Vegas baby!

Last week my schedule opened up due to some new guys training and an overflow of officers on graveyards, so I was able to take Katy and Nick on a surprise trip to Las Vegas for an Annivegasry or Annevadaversary if you will. Katy figured out where we were going once we went east of I-5 and she realized there was only one thing out there in the desert. Still, she was super excited and it made the anticipation of my last 3 weeks of planning all worth it. I'm not one for keeping secrets. We stayed at the Paris, since I probably won't get to take Katy to the snobby European one for another 20 years, at least it had the same name! Fortunately, we only lost around $200 to the casinos but definitely made that back in the amount of food we ate at the buffets (much to my waistline's chagrin)! Here's a tip though. At an adult location like Vegas, a 4 month old who needs routine 2 hour naps every 3 1/2 hours does not bode well. But, when one young boy's stomach only feeds on breast milk, and one young mother's bosom can't pump out a week's worth of said milk in a moments notice, he comes along for the ride.

In a nutshell, here was our week: late night drive, early morning stuffing of faces, walk a mile to see lions sleeping, picture taking, more eating, watch fountains to music, lose money, drive to Hoover dam, look at the Bodies exhibit of cadavers, see pieces from the actual Titanic, walk by lots of illegals handing out flyers for hookers, more fountain gazing, more stuffing of faces, more walking, ride to the top of the Eifel tower, lose more money, you get the idea.

Since neither Katy or I had been to Vegas since our pre-teen days, it was a lot of fun seeing how much more stuff there was to do, especially since we pretty much couldn't do a thing back then due to our age. We would've liked to have gone to one of the shows, preferably Cirque de Soleil but it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to bring a baby in to a $100 a ticket show and as for child care, well that would have worked if we wanted to pay some lady $180 minimum to watch Nick for 4 hours. We'll pass.

I will bore you with one story before I show the pictures. While watching fountains rise and fall to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," Katy observed a few ducks in the surrounding pond/water area. Here's how the line of questioning went:

K: How do you think these ducks got here?
R: They flew Kates. How do you think they got here?
K: I don't know, maybe imported?
R: Right, someone just crated some poor ducks and hauled them to Vegas.
K: It could happen. How are you so sure they flew?
R: First of all, logic, they can fly.
K: No they can't (with a hint of sarcasm herself)
R: Second of all, I saw one flying while we were at Hoover dam.
K: How do you know it was a duck?
R: What do you mean how do I know it was a duck? The same way I know these birds in front of us are ducks?
K: Yeah, but you don't know for sure, I mean how do you really know these are ducks?
(Let me pause and say that I can't believe she set me up to say a great line that I never thought I'd actually get to say about ducks, so here it comes...are you ready? do you know the line too???)
R: Well, if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the week. Go to our Picasa site for all of them.

Nick enjoying the new hotel room and going on about 3 hours of sleep at 2am when we got there.

Rob and Nick doing what we do best while in Vegas...watching in room TV. Nick has some hair growing to do!

The Eifel Tower, Vegas style

Empire State Building at New York, New York

Statue of Liberty at New York, New York with Excaliber in the background

On Wednesday we had a beautiful sky, this is right outside our hotel before leaving for Hoover Dam. It ended up not raining until halfway through Thursday, and then only misting really.

Mead Lake, created by the creation of Hoover Dam

Katy and Nick on the edge of the Hoover Dam with the new bridge on the left being built for the freeway overpass and the visitor center on the right.

We got some cooky Brit who was also carrying a Nikon to shoot this for us.

Through the Hoover Dam looking glass


And here it is, where Pierce Brosnan took that famous flying leap in GoldenEye, or whatever James Bond film it was. Also known as Hoover Dam

Mead Lake from the other side of the dam.

Nick and Katy enjoying a laugh, probably at my expense

Or perhaps they were laughing at me pretending this dam builder was pooping on my head

Us after the Bodies and Titanic exhibit still trying to calm Nick down

Nick and I enjoying some guerilla time at Rainforest Cafe in MGM

Ahhh the fountains at Bellagio

On the way home we stopped by my roomate from the Academy, Jason Graham, and his wife Tina's house in Victorville. Jason works as a Chippie in Riverside. Their son Nathan snuck in this shot with Jason and Nick

H20 Polo and Lemoore

I figured it only fair that since I was able to get Nick to his first volleyball game (which everyone knows that whatever sport a child is first exposed to becomes his most beloved sport), that it would be necessary for Katy to let him see water polo. It's ok though, it was his cousin Brieana's game, thus being played by girls, ergo perfectly socially acceptable for him to see it and not be influence by it.

Brieana setting up for a shot on goal

Katy and Nick who was obviously enthralled with the sport...

