Spring Break Part 1: Viva Las Vegas

I had spring break last week, so we took advantage of my week-long break (which wasn't really a break since my professor decided to schedule a test on the day we got back, which meant that I had to spend way to much time studying on our vacation - bummer! anyway, back to the story) and headed down to Las Vegas on Tuesday to visit Brian's sister Stacey.

On our way down, we stopped in Washington for lunch and indulged in some In-N-Out = YUM-O! We went through the drive through and, and then found the local park so the kids could run around and stretch their legs.

The weather was perfect and we were amazed at the GREEN grass! Being kids, Ashlyn & Trent found water and had to get their feet wet, which lead to...

You can't really tell, but he does still have his diaper on. After spending 1 1/2 hours enjoying the blue sky and sunshine, we continued our journey. We got to Vegas around 3:00, which was really only 2:00, so we had a few hours to waste before Stacey got off work. We drove down the strip a ways and then took the kids to Circus Circus. We had a great time there, spending only $7.50 and walking away with a stuffed puppy for both Ashlyn and Trent. After sufficiently absorbing enough smoke into our clothing to make anyone believe that we had all just smoked a pack, we headed to Stacey's home. Stacey had dinner ready for us -so nice- and we spent the rest of the evening relaxing and conversing.

The next day, Stacey unfortunately had to go into work. So, we lounged around for a bit and then took the kids to the shark reef aquarium at Mandalay Bay. Good times. The only stress came when we got to the touch pool. Ashlyn loved putting her hands in the water, but wanted nothing to do with actually touching the sting rays. Brian, being Brian, decided that she really needed to touch one, and shoved her hand in the water when the next one swam by. Ashlyn screamed and shouted, "I did not want to fluff it!!" Side note: Ashlyn calles petting "fluffing" e.g. - "I want to fluff that dog" "I fluffed a horse", etc. Needless to say, everyone in the vicinity, except for Ashlyn, was amused by the situation.

After Mandalay Bay, we went to watch the fountains at the Bellagio.

Once again, Ashlyn found some water to play in. Take a look at her face - pure joy.

We also saw proof that there is beauty to be found in sin city ;)

We got to spend all day with Stacey on Thursday - Yeah! We went to In-N-Out again. This was only Stacey's 2nd time going there since moving down 9 months ago - CRAZY! I don't think she was converted. Oh well, the rest of us enjoyed the greasy goodness!

After lunch, we went to The Cupcakery....mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Let's just say it's a good thing that place is 5 1/2 hours away or I'd be packing on some serious pounds.

We went to another park later that night and let the kids run around some more while I sat on bench and did more homework - dumb test. The next morning we packed up and went for a late breakfast before heading out. We had such a fun few days, thank you Stacey!

Besides doing too much homework, the only other downside to our getaway was Trent, Ashlyn, and Brian all getting sick (I took my airborne) and passing it on to Stacey. Sorry Stace! Hopefully seeing this sweet face made up for it!