President's Day weekend in Las Vegas

We took the opportunity of the President's Day three day weekend to go to Las Vegas and visit the Wadleys. Mike Wadley is Chad's best friend from growing up. We headed out of town on Friday evening after Chad was done with work and arrived in Las Vegas at about midnight. On Saturday, we went and did some brief, unsuccessful shopping at H&M. Grant and the Wadley boys, Bryce and Mitchel, were the only ones that truly benefited from the outing. They got to play on the giant outdoor playland at the shopping center.

(Grant and Bryce in the playland)

After the shopping excursion, we headed to the strip to eat lunch/dinner at the delicious Planet Hollywood buffet. It is one of the best on the strip. We all ate way too much. We were one of the few in the restaurant that had children and it was chaotic. Vegas with children was a first for us this trip and it will probably be the last for awhile.

(KaySea, Bryce, Grant and Mitchel enjoying dessert at the Planet Hollywood buffet)

Saturday was Valentine's Day so KaySea and I let Chad and Mike go out on a date together for the evening. They headed down to the strip for several hours and did who knows what. KaySea and I stayed home, put the kids to bed early and watched a movie. Chad didn't forget me on Valentine's Day though. I learned on Saturday that Chad really loves me because for Valentine's Day he gave me a $20 bill and a Black Jack cheat sheet card. I love Black Jack but am terrible at remembering how I'm supposed to play the various hands. They sell these little cards that tell you how to play each of the different hands. I had forgotten mind this trip so he bought me one and gave me money to play. Sadly though, given we had the kids with us there was never an opportunity for me to play.

On Sunday, we relaxed most of the day and then in the evening headed down to the strip to see some of the kid friendly signts. We parked at the Bellagio Hotel to first watch the fountains then walked down to Treasure Island to see the pirate show. That show was disappointing. It used to be a kid friendly show. Now it is very sexual and not very entertaining. We also had to wait about 30 minutes for the show to start and waiting is a difficult thing for a 2 year old. Once the show was over we went to The Mirage to see the new volcano show. It scared Grant quite a bit. He did not like the fire and explosions. We tried to see the white tigers but they were sleeping so we couldn't see them. It was a long but fun night. It was cold though so we had the kids bundled up.

(Cole relaxing on the couch)

(Chad and Grant in the Bellagio Hotel)

(Lindsay, Chad, Cole and Grant in front of The Mirage)

(Grant bundled up for the walk down the strip)

(The Bellagio fountains in front of the Paris Hotel)

(KaySea, Klara and Bryce waiting for the Treasure Island show to start)

(Lindsay and Grant waiting for the Treasure Island show to start)

Monday morning we headed out of the Wadleys for a breakfast buffet at the Sahara. Boy was that disappointing. It was not good to say the least and on the verge of disgusting to be perfectly honest. The less than satisfying breakfast was topped off but a bigger than life tantrum from a little boy all because we needed him to go potty before we started our long drive. I took him into the bathroom against his will. Everytime I said he had to go he said no and when I would say fine I'm done you don't have to go he would scream that he had to go. I managed to get his pants down in the stall and on the potty. I had him on the toilet and was holding his penis in the potty when he screams, "Mom, don't hold my penis!" at the top of his lungs. I finally got his pants pulled up and out of the bathroom with no peepeeing actually taking place and we try to head out of the casino. Grant is still screaming at the top of his lungs. We had to strap him in the stroller to leave. It took both of us to do it. The entire way through the casino he was screaming, "I need to go potty." He made us sound like parents who refused to let him go potty. It was awful and awfully hilarious at the same time. He did not go potty until we go to a truck stop outside of Kingman.

(The construction of the new bridge to bypass Hoover Dam...Will it ever be done?)