Viva Las Vegas

On August 14, Kraig and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary. I can hardly believe that it has been 10 years. We decided to celebrate by heading down to Las Vegas for a few days away. And yes, we brought our darling little Tate with us. We really do know how to celebrate. It wasn't the most romantic of get aways but we had a good time with our little family. It was nice to get away before Kraig starts school and his crazy schedule again next week.

Tate posing in front of one of the Sphinx at the Luxor hotel.
Mom and Tate outside of the Luxor where we stayed while we were in Vegas.

Tate loved having a big bed all to himself. He looked so tiny in that big bed. But, he thought he was pretty neat.

In one of the hotels, I think it was the Excalibur, they had this Sponge Bob statue. Of course, Tate needed his picture taken with Sponge Bob.

Tate and mom in front of the "Castle." Tate made sure he didn't miss out on going inside the castle.

The elephant at the Rainforest Cafe. Tate loved all of the animals. He loved watching the real lions and looking at the pretend snakes, alligators, butterflies and frogs at the Rainforest Cafe.

This had to be Tate's favorite place. He really "needed" everything inside the store. We walked away with only one blue M & M cup and some blue pajamas. Not too bad for all of the things Tate needed.

Not so sure of the yellow M &M.

Tate and Dad waiting for the 3D M &M movie. Got to love the glasses.

After the movie, Tate saw the yellow M & M and of course needed to get his picture taken with it. The funny thing was that the more guy needed to go the bathroom, but the kids wouldn't leave him along long enough so he could go. It was quite entertaining watching the M & M guy doing the potty dance.

I guess we wore him out after a long day of fun.

Our little family in front of the Bellagio.

We loved seeing the dolphins at the Mirage. Tate loved that he could get so close to them.

Mom and Tate watching the dolphins.

Tate loves his daddy.

Digging for Fossils

All right, so they weren't really fossils, just small plastic toys, but the kids had so much fun with this activity. My brother's four kids came to spend a few days with us last week and his wife Becky sent this fun activity for the kids to do. She had put little toys inside plaster a paris ( I don't know how you spell that) and then they hardened. The kids then got to use their tools (picks, paintbrushes for cleaning and nails to find the hidden toys. This kept them busy for a good two hours. After a while the nails weren't getting them very far so we had to break out the hammer.

Getting ready for the "dig" to begin.
Tate using his little skewer and a rock hopping to make a dent.
Not so successful, but a good try.

Working hard. He was using a little paintbrush dipped in water to clean his fossils. Thanks Aunt Becky for such a fun activity. I know have a new preschool idea!

For the Love of the Game

Tate's greatest love right now is baseball. I am sure Kraig would love for it to be football, but right now Tate is all about baseball. We play ball all day long. One night after Kraig got home from work Tate asked if Dad could play ball with him. So, they started hitting the ball together. Tate was having the time of his life hitting ball after ball after ball. The kid would play all day if he had someone to play with for that long. We thought he was just too dang cute so we started taking a few pictures. Well, all right, a lot of pictures, but here are just a few. Keep your eye on the ball!
Love this face! This was right after hitting a "home run." After hit is of course a home run.

Getting ready for the pitch!

Notice how focused he is. When he hits the ball he puffs out his cheeks. Too cute. How can you not just love that face?

Tate's First Fish

Tate's friend Micah and his dad invited Kraig and Tate to go fishing a few weeks ago. Of course, Tate was super excited to use his fishing pole and go fishing. Tate kept telling me that is was just for boys and that moms couldn't come. So, I enjoyed a quiet Saturday morning at home while the boys went fishing. Tate came home so excited that he caught a fish and some moss. I think he was just as excited about the moss as he was the fish. Micah and Corey and their first fish of the day.
Tate using his Lightning McQueen fishing pole.

Corey helping Tate reel in his fish.

Holding up the fish. I think it was covered in moss.

Reeling the fish in.

Micah and his fish.

So happy to be fishing.

Fourth of July Dinner and Fireworks

After the parade, we came home to get ready for the evening festivities. Kraig had planned an evening with his family to have dinner and do fireworks. We had a super fun evening where we did a little "Iron Chef" type cooking competition. Each member of the family had a secret ingredient and had to make part of the dinner using that ingredient. It really turned out to be a lot of fun and the fun turned out excellent. After dinner we had our own little fireworks show in the front yard. What a fun day it turned out to be. While everyone was making dinner the kids played out in the water. Tate and Seth loves squirting everything with the water squirters.
Kyle and Jessica have a new dog, Tonka. The kids loved playing with and feeding Tonka.

Tate, Denise, Beca and Grandma eating dinner.

Tate, Seth and Beca. We love our cousins.

What a cheeseball! Throwing snaps!

Fun with sparklers.

Jessica, Tate and Grandma watching the fireworks.

Seth, Zara, Denise and Tate having fun with the glowsticks.

Who needs fireworks when you have glowsticks? I think these provided more entertainment than the fireworks. Tate, Denise and Zara figured out a way to use them as a jump rope.

Klark and Kraig getting ready for the show.

Klark, Kyle and Kraig lighting the fireworks. Of course, you need three men to light one fireworks. We don't want anyone left out of the action.

Fourth of July Parade

I know these pictures are really late being put up, but I guess better late than never. I have had them done for quite some time , but the formatting was all funny on them. I finally got it all figured out so here we go. After the race on the Fourth of July, we headed over to the Freedom Festival Parade. We met up with some of our neighbors who had saved a great place (thanks Morgan's) and they let us crash their party. Tate loved having other kids to watch the parade with. Kraig isn't the biggest parade fan, but he was a good sport. Tate loved waving to everyone and trying to get the candy, even though he can't eat most of it because of his allergies. We really had a great time. Tate sitting with all of the kids waiting for the parade to start.

Watching the parade with Micah and MaKade.

Tate and Dad

Tate and his friend Micah.

Throwing snaps while waiting for the parade to start.
This picture cracks me up. Tate was just about to put his hand in a huge bag of Skittles that belonged to the Morgan's. He was looking at me and giving me the thumbs up and saying it's all right mom I can have some. It was too funny.
Tate waving. He loved waving to everyone in the parade.