29 Months Old!!! (Part 1 of 2)
Hello there!! Ava is now 29 months old and you’ve caught us enjoying ourselves on a much needed vacation. Or as Ava calls it ‘bacation‘.
The exact minute she turned 29 months old, Ava was in a middle of a nap on her way to Las Vegas. This isn’t her first time to Vegas. Remember this trip?
Even though she slept 2 hours in the car, we had to wake her up once we arrived at our destination… and it wasn’t a pretty site. My little sad goose.
But after some snuggle time, she was back to her old self. And good thing… because her partner in crime showed up.
And of course, they had to jump on the bed as soon as they saw each other.
After some unpacking and settling in, we hit up the casino across the street for dinner… or as Ava called the it, the ‘volcano‘… where she truly enjoyed her spaghetti with meatballs.
On Day 2 of our trip, the boys went out for paintball with the other dudes in town for Rodrigo’s Bachelor Party and us ladies got the kids ready for a day at the pool.
This was the first day Ava got to wear her Nemo floaties. She was super excited about them ever since we bought them a couple of months ago. ‘Mama, this is for bacation‘.
After pool time, it was nap time. Ava slept on her toddler blow-up mattress with her bed set from home… and with her prairie doggy too, of course. It was a little rough getting three kids to sleep at the same time… even though we had a one-bedroom suite… but we pulled it off somehow (on most days).
After nap time, it was time to hit up a real volcano casino. The girls liked holding hands as they walked the streets of New York New York.
We ended up at a lot of buffets in town. And I mean a lot. They usually cost less than the real restaurants and the kids always ate free… not to mention the free drinks. But there are so many buffets one can take. So we hit up a Mexican restaurant, Gonzalez Y Gonzalez, that was really good… and had a menu! Imagine that.
Ava enjoyed ice cream every day on vacation. Well, I can’t really blame that on vacation solely. She does get her fair share at home thanks to pregnancy hormones.
On day 3 of our bacation, the boys were free and got to join us at the pool.
Dada got to see Ava with her floaties.
And Ava reached a new milestone. She started swimming alone for the first time. Yeah. But you’ll have to wait for those pictures.
Since we had 10 days straight to spend with Ava, it was time to get serious about potty training… especially since the room was mostly tiled, Grace was there to show her the way and we had new underwear to bribe her with. And guess what? It worked. Sure there was an accident or two or five, but Ava is doing much better. She is staying dry for the most part and even telling us when she has to go. Big steps, people! She is not 100% there but much further along. Yeah!
On Day 4, the girls were still holding hands and we were still going the buffets in town.
I ended up putting a little of Dan’s sunscreen on Ava’s cheeks at the pool the day before and she woke up looking like this. She had an allergic reaction to it. Damn chemicals. This is the first time I put some on her… and the last. She needs to stick to her chemical-free sunscreen from now on, unless she wants to go for the ‘I got stung by a swarm of African Attack Bees’ look.
After some aloe vera and more pool time, her face started to clear up. Here is Ava refueling with a Capri Sun after a tough day swimming.
That night, we had a change of pace. We hit up the local Bass Pro Shop… much to Dan’s convincing delight.
It was actually a pretty entertaining place for the kids. Lots of stuffed animals…
… and a large fish tank that made the girls dance.
Next door, we ended up at Johnny Rockets for dinner where Ava was impressed by their happy face ketchup plates.
And the two of us shared a pink lemonade with not one, but two straws.
On Day 5, her buddy Grace left and we were on our own. Dada was craving hot wings from Hooters and we obliged. What can I tell you, the Hooter girls wear more clothes that those casino waitresses. Plus, I’m tired of explaining to Ava why they forgot to wear pants to work today.
This isn’t Ava’s first visit to this Hooters. Here she is in June 2009.
And here she is in May 2007. Just two years earlier. Oh how times have changed. (Dada, time for some new clothes).
After we filled our tummies, we went to the MGM Grand to check out the lions. At first, we went to the Rain Forest Cafe Gift Shop to admire their animatronic animals. Ava was a little scared of the huge snake in the tree so we moved to see the Cheetah. I told Ava to look at its eyes because they were blinking. She stared and stared… and then out of nowhere, the lights turned off, there was a loud thunder… and she freaked out. Really freaked out. She started shaking and screaming. I had to get her out of there fast. It was so sad. Poor kid. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her freak out like that. Oh boy. So, we needed a change a scenery and something to show her that large felines weren’t all scary. That’s when we ran into real lions.
We walked under the bridge to where they were hanging out.
Ava wasn’t too sure about these two lions at first.
And then started pointing and screaming ‘Look!‘.
‘Oh oh, Mama. Lion going peepee.’ After that she was much better. She thought it was funny that the lion had an accident and forgot to use the toilet like she does now. And then the lion licked her own pee and the trainer had to clean it up. After that, she kept talking about how the nice lion peed and the scary lion got dark.
And for a special treat that night, we filled up the tub and turned on the jets… and created a bubble cloud. Hehe. Join us tomorrow for Part 2 of our ‘Vegas Bacation’!
