What happens in Vegas...

This week I went to Las Vegas for three days for a conference on joint replacement. I left Sunday and came back late Wednesday night. I had never been to Vegas before (unlike my wife) and was somewhat excited to go and see what all the hullabaloo was about. I knew it was going to be a good trip when I got to the airport and got the best parking space. I could fly out of the Detroit airport a thousand times and never get a spot like that again. It is right next to the entrance.

When I got to my hotel I could tell I was out of my element. The Rio is a huge hotel off the strip and they have really removed any excuse for not giving them all your money. The lobby is filled with slot machines, poker tables, blackjack tables, and something called craps tables (which initially sounds like a very bad idea but turns out to be a game involving dice).

If you look close you can see the underdressed waitress on a small stage singing a country song. This was at 11am! I spent the daytime hours in the safety of the classroom.

But I had to traverse the lobby in order to get to my room. This was the scene in front of my elevator one afternoon.That would be a bunch of half-naked (assuming they're wearing something under the covers) young people in one large bed. They are part of a free show put on by the hotel, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out the plot of the show. That's why I mostly kept my head down and walked briskly from my class to my room so my eyes were only traumatized by the horrendous carpet.

But I think I may have found a solution for my next trip.

Darting Frogs

Last weekend the middle three kids ran in what is called the "Dart Frog Dash" at our zoo. It is a 1k run that Tanner and Ella did last year and had a good time.

Ella found her friend Kailyn that she knows from school and church and they held hands and ran the whole race that way. It was very cute.

Due to her short legs Sarah spent most of the race like this because I had to at least keep up with Ella (Tanner was way ahead of us but was luckily running with some other friends).

I staged this picture so that you could see how cute they are when they're running.

Kenna couldn't go because she was manning our garage sale. When we were done running though is was back to violating child labor laws for Tanner and Ella.

I subcontracted out the sale of all the toys to Tanner. He got to keep all the money he made from selling toys. He hired Ella to keep track of his sales.

Graduation Day

Last Friday was a very important day for Ella. After two years of intense study and hard work, she graduated from preschool. We attended a wonderful program to celebrate her accomplishment. Olivia, Ella and Kailyn really are V-I-Ps in their fam-i-lees!
Ella was elated to receive her 'aploma' which she promptly told me I had to open and read.
Ella's friend Olivia is moving away really soon and Ella will be sad, I know. She has told me several times the last few weeks that she wishes she cold be a Wells so she could be Olivia's sister! We love you, Livi. Have fun in South Bend!

Aren't the construction paper caps the cutest?
So excited....they say she is ready for Kindergarten. The real question may be is Kindergarten ready for Ella?

Congratulations Ella!

Great job!

YUMMY!!!

Trans"MAW"grifier

Thanks again to grandma Wilson Tanner has more Calvin and Hobbes books to read. And now at the tender age of 6 he has learned a word I had never even heard until I was home from my mission. He has learned that a "transmogrifier" is a cardboard box that can turn you into anything you want. Of course he instructed Ella as to its meaning and she quickly picked up on the proper pronunciation. Now she happily corrects me whenever I say it wrong. "no dad, it's transMAWgrifier."

While Tanner's has settings for Spaceman Spiff, Darth Vader, and the restriction of "boys only," Ella's apparently only has settings for various types of flowers. Unfortunately, Sarah's does not make anything into extra diapers.

These are pictures from our weekend in Cinci with the cousins that I wanted to post.

Sarah got to play with her cousin Monica.

Tanner was very excited to play video games with his cousins.

They jumped on the trampoline much to their father's chagrin. While trampolines are just fine and dandy for everybody else (so long as they have insurance) I prefer my kids to be wrapped in bubble wrap.And they learned that Uncle Kevin is a tough egg to crack.

Regular readers of our blog may remember a post last year about how much my children love to clean the bathroom. Whenever I ask them to help with this, my least favorite job, they yell, "Yeah, can I clean the toilet?" Marc and I decided to exploit this enthusiasm a bit while it lasts and so decided to go from one bathroom..... ...to five full baths! Offer accepted! If all goes well this will be our new home this August when we make the big move to Cincinnati!
We are SO excited!

Growing up

One week
Three months

Baby Mary still seems pretty small to me most of the time especially when we go to walking group and see our friend Macie who is just a couple of weeks older. But this weekend we went to meet our new cousin Megan and realized that my baby is growing up! (I know this should make me sad, but I really enjoy babies a lot more when they are a little older!)