We've been lucky enough to do quite a bit of traveling as a family. We've been to Mexico several times, and Belize once. The kids have swum in both the Atlantic and the Pacific, and have seen New York City. I feel lucky that we can (hopefully) give our kids a decent view of the world, not just of our beautiful little hometown.

Anna got a 3.4 GPA her first quarter of middle school, and she requested a trip to see "Spamalot" in Las Vegas as her reward. We went just before Thanksgiving.

We had an amazing time. We stayed at the Excalibur. The show was terrific. The Hoover Dam tour was amazing. All four of us rode the roller coaster at New York, New York and the Big Shot at the Stratosphere. We loved walking through the hotels on the strip and watching the fountains at the Bellagio.

My favorite part though? Was when Conor, after a really amazing dinner, spontaneously asked the waitress at the Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill to give his compliments to the chef. The waitress looked a little surprised and remarked, "He must watch a lot of Food Network..." The funny thing is, he doesn't. Not even sure how he knew what to say. But it sure was cute!