Vegas!!!

While Sarah was here visiting from Australia we decided to drive down to Vegas for a weekend away. It was to be a first time visit for Sarah and the kids and the first PROPER visit for Paul and I. If we haven't told you our Vegas story from our American trip in 2007 then ask one of us to share it with you... : )

Sarah, the kids and I drove down early on a Thursday morning - the trip itself took about six hours which meant we arrived in Vegas at 2pm. We checked into our hotel room early and went up to check it out! It was AWESOME! We had a two bedroom suite that had two king sized beds, a pull out queen sized sofa bed and a massive L shaped couch. It also has a large kitchen, mini kitchen, two bathrooms, a spa and two sitting rooms. One of the coolest features of the room was the Giant shade that covered the amazing view of Vegas that doubled as an enormous movie screen. The kids immediately turned it on and started watching sponge bob on the giant screen and giggling with joy!

We had a few hours to kill before needing to get ready for the evening so we decided to take advantage of the huge spa! We jumped into our bathers and filled the tub - Sarah thought it would be a great idea to use an entire bottle of bottle bath - I unfortunately didn't realise she had done this until we saw the mass amounts of bubbles rising up at great speeds! Of course the kids thought this was the best idea Sar had ever had and enjoyed being completely covered in bubbles! They had so much fun splashing around and blowing bubbles all over the place in the pool sized spa!

Once we were out and dried we got ready for the evening entertainment - The Lion King! I had seen the show already when Paul and I visited with Narelle in Sydney in 2003. I was excited to see it again because I loved it the first time and was even more excited for the kids and Sar to see it! This was going to be Sarah's first time seeing a musical so it was also exciting introducing her to one of our favourite things to do! Everybody LOVED the show! i enjoyed it just as much as the first time and we left amazed by the talents of the performers and the amazing costumes! While we were at the show Paul arrived in Vegas (he flew down after work) and got to catch up with Leonard and go out and experience Vegas by night!

The next morning we headed out to check out the strip and visit the coke and m&m museums. This was so fun and there was so much to see! The m&m factory was so fun as it was four stories of chocolate and giant m&m statues! The place was so colourful ad had so much to see and do - including a 3d movie staring 'Red' and 'Yellow'. It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it. They loved helping Sarah pick out some m&m's to take home and posing with all the giant statues.

While we were on the fourth floor of the museum Sarah and Hayden spotted a man dressed as Jack Sparrow down on the strip.... they spotted him because on the table in front of him was a snake! Freak out! Anyone that knows me well knows that snakes are my biggest fear in life! I remember hiding a note from my Mum when the snake man was coming to our primary school and then telling my teacher we couldn't afford to go. I was more willing to sit in the classroom alone and work then sit in a room with a man and his snake! Of course this meant that when they decided to go downstairs and touch it I was standing by having heart palpitations! Emma is scared of snakes too but she at least had the courage to go and see it up close!

While we were walking down the strip there was a man dressed as Michael Jackson. In front of him was a boz with a slit in it and a sign that said 'turn me on'. I didn't really know what the deal was but Sarah clued on early. She handed hayden a dollar bill and told him to go and put it in the box. Hayden had barely gotten the note in when the man (who was previously frozen like a statue) jumped and screamed at the top of his lungs. He then started moon walking and dancing. Hayden had no idea this was about to happen and jumped! Everyone standing around cracked up laughing - a lady watching near by was so impressed she gave Emma a dollar bill too so she could turn him back on! It was classic!

Once we got back from this busy afternoon we met up with Paul who had stayed with Leonard and his mates the night before. We had tickets to see the Cirque Du Soleil show "O". This show is held at the Bellagio and set over water! It was AMAZING! The way the performers fly through the air and bend their bodies is unlike anything I have seen - except at other Cirque shows of course! We had front row seats which meant we got a lot of splashes and attention from the clowns but this only added to the experience! It was such a fun night and we topped it off by watching the Bellagio fountain show out on the strip before heading back to the hotel.

The next day was dedicated to touring hotels and sight seeing. We went in so many different hotels and saw and did so many things. We went on some rides in Circus Circus, had ourselves drawn as characters and went to treasure Island to take photos of the big boats and pirate ships. In the Venetian Sarah and I rode a gondola. It was so cool - our Gondola man sung to us and chatted to us about the history of Venice and the Venetian hotel. Once we were exhausted from all the walking and sight seeing we headed back to the hotel. Paul went to catch up with Leonard and the boys again to go see the David Copperfield show and Sarah, the kids and I went to the MGM grand to have dinner at the rainforest cafe. The restaurant is great for families and had aquariums and trees and jungle animals all around.

On our last day in Vegas we toured a few more hotels and then lined up and waited to get into the Carnival Buffet at the Rio hotel. Some may say we were crazy - in fact all of us thought Paul was crazy for suggesting we wait in line once we saw how massive the line was! It took almost an hour for us to get a seat but once we were in it was all worth it! Once again - Paul was right. This buffet was HUGE. It had food from so many different countries and had so many stations to stop at! We all ate WAY to much and then jumped int he car for the long ride home!

Vegas was so fun filled and so tiring. We did so many things that I couldn't include them all in here! The post is long enough without going into details of everything we did and saw! It is definitely somewhere we will go again because you just cant see and do everything in the one trip. If you want to know more then ask the kids to tell you about the lions at the MGM Grand, 4D rides at Excalibur, the mass amounts of money they spent in the game arcades, our trips to the shops that included a lightning storm show, krispee kremes and pickles! So much to do and so much fun! Vegas was definitely one to remember!