2013 Vegas Rudd Reunion...

Las Vegas Rudd Reunion 2013 has come and gone!  It was both awesome and exhausting at the same time but we are excited for the next one already!  We've been talking and planning for this reunion since last July so we were SUPER excited when it actually arrived. Las Vegas was chosen because it was the most convenient for our family at this point. Everyone but a few drove, some as little as four hours, so even though it was a HOT location for July, it was definitely the right one. We toyed with the idea of driving but knew that flying would be our best option. Four crazy hours on a plane vs. 36 hours round trip in a car...we took the plane option. There will be lots of time for road trips in the future.

Preparing for all the kids to fly was fun. We purchased lots of fun surprises for the flight and they all got a special roller luggage to hold some special things like blankets, books, and bears.  My relief society visiting teacher was kind enough to take us to the airport with our ELEVEN bags so we didn't have to worry about parking and shuttles.  We checked almost all the bags at the curb so Clark and I were hands free and the kids just had their rollers.  We arrived at the airport several hours early and basically made it an adventure for the kids.  And an adventure it was!  We even back tracked across the sky bridge so they could experience moving sidewalks for the first time.  The LOVED it.  Especially Zachary. Caleb had one of those experiences you see on the movies where he was nervous to get on, got on, regretted it, then tried to crawl back to the landing.  He was pretty panicked about stepping on all the escalators from that point forward.  After we finally got past all the escalators to reach our gate, he gave me the thumbs up and said, "it's all good Mom."  We did some plane watching, ate some lunch, and got ready for a four hour flight.

The kids played musical chairs at first trying to decide which parent they wanted to sit by.  Caleb finally decided he wanted to sit by me so we got cozy while waiting to take off.  He even got Beary out of his backpack to make sure he was comfortable and ready for the flight.  It was so cute because he was truly concerned about how Beary was feeling and if Beary was nervous.  So sweet.  Clark got the privilege of sitting between two toddlers most of the flight although I did look over at one point and both the kids were watching a movie while Clark was reading.  Tough life.  :)  Our flight was right at dinner time so the kids ate dinner, watched a movie, played with a couple surprises, and by that time we were there!  They did awesome considering they were already two hours past bedtime with the time change.

We were greeted in Vegas by Papa and all loaded into an AWESOME four-door truck, which I totally want Clark to have as his next car now.  I loved it.  We met Gram at the hotel, ate some 10 o'clock snacks, bathed the kids, and put them to bed.  They were now at about five hours past their normal bedtime.  Yikes!  We hoped they would sleep late the next day but no such luck.  Up bright and early as usual.  We spent the next day trying to take it easy since everyone was lagging on sleep.  The pools at the hotel were beautiful and there was even a playground.  So of course the kids did a lot of both those things while we all tried to exercise, run errands, and coordinate the arrival of the rest of the family the next day.  It was nice to have one day before the craziness started so the kids could get their sleep schedules switched, we could get some naps, and also spend some one on one time with Clark's parents.  We did end up driving the strip that night and topping it off with some Panda Express.  Can't beat it!  With full stomachs and an early bedtime, we were ready to get the party started the next morning.

Once all the 26 family members arrived at our rental house, no time was wasted before the chaos began.  The kids dove right in to Gram's dress up box and Dora toys while at the same time wrestling their uncles.  The first night we were there we celebrated Clark's Dad's birthday with some yummy dessert and memories of Dad.  Everyone shared a memory of him and had a good time reminiscing and laughing.  Great Grandpa Rudd even told some interesting motorcycle stories!  Unfortunately we were interrupted several times during our gathering by our trio.  They had already been up in bed 1 1/2 hours when Leah appeared.  We were oh so naive.  We really did think they would quietly go to sleep while sharing one room together in a new and exciting house.  Apparently they were up there singing at the tops of their lungs and jumping on the bed.  It wasn't until 1 1/2 hours later that they finally quieted down and fell asleep (mainly after we used severe threatning).  Every night after that we had to lay up in the bedroom for at least an hour until each of them were fast asleep.  Then we'd sneak downstairs and join the festivities. 

