Las Vegas (Friday)

Gramma had the day off on Friday, so Rob and I didn't have to get up with Justin :) It was another BEAUTIFUL day! We went and met Lisa and Ava for lunch in Green Valley at the Half Shell. They have a rooftop deck and it was wonderful! I had the best fish tacos....mmmm! After lunch we went over to Steve & Lisa's for a little while so I could help her with setting up her blog, then we had to fight the traffic to get back to my parent's house so Rob and I could shower and get ready to go to the LV Hilton for a meet & greet with Kevin Harvick! After the meet & greet, we went back to Red Rock and met Stevie (my cousin) there for a little blackjack!
Steve and I were sitting at a $15 minimum table. It was just he and I playing for a while because the cards were not going well - hence the reason Rob was standing there watching! Anyways, this really pretty lady walks up and watches us, asks if they offer surrender, etc. She ends up sitting down and pulled out $500 and asks for all black ($100 chips). Steve and I kind of looked at each other with surprise....we were only betting up to $25 maybe! She ended up winning the first hand and letting it ride, then she had to double down so she pulled out another $1K in cash. She lost. The next hand she pulls out a stack of $100 bills and started counting, then just said "whatever is there give me black and purple ($500 chips!)". She only played one 6 deck shoe with us and in that time she pulled out $12K from her purse!!!! I was sitting next to her and she was not even close to out of $100 bills. She ended up breaking even on a hand that she was betting over $2K and then doubled down so she had $4K on one hand. Oh, and she was playing 2 spots on the table the whole time! I was talking to her and she said they were from San Diego and her and her husband just came in for the night because they don't like to leave their kids for too long - her husband was 2 tables over betting more than she was! They had casino hosts on them like white on rice. Our table had quite a crowd around it in no time! That was our excitement....as for Rob and I, we each left with a little more than we brought, so we were happy!




Gramma and Justin on the rooftop deck












Ava enjoying her Diet Coke









Cool Shades!








Justin eating Ava's Smarties

We were trying to figure out how Ava & Justin are related and we think they are 4th cousins...(mom and steve - 1st, me and steve - 2nd, me and ava - 3rd, justin and ava - 4th....is that right?)










He still loves her! He was trying to kiss her, but he had a runny nose, so I thought hugs would be better!











Sharing Smarties :)














Aaawwww...saying goodbye until next time we visit :)











They are only 8 days apart, but Ava is still in 18 month clothes - Justin outgrew those before his 1st birthday!








Rob and I with Kevin Harvick - I told him that I was really there hoping to meet Delena (his wife)...I'm so nice! :) He said she was back at the motorcoach with the dogs!

Las Vegas!!! (Thursday)

I am going to break our trip up into different days of our trip - hope you have a while :)

We left Peoria at 8:40am on Thursday and got to Vegas around 10:30am. Gramma came to the airport to pick us up, but then she had to go back to work. We went to the Palace Station and had lunch with Great Grandpa & Grandma Rosebush. Justin was good, but he was ready to run around after being cooped up on a plane for almost 4 hours! After lunch we went to Papa and Gramma's house and played hockey out on their patio - it was in the high 70's and sunny...beautiful out!!! Then Mommy and Justin went to Kohl's because Justin didn't have any shorts that fit him! When Papa & Gramma (from here will be referred to as P&G!) got home from work we went out to dinner and then Rob and I went to Red Rock - our favorite casino!!





Being silly with Gramma












This was one of 3 restaurants we went to that did not have high chairs! I can see a bar area not having them, but if you have a full non smoking dining room, wouldn't you think you might get kids?

:( So close....

I am going to post this one first because it's not happy news, so I will make sure it gets covered by the fun Vegas pictures!!!

We had a couple looking at our house (3 times!) and they loved it....our realtor thought they would definetly be putting in an offer and they didn't even have a house to sell. Well, then they saw a FSBO in on our street that is bigger and then ended up buying that one. What a let down. At least we had some interest I guess..... It's really frustrating spending over 25K per year on this house that sits empty. I wish we could just tell the bank - here...take it back! Oh, and it would be nice if that didn't leave a big red X on our credit reports!!!

Ugh.

Las Vegas here we come!!!!!

Tomorrow morning we board the plane at 8:40am to go to see Papa & Gramma - I can't wait! We had 5" of snow here Monday night and it's really cold, but at least we have this to look forward to:

Thursday: Partly cloudy skies. High 74F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday night: Clear skies. Low 49F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: Mainly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the low 50s.
Saturday: More sun than clouds. Highs in the low 70s and lows in the upper 40s.
Sunday: Abundant sunshine. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the low 40s.

I am totally okay with 60's on Sunday - Rob and I are going to the NASCAR race, and if it's too warm then big, hairy people tend to not wear enough clothes! Last time we went to the race there (when I was pregnant with Justin in 2006, it was snowing so 60's is a big improvement!)

My Grandpa & Grandma Rosebush will be there too, so it will be fun to see them! Rob and I are also going out with Steve & Lisa on Friday night, so that will be really fun too! I am going to help Lisa get her blog going, so for the people reading this (family) who know who Steve & Lisa are, I will send a link to her blog when we get back!

