Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!

Today we will be leaving Aunt Sue's house in Phoenix and driving to Las Vegas to stay with our friends, Ron and Hayley.  Caleb gave Kiki lots of love and kisses today before we left.  He told me last night that he wished on a star to have a pet cat.  Caleb is really going to miss Kiki and Kiki is really going to miss all those treats.

We took a picture with Aunt Sue before we left.  We had a great time here with family these past few days.  It was the first time for the kids to meet these relatives and my first chance to spend much time with them.  This family is fun and full of love and I loved getting to know them better. 

Today is also Grammy's (Rodney's grandmother) birthday.  She would have been 92 years old today.  We all miss her very much and miss spending our vacations with her.  Last year was our first family vacation that did not take place at her house, but we had a great time in Destin with my family.  At our hotel pool on the way home, we met a lady who reminded us so much of Grammy that I felt God sent her there to give us a little piece of what we'd been missing on that trip.  Our visit with her daughter, Aunt Sue, gave us that little piece of Grammy for this vacation.  Thanks for having us Aunt Sue!

On the way from Phoenix to Las Vegas, we drove on the Joshua Tree Forest Scenic Highway.  Below is a picture of a Joshua Tree.  I think it kind of looks like a regular tree with cactus growing on it instead of leaves.  Not the prettiest tree, but it was interesting.

We also drove through Nothing, AZ.  It lived up to its name.

We made it to Nevada, the 4th state on our trip. 

We were close to the Hoover Dam so we stopped to take a look.  We were anxious to get to Vegas so we didn't pay the $10 to park and look at it up close.  Instead, we pulled off the side of the road and saw as much as we could see from there.  I think it would be fun to go back someday and take a tour, but I doubt the kids would have enjoyed it at these ages.   

Hoover Dam selfie

Soon we had arrived at Ron and Hayley's house and got straight to swimming.  Ron and Rodney are both federal agents who used to work together.  He and Hayley have moved several times since they left Texas, but this was our first chance to visit them. 

They have twins who are almost 3 years old.  I was told that it is impossible to get a picture of them when they are both looking and I should just give up. 

After swimming, we went out to dinner and then to a playground and then off to bed.  We've made it to the furthest point of our road trip now!