Vegas, Part Two

The rest of our time in Vegas was a blast.  It was so nice having John around.  Sunday we had a fun family morning walking around the Strip.  Then Jane offered to keep Chase so that John and I could gamble a little bit.  John watched and kissed $32 good-bye.  I blew $8.  Vegas is not staying afloat from us!!  But it was interesting to watch people just change in $100 bills and walk away from the table 2 minutes later.  I was bored after awhile so took a walk and went into one of the malls for just a bit.  I returned when my flip-flop feet had had enough.

A Rainy Day Activity

OK, it NEVER rains in the summer here in San Diego.  And to prove it is still summer here, it was 112 at my house on Monday!!  And today it was much cooler and it started raining.  Now, not just a few drops like normal...rain on and off all day long and a lot of thunder and lightning.  I can't remember the last time I heard thunder living here.  This is an rarity!!  Chase can actually learn about thunder and lightning!  

But, alas, she didn't really want to play much IN the rain.  At one point she even said "all done rain".  Then she came in the house and proceeded to play in the bathroom.  You can see the damage done.

Then I was on the phone for a while, trying to do a little work, and next thing I know she had been playing in the bathroom sink, water all over the floor, had her clothes soaked, so she took them off and insisted on taking a bath in the sink!  I obliged, and supervised.  That was all fun and games til she slipped!

Blessings in Sin City

A few months ago, my college friend, Jane, invited me and Chase to meet her and her family in Las Vegas for a week while her husband attended a work conference.  After thinking about it, I decided I would drive over and rent a timeshare week.

So, I packed way too many bags of stuff, got my new car all loaded up and prayed my way through the California desert.  Chase HATES riding in the car for even 15 minutes.  But the Lord was so gracious, and she was absolutely pleasant the entire way!  We listened to music the first 100 miles, then we stopped at In-n-Out Burger in Victorville for lunch, and then turned on the dvd movies for the last 200 miles.  We made 2 more very short bathroom and gas stops.  And we arrived in 4 1/2 hours!!!  No tears, not even once!  When I made that turn on the 15 and caught a glimpse of the bright lights, big city, I breathed a sigh of relief!!  We drove straight to Jane's hotel, picked her and Ella up and went to our timeshare.  That worked out perfectly as Jane was able to watch the girls while I made 10 trips back and forth unpacking, and even helped put everything away!  It worked out perfectly.

We had a nice dinner together with her husband, GK, that night.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory and in front of the restaurant at Caesar's Palace, was the biggest aquarium you've ever seen.  You can imagine what 2 2 year old's would think!  It was awesome and kept their attention for quite a while.  Chase is still talking about the fish with the long funny nose.

Tuesday we went to the Strip and walked around a couple of casinos with the girls.  We are amazed at how friendly folks have been to us.  There have been several times when Chase has gone tearing through the casino 50 feet in front of me, people having to dodge her, but they just smile at her.  I would have thought we'd have gotten a couple of dirty looks or obscenities, but not yet!  Jane figured it is a lot of grandparents admiring the 2 cute little girls, or parents who've left their kids behind and are glad they aren't dealing with little ones.  In the afternoon, Jane and Ella came out to go swimming in our pool and then I fixed dinner for us.  The girls just love the hot pool (aka the hot tub).  You'd think being in the 90's the cool pool would feel good...

Mandalay Bay beach area

Wednesday we got special admittance into the Mandalay Bay pool area from a friend of Jane's.  What a treat that was.  There is a huge wave pool, a kiddie pool area, a big sandy area to play in, a lazy river.  We stayed there a good 3 hours and the girls had a blast.  There was a small loss there,  Chase accidently got Elle's croc sucked into the pool drain.  We asked if that recycled somewhere and they pretty much said we could kiss that good-bye!  Sorry Ella.  Thankfully they live in a cold climate through the winter and they were getting a little snug.  And they were thrifted!!  After naptime we met up again and went to Maggiano's for dinner.  The girls did great, minus a little booth bouncing and peering over the ledge at the next table.  Since they'd napped so well, we decided to take the girls down to the Fremont Street Experience in the old part of Vegas.  It's supposed to be like a giant light show on the ceiling.  But before that even started, there were all sorts of sights to behold.  Like, a person sized Elmo (of course this was Chase's favorite!), several Elvis impersonators, a Bret Michael's impersonator, and Ella's favorite, the pink lady showgirls!  Jane was nice enough to have a couple of balloon flowers made for the girls.  I decided we needed to leave when Chase's eyes were so swollen from all the smoke!  I was getting slightly panicked.

Thursday we went to see the MGM lions.  Those were cool.  They would throw meat onto the glass wall and they would come right up and lick it centimeters from your face!  Chase loved seeing those.  Then we went to the M & M World.  That is just a 4 story building ploy to get you to buy M & M paraphanalia.  I got sucked in and bought Chase pink, purple and teal M & M's.  She had pretty good self control since the last time she had chocolate.  After naps, Jane and Ella came back out to swim some more.  Then the most exciting part of the trip: our drive to pick up daddy at the airport!  It was great to see John.

The closest we're getting to NYC anytime soon!

