Las Vegas: Visiting with the Johnsons

Dale's kickball team (yes, kickball!) qualified for the annual national Founder's Cup tournament in Las Vegas two weeks ago, so we packed up the car and drove up to Vegas for a long weekend. We were going to be two-thirds of the way to Los Angeles, so called up some LA friends to see if we could meet up with them while we were in their general region. Matt and Liz both had a three-day weekend at that time and decided to meet us in Vegas for a vacation of their own.

This was not only Matt and Liz's first time meeting Adelaida, it was also our first time meeting their 16-month-old son Connor. Connor turned out to be a happy boy whose mellow temperament perfectly matched Adelaida's.

We all met at Matt and Liz's hotel, which was right on the strip, and went swimming in their pool. Dale discovered a great pool game that Adelaida just loved: he took a squishy ball into the pool, held it underwater, and let go of it. The ball shot to the surface of the pool and flew up into the air, prompting uncontrollable laughter from Adelaida. Connor demonstrated his "doggies and kitties" ability to paddle in the water. After swimming, Connor enjoyed running around the hotel fake grass, with the Vegas Eiffel Tower in the background.

We took a walk along the strip right at Adelaida's nap-time, and she again fell asleep on her daddy's chest. He was quite proud of himself for getting her to sleep on him! I was so jealous of Dale that I convinced him to carefully transfer Adelaida to me -- at which point she promptly woke up. I'd like to report that I have learned my lesson from this and won't try to take the sleeping baby from her daddy again, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to control myself when the opportunity presents again!

Connor enjoyed running around at the Bellagio's indoor fall garden. Surprisingly, I don't think I saw him try to eat a single plant!


I'm not sure which of the kids was more interested in the other at the park. They got along well, with Connor helping Adelaida stand up and tolerating her when she tried to grab his face.


Around mid-afternoon, Connor decided it was naptime, and what better place to take a nap than on his mommy's lap?


We certainly enjoyed our visit with the Johnsons and look forward to spending time with them more often, whether in Vegas, ABQ, LA, or elsewhere.