Vegas Baby

So we're back from a last minute trip to good ole' Las Vegas.

Jeff and I used to love making last minute plans to spend the weekend in Las Vegas back when we were dating.

We'd find a cheap hotel [Sometimes a little too cheap. Yuck!],

hang out at the pool, eat delicious food, and just wander around.

My mom and Larry were going to be in Vegas for the weekend because Larry had a conference to attend.

Since Larry would be in classes all day, my mom was worried she wouldn't have anything to do. She didn't have a car, and really didn't know her way around the town/Strip.

So I mentioned to Jeff on Thursday that maybe we should make a weekend trip out of it, and keep her company.

It took him all but 0.3 seconds to say yes.

He may or may not have had a minor obsession with Las Vegas at one point in his life.

Being a man of extreme nostalgia, he was happy to be heading back for a quick getaway.

I wanted to go to just have a little break from life....something I hadn't had in awhile.

We also figured that even though we've seen all there is to really see in Vegas, Kaeden would think everything was pretty much awesome.

So we loaded up the boys and headed out late Friday afternoon.

The boys were so good in the car. Carter only fussed a bit when he was hungry, and Kaeden pretty much kept himself busy...his 3 hour nap helped too.

Our hotel room at Treasure Island also came with two complimentary buffets. The only catch was they were only good through Friday night. Since we got such a late start I was thinking we weren't going to make it in time to check in and use our passes. All mama wanted to do was eat some Prime Rib! The whole ride there all I did was calculate how much time we had left, adjusting for the time change, and estimating our check in. It was seriously giving me anxiety. Prime Rib! Prime Rib! I'm happy to say we made it in the nick of time. We literally had 20 minutes before the buffet shut down. The staff that took your money was giving people strategies saying, "Just go and collect as many plates as you can, then eat. The food will be pulled in 20 minutes, and then you'll have another 30 to finish eating." The buffet wasn't as good as our favorite one at the Mirage, but considering it was free...I'm not going to complain!

Pulling off the freeway and heading towards the Strip, Kaeden was mesmerized by all the lights. He saw the top of the fire of the volcano going off at the Mirage, and asked us what it was. We told him, "That's a volcano." So what does his little fixation prone brain do? Begs repeatedly to see the "ah-cano." All through eating dinner we had to promise him that we'd see the volcano. But it's like he thought we'd forget, so he reminded us every 1.2586 seconds.

We rode the tram between Treasure Island and the Mirage, and were able to make it really fun for Kaeden by calling it a train. Something he's never been on. It's amazing how much you can dress up something the average adult wouldn't think about, and to a three-year-old it's like the coolest thing on Earth. Obviously Las Vegas provided ample opportunities to really wow Kaeden.

But the ah-cano..... He loved the ah-cano.

For some reason he was convinced there we two volcanos, and back in our room kept talking about how he saw two volcanos, our room had two beds, etc.  Apparently in the city of luck, Kaeden's lucky number is the number two.

Carter on the other hand.... he just chilled and enjoyed his first experience in a hotel room.

The next day we met up with my mom, and then split up. My mom and I took Carter out for a day of shopping, and Jeff and Kaeden went out exploring.

Carter was a good sport about shopping all day long.

He also wowed pretty much anyone and everyone who came in contact with us. Seriously. It's like NO ONE in Las Vegas has ever seen a baby. I couldn't navigate a store without people hounding me to talk about the fact that I Gasp! Had a baby! Awwwwwww! I mean he's cute and all, but people, it's just a tiny human. It got to the point where people would talk out loud about him, "Oh, look at that cute little guy!", and I'd overtly just ignore them. Even though it was obvious they said it loud enough for me to hear. I just wanted to shop people!! If you are that impressed, give him a modeling contract or something. Mama needs some shopping money!

I kid. Sort of.

The boys spent their day having all sorts of fun.

It started out at the M&M Factory where Kaeden procured a new friend.



Then moved to the arcade at New York, New York.

And ended with a Happy Meal at McDonald's.

Later we met back up for dinner, and a stroll around the forum shops.

Unfortunately the talking statues at the Forum shops were out of service. I know Kaeden would have thought those were pretty cool.

But he did enjoy the sting ray aquarium outside of the Cheesecake Factory. Especially when all the sudden there was a diver in the tank just swimming around man-handling the sting rays.

After dinner we all headed out to try to sneak a peak of the new City Center. Something Jeff and I had watched being built for years.  So we loaded up the boys and we were off.

In case you were wondering, my boys ride in style.

And I love when this one just stares up at me.

In the end, our night ended up just being just a lot of walking. I don't think we ever really found the "City Center." Usually we'd just keep exploring, but our feet and children were tired. As we headed back, we caught the show of the Bellagio fountains, and I caught these sweet pictures with my cell phone. I was kinda proud of them. I mean c'mon! Those are silhouettes of my boys!

The next morning we were up and on the road again.

It was kind of a rough trip for such a short time.

Jeff and I decided we got two things from the trip:

1. Confirmation that we really aren't into Vegas anymore, and probably won't visit there again anytime soon [unless we actually had a reason to go there].

2. A lovely head cold that everyone in our family caught.

Thanks Dirty Old Vegas!!