Nelson family reunion - 4th of July

It was the first ever Nelson Family Reunion!  We headed to Las Vegas for all the fun.  Luckily Dad has a house that was perfect for such an occasion.

This was Emmalyn's first flight.  I wasn't at all worried until about an hour before we got on the plane when it hit me that she might not be a good traveler.  It hadn't even occurred to me before then because Max was always a great traveler as a baby. 

We had a flight at night and I figured Max could just sleep since it would be bedtime and everything would be fine.  Well, the flight was 2 hours delayed.  So now we were in the airport with a 2 year old that was past his bedtime and a baby who was in need of a good nursing but her Momma didn't want to to fill her up and risk her not nursing when the plane was taking off.  (Being able to nurse Max during take off and landing always worked great for helping his ears adjust and us not having the screaming baby on the plane.)  So poor Emmalyn just wanted to eat and go to sleep but we were trying to hold her off until we got on the plane.  We made it through the delay with relatively little problems!

Boarding the plane...

I got so many comments from people about how tiny she is.  She really is...it's hard to get it in the pictures.  Max was so excited to get on the plane and takeoff.  He climbed right into a seat and bucked in!

Everyone on the plane.  Note that Max just looks tired.  Poor kid just needed to go to sleep, which he eventually did - whew!  I had prepped him that morning and told him he'd need to take a nap on the plan and so that's what he did.

Emmalyn did great on the plane.  She was fantastic just like Maxwell was.  I am so grateful!!!

First time to Vegas!  Woo - the baggage claim is very exciting.

I thought it was really cute - when we got off the plane the first thing Maxwell noticed was the slot machines in the terminal.  He got all excited and pointed to them and said "I want to play the games!"  I guess to a 3 year old, slot machines just look like the games you in an arcade.  We explained to him that he couldn't play those games until he was 21.  :)

By the time we got all the luggage (what a joke - - 2 parents, 1 kid in a baby carrier, 1 in a stroller, 2 large suitcases, 1 backpack, 1 diaper bag, 2 car seats...sheesh!), picked up the rental car, and stopped for a snack on the way since I was starving, we ended up arriving really late at my dads.  He and Marriann were still up and Katherine and her girls had just arrived from Utah.

Max slept in a room by himself on a big queen bed.  I was nervous he might roll off but he was REALLY tired and I put pillows all around him.  He made it through the night just fine.

Nana and Ari getting to love on Emmalyn for the first time.

The next morning Sharee and most of her kids arrived, Brittany/Kimberly and their kids came over, along with AJ, Heather and Aaron.  The party had begun!!!

We didn't end up having all of the Nelson family (most glaringly absent was Grandma who had to stay in Utah), but we did have all of my siblings together which hadn't happened since my mom died.  Plus 2 of our step siblings, 2 Nelson cousins, and 1 Uncle.  It was a good showing!  And the nicest thing was that because Dad has been renting out the house and there were so many beds, only AJ and his family didn't stay there.  It was perfect...the kids could go to bed and the adults could stay and have fun.

Cousins watching a movie - Maxwell, Bronson, Hayden, Ari, Adi, and Quaid

Aunt Sharee and Emmalyn

Emmalyn and her Nana

That night since more people had arrived, Max slept in the other queen bed in our room.  Our little family was in the master bedroom which was really nice because we had the master bath right there, more space, and were a little isolated from everyone else which helped in the middle of the night when Emmalyn woke up.

Max on the queen bed surrounded by pillows so he wouldn't fall off.  I was worried that he would be woken up by Emmalyn during the night but that didn't happen at all.  It was the other way around.  In the middle of the night, Peter and I were awoken by a THUMP and then Max screaming.  He had fallen out of bed!  :(  (He's only slept in either a pack-n-play, a crib, or his bed that has the rails.)  Well, that woke up Emmalyn...  argh!!!

We put him back in bed and it happened AGAIN!  Apparently pillows aren't that effective in containing him since he moves around so much.

