Vegas, Baby!

In case you didn't know, Brandon works for Cisco. His whole job revolves around registration for one conference, every summer. That means two things- he gets SUPER busy around May/June, and he goes to the conference for that week. This year it was in Vegas. Next year it's in San Diego. Woo Hoo! You better believe I'm going to that next year.

Anyway, depending on how old my kids are and how easy I think it will be, I will take the kids along and hang out in Vegas in his usually awesome hotel room for the week. You have to keep one thing in mind- Brandon works 16-18 hour days while he's on location, so he's basically useless as far as helping me with the kids. So, it's like vacationing by myself with the kids. I get to see him at night, but the girls barely even know he's there. They're asleep when he leaves, and they're asleep when he gets back.

Back to the good stuff. So, Brandon left Thursday for Vegas, we left Friday afternoon. We drove the 5 1/2 hours or so and ended up at THEHotel at Mandalay Bay. The room was amazing, as usual. It was about 750 square feet, with huge bathroom (that's where Lanie slept, in the packnplay), and a separate living room (that's where Lexi slept).

Here's what we did, in a nutshell, with just a few pics. I forgot my camera most of the time, AGAIN. My schedule consists of two time-tables. Before naps and after naps. You better believe we went back to the hotel room for naps every day. Let me preface this by saying... I don't like Vegas. At least the strip, anyway. It's icky. And hot. And terrible for kids. The end.

Saturday-
Morning- Grocery shopping. I brought a cooler for food, so I didn't have the kids eat out for every meal. And there are no microwaves, so I had to be... creative. It worked out alright. I ended up buying canned dinners, etc. because those could be heated up in hot water in the sink.

Pool- Now here's my beef with the pool. Mandalay Bay has this awesome wave pool/beach area that I was telling Lexi about an entire week before we got there. WHEN we got there, they had a rule that no one below 48" was allowed in that pool. Seriously? They said it was a safety hazard.

Dear Mandalay Bay,
That rule is absolutely ridiculous. If you have ever had kids, you will realize that this is the safest pool for them. Descending water, descending depth.
Whatever.
-Cassie

So, we went into the regular pools. Fun, but a little Dumb.

Afternoon- The 'castle,' as the girls so affectionately call it. Excalibur. They had an arcade in the basement that they had fun in.Sunday-
Morning- Church. Always fun to go to a different ward.
Afternoon- Temple. It's about a 35 minute drive, and the girls had a lot of fun. They were in a particularly 'posy' mood, so here are a few pictures.

This one cracks me up, because they were all smily, and then right before I took the shot, Lanie saw an airplane. She got a bit distracted... P.S. Can you see me in the reflection? :)

Monday-
Morning- Pool. That was an almost daily occurance.
Afternoon- The M&M store. That was pretty close to our hotel, and the girls had a blast. The store shows a free 10 minute 3D movie every 30 minutes or so, and the girls LOVED that.

Tuesday-
Morning- Gym. There's a Gold's Gym about 20 minutes outside of the strip, and it was air-conditioned and free. So we went there a couple times. The girls liked it because the Daycare only had 4 kids, and they're used to 50 at the one in Utah.
Afternoon- The free lion show at the MGM Grand. They loved this one too. The rest of these pics are taken with my Blackberry, so they're not great...

Wednesday-
Morning- Pool
Afternoon- Shark aquarium at Mandalay Bay. This is the only event I paid for that whole week, and only because the girls were free. :)Here's a pic in front of the crocodile...

Thursday-
Morning- Gym
Afternoon- Pool. Brandon's conference was done that afternoon, so he came out to the pool too. The girls had a blast with Daddy. This was the only time the whole week that Brandon left the inside of the hotel. Sad, huh? :(

THE BEST PART OF THE WEEK- Brandon got done every night around 8 or 8:30, so each night we would go out to dinner together. The girls went down around 7, and they were sound asleep by then, so we would call one cell phone, keep it in the room, and take the other cell with us. It's our 'cell monitor' system. We kept to the restaurants in our hotel, so we were close by. Call us bad parents, but it gave us the opportunity to be together, and it gave the kids an opportunity to sleep.

Anyway, it was like having a date with my hubbie EVERY NIGHT! Do you know how often he has church business in the evenings when we're at home? We had 7 nights, uninterrupted conversation during dinner! It was fabulous. It helped me remember how much I love my husband. Gosh, we were cracking up laughing half the time. We had so much fun, and ate some awesome food. If you are ever in Vegas, you HAVE to try Border Grill at Mandalay Bay. SO GOOD. Honestly. It was my favorite part by far.

Anyway, that was our week. Fun, but I'm always tired when we get back.