Spring Break 2009!!!

Warning! Picture overload and waaaay too long post ahead! Have fun reading! We had a great time as a family down in Las Vegas! It was so nice and warm there! I needed that weather break so bad. We drove about 9 hours to get there. The kids did great on the drive. Jacob freaked out towards the end because I think his legs fell asleep or something! Poor kid. Maybe we should've stopped more so he could stretch his legs! This is how the kids were situated for this trip:



I love, love, love our dvd player in our van!!! Even Jacob would watch the movies and we wouldn't hear a peep out of any of them! They are great travellers. I packed a special bag for each of them, filled with new toys and fun activities to do. I told them that if they were good for each hour of the trip they could choose one thing out of their bag. Asia would ask me every hour to get something out, but Ethan couldn't care less! He got a couple of things out, but mostly just played his DS and watched movies. Jacob didn't quite get the jist of it, but he still was exciting about the new things to play with. He even got to color and play with clay.

It was bedtime when we got there so we all got ready for bed and all slept really well. We stayed in a resort just off of the strip that had a separate bedroom for Mike and I, a hide-a-bed for Ethan and Asia, and pack n' plays for Jacob and Mia. It even had a full kitchen and a continental breakfast every morning with snacks in the evening. It was a great stay and a great deal. I wanted to get pictures of our room so I could remember what it looked like, but I kept forgetting! We only went out to eat once (yummy Japanese food) so we could spend our money elsewhere. We brought some leftovers from home so I didn't even have to really cook.

Anyway, the next morning we had our breakfast and went to Mandalay Bay to experience the Shark Reef. It was pretty fun. They gave us each little phone things to listen to what each exhibit was all about.




They had crocodiles, komodo dragons, all kinds of fish (of course), and all kinds of sharks. Jacob loved to run (he doesn't walk anywhere anymore!) to every exhibit and say fishie, fishie! They had a couple of see-through tunnels where you could walk through and the fish would swim all around you.


Near the end they had a shallow pool where you could touch sting rays. Asia was a little cautious at first, but once she touched one, she didn't want to leave!



Ethan wasn't scared at all. He almost dove right in with them! He liked the sting rays, the sharks, and the jelly fish. He wanted to take a few pics so here are a few of his shots:
Mia and I with the jelly fish:


A star fish:


A shark:



Jacob running away again:

Daddy and Jacob:


Jacob watching the fishies:


On the way to the Shark Reef they have this projection on the wall where you can "swim" on the wall with the fishies. Pretty cool!


After the shark reef we went back to our hotel to swim. It was almost 80 degrees that day! So nice. I kept forgetting to bring my camera down with us to the pool, so no swimming pics. Oh well. It was a pretty nice pool with a hot tub and tons of lounging chairs.

The next day, Ethan wanted to see the pyramid, so we went to the Luxor. They used to have a bunch of Egyptian exhibits, but they were all gone. So this is what we got to see:


Pretty lame, but the kids enjoyed it. Then it was off to NY NY because Asia and Ethan wanted to ride the roller coaster. They were too short for the roller coaster, so we just played some games. Jacob saw the Dance Dance Revolution game and didn't want to leave! He loves music and dancing. It was so cute to watch him push the buttons and dance to the different music:



Here's Daddy and Ethan playing a game that wouldn't end! They were in heaven. Who says you can't buy happiness! And it was only a quarter!


Here's us in front of the "Brooklyn Bridge":


Then it was off to M&M world. It was basically 3 level of all kids of M&M paraphernalia that you could buy. We got to make our own concoction of M&M's, watch a 3D movie with the glasses and everything, and go through how M&M's are made.





Here's our 3 and a half pound bag of M&M's. Ethan chose white and silver milk chocolate ones. Asia chose mini M&M's and Easter colored ones. I chose peanut, peanut butter and almond ones. YUMMY!


Then we went back to the hotel to swim again. It was even warmer! Loved it! Then it was dinnertime and off to Circus Circus. We watched an acrobatic show and looked at all of the stuff we would do the next day.
Here's us waiting for the show to start:



A fun day.
We spent our last day of vacation at Circus Circus riding all of the rides. My batteries died on my camera so not too many pictures about it. Here's Asia and Ethan on the carrousel:



Here's Mia having fun and Jacob not so much!


Here's Asia having fun on the hot air balloon ride:


Here's Asia not having so much fun!


She had just gotten off of the roller coaster that scared the poop out of her! Almost literally! She was fine, at first, and actually excited to go on it. So was Ethan. So they both went on it together. As soon as the harnesses went over them, Asia started crying. Then they were off! I was surprised that they were even tall enough for this one. It had 2 corkscrews and 2 loopdy loops. Asia cried the whole time and Ethan just closed his eyes, he said. We probably won't be doing roller coasters again for a while!
We went back to our hotel to eat dinner and then go swimming again before bed. We brought down cookies, Cheetos and root beer to snack on while we swam. The kids were in heaven because we don't usually eat stuff like that! That was the end of a fun-filled vacation. This is what we drove through coming back to Idaho:


So much for 80 degrees! Welcome to spring in Idaho!