I don't know how he didn't fall out the night before since it was a big bed without rails as well, but I was glad because if he had fallen out we would have been in a separate room and might not have heard him.

He spent the rest of the night in our bed between the two of us.  YUCK!  I slept horribly.  We are going to have to come up with a better solution.

4th of July!!!! 

Ready for the holiday

Playing with himself in the mirror

Silly face

I caught him having fun playing the piano.  He had set his book up so he could read the music off of it.  I really need to get a piano at home!

We are in VEGAS in JULY, who needs clothes?

Such a sweet face

Love all her smiles...here's one

...and another...

...and another...

...and another...

...and another (always with the tongue!)...

Happy 4th of July - - family pic

Enjoying the pool.  Max wore a lifevest and swam a little.  Dad and AJ hung a tarp over part of the pool.  It was so dang hot outside that without the tarp we wouldn't have been able to swim long in the hot sun.

The hot tub was just a smaller pool.  There were so many cousins to play with!  The only cousins we were missing were Skye, Star, and Aiden.

A picnic lunch on the beach towels.

Nana had picked up some toys for the kids to play with and these dart guns were the toy of choice for the boys.

Aunt Heather made some yummy pudding cups that looked like a beach on the ocean.

Nana had set up her studio and taught all the kids how to paint a 4th of July painting.  

My little artist

This is the position she usually falls asleep in when Peter's putting her to sleep

Outside waving canvases around so that they dry - Heather, Sharee, Marriann

The whole room and all the little artists.

Max listened to each of Nana's instructions and then carried them out to the best of his ability.  :)  I knew that at the end he wasn't going to end up with a picture of a firework and a balloon but it's not my parenting style to help him so it turns out perfect.  For me, the object of the event wasn't a perfect picture but for him to have fun painting independently so I let him do it in his way.

Emmalyn put her dad to sleep too

Max took a nap in Emmalyn's pack-n-play.  No more sleeping on that big bed! Emmalyn now got the big bed since she doesn't move.

She is just so cute!!! 

Love her red,white, and blue dress.  Thanks Aunt Brittany!

Serious cuteness

All the Nelson boys.  It was really fun to have them all together.

Landen, Maxwell, Peter, Aaron, Tyler, and Hayden

When your parents say it's time to stop swimming, what do you do?  Put your feed in the pond, of course!  (My Dad's backyard is just so gorgeous.  It's such an oasis.  I didn't think it was possible in ugly, desert Vegas.)

Hayden, Kaitlyn, Bronson

Emmalyn was talking up a storm to Nana

Patriotic snacking

Lots of people to hold Emmalyn!

Kaitlyn was so cute with her.  She's been waiting for a girl Nelson cousin for a long time. (Photobomb - Ari!)

My Dad and Marriann are just too funny.  They really went to a lot of effort to make things nice and thought of so many little details.  They even made hats for when we had a question about something...

Very fitting... :)

Me, Katherine, and Maxwell

Popsicle time with all the cousins!

Ari, Bronson, Max, Hayden, Quaid, Landen, Kaitlyn, Aaron

Emmalyn and Aunt Brittany

She wasn't happy about Geoff holding her!

We walked across the street to the stake center to watch the fireworks.  It's has a great view of the valley and we could see fireworks going off all over the place.  It was crazy!

Maxwell is still NOT a fan of fireworks and even though most of them were really far away and you couldn't hear them, this was still torture for him.

The group

We walked back home and within 2 minutes it was POURING outside.  Big, heavy, desert raindrops.  So, we had fun inside.  Grandpa and Ari put on a piano concert.  And then there were many, loud, karaoke renditions of Frozen songs. :)  We were wiped out and called it a night!

Sleeping on her daddy.

It was a fantastic 4th of July.  It was so nice to be by family and see our kids play together, visit with each other, and just be together.  Plus, we did so many fun things in just one day!