Wow...the month of January has come and gone and I haven't done much of an update at all. Truth is, we have fallen into a pretty nice groove since the holidays. School and work are back in full swing. The kids are all in a 10 week ski class, so that takes up much of our Saturdays. We often go skiing in the morning, and then either play with friends or go to the Kroc center in the afternoon to climb/swim. Sunday mornings are pretty much taken up by church, and then, up until recently, football games in the afternoon. On Mondays, the kids go to school and Rach and I have our standing breakfast date, after which she heads off to work and I go to run errands.

It's a nice, easy way of living, but doesn't make for many headline breaking blog posts.

Have a good week!

Who gets 16 days off for Christmas Break????  The Hazard Kids! 

Too bad it is not possible for all parents to get this much time off.  We had an amazing Christmas break as a family, but Logan eventually had to return to work and continue adulting.  I, on the other hand, had no intentions of adulting and instead decided to run off with the kids for an 8 day adventure to sunny Las Vegas! Why not, right?

With a clean car (who does that before a trip?!?!) and a car full of excited kids we set off on the eighteen hour drive.  Wait? Eighteen hours? What did I get myself into? Well, I must say that the kids are EXCELLENT travelers and about 39 of the roughly 40 hours driving was smooth sailing,  

On the way to Vegas we stopped at my mom's house for a few days to visit and have Christmas with my mom and all of my siblings. We had plenty of time to play games, visit a great children's museum, play at Grandma's, have a Christmas celebration, enjoy some kid free sister shopping time, and of course, go to Leatherby's for ice cream! 

Leatherby's Grandma Gracie's Sundae is the only tradition that I am pretty sure Logan did not miss!

We always have a great time at Grandma's house! It was fun to see Shannon, Marissa, Brandon, Kendra, all the cousins, and my mom. Hooray for family time!

It was now time to continue our trip and head to Marissa and Wesley's house in Henderson Nevada.  Marissa and I made the drive "together" and again it was a success!  Warm weather here we come... or so we thought...

I am constantly amazed at how much fun and activity we are able to fit into relatively short amounts of time. I am also pleasantly surprised with how easy it is becoming to take our five crazies on these adventures.  We spent a lot of time outdoors in the sunshine, Marissa and I took all seven of the kids to The Mirage for a dolphin adventure, I took our kids to the strip for an entire afternoon of fun exploring, Marissa and I went shopping together again without kids, and on our way out of town we visited a mermaid show. These events are definitely better told through pictures, so here we go!

Sunshine and leaves!

Somehow we did not get many good pictures of all of the kids together. We tried, but it was pretty unsuccessful. This is a fun one because it has Oliver and Kaylee in it, too,

We visited a cactus garden and I gave my camera to the kids. I found a lot of interesting pictures... This one was a keeper.

After the trip we were discussing our favorite activities and the Dolphin exhibit at the Mirage was the top of everyone's list!  This was the first adventure we went on, and the weather was not on our side. it was mid forties with a windchill that felt like it was in the teens! I was SO surprised how well behaved the kids were and with the lack of complaining. We stayed for about three hours and had a wonderful time! When I was there I overheard someone in the gift shop saying that she had lived in Las Vegas for 37 years and she does not remember it ever being so cold! Luckily, the rest of the trip was beautiful weather. The Dolphin exhibit also featured another section of Lions and Tigers that was dedicated to Siegfried and Roy. The animals were very active and fun to watch. That is definitely a perk that comes with cooler weather.

Logan summed this up perfectly:
Jack:I'm just playin' it cool
Ev: This is neat!
Addy: Look good for the camera!
Lindsey: Am I smiling now?
Maren: Don't make eye contact...
I think he nailed each of their picture personalities

Proof that Marisa and I were there, too!

I may be a bit more scared of Addy than the lions...

We did not stay on the strip after the dolphin exhibit because we were there for so long and it was a bit cold.  I took the kids the next day and can I just say that I love having older kids who listen well and are fun to be with? We are out of the 'just take care of my needs' stage and I am living it up.

Our first stop was the Venetian. We walked around and enjoyed the sights.

After the Venetian we visited Circus Circus and saw an acrobat show. I don't have any pictures, so you can use your imagination.  When we finished we met up with Marissa and the kids to tour the Bellagio gardens and finish off the night with the Bellagio Fountain show.  It did not disappoint!

A semi successful picture of all of the kids together.  Maren stole the show!

To begin the long ride home on a good note I surprised the kids with one last destination stop to see a mermaid show. Most of them were enchanted with the exception of Jack. He was adamant that the Mermaid was not real and it was his intent to make sure no one was fooled. I think he came around and enjoyed the idea of it towards the end. Either way, it was a fun stop and a great end to a fabulous vacation! Thank you Marissa and Wesley for having us in your home and being awesome hosts!

This was the mermaid tank. I have decided that it is nearly impossible to get a good picture of a mermaid. You will just have to go and see her for yourself.

I can't think of a better way to end this purple text post (thanks for the added Pizzazz Adalie!) than with this awesome candid video of Evelyn. She got her dance on on the way back to the Bellagio after the fountain show. Love her!

As mentioned in the last post, Rachel and kids have been gone for the past week in Las Vegas. I'm sure they will have lots to tell about when they come home. In the meantime, I have been playing (and working) closer to home. Besides seeing a lot of movies and playing the guitar I have gone skiing twice, made several trips to the climbing gym, and took a trip to Canada with three other friends for some ice climbing. Good times!

Gibraltar Wall- Four pitches of vertical or nearly vertical ice. Beautiful. We did two routes- one going up the middle and one on the far right of this picture. Both WI4+

So...About 15 feet off the ground, my left crampon binding broke. Rather than go down, I finished all four pitches of the climb with one foot. It was basically like doing a thousand pull-ups in a row. Pretty tiring. After that first climb, some other climbers had the part we needed to do a repair, and I was able to climb a little better on round two.

Um...that's a selfie I took at the ski resort. To prove I was there...I guess? I don't know. Anyway, it was a good day.

Stay tuned for next week when we'll do a New Year's update on everyone. Until then...

Have a good week!