Vegas BABY!

We took an very impromptu trip to Las Vegas on August 23rd. Brian's Great Uncle Tamio was having his 80th (I think) birthday party at the California Club Casino. We were not planning on going but we decided to surprise Vicki/Mom/Bachan and head out there. Luckily we were able to find a great room at Fitzgerald's that was right across from the Fremont where everyone else was staying.

We left home at about 4:00 am on Saturday. (We had dropped Taffy off at my mom's the night before) I had stayed up and packed us breakfast and lunch for the way there. It was a great drive out there. The boys slept most of the way and had DVD's, MP3's, and gameboys to keep them busy.

We got to Vegas about 10 am and went immediately get tickets to see Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Brian found a great place to get tickets for almost half off. We headed over the Venetian and went to see all the famous people (well at least wax replicas of them). It was really creepy how much they look like the real people. Josh got to see his idol Jeff Gordon which he loved. Xander liked everything. Especially the interactive portions where he could golf with Tiger Woods or play hoops with Shaq. Brian got to see the Rat Pack and compare hair styles. It was so much fun and highly recommended for all.

Right after that we decided to head over to the party so we could see everyone before it was over. We ate our lunch on Las Vegas Blvd out of our awesome 12V cooler that we got from Richard and Vicki. I think one of our favorite part of the trip was that we saved so much money packing food. We did pull off the trip for an amazing price and still had a great time.

We got to the party and proceeded to surprise Vicki. Check out her reaction. She was so happy to introduce us to everyone. It made the whole trip seeing how happy she was. The boys loved surprising Bachan and seeing how glad she was to see them. It was nice to see all of the California crew again.

After the party we headed to the hotel for a quick swim. It was about 105 degrees so the water felt great. We had lots of swimming races in which Brian usually won (he is really long so it wasn't a fair race). Josh did win a few times and was so proud. Josh also could swim underwater and hold his breath longer then anyone else. Xander really built up his confidence in the water and was swimming like a champ. He even came in 2nd on one of the races. Our FAVORITE race was the doggy paddle race. Brian has a very cute way to prepare for the race. Ask him next time you see him.

That night we met Richard and Vicki at the Fremont Buffet for an awesome dinner. The boys all love buffet food. Josh and Xander can put most grown men to shame. After dinner we headed down to the strip to check out the water show at the Bellagio. It took us 2 hours to get there because of traffic and an accident. But the show as usual did not disappoint. We also got to see the flower display at the Bellagio. They change the display every season and it is always so pretty. Not too mention it smells great.

The next morning we met most of the Utah crew at the 4 Queens for breakfast. It was nice to see everyone before we had to head home. We went and picked up pork buns (probably the most important thing to do while in Vegas) and got on the road. We drove home so fast so we could make it to my mom's house for dinner. I think we only stopped for 13 minutes total for gas/potty breaks. Taffy was happy to see us and had a great time playing with my little sisters.

Click here to see all the fun we had in Vegas... hopefully we can go back soon.