Grandma's Birthday Trip Part 1

My mom is turning the big 5-0 this month and decided she really wanted to celebrate with a trip to the Peppermill in Reno (the fact that she and my dad are members of the players club and had 4 free nights may have helped...)  Not only did she want to celebrate with my dad, but ultimately she wanted Josh and I and the kids to come too.  Josh unfortunately hasn't had a whole lot of time to build up his vacation yet so he was not going to be able to swing it.  Luckily though he said he didn't mind if the three of us went with my parents.  So Saturday morning at 5 a.m. we exchanged our goodbye hugs and kisses with daddy (Mommy especially was going to miss him) and hit the road.  Our first stop, Kalamath Falls, OR.  The kids slept for the first stretch of the drive. 

Overall they did pretty well in the car.  We had lots of different entertainment options prepared to make the trip as smooth as possible.  We had a laptop to watch a movie, Lincoln's LeapTop, a scavenger hunt, white board markers and a binder to draw on, the Oriental Trading magazine, and of course lots of snacks.  They did pretty good entertaining each other as well :-) 

We detoured and stopped at Crater Lake as I had never been there before; it was beautiful!  There was a squirrel that visited us which thrilled Lincoln.  We actually saw a couple at a few of the different look outs, but Lincoln thought they were all the same squirrel...  :-)  We stopped in the gift shop at Crater Lake and got a couple souvenirs/toys.  I got a new ring, and Lincoln got some new sunglasses and some magnetic stones.  We headed back to the car and Lincoln spotted the matchbox cars that Grandma keeps for him under his car seat...  So, naturally he asked my dad to get them for him.  My dad handed him a car and he immediately ask for the next one and the next one and so on.  Finally my dad jokingly said, "Geez, how do you know that many are down there?  It's a good thing I never told you about the cars I packed in my B-A-G!"  Lincoln then responded with the most serious tone, "Can you get the cars in your B-A-G?"  It was so funny!  He really repeats EVERYTHING!!  It's a bit terrifying... 

It only took about 6 stops and three outfit changes for Brooklyn before we arrived at our hotel.  Lincoln was very leary of the elevator and after one trip decided he would be taking the stairs for the duration of our stay.  Upon arrival we headed out to the pool to stretch and cool off.  Lincoln at first wanted nothing to do with the water, but once Brooklyn was in the pool along with Mom, Grandma and Grandpa he finally came around. 

Our hotel provided free dinner and fresh baked cookies at 8:00.  The smell of the baking cookies wafted through the hotel and was mouth watering!  While we greatly anticipated the cookies to be put out Lincoln and I set out to do some of Brooklyn's laundry...  He had fun putting the $ into the machine.

After cookies we settled in for bed, but not before sending Daddy a goodnight message. 

We woke early, ate breakfast and hit the road again to conquer that last stretch of pavement that separated us from our final destination, Reno NV. 

We finally arrived, checked in and headed to our room.  There was no taking the stairs this time as we were on the 15th floor so Lincoln had to man up and get over his fear of the elevator...  We also had to take the escalator and Lincoln wasn't too sure about that.  Our room was beautiful and Brooklyn was especially happy to finally be able to crawl around.

We ate lunch in the hotel and Lincoln wanted to blow the wrapper off of his straw.  He tried and tried and it just wasn't working until finally he gave one big blow and the wrapper went sailing over the plants that divided our booth from the neighboring booth and into another groups table...  Oops...  He was soooo embarrassed!!  After that he kept glancing over to the other table with a "shy" look on his face...  Any frustration they might have had I am positive melted when they saw his cuteness.  Hehehehe :) 

We took the kids to Circus Circus to play some games and it was a blast!  Lincoln was scared of a few of them.  For example he wasn't a huge fan of the water gun race which had a balloon that popped at the end to signal the winner or the chicken flop.  He covered his eyes at one point when my dad was hammering the target!  But he LOVED tossing balls into the glass cups, bowling, and pushing the buttons on the ball drop.  We even got to see the flying trapeze artists!  Lincoln traded in his 291 tickets for a race car, a matchbox car and 4 suckers. 

Then it was off to dinner!  While enjoying our smorgasbord of food at the Elderado Buffet Lincoln spilled his slushy on the floor and we had to have someone come over and clean it up.  I was soooo proud when I heard him telling the waiter how sorry he was :-)  He is doing well with his manners and that makes me joyful!  The incident really embarrassed him though and it took him awhile to start talking again, but before we knew it he was blowing straws again (in the appropriate and guided direction of course!)and smiling. 

 By the end of the night he loved the elevator and escalator.  We shall see how the rest of the trip unfolds.  We are having fun.  I can't say the same for Grandma and Grandpa!  This trip cannot be nearly was relaxing as their previous trips, but I think they are loving it all the same.  We miss you daddy!!!  :-)  Hugs and kisses from your biggest fans!!!