Spring Paloozah, April 2012 part one

Some of you may or may not know that we've been out of town for the last few weeks... like, we were gone for over four weeks!  And yes, my suitcase is still not unpacked completely (cut me some slack, we just got back 5 days ago).  Aaron was able to come for a few days here and there.  And, overall, it was great.  Parts were spent in Utah, Nevada, and California.  It was a whirlwind, as always.  There are always too many things we want to do/people to see with not enough time.  You'd think a few weeks is PLENTY of time, but alas, 'tis not.

Let's rewind to several months ago.  We were not yet pregnant.  We thought it would be a great idea to travel somewhere exotic... just Aaron and me.  We tossed around ideas of the Caribbean, China again, a cruise, New Zealand, Europe, etc.  We settled on Italy.  I've always wanted to go there (art + awesome food = what's not to love?).  So, alas, we figured out a timeline, got Aaron's work days switched around, asked our parents to watch the kids in Utah, and started planning our itinerary.  It was going to be awesome.

Well, as time marched on and we were trying to nail down if we were going to be purchasing a house in the near future... we decided that perhaps we postpone our Italian adventure for another time in life.  As far as we know, Italy has been around for thousands of years and it probably will be around for another while.
And, what do you know---we UNEXPECTEDLY ended up signing a contract on a house 3 days BEFORE we left on our trip---so we were thanking our lucky stars about our decision to hold off on the world wide travel.  (Obviously, more on that later. I'm working on a post about how it all came to be.  Patience, young grasshopper, patience.)
In the end, we opted to go somewhere semi-close to where our parents live in Utah. Exotic. I know.

Where did we decide upon?  Drum roll, please.
St. George.  and Las Vegas if we were feeling really adventurous.  :)

Italy vs. St. George?  hmm... not the same.  But, the fact that we were going to be without the kids sounded a little more exciting.
In the end, our trip ended up taking a few unplanned and (AWESOME) turns.  Feel free to follow us along as we relive the latest and greatest adventure.

We got to Utah, dropped the kids off, and went on our way!

Since we had no agenda and I was hungry (a theme of this trip, I'm warning you), we opted to stop off on our way to St. George at the infamous Pizzeria 712.  We'd heard several rave reviews via the the web, and our friend, Jordan, confirmed that it was delicious.
We went.
It was delicious, but unfortunately, they forgot to put our pizza in the "fancy" ovens.  Meaning, we were there FORRREVVVVER (thanks, Sandlot).  Truly.  Me being in my pregnant-always-famished-state this didn't go over very well.  But alas, when the pizza came it was really good.  The picture was taken after I had wolfed down a few pieces.  :) Sorry you couldn't see it in it's whole state.

Another Utah favorite is Cafe Rio.  We ate that for dinner and it was a happy reunion for me.  Get a load of that chicken salad.  Delightful.

We stayed in St. George that night and then decided to head to Las Vegas the following day.  Again, why not?! No agenda. No schedules.  So, away we went.

Once we arrived, we went shopping for some maternity clothes b/c I was quickly realizing that my normal jeans and what I thought were LONG t-shirts were not long enough. The ever expanding belly was a problem that I didn't realize would be an issue during our trip.  Whoops.  Poor planning on my part!

 Speaking of spare tires... yes, that is me.  See, we needed to find a few maternity shirts ASAP. 

We had been walking a ton that afternoon and I was hungry (surprise, surprise!) and my feet were tired.  We thought it was funny that here we were in FAKE Europe instead of the real one we had planned on a few months ago.  So, I had Aaron snap a few photos.

 Gotta love the Bellagio water shows.

After these pics, we decided to listen to one of those Time Share presentations in order to get a free dinner at a Brazillian Steakhouse (that we'd actually heard good reviews for) and for cheap tickets to the Blue Man Group.  There weren't many awesome shows happening while we were there, so we opted for Blue Man.

The presentation was looooong and boring.  Worth it?  Still haven't decided.

After that, we ran over to the H&M maternity department (which was a crooked mile away!) and I found a few shirts that fit my growing belly and I was feeling much better.  In fact, I slipped one on in the dressing room.

Fake Italy!  CHEESE!  (my eyes look really creepy here, sorry).

After that, we were off to the Blue Man Group.  Honestly, it was not my fave.  Actually, I was really disappointed.  If I were a 12 year old boy I would have had a lot of fun.  Too bad I'm a pregnant 28 year old mom.  There were lots of acts involving food/paint balls/weird things being chewed up and spit out.  Honestly, it was disgusting.  I have a weak stomach.  The drumming parts were cool, but it really disturbed me that paint kept splashing up in their faces---and they kept their eyes open.  It was horrifying, really.  I can't open my eyes up under water, so I am extra sensitive.  Lots of other people like the show.  So, don't take my word for it.

The Strip and it's breakfast buffets are fun, but only for about 24 hours.

So, we talked about what/where to go next.  Aaron kept saying we should drive the 6 hours to Southern California.  Maybe go to Disneyland?  I loved the idea, but the thought of going to Disneyland without our two toddlers who would ADORE that place seemed cruel.

Aaron had an idea on Saturday morning as we were getting ready to check out of our Vegas hotel.

He checked the weather in Anaheim.
Looked at the frequent flier miles we had accumulated.
Checked if the reward tickets were available for random flights on a Monday (two days from then) and a Wednesday return from SLC.
The stars aligned.
We were gonna grab the kids in Utah and go to Disneyland with the remaining days Aaron had left!
We were SO excited and got the heck out of dodge!

Here we are SUPER pumped in the car on our way to get the kids!

Oh, and of course we decided to stop off at one our family's favorite pie shops in St. George called Croshaw's to accompany us on our journey.  General Conference in the car + delicious Banana Cream & French Apple pie = good times. 

I'm going to leave you hanging... Ghost Writer style.  (please tell me you watched that PBS gem as a child.)
Disneyland adventures coming up next!

p.s. are you so proud I'm back in the blogging saddle again?  Me too.  I got a lot of flack when I was in Utah from friends and loved ones.  Sorry, pals.  I've missed you.  I think I'm back here to stay.  :)