A Vacation in Riley World...#Monday Listicles

WOW…has it already been 2 weeks since I last blogged!?!? Eeep! Well I have an excuse…again. Last weekend our family took a trip to Viva Las Vegas to catch some of Country’s best artists at the ACM (Academy of Country Music) Experience, Fan Jam and Superstar Summer Night concerts. So much fun!!!

This week my good friend Terri (who happens to live in Las Vegas…coincidence…I think not) suggested this week’s Listicles topic "10 Chapters in a Book About Me."  What better topic for an author who has just finished her second soon-to-be released book “Dark Pretense”. Congratulations Terri!!!

Since my life is ummm nothing to write home about and I know you have been dying to read about our latest adventure…I decided to do a listicles on “10 Chapters about a Vacation in Riley World!”  Fasten your seat belts and away we goooo…

1.      Chapter 1:  Packing 

Any trip away from home in Riley World must include the usual cooking apparatus and depending on the destination…certain foods.

For this trip we only had to pack a small amount of food as some could be purchased.


Product “packaging” is always an obstacle so we packed soup mix and extra packets of seasoning for R’s noodles.

2.      Chapter 2:  Departure Check-in/Seat Assignment   

Note to self:  Check flight times BEFORE leaving home. We arrived an extra hour BEFORE the required 2 hr check-in and we all know how patient Riley is about waiting...NOT!  Surely things would get better once on board.

I decided to splurge the extra $5/seat and get seats closer to the front of the plane so we would not have to wait very long to deplane. Even better…the row right in front of the exit door. G & J2 boarded ahead of R & me. As we started down the aisle I noticed G & J2 looking at me wide-eyed and stone-faced. Our row? The one I paid extra for? Only had half a window! Seriously???

3.      Chapter 3:  Hotel Accommodations

See that really comfy looking bed on the far left? There were 2 of them. R preferred to sleep on the couch. The first night he used the supplied bathrobes as blankets. He looked cold in the morning. Not to worry...I got him a blanket the second night. 

4.      Chapter 4:  Live Entertainment

That's J1 and Katie Armiger playing at The ACM Experience at The Orleans on the Friday night. It was great to be able to see them play LIVE! She was GREAT!!!

5.      Chapter 5:  Bonus Activity

It doesn't get any better than this in Riley World! Thank goodness it was past most kids' bedtimes so R had this bouncy castle all to himself.  :D

6.      Chapter 6:  Relaxation

If it were up to Riley these days he would choose to spend the entire time in the hotel room so we decided to coax him out of the room with a day poolside in a cabana. Don't know about R but I sure enjoyed it.  ;P

7.      Chapter 7:  Extracurricular Activities

J2 and I took a ride on the NYNY Roller Coaster. Riley preferred the upper deck of The Deuce operated by RTC Transit. See...there is something for everyone in Vegas!

8.      Chapter 8:  Concert Highlights

Here is one of the many pics from the Tim McGraw Superstar Summer Night concert that J2 and I went to see. It will be airing on TV in May. This was the finale with Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, John Fogerty and Keith Urban *sigh*.

9.      Chapter 9:  Departure Check-in for the trip home

Remember how I said I was going to check flight times BEFORE leaving home??? Wellllll...I didn't. My excuse this time is that we were not at home...we were at a hotel. Hey...details are very important in Riley World. We found out the flight was delayed by 2 hours when we got to the airport. On the upside...Riley got two windows this time!

10.  Chapter 10:  “It’s Good to be Home Again…”

LEFT PIC:  McDonald's fries in Vegas. I found these in the garbage can. They came in a small white bag. I will admit that they do taste different than the ones at home. This has never been a problem...until this trip. This decreased his menu options down to 5...that is if you consider cheerios and S&V chips as menu items.

RIGHT PIC:  McDonald's fries picked up on the way home. Notice the small brown bag. Much better.

As Riley kept saying all.the.way.home..."It's good to be home again."

And just to keep me in good spirits for my return home...

Gotta love Duty Free!

Congratulations again to our even more famous hostess Stasha! Don't forget to pop over to read the chapters of everybody else's lives.