March Madness

We don't get our kids wrapped presents for Christmas anymore----instead we plan a family vacation and that's their big present---we just don't ever know when in the year we will go.  Well, we went last week to VEGAS!!!  Note:  Wandering around Vegas with kids was not fun....but going to the shows we went to was  awesome!

The first night we went to the Excalibur jousting show and dinner---which I only have pictures of that on my phone.  It was the best show to take kids to ever!!!! It was constant action, and they get fed. What more could you ask for? It was a blast.

The next morning we walked around (not the best idea with kids).  But it was so funny to see people's reaction to our size family. Obviously people hadn't seen a family that size before. We were called the "almost Brady Bunch", and got lots of comments like, "WOW! are those all yours?" and we could see people counting.......it was pretty funny.

 The kids liked the "Eiffel Tower"

 We got to see some flamingos at Flamingo. That was cool.

 The second day we went to the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus. This was sooooo much fun too! There were no lines at all, and we probably went on more rides in one day than we did at Disneyland last year! There were great "little kid rides".  And of course the big kids went on the big rollercoaster, and all the crazy rides. It was a lot of fun!

 Liv's reaction to the carousel  (her favorite!)

Ashton's reaction to the carousel (haha!)

 Ashton, Ella, and Adam upside-down!

 Liv and Preston rode this ride soooo many times. They'd get done and they'd say, "Again!" and so the lady just started the ride again!

 The next day we went to Hoover Dam.

The kids rubbed the bronze statue for luck.

                                                     

This new bridge you see as you look out at the dam, it's called "Memorial Bridge". It is incredible!

 Then we drove 200 miles to the Grand Canyon turn off and we ran into this........white- out blizzard!! Oh no! 10-14 inches expected where we were. And there was no where to stay, and there was nothing we could do but turn around and go back to Vegas. We were so close!

 Back to Vegas.....oh well. We stayed in a nice place, and had a really nice buffet dinner. We'll see the Grand Canyon some day. :(

The next day we drove to St. George, UT.  We stopped by the St. George LDS Temple. It is so beautiful!  I don't know how they keep it so white. They must repaint it every year.

 Adam and Ashton racing. :) Ashton won. haha!

 
Later that day we went to a place in St. George called Pioneer Park. It was one of the highlights of the trip. We had soooo much fun. It is 52 acres of red rock to explore, hike, climb, picnic.......the kids were in heaven.

ok- some parts made me a little nervous......but for the most part, I did ok.

                                                     

 What a great lookin' bunch of kids!

 Preston loved picking up the rocks.

 We had so much fun on our little get away. It was nice that we could be flexible with our plans. Luckily we hadn't made any reservations in a hotel by the Grand Canyon. I am so lucky to have such a great group of kids. Our last day in Vegas during breakfast a man came up to Adam and I and said he'd been watching our kids and was so impressed with them. He told us what a good looking bunch we had (we already knew that) but it was good to hear. hahaha. That was probably my highlight of the trip!  I do love my family, and I'm glad we can have these fun memories.