this last week (started this post a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time a go...) we were in vegas with the hams. not all the hams. but lots of em. my parents, my brother, and his new wife Amber. my sister and her family were there too.it was a zoo. a giant, happy zoo.
during the day we hung out, went to malls, parks, mc donalds, regular stuff. at night, we hung out, and lost money, and didn't get enough sleep. great times!
the highlights of the trip were very unexpected and delightful. one of them was that chris and I spent New Years Eve with the 5 kids, while my sister and James partied on the strip, and my parents slept at their hotel. the kids were asleep, and chris and I barely made it to midnight, but after a couple of power naps- we made it! it was quiet and warm and nice.
the second unexpected highlight of my trip was that I got to golf 9 holes with my dad. it was so unexpected that I actually had to run after him and jumped into the car while he was waiting for the gate to open. I was wearing skinny jeans and sandals. fortunately my mom had golf shoes in the trunk and I played golf for the first time in over two years. and I shot par on one hole! first time ever!!!!! :) magically great time.
and the last and also phenomenally surprising great time I had was when my sister and I took my parents out on to the strip for a night out on the town. we started at the mall, and I got the bright idea of trying to get my dad to buy my sister a pair of shoes cause hers were worn down pretty good. my dad took the bait, hook, line, and sinker. (is that the term? I don't fish.) and my mom jumped on the wagon and scored herself a new pair of shoes too. then we went to another store and scored some new clothes. then we had to rest and rehydrate ourselves so I got us some water and all four of us shared a grande decaf Americano with sugar. cause that's how we all happen to drink our coffee. (and it made my heart glad when I realized that chris, his mom, and his dad, all like to drink their coffees with French vanilla creamer :) and after a short break, we shopped some more and I got some new shoes too!
that was the first time in 32 years that I could think of my dad going in to a mall with us and buying us things! my mom buys us stuff all the time, and for that I feel so fortunate as well. BUT, there was something so different, something so special, and something so very wonderful about my dad spending time with us and buying us pretty things.
I don't know if there are any dads who actually read my blog- but if you are a dad and you have a daughter, take her out and buy her something. doesn't matter if she's 5, 15, or 35. it will be special and she will remember it forever.
