What Happens in Vegas....

This last weekend, my whole family was able to take a trip together to Vegas. It was a few months ago that my mom told me that they and my brother's family were going down for the BYU game. I told them they couldn't go without us, so we decided to turn it into a whole family thing. So, this past weekend, we headed down. Vegas isn't my idea of the ultimate family vacation. In fact, I'm not a fan of Vegas at all. The casinos are terrible and there are too many people there. But it was pretty fun anyways. We spent a lot of time in the pool because we were in an environment warm enough to actually go in an outdoor pool. Unfortunately, I got there and discovered my memory card for my camera wasn't working, so I didn't get a lot of pictures on my camera until the last couple days we were there. My dad had his camera, but I need to borrow it in order to get the pictures of our family off.

Day 1:
We left at 7:00 am and headed on our way. It was a long car ride, but it was successful. I was very worried about Jace being able to handle such a long ride, but he was so perfect. It couldn't have gone any better. We got to Vegas and unpacked and then decided to hit the pool. Me and Jace went out with my brother's family and the water was freezing. So, we didn't stay there long. That night we went to this:


and it was freakin' amazing. It was a very clean show and just a blast. Jace stayed with my mom at the hotel because he was pretty tired from such a long trip. Lance was just cheering all the through the show and I just sat there with my jaw dropped for most of it. I was amazed at some of the things people can do. The picture of the 2 men pretty much shows you some of it. There was also a crazy hula hooper and men flying in the air on ribbon type things (a little scary!) There was also a juggler that played Fur Elise on a keyboard by juggling balls. He was the host of the show. In fact, here's a video I found of it on YouTube. He's considered the world's fastest juggler.

After the show, we got dinner and then called it a night. I guess we just weren't into the night life in Vegas. Let me just mention that we got really lucky with our hotel room. Our room had a huge closet. I meant to take a picture of it, but of course, I forgot. Anyways, it worked out perfectly because the hotel provided us with a portable crib (like a playpen) and we decided to just stick it in the closet and make it Jace's own little bedroom. My mom thought we were kind of mean doing that, but it worked so perfectly. Jace slept like an angel and in the morning, he would just push the closet door open and wake us up. My brother and sister didn't have the big closet, so when we told them we put Jace in the closet, they just didn't get what we meant by that.

Day 2:
We got up and got our free breakfast. Our hotel we stayed at was actually in Henderson Nevada. I loved it there. There weren't casinos or anything and it was smoke free. And they provided a great continental breakfast. So, another way to lower the expenses in Vegas. After breakfast, we went to a small chocolate factory, Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Botanical Cactus Gardens. The factory was really small, but we got to see a little bit of the chocolate making and even sample some. Right outside of the factory was the cactus gardens. It was fun walking through and seeing all the cactus, another joy of the warm climate down there. We got pictures there, but of course, they're on my dad's camera. Maybe I'll have to do another post when I can steal his camera.

After the factory, we headed over to the Silverton Casino to check out the aquariums there. We were all about free activities in Vegas. Yes, this was a casino, but it was cool to see the aquariums there. After the aquarium, we went to a buffet. What's Vegas without a buffet? Then, we headed back to the hotel for naps and then some of the family went to the BYU game. Me, my mom, my sister, and my baby bro stayed with all the kids while everyone else went to the game. My hubby texted me during the game and said that they thought there would be more BYU fans than UNLV fans. I asked him in the end and he thought it was pretty even. BYU, of course, slaughtered UNLV I think 59-21. Every time BYU goes to UNLV, they win them. My dad said the coach of UNLV would get fired because their team never wins.

Day 3:
We finally got a memory card for the camera!

And here's how happy I was that the memory card worked!


Here's Jace right after breakfast hanging out in the hotel lobby while daddy continued to sleep.

Another pic of my cute little man.

After breakfast, we headed over to the Stratosphere. If you don't know which building that is, check it out.

My baby bro was looking forward to going up to the top and riding the rides up there. Let me just say, scary! I was almost talked into going on them with him, then when we went to buy tickets, I chickened out. I still rode up with him to the top to play photographer, but there was no way I could have handled the rides. My little bro had his fun though and I had my fun watching him.

Does it really look like I'm in Vegas in this picture?


Here's the view from the top of the Stratosphere. I went to the wrong side, so it's not the strip.

Here's Tom on the X-Scream. Basically it's a giant teeter-totter that propels you 27 feet over the edge of the Tower, 866 feet above the ground. Yeah, scary. It's supposed to look like you're going to fall. Tom said it was lame, but I know I would have been scared.
Then, he went on the big shot.

Yes, basically the rocket at Lagoon, except for it's 1000+ feet from the ground. I hate the rocket anyway. Why would I want to be up that high from the ground?
Then, the last ride he went on was Insanity.


A massive mechanical arm extends 64 feet over the edge of the Tower and spins you at a force of 3 Gs for a truly mind-bending experience. That's only some of the description. It also hangs you at a 70 degree angle, so basically you're looking almost straight down at the city. Yeah, scary! I was so lucky to get a photo of Tom going at full speed because it was going fast. I just had to keep shooting pictures and hope that one of them was Tom. Thank goodness for a new camera that could take pictures fairly quickly.


And here's me and my baby bro up at the top of the Stratosphere together.

After the Stratosphere, we went and picked up Lance to take him to the one place he wanted to go.

Yes, In and Out Burger. He was so excited to go there.

He just stood there anxiously waiting for his number to be called so he could get his food. He could have sat, but he was just too excited to try the food.

And here we are with our yummy burgers! Yummo.

After lunch, we went and swam some more. Later that night, me and my mom hung out in the hotel while Lance went to a couple more places he wanted to go. First they went to the Las Vegas Temple.



I love how beautiful temples are when they're lit up at night. The temple was much bigger than I remember it.

Then, they went to Fremont Street. They do like laser shows on the ceiling.

Day 4: the final day
The final day, we basically had breakfast, went swimming 1 more time, and then headed home.

We did make 1 more stop for my hubby. He saw the Dunkin' Donuts sign and just had to try them out. So, he was happy. He got to try 2 places he'd never been before.

Jace was very exhausted from the trip. He was out like a light before we even got out of Vegas. He slept until St. George and didn't sleep for the rest of the trip.

We rented a car for the trip and rode with my parents to cut down on gas prices. This is to show the tight spaces in the back seat of the car.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. Our trip was a lot of fun, but we're so glad it's over. It feels so good to be back in Utah again.