Las Vegas: Glamour & Glitz

4/13/12

 After playing above the city in St. George, we enjoyed lunch at Paradise Bakery.  The weather was nice and wet as we headed southwest to Las Vegas. 

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La Quinta hotel, Las Vegas 4/13/12

 We checked into our hotel, got cleaned up and headed over to "The Strip".

We visited the Shark Reef Aquarium inside Mandalay Bay, and wandered through the covered walkway into the Luxor & then Excalibur.

We stopped at a souvenir shop, ate at the Excalibur buffet (not a great one but we were pressed for time...there is no passage of time in these buildings & we were surprised at the reality when we finally did look at a clock.  hmmmm....), went to the Bellagio to watch the water show and walk through the gardens & then headed back to the hotel.

We all had a good time, enjoyed being together, saw many things we'd rather not have seen, and saw many incredibly interesting & amazing creations!

at Mandalay Bay

the Sports Box at Mandalay Bay (Dallin thought this wall was pretty cool!  Speaking of favorites, Kyralyn loved a shoe shop that we walked by and a fountain where she got to throw some coins in.  Parker will say that his favorite part was seeing the Blackjack tables.  Speaking of these, he did step "over the line" in the casino to peek at a group of people playing Blackjack, followed by Paul wondering outloud how much money had been lost, or won.  The casino employee was there in about 3 seconds telling Paul that he & Parker couldn't be there.  Oops.  Forgot that little detail of casino etiquette that we'd studied up on beforehand...)

headed to the Aquarium

the turtles are my favorite

Motoro Stingray, keep away from the poisonous barb on the tail

the feared Pirahna, no hands please!

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hands-on Southern Stingrays

the Moon Jellie (jellyfish)

giant starfish

Green Sawfish

one of the sharks

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i think this is the Angel Fish

Komodo Dragon

the Aquarium's crocodile

amazing things to see

throwing pennies into a fountain in Mandalay Bay

looking up at the center point of the Luxor pyramid; all the little "steps" are rooms, and the larger "steps" are balconies to rooms.  When we went back outside to get to our car, we turned around to look at the spotlight on the top of this hotel/resort/casino.  It can be seen from outerspace. 

an Egyptian themed column inside the Luxor

4/13/12   inside the Gardens at the Bellagio.  Spring is in bloom.

dancing

Great job, Kyralyn!

Thanks for the wave too.

We love you.

 

a quick interruption...

Kadee and I went to the new park in Saratoga Springs several Monday's ago.

We took our younger kids & lunch from Zuppas to celebrate her birthday.  

Now tonight, as I'm postponing the ending of this day, I'm scanning the local news on ksl.com.

A picture at the bottom of the screen caught my eye.

It was the 30 foot pyramid at the park we'd visited.

 

I clicked on the photo gallery & scrolled through the pictures.  

The very last one caught my eye:

there was Kadee, Maloree & my very own Kyralyn!

As a side note:  in this picture Kyralyn (in the blue skirt) had just come down from reaching the top & was trying to coax her friend into climbing to the top together.

this picture is from ksl.com, taken by Scott Winterton, Deseret News

Playing at the Top

After enjoying the hotel's continental breakfast I went with Parker & Kyralyn to the pool.

Paul went with Dallin to the exercise room.

After a while, Parker & I went to the exercise room while Paul & Dallin joined Kyralyn in the pool.

We had asked for a late check out and were grateful to have the time without being rushed.

About noon we loaded the car back up and headed to find the "downtown Narrows" that Corrine had told us about.

We spent the next hour high above the city exploring some of the bluffs surrounding the area.

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4/13/12   St. George, Utah

Road Trip: Day 1

Day 1:  Drive to St. George

On a cloudy and partly rainy Thursday, after a cloudy and partly rainy morning (meaning that the best laid plans often require one to be flexible when unexpected events roll in), Paul and the kids picked me up from work and we headed south to St. George.  

We had a very peaceful drive, in our very tight quarters.  

The whole trip was refreshing, right from the beginning.  

Even the clouds that accompanied us most of our way south were beautiful & invigorating.

4/12/12

Dallin enjoyed playing on Neville after a morning full of chores, Parker kept us all laughing, and Kyralyn made herself at home.

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4/12/12

somewhere south of anywhere, a hilltop 'P' for Parker

We pulled into town around 5pm, enjoyed dinner together at Chili's and then checked into the La Quinta hotel.  

It was still cloudy and a bit breezy but the pool was heated & the hot tub was inviting.

At long last, we pulled the kids away from the water with the promise of being able to get back in after breakfast.   

Spring Break 2012: Monday, April 9

Out west, at 5-Mile-Pass Recreation Area.  We had all spent several hours the night before (after Easter dinner with Greg & Corrine) helping the boys through the course & taking the test to be licensed to drive ATVs.  The next day, watching them driving, made those several hours worth it!  After a bit of a rough start...I am still a beginner at this and don't want to be wandering seemingly blind through juniper covered hills alone...we crossed the road and headed into more juniper covered hills, together.  The adults were all paired with a child, Paul had the two smallest kids (Tylan & Kyralyn) and Clay had Parker.  I was the student trying to be Dallin's teacher for the day.  Not too bad until we came to a steep, shale covered hill.  Dallin & I stopped.  The rest kept going.  When they came back down they all shared how exciting it was.  Dallin quietly wondered what it would have been like.  I was content in having stopped.

After a picnic at my designated "stopping" place we headed back down a different way.  We came out about 2 miles west of where we were parked.  Getting back was really fun.  Fast, bumpy & sandy!  Dallin did a great job driving.  Once we were to our vehicles we drove around on the 4 wheelers for another hour or so.  Dallin got on with Paul and learned that hills really can be fun if you know what you're doing.  After a machine washing party at Todd's & showers at our own house, we met for dinner at Whistle Wok.  Kyralyn was so enamored with Clay today.  He was a kind cousin, taking her out for several fast rides after we got back from our long climb, and sitting by her at dinner & asking all about the things she likes.  Thanks Todd, Rachel, Clay, Jace, Cassie, Tylan, Paul, Dallin, Parker & Kyralyn for a great start to our Spring Break!