Trip to St. George / Las Vegas / Mesquite

Last week was Spring Break, and we've been planning for a few months to take a trip. Sunny Southern Utah was calling to us, so we left Monday for St. George, then stayed in Las Vegas Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, went to Mesquite on Friday and headed home Saturday. Corbin, Nikki and kids were also vacationing in Mesquite (we stayed with them in Nikki's parents condo on Friday) and we were able to meet up a few times.

We had a lot of fun! Of course Las Vegas has a lot of junk, but we focused on kid-friendly attractions - there sure are a lot of family things in Vegas! And it made us all grateful to live in UTAH where smoking is not allowed in any public building and gambling is illegal. It's kind of nice living in "sheltered" Utah!

So here's a quick run-down of all the fun we had (mainly for journaling-sake, but in case you care too)!

MONDAY
* Left home around noon and got to St. George around 6:00 (with a few stops in-between).
* Had dinner at Cafe Rio, one of our favorite restaurants. I heard Utah's governor proclaimed that day as Cafe Rio Day - and the St. George location was the first one!
* Makenna and I browsed at the Outlet Shops while Quentin, Kiera and Kasidee hung out in our hotel room.


TUESDAY
* Had breakfast at the hotel.
* Met Corbin, Nikki and kids at the St. George Temple.
* Toured Brigham Young's winter home.
* Checked out an inactive volcano and in-the-ground cave (Nikki and I and a few of the kids hung out at a park while Quentin, Corbin, Kiera and Marina went exploring a little more.
* Headed to Las Vegas and got our hotel room in the Excalibur.

ST. GEORGE TEMPLE...

VOLCANO...

CHECKING OUT A CACTUS...

EXPLORING OUTSIDE THE CAVE...




WEDNESDAY
* Quentin and the girls swam in the hotel pool while I basked in the warm sun!
* Got roped into a Timeshare presentation - but it wasn't worthless. The girls thought the "bus limo" ride was awesome, we got lunch, got some "insider" advice on what to do in Vegas, and a no-pressure tour of some condos. Oh, and we got free tickets to the aquarium, worth about 56 bucks. Score!
* Went to M&M's World.
* Walked "The Strip" - saw the Luxor pyramid, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, rode the huge Coca-Cola bottle elevator, etc).
* Saw the Fountains at Bellagio. How cool is that?!

EXCALIBUR HOTEL...

M&M's WORLD...

FOUNTAINS AT BELLAGIO...



THURSDAY
* Toured the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory.
* Went to M&M's World again - Makenna decided on a stuffed M&M character for her souvenir.
* Met Corbin, Nikki and kids at the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay.
* Checked out a free "Lion King" exhibit (pretty lame, actually).
* Hung out in our hotel room for some much-needed R&R.
* Went to Freemont Street for their 8:00 "show." Got there at 8:05 and missed the whole thing.
* Saw the volcano at the Mirage and the Bellagio Fountains again from the car.

CACTUS GARDEN NEAR ETHEL M. CHOCOLATE FACTORY...

SCOOTERING ON THE STRIP...

KIERA (BLURRY-SORRY!) IN FRONT OF A TANK OF JELLYFISH...

FREEMONT STREET...



FRIDAY
* Quentin, Kiera and Makenna swam in the hotel pool while Kasidee and I packed up.
* Checked out of Excalibur Hotel.
* Went to Hoover Dam.
* Got to Mesquite, had pizza, and the kids and dads swam in the condo pool.

HOOVER DAM...


DADS AND KIDS...



SATURDAY
* Packed up, cleaned up, and left around noon.
* Stopped at Cove Fort for almost an hour.
* Got home by 7:00 - unloaded car, vacuumed and washed van, had dinner, baths and bed. Whew!

COVE FORT (VERY WINDY!)



Now...we just need to rest up from our vacation! :)