First Laughlin Trip of the Year

We enjoyed our first trip of the year!! We usually go out to the boat during spring break, but after the past few spring break trips totally sucking, I made the executive decision and thought it was a good year to SKIP the river (since we did have a pretty new baby too!) So its already mid-June and its our first trip of the year…but it was ok! The weather was warm, tad breezy, water chilly but not unbearable…it was a good trip.

Other than all the issues….due to the curse of the bananas! haha They say its bad luck to bring bananas on a boat…and 2 of the 3 families (NOT ours) brought bananas on the boat. So we had a few hiccups…but everything worked out in the end. Poor Yoshi was just stressing from time to time! lol Our poor boat is starting to really age…so this trip we were discussing what our next move will be…repair or maybe look into selling and buying another boat?!? Kinda sad if you ask me.

BUT it was Ella’s first family vacation…pretty fun!! She was a GREAT traveler…going TO and coming HOME from the river. Slept most of the drives (except when she had a blow out bowel movement)…which was marvelous since she doesn’t usually do so well on car rides.

Owen has always been a solid traveler…he’s awesome!

The night we got there Travis was dieing to get some evening fishing in…So Ella and myself stayed back at the hotel but Yosh and the kids had a blast fishing and riding on the Harpooner!

Day 1 on the lake was very nostalgic for me…seeing Ella in the same infant life-jacket that Owen once wore and playing in the same seat that Owen did…it was weird.

The kids got to ride on the “Harpooner” (Trav’s boat) over to the beach…so we had just Ella Bean on her first boat ride.

Ella wasn’t really a fan of the water…wind…sunlight…sand haha no but really she actually did pretty well! It was the first river trip where I came home whiter than when I left. lol I spent most of the days on the boat under the shade with our little whitey! haha Hopefully next trip she is sitting up and a little more into playing in the sand OR water?!?

First time she touched the lake water….yeah…she didn’t like it.

The kids ran themselves ragged…playing in the water, building sand castles, barely stopping to eat (well my kid anyway…some of the others love their food haha)

I love Owen’s wet little curls peeking out from under his hat…such a lil dude!

Ella’s swim-suit look familiar…

 

<--- That’s Little Brynnie on her first river trip back in 2011!! Ella inherited a lot of Brynn’s cute clothes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the kids totally love each other…and I said on IG how I love how they love each other and how they are like the cousins that our Owen doesn’t have in this state. All his real-life cousins live far away…so our friends are our family…and I’m beginning to realize that THAT’S ok…I cherish our friends and the relationships we have built!

Missing Wyatt (he doesn’t like pictures!) and the babies!
I can’t wait to re-take this picture in 15 years….with probably a few more kids included!! We aren’t done makin’ babies just yet! lol

But here are some pics of the kids over the years…

2009-Owen and Caroline…


2010-Owen, Addison, Caroline, Payton & Ryland. Jaxon was up on the boat only 1 month old



2011-Top Addi, Owen, Caroline & Wyatt (April). Bottom: Ryland, Jaxon, Owen, Payton & Brynn (September)

2012- Wyatt, Caroline, Owen, Jaxon, Payton and Ryland (Brynn on the boat)

Our friends The Rowe’s have been on more trips than documented…but I guess we don’t ever seem to do kid pics when they are around it seems…we’ll DEF have to get a total kid pic when we all get to the river sometime soon!

Day 2 on the river was nice as well…The Harps headed home but the fun continued. haha We continued to try and get Ella in the water (WASN’T happening!)

Heather and I last summer…13 weeks prego…and this summer with our 4 month old babies!

Great first trip for our girl…and a great trip for our crew too. I’m hoping we get to spend many many many more years going on river trips with our friends…the memories are awesome!

Vegas and 7 Years!

When Ella was just a few weeks old our friends told us about a concert going on in Vegas, poolside at the Hard Rock, and it was a band we really enjoyed called Pepper. Yosh was SO excited and said we “had” to go. I deep down started freaking out about leaving Ella, pumping enough milk and just being away. I told myself “it’s a long way off Erin, relax”. Well that didn’t work. But I diligently started pumping and freezing milk and praying that I’d be able to leave Mom with enough (which I did have enough) BUT left her with a canister of formula JUST IN CASE.

It just so happened that this concert also landed on our anniversary weekend…so it was even more reason to get away and enjoy some Mommy/Daddy time! I chuckled when I realized that we’d be spending our anniversary with the Browns…for the 3rd year in a row…I swear we should just marry them! lol

But it was us, The Browns and The Parkers. We decided to get a suite and adjoining room. It was beautiful! With an awesome view of one of the pools.

 

But let me rewind. Of course my hubs forgot his sunglasses at home…so we “had” to make a stop to buy more. And let me tell you the mall on the Vegas Strip is so freakin’ COOL! And 3 of the 4 of us got some new shades! (The one that didn’t get new shades wasn’t excited about us shopping either!)

 

 

 

But we got to the hotel and the party got started immediately!

It was a lot of fun…and we knew we had to get ready and still have more fun that evening! And I had to do lots of pumping and dumping…kinda depressing to pour that liquid gold down the drain!!


We got all dolled up and headed to a German restaurant (Josh’s request). But I was excited because Kyla and Megan were able to do the “sock bun” for me! lol Heeey!

The German place was cool. HUGE jugs of beer, chugging contests that Sean and Josh found out was for girls (haha)…and the waitress’ slapped people with these wooden paddles. Not exactly sure why BUT it was funny to watch!

From there we headed to our favorite spot…The Nine Fine Irishmen in the NYNY. Always a great time!

Day 2 at the pool was WAY more crazy than day one! We got a bed thingy…which had a $500 minimum (including food and beverages). It was 111 degrees outside so we spent most of the day in the water…people watching. It was NUTS! Music BLARING, Beach Balls FLYING around the place, Drunk people EVERYWHERE…oh man…

Was a great day at the pool…but we ate at Pink Taco, cleaned up and headed back to the pool area for the concert.

The boys really enjoyed the concert…I was over partying at that point but got to listen while lounging poolside (in clothes). It was nice! The guys wanted more…so we headed out to eat at 11:30pm while Megan and myself just watched the entertainment. lol Oyster shots…followed with some Patron shots…((Barf!!))

But the next morning we were up and ready for breakfast and the long drive home. Wasn’t too bad (Yosh did the driving!). Wasn’t the ideal way to spend our anniversary of being hungover and driving 4 hours home!. BUT hey…whatever works.

We feasted on a romantic getup of Taco Bell and McDonalds…haha but I DID get my lovely husband a cute ‘copper’ (year 7 is copper!) keychain. Says ‘love’ with 3 pennies attached..the year we were married, the year we had Owen and this year, the year we welcomed our Ella Bean!

Little bit different than how we spent it 7 years ago…

But coming home to our babies and the best Nana who stayed at our house all weekend with them was THE best gift ever! I missed them…so so much! And Mother had to make brownies, which I obviously HAD to eat (and add to my 5lbs gained in Vegas!)

Great weekend! Thanks for lots of fun friends!!