Friday morning we went to the pool.  While Chase napped I got to sneak away and get a massage.  It was one of the best that I've had.  It really helped my back pain.  Our pastor and his wife used to do youth ministry here in Vegas, so before we left I'd asked Priscilla if she knew any trustworthy girls/women that could babysit for us.  And she did!  Through several emails, a connection was made.  So, we found a senior named Gracie that was willing to watch Ella and Chase at her house, with her parents being home.  We were so excited for the chance to go our for an adult dinner.  We dropped the girls off and they acclimated really quickly.  They took right to Gracie.  Then we went and got GK and parked on the Strip and began our walk around.  We ended up going for drinks and appetizers at Koi Lounge in the Planet Hollywood Casino.  Then we went to dinner and dessert at Wolfgang Puck's Cucina.  We even got a text of 2 happy little girls during dinner.  Bonus points for Gracie!!  It was fun to walk around and feel foot loose and fancy free!  When we were calculating how much to pay Gracie, we said how we'd been out for 5 hours, and John just couldn't believe that time had gone that quickly.  He kept saying, there is no way we've been gone 5 hours.  Why is it that time goes by so quickly when you have a little time to yourself?  It was a perfect night out.  Nothing wild and crazy!

Saturday we (Jane, Ella, Hatchers) got up and headed out to Red Rocks National Park, just outside the city limits.  It was a pretty hot day.  We San Diegans are so spoiled by nice weather we don't know what hot feels like.  It was a pretty scenic drive through all different rock types.  Many of them being bright red.  Then we went to lunch.  There has been a lot of eating out with Ella and Chase and overall, they have been so well behaved.  More swimming in the pool after naptime.  Then a quiet dinner at home.  We didn't see the Strip at all today.

There are 2 rules that Jane and I decided are absolutes with 2 year olds.  1.  Always take a stroller with you.  Don't question if they will sit in it.  2.  If questioning whether to walk through the casino to get from point A to point B or walk on the street, always walk on the street.

Chase's favorite sights in Vegas have been: the giant 3 story Hard Rock Cafe guitar.  Every time we drive by she points it out with much joy.  Also, she sees the signs for the Blue Man Group all over and one of the posters has one of the guys eating a bird, she goes on and on about how silly that is.  And of course she is mesmerized by all of the giant tv's.

The Simple Joys in Life

Getting ready for a trip

Inheriting a whole load of "gently used" fall clothes

4 generations of Heinkel women

A new vacuum cleaner (can you see all that dirt?)

A tutu party

Newborn babies

Just chillin'

A new purse (from Mama Jo!)

Anyone Notice Anything Funny?????

The Iconic First Day of School

Look at this big girl ready for her first day of

 Pre-PreSchool!

She is going to a 2 year old class at a local church.  It is only 1 hour 2 times a week.

It was during this hour that I had free and could run to the grocery store unhindered that I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I think a preschool program for a stay at home mom (with my personality) will be delighted with just a short break a couple of times a week.  I am happy to be at home with her, but do need some hours to myself. 

And as everyone has told me, but at times I did not believe, the time goes by fast!!

Don't worry mom, I've got this under control!!

When I picked her she didn't even notice me til after I took her picture.

Feelings on Life

We've just lived through one of the most draining weeks of our lives.  It was busy, it was fun, it was emotional.  I've lived in San Diego for 8 years now.  John's sister and her family have always lived close to us.  When we got married we even lived in the same apartment complex.  I remember being uncertain about living so closely after just getting married.  I thought their kids would always be running over to see us.  I'd only known them a couple of months by this time.  Of course when you get married, you think about the in-laws and what that relationship will be like.  I'd never had a sister, never known what that was like.  Anyway, apartment life was fine and it was nice to live so close to someone since I didn't have any friends yet.  And I enjoyed getting to know little Ellie and Drew.  And baby Abby was born just 2 months after we were married.  We watched Ellie and Drew while Anna and Nate were in the hospital (that was a trend that continued 2 more times!!!)  One memory that sticks out so clearly was when we bought those 2 their first pair of flip-flops and they were so excited and right away they called them flop-flips.  Then we bought our first home and moved about 20 minutes away from them.  During this time we would have Ellie and Drew over to our house often and they would spend the night, usually together.  I asked Drew the other day if he remembered that house.  After describing it, he said, oh yeah!  Eventually they bought a house putting us a bit closer.

I guess it is easy to not appreciate what you have when you have it.  And especially before we had Chase we wouldn't see them a ton during the week.  We'd always seen them at church on Sunday's, and often hang out after church.  But something changes when you have kids.  You see value more on familial relationships.  I loved that the kids could play with each other.  Anna was so kind in that she would keep Chase for me on Friday mornings so I could go to a weekly meeting.  At first I thought, 6 kids!  How can she keep her eye on Chase and know she is ok?  But, it soon became clear that when Chase was over there she had at least 4 little mothers watching over her.  She is well loved.  And perhaps that is the most heart breaking part of this.  Knowing that Chase is not going to be able to grow up with her cousins close by.  I never had cousins near me, and that makes me sad that those relationships aren't better.  I know what family living apart looks like.  And that is the other.  John and I look at those 5 kids as an extension of our own.  Before we had Chase we would have them over quite often, to spend the night with us.  We cherish those memories.  There is not an uncle on this earth that has played as hard with his nieces and nephews as John has.  He has loved them well.  John and I have definitely processed this move differently.  It has been very emotional for me, tears for weeks now.  John's been so busy with his work life that he hasn't thought about it too much.  But it is finally becoming a reality to him too.

I'm thankful that I'm sad to see them go.  I feel that my love for them as a family has grown over the years.  I always knew that they would not be here forever.  I truly feel that Anna is a sister to me, and that makes me sad that she is not nearby.  But I love that I have a sisterhood feeling toward her and know that is there because we've been geographically close.

Our relationship has shifted.  We will now be creating memories differently than what we've known.  Our kids will have to get used to flying on the airplane, even alone, quickly!  Our kids will now talk on the webcamera.

Here was our last attempt to have a cousin's photo

We soon realized it wasn't going to happen!

These were very sweet moments in life!