Quinn's First Camping Trip!

Last weekend, while Lair was working, Quinn and I went on an adventure with Katie, Kevin, Janine, Mike, and his dog Karma.

Q, Katie and I went out earlier and the rest met us in the early evening. Right when we arrived it started to rain, so we quickly got my tent up (Kevin was coming with Katies later) and Katie used her magical Tarp and tarping skills to keep us dry!



Quinn had a ball the whole weekend and he was such a good boy! He LOVED peeing on a tree - he thought that was greatest thing in the whole world LOL. The first night I decided to let him stay up as late as he wanted.... Whoops - time sure flies when you're sitting around a fire - it was midnight when he asked me to put him to bed. What a trooper. He had no problem sleeping in the tent by himself. When I finally crawled in, I just could not get warm! I snuggled him as much as I could but I think he sucked the heat out of me; but he felt warm and didn't complain the next day, so I guess as long as he was good, it was good!



Day two was filled with relaxing, walking, drinking, Quinn riding his bike, playing, eating, a trip to the River.

Day two I put Quinn to bed around 9pm. Again, he went down with no trouble at all. (Amazing!). This time I bulked up and dressed warmer and was warm all night and had a great sleep. Quinn even slept in an hour later than usual!

Day three we cleaned up camp and left in the afternoon. We were home by 6pm and in the shower.

It was a super great time and I really look forward to going again. In July we will be camping at Motion Notion, then a week later at Dinosaur National Park, and will hopefully get out once or twice in august.




Quinn & Karma Quinn and Mike




Quinn and Katie.... Is it me, or is that a large ORB near the van!?


{P.S., (MOM) If you click on the photo it will enlarge it}


<3

We joined the gym!

We joined the gym and we're feeling pretty awesome.

We signed up earlier this month at Goodlife Fitness in McKenzie Town. We even hired a trainer to get us started. They have child minding (!!!) which Quinn loves, a full gym, plus many many classes which are included in our membership. So far I've tried Yoga and a yoga/ti chi class.

It's cool to do it together. We are both Highly motivated to get back to our wedding weight!!! Look out word - maybe not this summer, but NEXT summer we're gonna knock your socks off!

Vegas getaway!

Saturday May 25
Lair worked. I drove Quinn to Bassano where Lair's mom met us at the big gas station/restaurant and bid farewell to them for their trip to Medicine Hat then came home. Lair go home shortly after ... We did a little Happy dance at being kid less. We have not had a full 24 hours away from Quinn TOGETHER since August 2007! It was such a relief to just know we had only ourselves to look after!

We took full advantage of our time and went and saw Terminator at Chinook. Afterwards we went to visit James & Christy in their new condo they just bought and moved into earlier that day. We went out for Indian then came home as we had to get up early.

Sunday May 24
We were up around 3:45am, at the airport by 4:30am, on the plane by 6am and were fast asleep, I'm sure, before the plane leveled out from take off. We awoke about 20 minutes before we landed :)

We stayed at the Luxor. We loved it - I would gladly recommend it as a great place to stay :) We were booked to stay in a Pyramid room (with slantey wall) but they didn't have one with a King bed available, so we took a room in the tower, which apparently are much larger and nicer than the Pyramid room. We were satisfied. We didn't spend much time in the room anyways!

Please note, in between anything I note here, we were finding a drink and walking, walking, walking checking out everything there was to see!!!.... a smidge of gambling, but not much, and more walking, walking, walking..... and walking....



We explored our hotel, Mandala Bay and Excalibur (the two beside us). I was most pleased to see a Mexican restaurant in the middle of our hotel - I'd been craving Mexican for weeks and man - BEST tacos I have ever had!

We went to a dinner show at Excalibur - The Kings Tournament, It was Awesome! Really enjoyed the show! You dine in an arena where Kings joust and fight, many actors, many horses! Good how, lots of energy - like a medieval hockey game LOL The food was good. A Cornish game hen, potatoes, broccoli and a bun. No utensils! You eat with your hands.

Since we'd been up since 3:30am, we decided to get a good nights sleep and conked out (me with the help of many Corona's and my 32 oz pina colada's ).



Monday May 25
After a greet sleep, we were up and headed out around 9:30am . We went to the Bellagio buffet for brunch. It was quite the impressive spread! Too bad you can only eat so much in one sitting! We got all you can drink campaign for an extra $6. Since Lair doesn't drink campaign, I drank his for him... lol so I was a little tipsy on our way out.


After brunch we headed off to the indoor skydiving center. It was a long hot walk; we should have taken the monorail.

It was really cool. I went in with 3 other people. We put on a special jump suit and entered the wind tunnel. I went first. You start by laying on the net over the jet/fan. They turn it on, I raise. I held my (skydivers) arch and the instructor holds on to you and helps keep you center (if you get out of the stream it shoots you out!). The instructor was probably 6'5" - Lair figures I was hovering around 5-7 feet. It was a cool feeling. It was like free falling, not as exhilarating but same physical sensation.

We all had a turn. Then a second turn. This time the jets were on full - I Loved this part - I just JUMPED into the wind and was held up (Like jumping to do a belly flop, without the flop).

The 3rd jump was super cool. Being the first of the group on each jump - I thought each turn was - Jump, fly, stop... Well the 3rd jump I just got settled when the instructor flipped me over so I was on my back in the air! WHOA! It scared the hell out of me at first, then I looked up and saw a big mural of the sun and just relaxed as he swirled me around. Fun times.

