Utah Trip: Part 1

The girls and I just returned from a great trip out to Utah for my mom’s family reunion and to visit family and friends.  (Dan took one for the team and stayed home to work.)  I haven’t been to Utah since Dan and I moved away 4 years ago, when we were still young and expecting our first.  It felt really weird to return with not 1 but 2 kids.

I’m not giving excuses (because those have been banned from this blog) but I was planning on blogging during the trip so as not to fall behind.  That plan was foiled when I realized that we had no internet access for the entire trip.  So, because technology hasn’t quite caught up with my need to blog, you will be getting our trip late and in segments.

Arriving: 7/3

I cannot explain to you how tense I was about taking two kids, one of them with special needs, on an airplane ride across the country by myself.  Packing for Averi is a several day process and I was so worried that I was going to forget something, or that the airline wouldn’t let me take her pump on the airplane, or that our suitcase was going to weigh way too much, or that I wouldn’t be able to navigate all the crap we had to take with us (including 2 carseats).  I kid you not, I started making an Averi packing list (on Word) more than a week before we were supposed to leave.  The good news is that everything turned out just fine.

This was a monumental occasion because it was Averi’s first time on an airplane and Kaili’s first time to actually know she was on an airplane.  Kaili was so excited – she loves airplanes!

We flew in to Las Vegas, my first time there, and waited for my mom, brother, and sister to meet us so we could ride two shuttles to the car rental place.  After checking in to the hotel, we went out for dinner and a “quick” drive down The Strip.  Here is the only proof I have that I was ever in Vegas (that is the Bellagio behind me).

We finally got in bed by 2am Ohio time, (sort of) ready for the week ahead.