Viva "Lost" Vegas

Yes, Riley calls it "Lost" Vegas and I don't want to correct her. The kids have been asking to go back to Las Vegas since we went 3 years ago for my brother's wedding. So we finally took them back and had a great time. Riley was VERY disappointed that she is still too short for the roller coaster at New York, New York. Maybe next time she will make the cut.

I think the highlight for all of us was the baby tigers at the Mirage. If you look closely past Riley's reflection there is actually a tiger cub in on the other side of the glass pawing at Riley. They interacted for a few minutes and it was priceless. The cubs acted just like kittens, playing with stuffed toys and pawing at Riley on the other side of the glass. I could have watched them for hours.

We had three days of swimming, floating in the lazy river and walking, walking and more walking around the strip. The kids had a blast in the arcade at the MGM and got to see the lion there also. I got a pastry at the Paris, yum yum and we all loved the forum shops at Caesar's Palace. At the end of it all you can see the kids were worn out, but sad to be leaving. Scott and I would like to go back and enjoy the more adult side of Vegas, shows, drinks and ritzy restaurants for dinner.

Giddy up!

Riley had her first horseback riding lesson today. The horse she chose was named Marygold. She was small and sweet and perfect for a first lesson. Riley chattered away to her teacher about how she had ridden one other horse in Texas and his name was Snoopy, but she has ridden lots of ponies. Today she learned how to mount and dismount, the names of the horses parts and equipment, starting, stopping and turning and even some safety tips. She can hardly wait until next Saturday to do it all over again. She says that next week she is going to ride Star, which is the horse her teacher rode this week. We will see!

6th grade graduation!

Today was Zachary's sixth grade graduation ceremony. He did such a great job this year and throughout his elementary school years and we are so proud of him today. To cap off his time at VGS he came away with a Math Award, Writing award and straight A honor roll. He also received the President's education award for obtaining honor roll every trimester from 4th-6th grade and scoring advanced on all his state tests.

I even managed to hold it together and not get teary eyed until the end when they had the slideshow of all the kids and one of the 6th teacher's played Home by Chris Daughtry on his guitar.