Spring Break, Cousins, and Las Vegas!

So once again, our spring break mostly lined up with our fabulous cousins who live in Utah and Idaho, so of course we decided to spend it together! This year the agreed upon meeting place was Las Vegas. Convenient location, good weather and lots of fun things to do. Our "little" group consisted of my sisters-in-law Lisa from Idaho, Laurie from Utah, and Lindsey from California as well as my sister Shelly from Arizona, Ryan's Great-Grandma from Arizona, my mother-in-law Debi from California and my mom from St. George. 14 kids and between 6 and 8 adults depending on the day. We were quite the spectacle everywhere we went and it was great!

The first morning, we decided to check out the chocolate factory, which we knew gave free tours and which sounded super cool. It wasn't. The "free" tour was self-guided and over in about four minutes. Oh well. Outside were some fun cactus gardens that we explored for a little while.

Here's a small sampling of the group in the cacti. After the disappointment of the chocolate factory, the kids decided they wanted to go to a dollar store where we bought kites and took them to a nearby park. The day was salvaged!

Day two brought a trip to the Las Vegas Children's Museum. Wonderful place! I should have taken more pictures.

You put the ball in, it gets sucked up the tube and then spit out the top. Endless entertainment!

Cousins playing school. Always a favorite.

The garage was a big hit with Brandon, of course. I have never seen this done in a Children's Museum before and it was really cute.

One of my favorite things about Brandon is his love of dressing the part for whatever activity he's doing. If they supplied a costume, he would wear it!

Marissa also loves to dress up, but she didn't last long on the stage.

Another small sampling of our little group, all dressed up and ready for a performance.

This was Maylan's second-favorite thing at the museum and I must admit it was awfully cool. A real, working ATM that would spit out play money!

This was Maylan's first favorite at the museum: the wind tunnel machine that would create winds up to 70 mph. Marissa, however, hated it!

A few more kids loving the wind machine!

Day four took us back to a park for an Easter Egg Hunt. This year, we threw in a few games and some cookie decorating, too, just for fun!

Brandon and Kaden hard at work.

Marissa making silly faces. She didn't take the cookie decorating very seriously.

Some of the crew.

Matching outfits were of course chosen by the girls. They're terribly cute.

Getting ready for the "go!"

Marissa really got the concept of "hunting" this year. She loved it!

Got another one!

Brandon showing off his finds.

Marissa and her favorite egg.

Checking out what's inside.

Marissa likes candy.

We also had a little egg toss with some cute confetti-filled eggs that blew confetti everywhere when they broke. And that's about it for the pictures I took. Some things we did that weren't pictured: lots of swimming, little bits of shopping, a quick trip downtown just to see what was going on (which included a trip on a shuttle bus which was indeed a highlight for many of the kids), a few buffets, lots of running in the halls, and one sister-in-law mistaken for the Octo-mom! Good times!