Day 1-February 25th Our Vacation started with a weekend in Las Vegas to celebrate...Chris's return from Iraq, Laurie's 50th birthday, and her and Steve's 25th anniversary! The girls were so excited to be going to Vegas and Craig and I got a few laughs leading up to the trip over the fact that our little almost 4yr old couldn't wait to go to Vegas! The drive started out alright, we got a later start then we planned on but the real trouble started 2 hours into our drive when the girls DVD players just stopped working! We tried giving them other toys and snack but those didn't go over so well. So much for non stop movies and a nice quiet drive! The girls did well considering they were completely bored and thankfully didn't start crying until the end.
Our first night there we all went out to The Rainforest Cafe, we had been telling the girls about it all week and they couldn't wait! Since the restaurant was inside the MGM we stopped and saw the lions on our way in. They were getting ready be taken home for the night and it was super busy but the girls managed to get a quick glance. At the cafe Aubrey had some issues with having to hold it in the car and poor girl really get to enjoy it but thankfully she was fine by morning.
After dinner we walked over to the M&M factory and the girls got to walk through and look at everything. The movie theater portion was closed so it was mostly just a giant candy store but they had fun looking at merchandise and even got some M&M's to take home.
After getting back to our room, we got the girls to sleep and Laurie watched them while Craig and I went out. Since there isn't much to do in Vegas at night without an ID (which I have been since Nov) and we had already gotten dinner, our options were pretty limited. Thankfully the Coffee Beans in Vegas are open 24/7 so we opted for a coffee date and walking around the Miracle Mile shops, which I don't think were there when we went to Vegas in '06.
After walking there we crossed the street and went inside the Cosmopolitan. We were blown away at how high end it is and at how under dressed we were. All the men were inside were in suits and the women in little black dresses. just to gamble. The people who were in line for some show or nightclub were even more dressed up. Lol and then there was Craig and I, Craig in his work boots because after wearing shoes all day his feet were killing him and his custom arch supports don't fit in his shoes, and me wearing uggs and a big hoodie since I left my jacket at home since I wasn't counting on it being freezing in Vegas. I tried to find a photo to show just how crazy this place was but even the hotel website doesn't have any. This the only one I can find and it doesn't even began to do it justice.
Before even making it outside Craig and I had already agreed we need to stay there next time we go to Vegas, which hopefully will be a kid free trip very soon! Since we were getting tired and so under dressed we got outta there pretty quick and headed back towards the car, which was through the Paris Hotel. That hotel is so deceiving and really well thought out! The minute you walk in you're hit by the 75* heat and the bright blue sky painted ceiling! You'd never think of the time, much less that it's 2am because you're so wide awake! So we ended walking around there for a while before heading back. It's was a nice, much needed date night :)
...For some reason I didn't take ANY pics the first night :( but there are some for the rest of the trip.