The family in full support of Brieana, and a few others

Michelle, right off of work, Jake, and they're mini poo?

Aunt Michelle saying goodbye to her nephew
Katy and her kids

On the way home we were able to stop in the happenin' town of Lemoore where the Peregoy's, my cousin Amanda (Mandy) and her husband Carl, live. Carl is in the Navy and was away on tour and Mandy wasn't able to make it up to Roseville for the welcoming party so we stopped by for our own welcoming party! As we stepped out of the car, one of the two of us, her name will be omitted, dropped the camera with its telephoto lens on, directly on the lens. Right now its being fixed by Nikon for around $120. At the time we didn't realize how it affected the photos, so if you see a few out of focus on one side of the picture, that's why. Anyway, here's a few shots from our visit in Lemoore as well with Mandy and her dog Abby (a lot of dogs seemed to be named Abby, no idea why if anyone wants to enlighten us).

Lucy and her friend Abby getting along just fine.

Mandy and her first cousin once removed, our little Nick.

And again, same comment on the photo.

The Grindy's at the Peregoy's

Bathing , a giant Robin, childhood friends

What trip to a grandparent's house would be complete without a traditional bath in their sink? None I tell you! So here it is, in all its splendor!

Nick quite warm and I'm pretty sure it just go warmer in the sink, if you know what I mean!

Enjoying some suds

Papa doing the honors of cleaning the poop

Mom and son, hand in hand

On Sunday afternoon we had the distinct honor and privilege of hanging out with some very dear friends, the Jones', Ferguson's, and Borelli's. We decided to meet up at Red Robin for some lunch, but little did we know we would be harassed by a giant bird. All the kids were pretty good except for the oldest toughest one who will indeed remain nameless, but you may be able to figure it out. Anyway, great time seeing them all and catching up. The Jones', Ashley, Justice, and Avery, used to live about an hour and a half away, but recently moved to Fresno. Justice was the one who got me stoked on the CHP. All of the families we've been friends with since college and miss them dearly. We are blessed once a year by the Ferguson's as they host our college friends retreat every summer...hopefully August next year as I'm on vacation then and can attend! Here're some memories from our visit:

The incredibly creepy Red Robin

Most of the gang at Red Robin

Avery Jones with a little shiner from how much she enjoys coffee tables

Kinley Ferguson just happy to be out of her carrier

Cole Ferguson concentrating on his mac and cheese and not the big red bird

One of Katy's good friends growing up, Brittany Hunt, just had her first child as well. While we were in Fresno, they were able to hook up and show off their new bundles of joy. It was pretty cool watching these two interact with their newborns and just seeing how happy they were for each other.

Brittany's daughter Meghan

Brittany making sure Nick hadn't been betrothed to any new babies yet

The new mom's with the opposite babies

Too long I know...But a lot to come

I guess it's been two weeks since our last post. No excuse really, went to Fresno, got sidetracked, came back to Buellton, got re-acclimated, had to go back to work, lost all track of the last 6 days. So here's some whirlwind pictures from a couple of events over the last two weeks.

My second cousin Trish lives in Roseville and stopped by for a visit on Nick's supposed "due day"

Uncle Jon hanging out with Nick for the last time before we left.

Uncle Jon cleverly showing Nick how to pick his nose with his toes...thanks.

We got to attend our friend Kennedy Garate's 4th birthday party with lots of good friends and their kids. Unfortunately, kids are much more fun to shoot than adults so there weren't too many pictures of them, but enjoy the kiddos!

Here's the birthday girl!

Gwen Garate meeting the newest Grindy

Titus Garate hamming it up

Rachel and Claire Lesiw obviously ready to put Claire down for bed. Check out Rachel's awesome business here! (shameless plug I know, but hey, for everyone that has a little girl these things are darn cute!)

Katy and Natalie Wisner enjoying some quiet talking time without their babies, miss them though they do!
Dave watching one of those babies, Tyler. Ignore the red eyes. They're blue eyed and fair skinned.

In order, the Winans Boys: Tayven,

Dax,

and Harper (Kinda like the Marx brothers but cooler)

And all the kids enjoying some ice cream cake...quite quietly I might add.

The last bit of this post is Nick's first night in Fresno, enjoying the high 90's at the end of September. Quite the long car ride. While Katy and I both love our families very much, 11 days on the road with a newborn is a long time. We still think of ourselves as quite young, but not that young anymore. Definitely the last time we'll be hitting up both towns in the same trip unless it's limited to 5 days total or less in both places combined. What can we say. We're new at this.

Katy and Nick napping after a gruelling car ride.

Nick meeting his grandparents dog Abby who apparently was enjoying his smell.