We woke up bright and early in the metropolis of Climax, North Carolina and ended the day in the metropolis of Boulder City, Nevada… with a couple of stops in Chicago and Las Vegas along the way.

We started the day bright and early but so excited! Got the airport with plenty of time, and then received No worries. Remember, we delayed the second leg of our flight, so plenty of time to make our connection in Chicago. Moments, I mean moments, later, we receive a “Oops, our bad. You’re not really delayed” text from United airlines. But again no worries. Plenty of time…

The 1st leg of the flight was uneventful with 2 VERY excited boys and a happy mama and daddy.

Leo says the flying is one of the best parts of the vacation.

Michael really loved me taking his picture… over and over and over

(he loved it 🤪)

We had a 2+ hour layover in Chicago, and that really worked out because Chicago O’Hare is ginormous!!! It took us at least 30 minutes just to walk to our gate. God was looking out for us when He caused us to reschedule last night. Thankful for small mercies 😊

The extra time gave us time to explore…Eat…

Shoe shine – or pretend shoe shine…Self-playing-magic piano…and iPad

We had to rearrange a bit to get Leo and I beside each other. Shockingly the person in the middle seat didn’t object to switching with me to sit on the aisle 🤷🏻‍♀️ and on this flight, I stole kisses from Leo and from my big boy ahead of me

After a very bumpy descent and landing – We made it!Welcome to Vegas Baby 🎲🕺❤️

It took a while to get the rental car and get on the road, but we worked our way to the Strip. The boys love NewYork, NewYork, the Luxor and Paris

They just couldn’t understand why we wanted to wait 20 minutes to see the fountains at the Bellagio… until they started…(and as a side note, I will never be wearing this dress again… I always thought it made me look cute and/or thin… oh no, no, no, instead i can choose between fat and/or pregnant. Um, Nope.)

LoL 😂 their faces with some of the “sights and sounds” of Vegas. Leo said this town was scary, with way too many signs about Hot Babes! Michael want to know why do the women all get their pictures made in either bra or shirtless! 🤦🏻‍♀️ all valid observations, and I can’t wait to remind them of these when they’re a teenagers 🤣🤣🤣

We explored the Shops on the Miracle Mile, especially the Nestle Tollhouse store and the Sugar Factory. Anyone for a GIANT Jawbreaker? A quick stop on the “streets of Paris”

And we were off, and headed to Boulder City, Nevada. The landscape was unreal compared to North Carolina Boulder City is like a little piece of Radiator Springs (remember from Disney’s Cars). It is a really cute town built around Hoover Dam.

We are staying at Best Western which is the only chain hotel in town. Mike is considering this as a camping because as close to camping as he gets is a hotel that’s doors open to the outside. Guess what? The doors here open to the outside 🤣🤪. It’s not fancy, but it’s clean and beds are comfy so perfect for us!

We grabbed dinner at a local joint, Fox Smokehouse BBQ. Surprise we found barbecue 🐖🐖🐖 it was literally at the end of a strip mall off a side road but it was awesome! Brisket, ribs, pulled pork, fries, fried okra, bacon beans (that’s not a typo, it’s not baked beans, it’s bacon baked beans), and mac&cheese!

And yes, they are as tired as they look! They voluntarily skipped the pool tonight and said they thought they’d just go to bed! 😳

We finished dinner and we’re back in the car by 7:45, and it was still just a little warm outside

So the party-down Browns were back at the hotel by 8, all showered and in bed by 8:30… and all but me were snoring before 9pm (but that is midnight EST).

Hoover Dam is on the itinerary tomorrow and it’s also the supposed to be the hottest day of our trip 🥵😬 Pray for shade and cool tempers 😉