Las Vegas/A Month of Happenings

Here are pictures of our first family vacation! We took the kids to Las Vegas, and what an experience! So many cool things to see, though it is mixed in with the worst of the carnal world. We stayed in Excalibur, took the kids to the Tournament of Kings, saw the sharks at Mandalay Bay, toured the M&M store, saw some sweet cars and motorcycles and animals, went swimming, and got to ride a tram, which Carson thought was almost like a train. All in all, it was a fun, relaxing trip that we all enjoyed. It was relaxing to take a trip to someplace where nothing and nobody was waiting at the destination. We're hoping to take more of these independent vacations in the years to come.

Last week, we went to the local zoo with a friend from our college days in Laramie. She has two girls, and the kids had a good time together checking out all the different animals. Keeping with tradition, we had to get a picture taken on top of the tiger statue, since tigers are one of Carson's favorites. Thanks for inviting us to go with you, Tonya!

These are pictures from our camping trip in mid-August. We camped near Kelly Canyon, and it was a nice place to camp. The kids loved every minute of it, and they even slept well that night. we made hobo dinners that night and had dutch oven peach cobbler and smores (all gluten free, of course). The next morning, to help the kids warm up, Mike instigated a game of tag, and both kids loved it. It was so entertaining. Then we went over to the Snake river so Mike could fish a little, and the kids played in the water. Despite the cool air, they had a great time in the water, which was warmer than I thought it would be.

Below are pictures from our day at the river for the duck race. We didn't actually watch the duck race, but we had lots of fun doing other things. Oddly enough, it was a really cold day for July/August. We all wore jackets, and even then I was still cool. Carson and Mike made car race tracks at a Home Depot booth. We also saw a lot of neat cars at the car show. There were also motorcycles, and a couple of helicopters, which Carson loved since they were orange. we saw several booths, too. And perhaps most exciting were the boat races. They were racing boats, so they were small and so loud! They did drag racing on the river, and it was a lot of fun to watch. After the activities at the river, we went over to Reed's Dairy Farm for their annual family day, and it was fun to see how milk is processed. There was also a petting zoo, cheap ice cream, and free horse rides for children. This was Carson's favorite part, though Natalie wouldn't get on one.