What Happens in Vegas...

DH had a CPE training in Las Vegas (an annual training to maintain his CPA status) this past week and the kids were off-track, so it seemed an obvious choice to turn it into a family vacation, seeing as how travel and hotel would be paid for by DH's company.

We started reconsidering the wisdom of the choice when we saw the view from our hotel room:

Not really a family location. But we tried to make the best of it and visit places we thought the kids would enjoy.

However, we had to wait for DH until 1:30 each day while he took his classes. That was the reason we were there, after all. I learned two things from those mornings: 1 - I hate Cartoon Network. 2 - There is no hotel room big enough for three bored kids, especially when one of them is E.

We did see/do some fun places/things, though. Pay particular attention to R's variety of poses. He has decided that smiling in pictures is not cool, and being cool is his ultimate goal.

Hard Rock Cafe:

Mandalay Bay Aquarium:

The aquarium was a tad disappointing for the price, but they did have saw-tooth sharks, which I'd never seen before and which were completely fascinating to me.

The Luxor:

Carnival games at Excalibur:

This was also where we realized we'd gone too long without changing E's diaper:

Rainforest Cafe at MGM Grand:

Lots of walking along the strip. Lots of redirecting of little eyes.

M&M world. Very expensive M&Ms. But hey, they look cool in all those color-coded tubes.

The only picture of all five of us together:

Bellagio Fountains: (We got a lot of sore feet just to see these fountains.)

The third day we were there it was decided that we couldn't force E out of a nap for another consecutive day, plus I had homework to get done, so DH took R and T out to see some more sights. They saw a couple of circus performers at Circus Circus, then journeyed through the Venetian, the Palazzo and Treasure Island.

We also ate a dinner at Buca Di Beppo's, where the macaroni and cheese was a huge hit. I'm serious. Best macaroni and cheese I've ever had (even if I did have to steal it from T).

The kids seemed to enjoy themselves (most of the time) and R informed DH and me that even though other parents might look like more fun than us, we are indeed the best parents. He also decided he wants to live in Las Vegas pretty much the minute he saw all the lights. Oh boy.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great for much of the trip, so our rooftop pool got less use than we planned. Also, the one time I ventured up there with the kids by myself I was so stressed out my mind that they were either going to drown or incur the wrath of the other vacationers with their wild screaming that I decided we would only go with DH thereafter.

Which we got to do:

Even though I spent a great deal of the trip stressed, irritated, and nagging at my children to be quiet, don't climb on things, stay close, stop screaming, stop fighting, sit down, eat your food, etc., how can I deny those happy faces?

I had a couple of moments of peace, too.

But it was no Disneyland.