Las Vegas and the Dovers

We got to St George on Sunday after a very stressful Saturday of moving and cleaning. By Thursday, the boys and I were on our way to Vegas with DeeAnn to meet up with Bert, Gigi and the kids.

Our first stop was a casino that had a big aquarium with fish, sharks, rays, and mermaids. That's right, mermaids. A lady got into the aquarium and would take breaths through strategically placed breathers throughout the tank. The boys really like the mermaid and she liked them. She gave them more attention than any other kids. She blew them bubble kisses and played hand games with them. It was cute.

We let the kids play at a nice outdoor playground (the weather was beautiful) at a shopping center that DeeAnn wanted to go to. They loved the little buildings, maze, and merry-go-round.

Then, we were off to see the lions at the MGM Grand where we met up with the cousins. They had a nice, little reunion of hugs before we headed off the the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. Good food, but not cheap! It was worth it just to see the kids together.

After dinner, we barely had enough time to rush to the hotel and check in before DeeAnn, Gigi, and Cosette were off to see Donny and Marie. I let Bert take Dez to go out with Trav while I put an exhausted Cai to bed. dezi got to see the fountains at the Bellagio, which he couldn't stop talking about.

I had a tough night with 2 boys on the bed with me. they really can be squirmy. Of course, despite the late night, Cai woke up super early. We snuck out and went to breakfast at the all night cafe. We walked around the gardens at the Flamingo where Cai loved watching the ducks, fish, and, of course, flamingos. Once DeeAnn and Dez woke up, we went for yet another walk while waiting for the cousins to wake up.

Once everyone was ready, we were off to a McDonalds off the strip for a "cheaper" breakfast of pancakes. We went to see the Luxor because Travis really wanted to see the sphinx. They kids had a fun time see the egyptian "artifacts". Then, we made a quick trip to Circus Circus because my boys were dying to see the acrobats. We didn't have time to see the acrobats, but they loved the Ukranian juggler. He was amazing, balancing things on his head while riding a tall unicycle and juggling a dozen things.

All too soon it was time to say goodbye to the cousins. We definitely don't get to see them often enough. Once they were gone, we went the Eiffel Tower. The boys were really excited to go to the top. Not quite as good as the real thing (understatement), but not bad for Vegas. It was nice to look out and see the vista and the boys thought it was great to look down when getting into the elevator. That's the highest they've ever been so they loved it!

As we walked around, we saw plenty of Nascar things since it was going on that weekend. This, of course, was very exciting for the boys. they saw the equivalent of "Mack" carrying "Lightning McQueen". A little boy's dream come true.

After an adventure to take a photo of a Chinese New Year's display for DeeAnn, a wild goose chase for a Kohl's in Vegas that "lost" DeeAnn's purse, and a bathroom break on the Nascar exit, we were finally on our way home.

In closing, I'm not sure if it was because I had a tremendous amount of residual stress from the move, but near the end of the trip, I was sooo ready for a break from the boys. In retrospect, they probably didn't really behave any different than any other 3 and 5 year old in Vegas, but in my mental state, taking two seconds to obey was too long for me and one second of whining was way too much too handle. Poor kids, they've been through a lot as well. Life has been full of chaos and we're only half way through...