Hunter Family: July 2011

Our second vacation of the summer was to Las Vegas! We’ve been planning for a few months to meet Kris’s family there (it’s exactly halfway between home and Twin Falls!). We made all the arrangements so everybody could stay at the time share (thank you bonus points!) – it was so much fun for us to all be together. We missed David & Brian, but I’m pretty sure we had enough fun for them, plus some.:)

Our trip started on Saturday, when we drove to Mesa and stayed with our friends Craig & Bethany and their girls. Annie got to sleep in somebody else’s bed for the first time! I’m not sure her and Eden got ANY sleep, but who would!? We got up Sunday morning and headed to Las Vegas. No lie…both girls slept from just outside Phoenix all the way to Kingman. That’s a pretty big deal for them. Especially Emily, who is a pretty rotten sleeper. We planned to get to Vegas on Sunday night to get everything set up and ready, and everybody else would arrive Monday.

Monday afternoon the Hunter gang arrived from Idaho: Grandma & Grandpa, Julie, Eric & Leah & company, Holli & Aaron, and Katie. Poor Holli and Aaron…their car broke down – what a MESS that turned out to be! Thankfully they got to squeeze in our van a few times – we really loved having them (Katie, too).

Tuesday we went to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory. They had a self-guided tour and free chocolate tasting (yes – FREE chocolate tasting!). We spent too much money there, but seriously…it was SO worth it! My favorite was the Peanut Butter chocolates. They make their own peanut butter, and the chocolates are in the shape of peanuts. The Pecan Brittle was equally as delicious!

Tuesday night (after 2 nights of having Annie in our bed), Eric offered to let her sleep with his kids. Poor Lianna woke up Wednesday morning and told us she didn’t like Annie sleeping with her. She didn’t have enough space.:)

Wednesday we hit the Strip. Emily got to stay at the resort with Grandma.:) I was pretty miserable. Pregnant and hot (and in pain!) was not a great combination. We took Annie to the M & M store and got her and Emily matching shirts. We also saw the castle (Excalibur), which was pretty awesome to Annie. “It’s the castle, the castle,” she kept saying.

Thursday was family day, which ended up being mostly running errands and swimming for us. We had wanted to go to the temple, but it was closed for maintenance. We were SO disappointed! Thursday night we went to the Bellagio to see the fountains and the Conservatory. I LOVE the Conservatory there. They always have the most beautiful displays! The fountains were pretty, but there were SO many people and lots of different smells. My pregnant self couldn’t handle it all.:)

Friday. I seriously don’t even remember what we did Friday. That’s how crazy the week was! I do remember swimming, because Emily fell asleep in the pool with Grandma. Let’s see…Kris and Eric made breakfast that day. I also made an ungodly amount of deviled eggs. We had taken 4 18 packs with us (one was hard-boiled for deviled eggs at the beginning of the week) and then Leah bought a 60 pack at Costco. We cooked all the ones we brought, plus 7 out of the 60. The rest became deviled eggs. We were sick.

The girls in their matching swimsuits.:)

Saturday we headed home. The Idaho gang drove straight back to Idaho, and we just drove to Mesa. We were SO tired, there was no way we could’ve made it back in one day! It was worth it though, cause we had so much fun. We’re already looking forward to next year, when we go to Idaho to celebrate Grandma & Grandpa Hunter’s 50th Wedding Anniversary!

I’ll have more pictures to post. Since Holli is also into the photography thing, between all of us, we had some great pictures!