Friday mid-morning we headed to the next hotel for my writing conference. The next hotel was only about 30 minutes away, which was good all around. It was the first 5 star hotel for all of us. I had big expectations.
 |
| The beds were SO small! They were supposed to be queens. |
 |
| The bathroom was HUGE. |
While I went to 2 1/2 days of my conference, Shane and the kids played at the pool. There was a shallow-ish area (3 feet deep), a slide (that didn't go in the pool, which made me feel better), a splash pad, a hot tub, a mini-golf course, and a ping-pong table. Needless to say, they weren't bored at all. :)
 |
| I came to see them on my short lunch break. |
 |
| Kaden on the slide. |
 |
| Lexi turned around on her stomach at the last minute. |
 |
| Practicing floating. He learned how to float without the life jacket as well. |
 |
| Little spider monkey staying safe. |
 |
| "LOOK, MOM!! No life jacket!!!" |
 |
| Lexi is really nervous in the water, but Shane got her to practice floating with a life jacket. |
 |
| Warm snuggles after a sun-filled day! |
 |
| Lots of sleeping after a day in the sun. |
My conference (which was great, by the way, thanks for asking) was over Sunday afternoon. The kids hadn't gotten to go to a beach yet, so we quickly drove to the Newport beach on our way back to Vegas.
(P.S. The best part of the 5 star hotel was the pool area, but I wouldn't stay there again. There were ants ALL OVER our room and they got into EVERYTHING. Our luggage (that didn't have food!) was covered in them. It was nasty! I complained and was told there was nothing they could do about it until we were out of the room and they didn't have any free ones to move us to. Yeah. You can keep your 5 star hotels any day. My 3 star ones give us free breakfast and bigger beds with NO ants.)
 |
| Not even ten feet on the sand and they were searching for shells. |
 |
| More shells |
 |
| Ari mostly ran from the waves the whole time. :) |
 |
| Time for a sand castle before we left! |
 |
| It needed a moat, obviously. |
 |
| Working hard... |
 |
| Still scared of the waves. |
 |
| Ta-da! All done! |
(Remember 2 years ago when we went to the beach? Ari did a pose similar to the one above...)
 |
| Awwww |
Alright, back to 2014...
 |
| His bravery was making me nervous. |
 |
| Writing letters with the shovel. |
 |
| Shane *ahem* "helped" Ari out. |
After some time (not enough for the kids, of course) at the beach, we headed back to Vegas. The last of our four hotels was BY FAR the creepiest and I wouldn't stay there again ever. I didn't feel safe there for a minute. Even Shane didn't feel safe enough to go find the ice machine.
(I'm looking at you, Circus Circus.)
 |
| There was no remote for the TV. Thankfully Shane has an app for that. ;) |
 |
| These signs were everywhere. |
So my favorite of the four hotels would probably be the first one: Eastside Cannery. For the price, it was a great deal. But the one near Disney had free breakfast, so it's a toss up. ;)
We were two hours late heading out Monday morning (yesterday) because Shane lost his wallet. Yeah. Somewhere between Southern California when we stopped for gas after the beach (we know he had it at the gas station) and Circus Circus. It's been a huge pain. Then the check engine light came on in my mom's car. So even though it is only a two hour drive to St. George from Vegas, we stopped for lunch at Wendy's. (Because FROSTYS make everything better.) It did help put everyone (i.e. me and Shane) back in a good mood again.
Some Ari-isms from our Wendy's stop:
In the two stall bathroom, it was just her and I. We were each in the separate stalls when I started...you know...peeing. Suddenly Ari shouted, "THAT ISN'T ME!!!" Like I didn't know I was peeing. *sigh*
A little bit later, Ari had to go #2 (sorry this is important to the story), so back to the bathroom we went. I hung out while she was doing her thing and someone was in the stall next to us. That poor woman did a great job of not laughing for much longer than I would have lasted. Here's some of what Ari said while on the toilet:
"I can see her purse!! Is she going potty, too?"
(happily) "I'M GOING POOP!"
"My tummy made a sound so that it sounded like my bum was talking."
"See, Mom? The food goes down like this into my tummy, then all the way down to my bum!"
And the line that made the woman next to us finally lose it and laugh out loud?
"Sometimes I fall in the toilet."
I was dying laughing by the time we got back to our table. I told Shane and we both laughed so hard.
The kids did great on the drive (both there and back). Shane and I were continually amazed at how well behaved they were. (They weren't perfect, but for a 7, 5 1/2, and almost 4 year old, they did GREAT.) The girls fell asleep for the final two hours and Kaden just played on his tablet and watched a movie. It was so nice!
It was a looong trip. Four hotels in nine days. But I can say it was the best thing we could have done for our little family. It truly brought us closer and gave everyone time to relax and bond. This is exactly what family trips should be about and hopefully we'll be able to do at least one every year while the kids grow up. :)
