Vegas Baby

For Labor day weekend and Shannon's birthday we took a trip to Vegas...it was so much fun, but really...exhausting. We are walkers, and we didn't realize just how DIFFICULT it is to walk the Vegas strip...the cars, the people, the sun hitting us from the blaring skyscrapers...damn Wynn Hotel, I curse you. But, we had a great time. The vacation was ALL about the kids, pretty funny considering we were in a city with the name "Sin" in it's catch phrase. Being the frugal king and queen that we are, we decided to partake in one of those "Resort Time Share Presentations." It was an ordeal, but, after all was said and done, we walked away with $150 in Visa Gift Cards, 2 Tickets to The Secret Garden, $40 Cash, and they provided Breakfast and Lunch and VARIOUS coupons.

My grandmother was a gambler...she loved the slots. She was a winner, she ALWAYS won. When she passed away in May, her slot machine (yes, she had HER OWN slot machine in the local tavern that was dedicated to her....only she played it, others would play it when she wasn't around, but if she was in the bar, you had better not touch it!) Any way, her slot machine had a MAJOR malfunction. My mom and grandpa were in the bar and it started to go off like it won, then the screen went black and the ticker tape started spewing tape out....it still is inoperable. I think it was her way of saying, "If I can't play you, NO BODY CAN!!!!" Well, getting to my point. My mom gave me $5 to play in a slot for my Grandma. On the second day in Vegas, I had Trinity pick out a machine for me. It was a tall, flashy machine with a huge red circle and big pull on the right hand side. Perfect. I walked over, put in my money, and told my Grandma that this was for her. I won $100 on my single pull. Thanks Grandma. That $100 paid for our fun that you are about to read about.

We loved visiting Cesar's Palace...FAO Schwartz was a hit. We spent half the day there, just meandering through all the toys. We discovered that little t LOVES vintage tin toys just as much as his mommy and that Trinity is addicted to stuffed animals. I also discovered that some parents will pay insane amounts of money to impress their children....ridiculous amounts of money. I am a SAVERS kinda girl, so, the price tags made me want to poop in my pants. Luckily, I refrained from looking at them, so, no worries in that department.

The M&M store was an amazing chocolate overload, all 4 STORIES of it. I swear, I opened our suitcase, and the dirty clothes bag smelled like chocolate...I guess it could smell worse. We caved and bought a bag of mixed MMMMMs (as t calls them) and they were divine. We also picked up a new tennis ball for Dakota, a lovely green ball with an M on it....it's already been destroyed, so, I would say that was a hit too.

The best time was spent just hanging out in the hotel room. We loved it. We stayed at Circus Circus, in the newly renovate West Tower. I HIGHLY reccomend this place. It did NOT smell of smoke, smoking was not even allowed in the hotel portion of the buildings. They had really comfy beds with luxurious linens. The bathrooms were big, and the tub, albeit small, was big enough for the kiddos to splash around in. They had a flat screen TV, and a WONDERFUL view. We were on the 32nd floor, so it was pretty amazing at night. It stormed really hard one of the nights, and the lightening show was beautiful.

In the lobby of the hotel there is, of course, a casino...but, to the left of said casino is an amazing place called "ADVENTUREDOME!" that word personifies the experience to a t. It was FULL of adventure, but, we just played carnival games. Trinity is quite the little winner, she actually got that glazed over look that you see on the gamblers face...she was addicted to winning...I can't even tell you the amount of stuffed animals that she came home with, and we only spent $20 in games. The carnies loved her....She was playing all the favorites, balloon pop, fishing, the water gun race, it was quite the site to witness.

All in all, this was a trip to remember...I loved our time that we spent together, the buffets, the sites, the lights, the music, the weird people, Trinity conquering the dreaded escalator, all of it rolled into one package made for a really great family getaway...even if just for the weekend.