Las Vegas!!!

Jason gets a free hotel night each year for being a Marriot card holder/rewards member.  There have been previous years where we lost the free night because we never got around to using it.  This year we wanted to make sure to use it before we lost it, so we decided to go on a little family vacation to Vegas.  We stayed in the Grand Chateau right off of the strip.  Marriott's dont allow any gambling or smoking, so they are very family friendly, and a nice place to stay. Last time we went to Vegas for our 5th wedding anniversary, we had a good time, but we also encountered a lot of yucky stuff. Vegas is one of those places where there are gorgeous buildings, great food,  fun entertainment, but it also has smoking, gambling, crazy people, and those trying to solicit girls.  This time around, we knew where to go and what to avoid.  We only stayed one night, and we bought the 24 hour buffet pass.  We had 24 hours to go to any of the 6 participating buffets located around Vegas.  It was fun going to the different buffets. One had giant windows that overlook flamingos and waterfalls.  Another looks like you are eating in the middle of Paris.  The ceilings are painted like clouds, and the room is surrounded with trees and cute little 'buildings' that you get the food from.   The drive was amazing, and only took a little over 3 hours to get there.  The boys did surprisingly well, and it was overall a really nice trip. 

Just arrived at Vegas

Wesley enjoyed the view of the flamingos while eating Pizza

the awesome view of the flamingos and waterfalls at one of the buffets

yummy made to order crapes!! Sooooo good!! 

this picture is so gross, and so funny. He loved his chocolate covered rice crispy! 

And chocolate ice cream...and a cup cake...hey, we were on Vacation!  :-) 

Chase Loved the fluffy bed!!!

waiting for the Bellagio fountains

For anyone who has never seen the fountains at Bellagio...they are AMAZING!    I'm sure you can watch a video on you tube, but it of course isn't that same as seeing it in person.  The fountains perform their show (usually about 2 minutes) to a different song every half an hour. The water pretty much dances to music, and it is really a fun thing to watch.  The power of the water is sooo strong, and the force needed to push all that water so high in the air makes a really loud noise, which sacred Wesley a little, but he still really enjoyed them.  The fountains are gorgeous, and they are one of our favorite things to see in Vegas. 

The other thing we thought Wesley would love in Las Vegas was the volcano at the Mirage.   He has been really fascinated with Volcano's lately, and even got a science set where he can make his own Volcano at home.  He was really excited to see a "real" volcano.   As you can see in the next picture, he started off happy on Daddy's shoulders, excitedly awaiting the eruption. However, as soon as it started, he became terrified.  Fire is thrown in the air, along with water that is made to look like lava.  It is really, really loud, and the fire is so intense, you can feel the heat from the side walk.  Poor little Wesley was shaking, and cowered into Jason's shoulders as you can see in the second picture.  He declared many times "I"m SCARED!!!!"  "I want to go!!"  I tried to put him in the stroller, and all the sudden the big final eruption boomed through the air, and he was shaking harder than an earthquake.  However, after all was said and done, I think he did enjoy the volcano, because he kept talking about it the rest of the trip!  :-)   

my little night clubber :-p 

the view of the strip from our hotel

The cute buffet in Paris.  Each house held different food for the buffet.  And, they had AMAZING crapes! 

Wesley enjoying breakfast in Paris

We went to M&M world...it has super cute merchandise, but way over priced!

Chase was in heaven with all the food at all the buffets, but the poor little guy couldn't eat most of it. He did try a few new foods that were soft enough to munch on.