Each day of the reunion was filled with about five main things:  pool time, Minute to Win It challenges, crafts, play time with cousins, and movie time.  The pool was my biggest source of anxiety leading up to the reunion.  Clark and I picked the rental house and knew since we were in Vegas, the pool was going to be an essential activity.  Before everyone arrived, I started having visions that the pool was going to be empty or gross or in bad condition.  Luckily it was AWESOME.  It was a zero entry pool so all the young kids played in the shallow end with no problems.  The rental house had it's fair share of issues but I was glad of two things:  that the pool was great and the air conditioning worked!

Interestingly enough, Caleb wasn't a huge fan of the pool all week.  I'm not sure that he's a huge fan of swimming in general.  He spent his time exploring the garage, rolling around the big blow up ball, eating snacks, or playing on the water hopscotch.  Leah, on the other hand, had a ball!  She even started JUMPING into the water which she has never done.  She never jumped to Clark or me but instead to Aunt Anie.  I took a video of her doing it and she wants to watch it over and over at home.  She really did develop some bravery so thanks to Aunt Anie for getting her out of her comfort zone!

Minute to Win It challenges were a huge hit.  I initially wasn't going to bring them but Clark's Mom talked me into and said it would be great....and she was right.  The majority of our day time was spent doing the challenges over and over to try and improve our time.  Challenges included cup stacking, dice balancing, marble rolling, balloon blowing cups, moving cookies with the face, finding pennies in panty hose and more!  Nothing like some friendly competition!  I think we deemed the top four total times the winners and gave them more respect and candy for the night.  We'll definitely bring some more challenges for the next reunion!

We loved spending time with siblings and having our kids spend more time with cousins. We especially enjoyed our newest cousin baby Leila.  Now the trio thinks that every baby we see is baby Leila!

We all went out to a local swimming pool one day and all the kids had a blast.  Even the adults had fun on the water slides.  Clark and I snuck away to go down a few times.  Again, another one of those times that makes me feel young again and energizes me.  It was great.

Our last day in Vegas was bitter sweet.  We tried to eat all the leftovers, hurried around the house to pack, and also tried to get in all our last minute fun.  Unfortunately everyone was exhausted so it did end up being an early night.  During that day our family of five plus Papa attended a Discovery Children's Museum.  It was CRAZY busy but way cool.  Our kids were still a little young for a lot of the activities but they loved walking around and trying everything out.  They even got to pretend to mine some coal which Leah is still talking about!

Of course there had to be a bunch of family pictures taken before everyone departed.  Sadly the oldest Rudd sibling was not able to attend so she is not pictured.  We sure missed her and her family and hope to see them at the next one! 

I would love our little family photo that was taken but all our kids are doing something weird with their faces so unfortunately I don't think it'll make the Christmas card cut.  Who knows, maybe this is the best we can get for three almost-three-year-olds.  We even managed to get a full family picture including Great Grandma and Grandpa Rudd.  We were so happy they could come and endure the chaos of 11 kids under eight years old.

Sadly we did eventually have to pack our bags and go home.  We said our goodbyes and headed to the airport.  Clark worked his "I'm a panicked dad because I have 11 bags and three toddlers" magic and we moved to the front of a tremendously long line and got right inside.  We had lots of time so we enjoyed some Jamba Juices, received some Sheriff stickers from a security guy, ran through the airport, and rode the terminal train about 20 times.  Clark and I got to relax while the train provided about 30 minutes of entertainment.

We were so happy to have had such a successful family vacation (thanks to Clark's mom for co-planning with me)!  We traveled safe and sound and were given lots of confidence for future trips knowing our kids will only get more mobile and easier to travel with.  East coast Rudd Reunion 2015 here we come!