Vegas Trip



So the last week of February, Halen didn't have school on Monday or Tuesday because of SEP's so we thought it would be a good time to take a little family vacation.  We had planned to go to San Diego but it snowed in Salt Lake the Saturday we wanted to leave & it delayed all the flights in and out so we wouldn't have made it.  Sunday's flights didn't look good so we had to come up with a backup plan.  Randy's always wanted to take the boys to Vegas to show them the lights and tall buildings so we decided to just drive down and spend the night.

 

We left about 2:00 Sunday afternoon so Mia could have her afternoon nap on the way down.  Even though it was a pretty short drive down, the boys were anxious to get there so they kept asking how much longer. Ü

 

Our first stop was at the Las Vegas temple.  The boys were excited to see it and wanted to walk around for a little bit.  Halen liked how the Angel Moroni looked bigger because the steeple it was on is shorter than most so he could see it better.  It was a little breezy walking around but it was nice to be on the temple grounds with my little family.

Posing inside the front gate

My 3 cuties

After the temple, we took the kids to dinner at Macaroni Grill.  We took Halen there once before and he loved it and always talks about it to Alex so of course Alex wanted to try it too.  I think he likes Olive Garden better but he thought the food was pretty good.

From there we went to check into our hotel.  We stayed at South Point way at the end of the Strip.  The kids eyes lit up when we walked in the door and they saw all the lights inside.  They were all in awe.  Once we unloaded everything, we headed out to check out the city.  We drove to the Bellagio and parked so we could go watch the water show.  We walked through the Bellagio to get out front and they always have a beautiful display there that we had to go look at.  Right now they have it decorated in celebration of the Chinese New Year of the Snake.

Alex & Halen (& unknown) in front of a Chinese boat

The boys really felt like they were in another country.  They immediately saw the Eiffel Tower as we walked out of the Bellagio and Halen has a slight obsession with the Statue of Liberty so he loved that there was one just down the street from us.  We watched three water shows at different locations around the water.  Even Mia was laughing and giggling during the shows...she was obviously impressed.

Lovin' a little bit of Paris

Waiting for the next water show

We walked a couple blocks of the Strip before going back to the van to drive down to Fremont Street.  We thought the boys would like the light show they do on the covered street.  We got there just before the show started and was just waiting when this guy dressed up like Batman came up behind Alex and put a mask on him too.  He told us we could take a picture so we did just to humor him...of course he wanted a little cash for it too.  

Mom & Mia enjoying the lights

Halen's not a fan of loud noises but he tried to smile for the pic anyway Ü

Alex LOVED the lights and music

After the show at Fremont we drove the entire length of the Strip back to our hotel.  Halen wanted us to take pictures of every hotel we passed because he thought they were all pretty awesome.

The Stratosphere out the sun roof as we drove under

Of course we had to get the Statue of Liberty all lit up

The lights of our hotel

Randy and the boys all slept pretty well that night but Mia didn't so of course I didn't.  Mia did great all day taking little cat naps here and there and I thought she'd be so tired that she'd conk out but I was wrong.  By 6 am, I had only had 2 hours of sleep. :(  But we got up the next morning and drove over to Palace Station for breakfast/lunch.  Then we set out to take a few touristy pics before heading home.

Family pic in front of the famous Vegas sign (the guy who took it missed the top of the sign)

Cute boys (Mia was tired)

The boys wanted pics of the pyramid (Luxor), castle (Excalibur) & Statue of Liberty (New York, NY) so we parked at Mandalay Bay and walked through the top of the Luxor (I didn't realize the top of the pyramid was so hollow) then out front to take some pics.

The kids in the Luxor lobby

The boys thought it was fun walking out under the Sphinx to get to the tram

The kids in front of the Luxor

And of course with the Statue of Liberty

And finally, in front of the castle

The boys could have stayed a lot longer.  They were begging to stay another night, but we told them we were close enough that we would come back another time.  They want to try staying at every hotel...don't know if we'll reach that goal. Ü  But I'm glad they had fun.  It wasn't the destination we had planned and hoped for, but it was still a good time.