I will take lots of pictures! Have a great weekend :)

The Hills 2/26/08

Playing outside on Sunday, "throwing" the ball for Tuck-dog (this is how Justin says Tucker)












Tuck-dog chasing his tennis ball













Justin and Daddy watching a hockey game on TV....Justin won't sit and watch movies, but he will watch hockey and football - and he knows the difference!













Leave me alone mom - I'm watching the game!

He was SO GOOD at the Rivermen game on Sunday...he watched it the whole time; except when I covered his eyes for a bad fight.









Little Mr. Independent, who has to feed himself!














Oh no - look at the mess I made....












Looks like every night is bath night when I get to feed myself!













Justin playing hockey? No way!



















Cheesy grin :)

Spam comments

I keep getting spam comments :( I added the word verification to my comment section, so now you'll have to type the word that is in the box. I hope this eliminates the spam, otherwise I am going to have to go private and I really don't want to do that! Did anyone else have trouble with this?

I am SO MAD!!!!!!!

I am so mad right now I my blood is boiling! Last week I went to Aunt Annies Pretzels in the mall - Justin and I go there quite a bit. Anyways, I was driving home eating my pretzel and when I was chewing there was hair in my mouth - gross, but I figured it was my own. Then when I picked up the last piece of my pretzel there was a long black hair baked into the pretzel - double gross!

I went to the corporate website and entered a comment through their "contact us" link. If I were a manager, I would want to know if this was coming out of one of my stores. Apparently not - look at this email I just got back.... (I think this must be from the local manager?)

"Ms BrooksI got your comment card. I was aghast at the extent of your horrification and likewise impressed by your use of the all caps function to communicate your message. I am in need of your help to ferret our this evil the minded culprit and put an end to this ghastly problem. You see, at the time of your visit the two people working were Stacie (Mid length reddish hair) and Dan very very short black hair. This long black hair was undoubtedly planted by some devious saboteur. Did you see anybody with a secreted supply of long black hair hanging around the store. Now this would have had to have been very special black hair because a hair will to separate when bitten leaving half in the pretzel. I certainly hope I can get your help because I can sense the devastation that you experienced and want to do everything possible to keep this from happening to another innocent and unsuspecting customer. Now seriously Ms Brooks if you want to be taken seriously you should not write your comment card like you are just fishing for some free product. This may have actually happened to you, but your over the top complaint makes it hard for me to believe. You will be receiving some free pretzel coupons by mail, enjoy them with my compliments. By the way, hair is not a transmitter of disease, according to the Peoria County Health Department. So while it is not appetizing, it is not hazardous to your health. Larry"

What kind of customer service is this????? Telling me I'm obviously fishing for free product and not being taken seriously? I am aware that hair does not transmit disease, but that still doesn't mean I want it in my pretzel!!!!! WTF?

I took the pictures below and I am glad I did so I can make this manager eat his words. I am trying to decide what to do - I think I am definetly sending this to corporate once I can get ahold of someone in upper management - not just the comments processors. Rob thinks that I should send this to the PJ Star too (our local paper). This will at least let people know that they don't really care about how sanitary their restaurant is and you won't be taken seriously. Don't get me wrong, I know that these things can happen, but to get a response like that just infuriates me!!!!!!

Date with Katie!

Katie and I had so much fun last night! We went to the Brad Paisley concert with Rodney Atkins & Chuck Wicks. They were ALL good! I really, really like Chuck Wicks. I think that he'll be the next big star! I remember going to Pine Knob when Kenny Chesney was an opening act, and I really think that this guy will climb the charts really fast too! I love his CD! He sings "Stealing Cinderella", but that is one of my least favorite songs on his CD. Katie and I got to meet him after the concert too - he's really nice! Less than a year ago he was parking cars at a steakhouse....what a change!

Then Rodney Atkins sang all of his good songs - I didn't realize he had so many hits. He's had 4 #1 hits on his current record! I love "Watching You" - it came out when I was pregnant with Justin and I would cry when I heard it. It was cute at the concert because there was a little boy there and he gave him "knuckles" during the song like Erin Duffer taught Justin to do :)

Brad Paisley was awesome. He was a really good entertainer. He has so many great songs!





Chuck Wicks during the opening act













Katie and I in the REALLY long beer line!















Katie, Chuck Wicks and Melissa














You wouldn't get the full understanding unless this picture was scratch & sniff - Seriously....Katie can attest to that one! We felt like teenagers going to a NKOTB concert when we met him!



Watching you....

Fun with Friends!

Last night the Fossitt's (Jamie and Jason) and another friend Colleen were driving through on their way to St. Louis and spent the night at our house. The Wisley's came over to visit them too. We had a fun time - I wish we all lived closer so we could do it more often!

Justin just "hanging out" with Jamie - sorry I couldn't resist :)

Justin and Samantha - it was funny when we were putting Justin to bed, Samantha came in to help us. She crawled into his crib and he had a look on his face like "what's going on"...nobody has ever been in his crib with him before. Then he handed her a tiger and wanted to play!

Tonight Katie and I are going to see Brad Paisley, Rodney Adkins and Chuck Wicks - I am SO EXCITED!!!!! 7 hours, but who's counting?????

Decoration idea

Ry and Amanda -
Here is the idea that I was picturing in my head. Keep in mind that I am using a towel, not a tablecloth, so it will look a little nicer without terrycloth! Call me and we can chat about different ideas!