Viva Las Vegas!

VEGAS, BABY!

Because Luke stayed in San Antonio for work, my mom flew to SA to help me transport the cubs to Vegas to celebrate my bro-in-law's law school graduation with the fam.

After a fairly uneventful flight, we set Clem loose in my parents' suite and she was in heaven -- an EL-OH by the potty!

Her two favorite things: pretend 'poo poo the potty' while pretend talking on the el-oh [hello=phone]

View of the pool complex

And airport. Clem: 'R PANE, TAKE OFF! 'ELICOPTER, TAKE OFF!' x 1000

Hide and seek.

Head to toe leopard print for Vegas, of course.

The first night we got takeout from Border Grill and played Catchphrase. Since my mom and sisters and I share a hive mind we are very good at this game. Later the rest of the gang went to a Cirque du Soleil show.

And my sister's hair looked amazing.

St Josephine, patron saint of Not-Good-Travellers. She didn't sleep, her skin became blotchy, she wasn't her sunny self, she threw up for the first time in her life, in the middle of the night (then was smiley and back to sleep, crisis averted). Looking forward to our flight tomorrow.... (gulp)

The next day we rented a cabana (good planning, Dad!) Sun, shade, snacks, lazy river... it was fabulous.

so how's your bar exam prep going?

She calls Grandma 'Gammaw' and Grandpa... Pop Pop. And Pop Pop was the person whose whereabouts she was most concerned about all weekend... 

Chirping from the crib first thing in the morning: 'I wanna poo poo the potty. Where Pop Pop go? I want a doughnut.' 

In the airport - 'Where Pop Pop go? Pop Pop in the R pane.' 

Hello Pop Pop!

 C was very happy to sit on the edge and kick her feet.

Inner tube/play pen.

 Mini caftan.

It turned out Luke and I were both surrounded by water this weekend -- he was trapped for many hours at an ultimately postponed wedding venue by catastrophic flooding. Luckily the venue was high on a hill and the wedding took place the next day.

Mommy and me caftans.

A couple of favorite moments from the trip: C finding both the cordless and corded phones -- "MOMMY, TWO EL-OHs!!!"

Walking by this fountain, C said, 'Elephant agua! Elephant agua... an S! Two S!'

The alphabet is everywhere, friends!

Other Clem-isms that I heard about later:
// gently touching my brother-in-law's nipple ring, shaking her head, and saying, OW-EE!
// warning fellow diners of a steaming plate at a nearby table, 'Careful, HOT!' and waving her hands - 'HOT, HOT!' They thanked her for the heads-up.

Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef Aquarium where C was able to 'naco fishies!' [look at fishies]

thank you, Laura, for the romper!

We had dinner at Lupo that night and it was delicious - caprese salad, papardelle bolognese, gnocchi with mushrooms, squash blossoms.

The flight home was nonstop. Nonstop crying, I mean. Actually Josie slept for about an hour but the earsplitting screams for the final 45 minutes erased that memory.

In the airport C caught sight of Luke: DADDY! I WANT DADDY! I want Daddy hold youuuuuuu [me] Daddy hold you!!! 

Thank you, Mom! And thanks, fam, for being so fun to hang out with - the next time we get together we will have another baby girl in tow - my sister's first is due in July. #girlpower #xx #noboysallowed

May Days

Let's think of a better name than 'photo dump', shall we? This week's activities in pics, because it's been a really good one.

Getting a soy mocha at Local Coffee at Pearl Farmers Market. Clem said, "Imma mommy's back!" which later turned to "NO WANT MOMMY'S BACK!"

Rashguard is from Lands End

St Josephine of the Angel Face

Three pepperonis in the fountain; pizza from Sol y Luna

There's more, right?

She watched some kids splash and turned to me matter-of-factly, peeled off her boots and socks, and dipped her feet in.

Visit to the pediatric ENT. To tube or not to tube?

I took a half day off from work and managed to have a lot of fun and see several of my favorite people. First I got my hair cut and colored by Erin my hairstylist/therapist/life coach at 8 am. She is always a pleasure to see and talk to. (Hi Erin!)

Then Luke and I took Josie for her first haircut

Because in the words of Luke, she was looking 'a little Ron Sexsmithy'.

Kim at Pigtails and Crewcuts, who is responsible for Clem's adorable bob, tamed Josie's hair. She is also hysterically funny and we three had a long joking conversation that had me in stitches (it hinged on our joking that Kim picks up men at the airport because both her ex-husband and current beau work for an airline - I was dying). She asked if we wanted to keep Josie's first clipped curl and we said, no, we don't really keep things and Kim said, oh, you're using the KonMari method... which launched into a discussion of how you can become a literary phenomenon just for telling people to clean their houses.

Then I checked out the DoSeum and it was awesome.

Afterwards I swung by Central Market for some McConnell's and tomahawk pork chops and talked to my favorite butcher Stephen who, it turns out, also loved Chef's Table. Not only does he tell jokes and know a lot about meat but he always gives great advice about how to prepare certain cuts. Stephen, I like you.

Later that day Luke was in the bathroom and Clemmie flattened herself to the floor to say HI DADDY! and that also was hilarious.

Hope you are having a great week, friends!

The DoSeum

Yesterday I got a sneak peak of San Antonio's brand new children's museum The DoSeum with a group of SA mom bloggers.

SO INCREDIBLE!

The DoSeum has a focus on STEM exhibits (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) with emphasis also on arts and literacy. I cannot wait to bring the girls here, especially to the outdoor and Little Town areas appropriate for them. I took a bunch of photos (below) but they don't give any sense of the scale of the DoSeum (it's enormous) or the attention to detail or inventiveness or the child-focus without being juvenile/fawning/dumbed-down/infantilizing. If you're a parent in SA, you're very lucky and if you're visiting with kids this is a must-do. The grand opening is June 6 and memberships are discounted until May 31.

Lobby

Outdoor sand-moving, sand-building area

Little Town for kids under 5.

Wind tunnel.

Spy Academy.

Light and sound exhibit. Not sure what this is but it is beautiful.

Story area.

Engineering studio.

Geography area.

Room o' balls.

Stillness of a place before the crowds hit.

Outdoor area -- water table. (Or, why I need to pack at least one change of clothes per kid).

Climbing apparatus

It's beautiful, it's state of the art, and it's 3.6 miles from my house! And a straight shot down Broadway on the bus for 14 minutes and $1.20 -- I'm trying to see less of my car this summer.

See you soon, DoSeum!