Las Vegas! April 1, 2012

VEGAS BABY!!!!

We'll preface this trip with a little story for those of you that don't know... I have never been to Vegas (while old enough to participate in any activities) and I have never been to a concert...I'm lame I know...

Road Trip!

I think the best way to start any vacation!

Day 1

Our first night in Vegas we had tickets to see Ron White...Awesome show! He is hilarious!

But we got started on the road late and we literally showed up 30 minutes before we had to pick up our tickets from the box office and an hour before the show...we didn't make it to our hotel and changed in the parking lot!

WORTH IT!

Day 2

We had finally got checked into our hotel...the Excalibur...I would only reccomend if you don't have high standards and will not be spending any time in your room...very cheap, but you get what you pay for.

CONCERT TIME

Zac Brown hosted the ACM Fan Jam at Mandalay Bay!

It was aired with the ACM Awards being recorded in the MGM

See everyone down on the floor by the stage?! Thats where we were, about 10 people from the stage! and we only got closer as the night went on!

They televised the whole ACM's into the concert...and they televised the concert into the ACM's...

We also had a DJ that played during commercial breaks....

and they even had awards given on our side!

After the awards show Zac Brown came out and announced that they were going to do a full set!

By then we were about 3 people from stage! So cool!

They also announced that this concert was being videotaped for GAC and would be a TV special...

They had cameras all over in the crowd...we need to get our hands on it and see if we made it on there!

What a GREAT night! We had a blast, great music, and made some great concert buddies!

Rob keeps telling me that no concert will ever be able to top this one...

he's probably right, but a girl can dream can't she?!!

DAY 3

We just walked around the strip and wandered in and out of different hotels....we got a late start after our late night and 7+ straight hours on our feet from the night before..

But after a good long nap we got all spiffied up and went out on the town!

and we danced the night away!

DAY 4

Time to go home : (

We did ride the roller coaster at New York New York before we left though!

and finally did a little bit of gambling...

We did get sidetracked on the way home and went to the Hoover Damn and walked around!

What a beautiful view! Don't worry Rob and Lynne I didn't hang over the edge too far ; )

It took everything Kyecen had to stay awake long enough for us to get home and to get his present for being good for Grandma while we were gone...we didn't even make it out of the neighborhood before he was asleep!

We can't wait to go again! Maybe with some more people next time!!

Mal, Rob, and a sugared up Kyecen!

Steak, Lobster, Baked Sweet Potato, and Spinach Maria! 2-23-12

Just to make everyone drool...and jealous : )

Rob is an amazing cook! And he loves to spoil me with some of my favorite dishes...just because : ) : )

We have definitely learned that we can cook some far better tasting and way less expensive meals by doing them at home than going out...We can make many dishes for half or even less than if we to go out (before tip!)

So on this particular night I was feeling like steak...he went all out!

Rob's secret steak seasoning/marinade!

Crack open the lobsters and get the meat on top "the restaurant way"

Open a bottle of wine! : ) adding a little romance

Start the steaks...we love our cast iron pan!

Lobsters are almost done! Add a little more butter!

Plating up his creations!

Steak, Lobster, Loaded Baked Sweet Potato

(Cinnamon, Sugar, Honey Butter,Marshmallows) and Spinach Maria!

Even better than us loving this meal, Kyecen loved it too! He had seconds and thirds of the spinach maria...and leftovers the next day...what a weird kiddo, but I'm not going to argue cause he loves veggies!

Delicious!!!!

Chef Rob, Chef Assistant Mallory, Mini Chef Kyecen

***SNOW*** 2-20-12

We took Kyecen to see the snow for the first time! Sunrise AZ!

Getting all bundled up to go outside in the snow for the first time!

We played in the snow outside of our hotel the first night! We even had flurries!

We found a big snow pile at the end of the parking lot! Kyecen loved every minute of it!

Climbing up the "BIG" hill

My boys! I need this sign for the house!!

DAY 2 - Skiing Day!

Ready to play

Rob is ready to hit the slopes

 

and Kyecen and I were going to play the day away in the snow piles....

Until Kyecen realized that Rob got to ride the chair lift and come down the hill really fast...

So, not going to deny Kyecen the joy of going skiing, we got our ski's and hit the slopes!

We mostly stayed on the bunny hill...but that wasn't good enough apparently and we rode the "Big Ride" with Rob and made it all the way down the big hill without injury...not without difficulty though

This is how we made it down the hill. I also don't think Kyecen knows how much his mommy hates going fast (I'm a big chicken) But he definitely has a boys heart...he kept telling me to go faster!

What a STUD!! He was so proud of himself! He also loved to eat the snow...but he did follow the rule carefully (and shared it with anyone he could tell for the next couple weeks) Don't eat yellow snow! Only WHITE snow! (with a finger wagging!)

Wore out! Good thing we only did a half day...I don't know if any of us could have handled more than that!

Brrr!

Mal, Rob, and Kyecen!



BIG Rocket

The boys got a new toy!!! They have a rocket with E engines...

SO PROUD!

Of course we brought our other toys too!

R.I.P to our blue rocket...it came apart in the air and we could never find the nose cone...

our foot powered rocket : )

and the remote control car!

Having fun!

Mallory, Rob, and Kyecen

Pintrest Tuesdays!!! Fish and Chips

So to start off we have decided that Tuesdays are now deemed PINTREST TUESDAYS! Every Tuesday we are going to make something that we find on pintrest or are inspired by to make!

Our first Pintrest Tuesday was homemade Fish and Chips!!!

We made our own Beer Batter

I guess we didn't really do "chips" but we did Mushrooms and Onion Rings!

Throw them in the batter and cover them up! 

Love that we have our own deep fryer! We don't use it very often, but it's useful when we do!! 

Then we covered cod in our batter : ) and dropped it in the fryer! 

Added some tarter sauce and coleslaw and that's what we made for dinner!!!

Happy Pinning!

Mallory, Rob and Kyecen

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes!

I've had this craving for a chocolate cupcake with this sooo amazing cookie dough frosting for about 2 weeks now. But I'm cheap and didn't want to pay $4 for a cupcake...so I finally found a recpie I was happy with (Thank you Pintrest!) and on my Saturday night...I baked! 100 cupcakes!!!

HERE is the recpie I finally decided to use. I like it, everybody else loves it...I'm going to try again until I get exactly what I am looking for. With no complaints from those who get to be my taste testers : )

So, here is my adventure in these yummy cupcakes! I did two different kinds of cake, Chocolate (from a box), and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough from the recpie I found...I wasn't sure if it would be too much so I tried it both ways. And both are yummy!!

After they were cooled I hollowed out the centers , This is the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcake

And put a little ball of the "Cookie Dough" inside (no eggs!)

Then I piped on the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting, and sprinkled with mini Chocolate Chips!

SO YUMMY!!! Here is the insides : ) After I took a bite to try my new creations...

I definately made more than enough to share!

And a HUGE mess of my tiny kitchen...but so worth it!!

When these are gone we're making Cinnamon Rolls!!!

Happy Snaking!

Mallory



He's a little golfer!!!!

Guess we can add another golfer to the list....

 We've taken Kyecen miniature golfing before, but didn't think that he could handle acting right long enough for Rob to take him to the Club....Rob decided on his day off last week that they needed a guys day, and off to the driving range they went!

The result...Kyecen has the potential to be a golfer too!

Nice swing!

Here's to more days out at the range!

Rob, Kyecen, and Mallory