First, in September we went to Vegas with some friends of ours that had never been. I think Tyson and Katie had a good time. I know we enjoyed hanging out with them and seeing the sights once again!
We were able to go to a couple shows...one of which was the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur. Katie and I were able to get a quick picture with one of the knights.
We did a lot of walking and sightseeing of many of the different casinos. We took them to the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino because I think it is one of the nicest hotels as far as looks. Unfortunately it has never been that "nice" to us as far as the cards, so we didn't gamble there, but we did check out the cool decor. I love this chandelier ball....it changes colors like all the lights inside the casino. Katie and I were mesmerized watching it.
In all the times we have been to Vegas we have never seen the Bellagio fountains at night. We've seen them from afar during the day...but nothing compares to the show at night! I think that might be one of my favorite things to see now!
Secondly, we were able to get the Kansas State Fair this year on the last weekend. Whew! Since I grew up in Hutch, I'm not sure that I have ever missed a year at the KSF. The girls had fun "goofing" off with the state fair signs...
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For the last couple years, we have been able to get our faces painted. This year we were able to meet up with Hilary and her kiddos and we all got our faces painted together.
Here is the finished faces...
Once we were finished getting faces painted, we all headed over to the rides...the kids could hardly wait...
They had so much fun and we were so very thankful that they had other kids to ride the rides with them...
This one...Aubrey (second from the right) was not so sure of. I remember the first time Brooke rode this ride, she had the exact same expression!
We were lucky that we didn't have to ride much, but the kids made Hilary and I go on the water ride! UGH! This was not so enjoyable for us since you almost always get wet, but we put our brave mom faces on and tuffed it out!
And so...Moving on to October...
We made it a "family" event at this year's Pumpkin PaZOOla. We have gone to this annual event at the Rolling Hills Wildlife Zoo in Salina for the past several years. However, usually it has been me, the girls and a friend or my parents. This year I wanted to make it more of a family outing. Chris worked it out to take off of work that day and hang out with us at the zoo. We invited several other friends and their families joined us in our yearly tradition as well. We did so well, getting there right when it opened so we didn't miss out on the pumpkin patch!
Our girls picked their pumpkins...
Ashlyn
Maddie
Brooke
Tyson & Katie's kids got theirs...
Asher
Faith
Tristan
And so did Levi and Julie's...
Jocelyn
Lauren
and then we headed over to get our faces painted...
and Brooke stopped to look at an animal up close...
and the most unfortunate thing occured. IT STARTED POURING DOWN RAIN! Not just raining, but literaly pouring! And...we were all the way across the zoo, almost he furthest you could be from the main entrance. So, our eventful day ended up being rained out! But...we DID get our pumpkins at least!
Lastly, the only other new in October is that I started a new job. I now am working at Ottawa County Health Center as their Human Resource Director. Ottawa County Health Center is the critical access hospital in Minneapolis, KS, which is about 20 minutes north of Salina. I have only been there two weeks now, but I am really enjoying it and feel like it was the right move for me and my career! Everyone keeps asking me if the drive is bad and honestly, I like it! It gives me time to get ready for the start of my workday and then a moment to relax before I get home to craziness and busyness of homelife with my wonderful family!
Life is good! Hope yours is treating you the same!
