Did We Move Again?

That is what Morgan asked me when I packed up the girls and drove back to Vegas for Labor Day Weekend.

Back at the beginning of the year, long before we even thought we might be moving, my friend Cori made plans to visit us in Vegas. Once we found out about the move we made a few adjustment to the original plans and went right on ahead. The girls and I drove down the day before Cori flew in and spent the night with some of our friends. We did almost everything with these guys in Vegas, church, preschool, playgroup, library, everything, so it was great to catch up and hang out again. Morgan was in heaven with her two buddies and Vi just sat and laughed as the kids ran circles through the house.

The next morning we got up early (although not as early as Cor) and drove to the airport to pick up Cori and her little boy, who is also my godson. With three kids, we set out to prove that Vegas can be a lot of fun with and for kids. I wanted to show Cori where we had lived so we drove around our old neighborhood for a bit and hit up the community pool by our old house. Of course, I forgot my camera so no pics but it was perfect for the kids, especially since the pool at our hotel turned out to be a little bit of a dud.

Our next kid-friendly adventure was the Leid's Children's Museum. It is located on the north end of the strip, you just keep going past the Stratosphere. I had some passes but we got there about an hour before they closed so they just let us in with a small donation of $6 (all the cash Cori and I had on us). Some of the exhibits were a little over the kids heads, but there were two they loved. In this one you put a ball into a vacuum tube then you would pull different levers sending it down different paths.

M thought it was great ...

S was more into his improvised ball pit.
The other big hit was the bubble wall.
Both of the kids would have played here for hours if they hadn't started turning off the lights and kicking everyone out.

I'll tell ya, this dry heat can be killer on a girl's hair!
The fish tank at Caesar's Palace is always a must for us. Brad and I had to laugh at how many pictures we now have of M looking at this same tank, pointing at the same fish. Cori treated the kids to some Red Velvet Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory as a little pre-lunch treat.

We stayed at this great hotel right off the strip. It was perfect for us, the room was like a mini-apartment with a full sized and stocked kitchen, living room with pull-out bed, and a separate bedroom. We hit a grocery store the first night there and only ate out twice, making all of the rest of the meals at the hotel which was great for us and the kids.

But probably one of the coolest parts of the hotel is that it has a kids play room with different arts and crafts projects offered everyday. M made the crown you see her sporting in the museum pictures and the next day both of the older kids enjoyed some giant foam stamp art. Vi even got in on the action playing with some baby toys.

We had to get some pictures by the famous Vegas sign and thought it was awesomely cliche that there were TWO couples getting married there, we watched them sign the paperwork and all. That's couple number one in the background.
On our last day we got up early and walked around the strip a little. Before 10 am is the perfect time to go with kids, not too many people out yet, no crowds anywhere, just really calm and almost relaxing. We walked through the Bellagio courtyard, which is always done to the nines, and the kids loved checking out the giant ants and all of the little creatures made out of flowers.
Our last stop was everyone's favorite, Serendipity 3, for some ice cream. Last time I was here we saw Wayne Brady, no dice this time. We ordered the Forbidden Broadway sundae and it was awesome. We tried, we really did, but even with two adults and two kids, there was no way were finishing the whole thing. M made a valiant effort though.
It was an awesome ending to an awesome trip. Thank you Cori and S for not canceling on us just because we moved! Now it's time to start thinking about Madsen-Mohr Family Vacay #2!