Sound Bites & Snap Shots

When we arrived in Las Vegas, the boys asked to take a picture with this komodo dragon but I was in a hurry to get our bags and our car.  I promised them we would on the return.  The challenge was remembering where it was in the airport, in the terminal or by the baggage claim, before or after the tram ride.  It took a while to reach it but they had their Kodak moment.

I was wiser with the turtle, stopping right away.

Our departure out of Las Vegas was uneventful and we made it back to Cincinnati in one piece.  We grabbed a bite to eat on the road and headed home to Evansville.

As part of the Vegas wrap-up, there are some memories I want to remember. 

When we travel, one of the most important amenities for Mason is cable TV in the hotel room.  Since we do not have it at home, he looks forward to watching Cartoon Network.  He was greatly disappointed when that channel was not in the line up at either the airport hotel in Cincinnati nor at the New York, New York in Vegas.  Apparently business travelers and gamblers are not interested in Clarence.  Furthermore, the entertainment monitor on the flight out was not operational.  However, his luck changed on the flight home.  Not only did the monitor work but it featured Cartoon Network.  Yahoo!

The pickings for interesting and appropriate cable channels at the New York, New York were limited.  So in the absence of Cartoon Network, the boys discovered the Game Show Network. I couldn’t get over their attention span for Family Feud, a show I used to watch as a kid as well.  Richard Dawson is long gone and the show has had some changes but the essence is the same.  I enjoyed watching the kids calling out answers to the questions and choosing a family to root for—just like I did when I was their age.

At one point, they caught a clip from the show Press Your Luck.  This is the one where the contestants had to press a button and they shouted, “No whammies!”  As Mason watched, he blurted out, “Man, why are the graphics so bad, Mom?”  I giggled.  Um, because that show came out when I was Walker’s age and computer graphics have come a long way in the last thirty years? 

The quote of the morning on our second day was from Mason: “Why do they have so many signs for a movie that says 18+ and shows nudity?”  He was referring to the Cirque du Soleil show.  Somehow I got out of that one with a simple, “Because it’s Vegas and it’s in a casino.”  Whew!

On this trip, Mason also showed his playful spirit. He attempted to depress the button for the correct floor in any elevator with his belly.  I had to laugh because using parts of the body other than one’s finger might be genetic.  I remember trying to use my nose for in elevators with heat sensitive buttons when I was his age.

Almost any where we walked, I had to keep an extra vigilant eye on him because he often stopped to pick something up.  Most people would call this trash but he called them treasures.  His favorites are always sticks which are very hard to transport home.

Walker was immensely helpful to me.  This was his debut opportunity to test out the privilege of having his own cell phone.  There were times when I sent the two of them off alone and was able to reel them back to me with a text saying where to meet and when.  Walker was also a super big brother, making concessions and compromises when necessary for the good of the group. 

We flew Frontier Airlines there and back.  The outbound crew to Vegas was cheery and comical. Most of their announcements had a comedic slant but the part the boys liked best happened during the last hour before the descent.  They started a little gambling crew where anyone who wished could mark a single dollar bill with his seat number and toss it in a bag.  They collected all the bills and drew. I only had one single left but we contributed it.  The lucky winner sat in the row behind us.  Boo hoo. 

They also played some geographical trivial and Walker loved this.  Try your hand at these without the use of Google:

1.  What four states and their capitols begin with the same letter?  (For example, you could say New York and New York City.  However, you are smarter than that because you know Albany is the capitol of New York.)

2.  Of the United States, which ones are the furthest north, south, east and west?

Even though we didn’t win the trivia either, it left us with a happy heart as we landed. 

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There were many ordinary moments of gratitude which we all the more meaningful because we were away from home, such as:

The morning we left Cincinnati for Las Vegas, we looped the airport but somehow missed the sign for long term parking.  Just when I was getting flustered, a long term shuttle van appeared and we followed it to the right lots. 

Once we found the lot, they told us where to park and had a shuttle meet us in that particular lane right by our car!  When trying to catch a 7 AM flight, not having to wait for a shuttle was immensely appreciated.

Making it through TSA is always a challenge and I had to remind the kids that it is a time to be serious. As we stood in line, I asked if the boys could take their yogurt through.  The TSA agent manning the line said no so they quickly at theirs as we walked.  I pressed my luck and put mine through the scanner.  I beat the odds both going and returning and had my yogurt at the gate.

There was a Starbucks in the terminal! Since we had that extra two hour delay, I savored a nice big Decaf Americano and loved every sip.

We had a lovely room at the New York, New York Hotel, thanks to Bill.  In fact, I owe a lot of thanks to Bill for not only setting us up with great airfare, accommodations and car rental but also for loads of supportive texts from home.  He is a rock star when it comes to all of that planning and a hero of a spouse and parent.

When we returned, the shuttle was at the curb waiting for passengers.  To our surprise, after we boarded the doors closed and the driver took us directly to long term parking.  We even got dropped right at the car!

Traffic was minimal through Cincinnati and Louisville and we made it home in great time, just in time to make Peanut Butter Squares for Mason’s 4-H project to be turned in this weekend. 

It was a whirlwind trip but a worthwhile one. There is a lot to do in Vegas and plenty to see.  I hope we get another opportunity to return in the future.