One Day Vacation

So, it's been two years since we've taken a real vacation. We've been to SLC a few times to see family, but it's the usual up and back kind of trip. As it looks, we won't get a real vacation until next April, so we have to make do. I go stir crazy though and so do my kids. We just have to get out of the house. Last week, I had one of those "walls are closing in" times and planned this little trip. Believe it or not, Vegas has things to do other than gambling, getting drunk, and then marrying the next guy you see at a local corner Wedding Chapel. Yes, there are family attractions that don't require you dragging your kids through smoke saturated hotel casinos. Blah. We went to the Children's Museum and to the Natural History Museum. They happen to be right across the street from each other. Though they both could use a face lift, it was a fun change from the norm and the kids had a blast. They each took their well saved money and spent it all at the end of the trip on little toys and such.

We thought it would be fun to take the kids to the top of the Stratosphere, but when we got in line and looked at the cost JUST to ride the elevator up, we changed our minds. $15 for ONE person to ride to the top and if you want to go on any of the attractions at the top, it's another $8 per ride. No thanks. The kids can do that on their own when they move away.

So, we ate lunch, went to the kids museum, over to the history museum, to 7-11 to get gas and a Slurpee (this may not seem like much to most of you, but we have no 7-11's in So. Utah and it's a must have for Mike on every trip), then we headed home with a stop in Mesquite for dinner. It was a fun and much needed. It beats spending $800 bucks on a real vacation too. Anyway, here are pictures of our day.

Bray fell asleep right after this pic and slept the whole 2 hours. The kids watched Sword in the Stone.
Anna driving the boat at the Clifford exhibit.

Don't know what Ty is doing here, but he had fun.

Bray LOVED everything. He climbed in, out over, and around, everything we would let him.

There was a make-shift city complete with a bank, grocery store, airport, car repair shop, etc. They shopped at Smith's. Ty loaded up on Dr. Pepper. Like Father like son.

Here's Anna at check-out. She chose much healthier food. Like mother like daughter.

Ty checked his luggage through security at the airport.

Anna lifted her body weight (with the help of Dad). I did this one too. I'm heavy.

You see that green area on the side of the pic? That's a green screen. People stand in front of that and watch a screen that puts them right into a video game. It's fun, and hard. You can see Mike, Ty, and Anna in this pic. There were lots of things I didn't get pictures of. There were laser instruments where you hit the air and music plays, a baby area or discovery, shadow pictures, water manipulation, a bubble area, etc. Lots of fun.

Natural History Museum. The kids loved the dinos. They made sounds and moved. Even Brayden was fascinated.

Tyson wore some goggles then climbed under this observation tank. I cringed thinking of the germs that were hanging out on those goggles, but I just smiled and shot the picture. I couldn't stand it for too long and made him take them off, but I thought this picture was funny.

Lots of bears. We got to touch the black bears. I'm not a huge fan of dead, stuffed animals, but the kids loved seeing them.

Quizno's on the way home. I didn't realize Mike was actually taking this picture. I just thought he was playing with the camera.

This is the toy in the kids meal. Freaky!

Brayden had a sandwich too. What a cutie.

So fun. Everyone is tired and will sleep well. Thanks for indulging me. Now I should go do the RS newsletter before church tomorrow. It's ok, a little fun is worth the late night :)