Vegas Vacation

I recently (as in, over Easter) took the kids on a little trek to the desert.  I don't know about how the rest of you in the world have been doing, but I needed a break!!  Amidst discussion with the kids and then my parents about where to go for a little adventure, the idea of Las Vegas came up as THE place to go.

With kids, you say?  If you have to ask, then you haven't been there in a while.  There is a lot for kids to see and do in various places, and as long as you can avoid the little bit of crazy and the lot of adult themed locations, you can pull off a pretty fun trip.

Thanks to my parents who fronted the money for our plane fare, we took off the day before Easter.  My kids don't get to fly too often, so that was half of the adventure right there.  And the highlight, boys and girls, is to fly with children.  Because guess what?  The TSA doesn't make them (or you) go through the updated version of the xrated viewing machine.  Both trips, right after we got my shoes (not theirs) and goods into the buckets, they herded us over to the old school metal detector and made the process ever so much easier.  So that's my tip to you: travel with kids.

Once we arrived at our AMAZING hotel, the kids wanted to do the very thing they'd been dreaming about for weeks -- go swimming. 

I tried to talk them into seeing some sites, but they wouldn't have any of that.  So down to the pool at the MGM Grand Signature Hotels we went.  (Each tower has it's own pool, with it's own poolside bar service.)  This is me.

This is why I was happy.



Oops, I mean this is why I was happy.  Silly me.

And this.

Yes, they were happy as clams to swim every stinking single day, and I was happy for them.  I did do some swimming, but I also did a lot of reading and relaxing on a lounge chair, which is really all I could ask for in a getaway from my desk life.  The weather was perfect and we had no complaints.

On Easter morning I - er, I mean the Easter Bunny visited us on the 24th floor and left eggs hidden all over the hotel room.  Conveniently, each egg had money in it for them to spend on vacation.  Inconveniently, both kids hid their money away and continued to spend mine. 

There was some candy to be had, and of course we hit the MnM store, so we were not short on chocolate.  Other highlights included the Secret Garden at the Mirage, with their dolphins and white tigers, etc, and they also loved Caesars Palace with the fountains and the beautiful sky.  We never did get out at night to see more lights and shows thanks to being so wiped out from swimming, but overall we really just needed to relax and get a break from every day life.  And we definitely got it!

A few more photo highlights...

Noelle in her Easter dress.

Charlie at the Mirage's Secret Garden