Family Road Trip

Back yesterday afternoon from our Reno/Carson City family trip - we had a really fun time.  I think I'm going to use bullet points to tell the tale.

• There is no better sound than your kids yucking it up in the back seat.  They laugh like they did when they were little - maybe not as often but enough to make your heart full.
• B. doesn't have the patience required for playing slots.  He tried.  He and H. did sit with me and play a bit twice during the weekend.  But B. is much more interested in playing Black Jack. 
• H. had a huge run of beginner's luck.  The kid was seriously lucky.  He won a couple hundred dollars the first night, won a bit more the next day and at one point, put his money in a machine (sitting next to me) and won again - and said 'this is all for you, Mama'.  And handed me the winnings.  Which I was grateful for 'cuz I hadn't had that much luck at that point.
• We did the buffet on Friday night - seafood.  I ate oysters - and within five minutes of eating them, a hugely bad headache started.  This was followed by being awake and (literally) sweating profusely from midnight until 2:30AMish - until I made my way to the bathroom and threw up.  Which was awful (as throwing up always is) but had the amazing effect of (finally) allowing me to sleep.  I felt 'so-so' the next morning - but still managed to get up and out with the family.  I think it was the oysters - nothing else made any sense.  And the effect of eating them was so fast - 
• On Saturday morning, we trekked to Carson City with a stop at Peg's for a wonderful breakfast.  I ate some biscuits and gravy (very slowly and just a smidge) and did OK.  
• We drove to our home site and marveled at the progress all around.  There are people moving in to some of the homes in the area that were started right when we started our journey to buying the lot.  The boys thought the place was pretty awesome, thought the houses were really awesome and can't wait to see ours this time next year (if not sooner).  
• We then took the kids down Carson City Blvd. to see the town and made a stop at the local casino, Bodine's.  I'd been saving visiting for when we moved there - but with the kids with us, I wanted to make it a family memory.  It's small and slots only - no tables.  (Picture B. with a grumpy face).  But then picture Hunter playing a Buffalo Gold machine (he's never played many slots at all much less this game which is hugely popular) - turning a $1.20 bet into $400!  I've played the game quite a bit and I'm telling you - he had the run of a lifetime.  Bonus after bonus - it was a joy to watch him win.  
• We played a bit more and it was a fun time - then we returned to Atlantis and played some more.  I met a couple who moved to Carson City from South San Francisco and mentioned we had gone to Bodine's that morning - they said 'watch for us when you live there 'cuz we go there a lot'.  Gerry and Jerry - very nice people.  They bought a Lennar home in Carson City and told me horror stories about the builder - said they regret the purchase, it's been six months of heck trying to get the things that need fixing actually fixed.  Felt bad for them. 
• Side note:  the builder building all the new homes in our town (and in the school district I work for) is Lennar.  Sure hope it goes better here than the experience those folks had in Nevada. 
• B. had an acquaintance who lives just outside Carson City so he and H. met the guy in Reno for dinner on Saturday.  Dinner turned in to also going to Grand Sierra Resort where they hit a bucket of balls on the driving range there and then did a round of Laser Tag.  They got back super late - I was already in bed asleep and they just went to bed - 
• We planned to hit the road around 9AM on Sunday morning - trying to beat traffic.  We all ended up sleeping in quite a bit - and then I headed down for a Hail Mary try.  I had two machines in mind and started with one I keep an eye on - with a Grand jackpot of $12.9K.  I wish I could say I won that - I didn't - I played a bit and hit some bonuses and decided to keep playing - and ended up walking away with $600!  I wished I could stay and keep playing 'cuz it had dropped the Major jackpot ($2K) a couple times - sadly not with the other things needed to trigger that as a win.  It was hot!  And I made good use of that - helped offset some of the losses of the weekend.  
• The boys came and sat with me at the two machines to my left (different game) and watched me win.  B. was not having it (re: slots) but it was still fun - I got a selfie of the three of us on a row of slots but I look hideous so I'm not posting the pic.  LOL.  
• The drive home was relatively quick and not too traffic-y which was awesome.  We stopped at JimBoys tacos in Auburn and the kids ate another $50 of food.  (Every meal we had was at least $50.  The buffet on Friday night was comped (and was way more than $50) but we ran out of comps after that meal.  It wasn't an inexpensive weekend but it was a family vacation - worth every penny).
• It was pretty darn cold - and the thing that surprised me was how dry that makes your skin.  My lips were chapped and sore within 24 hours and my face and hands were rough and sore, too.  Moisturizer will be my friend when we move there.  I wore my $3 beanie (was $30 but in the clearance bin when we took H. to shop for clothes 4 months ago) and was super glad I had it. Keeping your head covered really helps retain warmth.  
• It was a lovely weekend and we are so glad BOTH boys could join us!  Can't wait to do it again only next time, we will likely be living there!

It's now New Years Eve and I'm heading up to bed soon.  The fireworks are starting and I'm hoping for better sleep - it's been a few nights of rough sleep and I'm due for a long haul sleep to get me caught up.  2019 is going to be an amazing year in our family and I'm looking forward to the many changes to come!