Vegas Baby!

OK -- So I am going to continue on about our vacation. After we spent a week at the Log, we headed for Vegas. My mom traded some of her timeshare weeks and we got a great 3-bedroom suite-like room. It was very nice. It had a full kitchen with all the amenities (which I find very useful when you are traveling with kids), two large bathrooms, complete with jacuzzi tubs (which the girls loved) and a nice sized living room with a big screen TV and DVD player (which can also be useful when you are traveling with kids). Here is a snapshot of our week in Vegas:

Circus Circus has changed quite a bit since the last time I was there. The girls loved the rides and Louis LOVED those games. The girls just think he is the greatest dad in the world because he is able to win them tons of prizes (and he just eats up all that attention). I should have taken a picture of the huge bag of stuffed animals we hauled out of there.

The resort we stayed in had a bowling alley, so we took the girls one afternoon to go bowling. I think Grace might be a natural since she beat us all. Granted she did have bumpers when she bowled, but I think half the time she didn't need them. The second game I came in last, even though I used to be on a bowling league years ago (remember that, Megan???), I might be as bad a bowler as Barak Obama (sorry Kim, but I heard the guy can't bowl, how can you be president and not know how to bowl??) :-)

One night we all got dressed up and went out. Grammy took the girls shopping one day and they picked out matching dresses to wear. I thought they did a pretty good job. Louis and I got tickets to see "O" at the Bellagio (I had seen it about 6 years ago, but Louis had not), and it was better than I remember. It was so amazing I had goose bumps through half the show. We all had dinner at the Bellagio and then Louis and I went to the show and Grammy and Papa took the girls to do some sightseeing, and then back to the hotel for bed. Louis and I had a great time. We actually hung out at the Bellagio afterwards and he taught me how to play poker and I actually won $300. We didn't get back to the room until 2:30 a.m. It's been a long time since we've done anything like that, and we had a ball!

It has been years since I've been to Vegas and I can't believe how much it has changed. I just loved the Venetian. Grammy, the girls and I went on a gondola ride through the Palazzo (that's all the shops) and it was so fun. Our Gondola driver (or whatever they call them) sang beautiful songs to us in Italian. It only fit 4 people, so the Papa and Louis hung out and took pictures from the sideline! And check out those candy apples. We didn't buy one, but I sure wanted to. Yumm!!

And of course a trip to Vegas is not complete without a visit to the Mirage to see the white tigers. Now that has changed quite a bit since the last time I was there too. They have a whole sanctuary, complete with white lions, white tigers and a whole other slew of big cats (of all colors). And they also now have a dolphin exhibit. It was quite cool. I just couldn't pull my animals lovers away. The girls would have stayed there all day if I let them. Those are the girls' "scary lion faces."

We had a great time in Vegas. I would take the girls there again in a heartbeat. They've done a good job at making it good place for families too. I just wanted to end this post, with a cute picture of a moment I captured of the girls. It just epitomizes how Emma and Grace are with each other. They bicker like any good siblings do, but through it all they really do love each other. They really are the best of friends. I took this picture at the end of a long day as we were walking back to the room. It is moments like these that really make me feel blessed as a mom.