blue took front seat - middle

Maui's Apple. 

Leelee woke me up this morning and asked when we could make Jelly. I didn't know what he was talking about. He said it's the stuff that we find in the mud room. I was still very confused. He said wait, no, actually, it wasn't in the mudroom, it was in the "pon-try". haha! That's when I figured it out - the fellow wants Jello, from the pantry. Ah, the fun of interpreting kid-talk.

Cabo, June 2014

Dae and I went for a kids-free trip to Cabo this past week, and it was great, but before we get to that...Olin had his very first swim lesson today and did awesome! I was so proud. I was so surprised! I was so very relieved. He had a small smile on the entire time and whenever the instructor asked if he was ready for his turn he would give a little, shy nod. He even jumped into the pool (timidly) at the end twice, per their tradition. Meanwhile, Leelee had gotten bumped up to Seahorse status which entailed a move over to a real lane in the pool. I was a little nervous for him, but he showed no fear and managed to swim very well. They teach them now to start breathing underwater as well as take breaths during the crawl stroke. Skills that both Dae and I could use a lesson or two on...

So I am a big, big believer in these swim lessons at CBRC. It has been well worth the cost.

Olin waiting at the edge of the pool.

Boys and I getting ready in locker room

Little booties

Feeding the bunny at Kelly's last week.

Halmoni puzzling...

Making progress!

Onto Mexico...we went for my friend from college, Cathy's, wedding. We spent 6 days in, coincidentally, the same resort we won at the auction two years ago. So it was familiar and nice. This time we opted for the all-inclusive package from Costco since it was priced too well to pass up. Well, I wish we had passed it up. All-inclusive and I are not compatible. I just felt the need to constantly get our money's worth, or just felt completely unrestricted when ordering at restaurants so we were ordering 2 and 3 apps and 2 desserts, as well as our entrees. Yikes. Not good on the waistline. But the wedding was really nice and the weather was sunny so we couldn't have asked for much more. I did tell Dae I felt like I was getting "trench body" since it was so humid there compared to Richland, and I just felt sticky the entire time we were there. We also, against our every prediction, got suckered into yet another time share presentation! This time we got it down to a science, though, so if anybody needs tips on how to emerge unscathed but with free gifts and spa credits, feel free to e-mail me. haha.

Cathy and her dad

Cathy and Justin

Unfiltered! The lighting was very pretty

Sorority mini-reunion

They jumped!

And so did the rest of us! It felt so good.

Finally, cool at last

(awkward) prom pose

In return for sitting through a 2 hour timeshare presentation, Dae and I were rewarded with spa credits at our hotel (a massage for Dae and a wrap & facial for me. I still don't think spa treatments are worth their cost. I'd rather go to Target or Forever 21, or Walgreen's) as well as a ziplining and rappelling adventure. It was a lot of fun. I would definitely rappel again.

As an aside, we paid $56 for this CD of photos so I am going to post nearly every photo. Gotta get our money's worth.

Our group. They were fun.

Not scary!

Dae's form isn't quite as good as mine, in my opinion. 

Not scary

SCARY. We peered over this ledge and were basically told to just turn around and hang there to start. I was scared. And then, it was SO much fun!

At this point it was fun, although I look scared.

Dae hanging. Cool as a cucumber.

I have spent many a waking hour chasing the sun and chasing a tan, but the years have slowed me down and wisened me up. The entire trip I was pretty much lathered in sunblock with a hat and/or sunglasses shielding my face.

Reformed sun worshipper

Daquiries and pina coladas at the pool bar

Selfie #81 at the rehearsal dinner on the beach. The natural lighting was too good to pass up.

Doesn't the red shellac look glorious underwater? I thought so.

Drinkin'

More drinking. For all the beverages, we were fairly sober the entire time.

And deep thoughts:

1) We missed our kids, legitimately, from Day 1. We almost wanted to come back early! The kids are really getting fun and saying some absolutely hilarious stuff. So I think we're going to try to book trips with kids from now on. Either that or limit our kidless trips to once a year? Stay tuned. We've already got kidless NYC coming up next month, so...

2) Last week I called Leelee from upstairs and he comes up and says "Mom, why do you still call me Leelee?". I said that's your nickname. He said "how about you call me my real name, Christian?" I felt sad... :( He's definitely a little boy now. A baby no longer.

3) These boys said so many funny things today on our errands. I can't even remember most of them, but I was on a speaker phone call to the city of Richland to ask about water and sewage and had given the kids instructions to stay quiet. They were doing pretty well. The lady said "Well, you'll have to talk to the person who knows all about this, Judy." From the back, all of a sudden I hear Leelee yell "Judy?!" and Olin goes "Judy" trying to mimic Leelee. I was trying to be strict with them but I could not stop laughing at the way Leelee had said Judy. Thankfully, this Judy gal had not yet gotten on the phone when they yelled out her name.