We ended up having lunch at the Rain forest Cafe at the MGM grand. What a beautiful restaurant. Truly felt like we were in a Rain forrest. Impressive animatronics. Super cool. I am glad we stumbled upon this!

We went to the Blueman group at the Venetian. We had pretty good seats and REALLY enjoyed the show. It was worth $130/each! So unique. Humorous, fantastic music, great social commentary. SO very happy we got to see them on their turf. My guess is it wouldn't quite be the same at a road show.

Afterwards we headed back to our hotel to have some awesome Tacos. We were in bed by midnight.

By the way. Lair has a pedometer in his phone - we walked 31 KM this day! Our feet were SO SOAR! Oh my gosh. By the time we got back to our room, we were walking like a little old man and lady! I took full advantage of the awesome full super deep soaker tub - best bath ever!



Tuesday May 26
We had breakfast at the Buffet at the Luxor. We checked out the pool. At 10am it was packed! It was also sweltering hot. We decided to not lounge around the pool. We headed over to the NYNY so I could ride the Roller coaster. Loved it! Wish it went around twice.

We went to the M&M store. WOW, what a store! FOUR stories! Crazy.

We also went to the Wax Museum. The only one I've been to is the one in Victoria, and it's old, dilapidated and ghetto! So this was a real treat! You could stand with and touch the figures. They are life size exact replicas of the movies stars and such. We had fun.



Me and Nicolas CageWAX

Mom - this ones for you!




What the!?!?!...... ... ha ha... Wax!


So after another day of walking and exploration we freshened up and went for a lovey dinner in our hotel at 'Tender'. It was quiet and romantic ( & expensive). It was nice to escape the non-stop people & noise!

We then went to Chris Angel & Cirque's BeLIEve. We had bad seats :( (last row!). Lair absolutely loved it. He thought it was dark, twisted, brilliant, amazing, etc, etc.... Me, not so much. Maybe if we had better seats? It's not one I will fully recommend, but it was an interested dark twisted show.

I was feeling pretty tired so drank an energy shot. Lair didn't want one.

We went to Mandala Bay (next door) to go to their Ice Bar where everything is Ice. We got there and found out it's $25. That gets you a Parka, a drink, and 15 minutes (? don't quote me on that) in the sub zero bar. YA RIGHT! I can do that at home 6 months a year! So instead we stayed in their normal pub and watched UFC. We ordered a Pint of Heffenviser (Pyramid brand).... MMMMMmmm - this beer was SO GOOD! I downed my 1st pint, got another, then another.... If I did that at home, I would have been 2 sheets to the wind.... Oh Ya - American beer - it's like water! Oh well, it tasted great! I hope to find something comparable at home. It was delicious and sweet that you can drink many and not get too drunk (or hung over).

Anyways - we headed back to the Luxor to see a Topless show called 'Fantasy'. Geared towards couples, so all in good taste. At first I felt a little out of place, a little awkward, but then the MC turned on his comedic side and the show was a hoot.

Remember that energy shot I mentioned? Well, by the time this show let out, I was just ready to go go go go! .... Lair, not so much. In fact, he went to bed... ='(

I didn't want to waste my last night in Vegas/kidless freedom, and I was completely wired... so I grabbed the iPod and headed out for a walk. I got a 20 min aqua massage (you don't get wet) then wandered around for an hour. I didn't want to gamble. Didn't want to sit in a bar by myself. The night club in our hotel was Closed! wtf!? I totally would have gone and danced... but I didn't want to wander too far away from our hotel.

So I ended back at our room, and laid WIDE AWAKE until about 4am.... sucky.


Wednesday May 27
Just before we checked out, we called Quinn. It was so good to hear his voice! He sounds like such a big boy! I tried calling several time every day but there was no answer; they thought it was a tellemarketer so didn't answer!! But probably for the best as Quinn had gotten the flu!

We checked out at 11. Checked out bags. Went back for more of the best Tacos ever then went to the Outdoor outlet mall. I wanted shoes and shoes I got! New cross trainers, dressy sketchers, and sandals :) Lair got new gym shoes, shorts and a shirt, plus a few clothes for Quinn. We were satisfied with our shopping trip.

Made our way back to get our bags, then the airport. Duty free rocks! 40 pounder of Rum, $14!!! But we could only buy 2 :( It felt like forever to get home. We were home by midnight.


I can honestly say, I won't go back to Vegas for at minimum 10 years - or better yet, make it 20 - I can go with Quinn. By then it would have changed so much!


Thursday May 28
We went to pick up Quinn at Bassano. It was so nice to see him. I really started missing him tuesday night and wednesday all day I couldn't stop thinking of him.

I'm really glad we didn't get a hold of anyone earlier as sunday night/monday morning Quinn had gotten really sick - barfing and dry heaving. So bad Goldie took him to the ER. They sent her home with some advice and they managed to get through it and still had a good time. Goldie - thank you so much for not calling us - it would have put a huge damper on my trip!!! and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for watching Quinn. He had an awesome time, as did we.



Lair and I have decided that at least once a year, probably between Mothers Day & Fathers Day, we are going to go away for at least 2 nights/3 days to just go be 'Melanie & Lair', not mom and dad.