On the road again... heading out of sunny California to sweltering Nevada. This long year of dance competitions has finally come to an end, we head to the Las Vegas Hotel for the final 2013 Showbiz Finals Dance Competition.
Once we arrived at the hotel, checked in, went to our room to wait for our luggage, then had to call to ask for a porta-crib, I was so shocked when this little white metal framed crib was at the door when we heard a second knock. The first knock was our luggage, the second was this:
I almost asked them to not leave it, but it was the only option at this hotel. I showed a picture to Kristin Daines cause I thought it was so hilarious, but she said this is what she always has had at hotels so she was shocked to actually receive a port-crib. Strange!
Saturday was the first real big day. A Star is Born performed first.
A few of us crazy moms decided to take about 11 kids to Benihana for dinner, since it was the only restaurant inside the Las Vegas Hotel. I knew it would be a bad idea because Ryan and I never take our kids to a nice restaurant because they never sit still and there always ends up being a huge mess, and my nerves end up frayed. I knew when we sat down and Audrey wouldn't sit still, wanting to be on top of my lap and Heidi started to cry because she didn't get to sit next to who she wanted, I should have left and driven through McDonalds. But I decided to stick it out with the other moms; Kelly Tripp, Kristina, and Amy Malerba and Kristin Daines. By the end, Audrey screamed the minute the chef started clanking his spatula and knife on the stove to start his cooking show, had spilled rice all over the floor, cried for ice-cream since all the other kids had some, and would not just sit in the chair we had placed next to me so I could actually eat too. UGH! But all the other kids had fun as you can see from below.
Two chefs to make food for our cattle of kids.
Audrey hadn't slept good in her metal crib so she ended up in bed with Naomi most nights. Snugle buddies. Heidi shared a bed with me. Or I should say I shared a bed with her while she punched and kicked me. Lets just say I didn't get a great nights rest the 4 nights we were there.
Sunday Morning; I had looked for an LDS chapel the night before, having found and address on-line, so I put the girls in the car to just get out of the hotel and find the location. It made me a little more at ease on Sunday morning when I had everyone get dressed, trec to the car, drive the 2 miles to the ward building, and sit through sacrament meeting. I sent a picture of my eclectic outfit to my sister wendy to see if she agreed that I could get away with all the patterns. Some day I'll look back at this and wonder what I was thinking. But it was fun for now.
The girls sat pretty good with the few markers and Friend and Highlights magazines I had in the car, but toward the end, they were all stir crazy, Audrey being the worst. So as the closing hymn began, I gathered up what ever we brought in, and had the girls file out after me so we could get back to the hotel to get Naomi ready for "God Bless Texas," her second dance.
And yes, I sneak pictures in during church.
Miss Misty giving the girls a pep talk.
Naomi on the far right,
Wow!
Look mom, they are letting kids try on the body glitter! What? Wowzer! Glitter, sparkles, too much!
The pool, 7pm at night cause the rest of the day was way too hot to be outside in the sun.
Dance party pool side!
Monday morning, CSDA was the first studio at the door waiting for the convention classes to begin.
The second class of the day was taught by "jamie" from So You Think You Can Dance. Google Jamie and Hok bird dance and you'll see how amazing a dancer she is. I wish I would have not run to the store and had stayed to watch this class. But it would never have worked with my 2 littles.
Kristin and I had had enough of the Las Vegas Hotel and decided to venture out to Caesars Palace and hit the mall. We stood and watched the "show" in the atrium. There is live fire and mechanical "gods" that tell some story, but it was so loud we couldn't really understand what was said, but my girls were fascinated with the costumes, much like Naomi's "A Star Is Born" costume, and the fish tank that wrapped behind the "stage," if that is what its called. Ha!
This is Heidi's genius in photography. She was determined to get a photo of the sting ray!
The last night: slumber party in one queen bed. I'm surprised Naomi let Heidi climb in bed with her since she tends to love Audrey more. But in the morning they giggled and got a kick out of Audrey dead asleep, up close and personal to Naomi.
Tuesday: Grand National Finals!
The girls last performance. After a long 5 days, I could tell the girls were tired during this performance. But they gave it their all and got 4th place over all.
Getting ready for GBT. I didn't get a decent, non blurry picture, but I'll look for another to add later.
Good bye Las Vegas hotel. It was quite a ride and Naomi had fun (hopefully,) but we are OUT OF HERE!
Goodbye Las Vegas!
We drove through In N Out for a late lunch before heading out of town. There were a lot of CSDA cars there, all with the same idea as us, a quick bite before the 4 hr drive home.
This is what they all really looked like. Don't worry, Heidi did have a seat belt on, you just can't see it because she loops it under her arm. Look at the picture above and you'll see it on her bent waist.
We made it HOME! "There's no place like HOME!" Truelly! I went out to my garden to check to see if all my veggies had died while we were gone, but I was pleasantly surprised by the abundance I was able to pick. I sent this picture to all the moms who had spent the week with us in Vegas, eating fast food or hotel food. I was so happy to have fresh veggies and ate them all for dinner. I really did. I cut and arranged or cooked them and made my family eat this. I'm sure they weren't as happy about it as I was, but I didn't care. I relished the freshness!
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