Sin City

Last weekend we got to go on a belated anniversary vacation! Friday, we dropped the kids off at Jeff & Keeley's in St. George (have I mentioned how much I love being close to the St. George Hamiltons? :) and headed down south.

I enjoyed the drive. Jason & I have been reading the book Heaven is for Real. It's a true story about a little boy who went to heaven and saw Jesus - among a myriad of other amazing people and things. Quite a neat/interesting/amazing book to read/discuss with your sweetheart. We also read some of the Duggar family book.

We got to Vegas around 6:30 & checked in. We were basically starving by then & we had heard from a number of people that the Rio Buffet was excellent. It took a while to get in, but it really was great! Wow! Made me wish at the time that I had 3 stomachs. There was food from all over the world - and the dessert bar... wow. Jason ate like a 2-foot-tall pile of crab legs. Which is good for him because he would never get me to make anything like that! Afterwards we walked the strip & saw the Bellagio water show & the Treasure Island show.

Saturday we slept in (one of our FAVORITE parts of vacations!), ate the bruch buffet at Circus Circus & had fun riding rides at the Adventuredome. Afterwards, we walked around & through Cesars Palace & then back to Treasure Island for a quick pizza dinner and the Mystere Cirque Du Soleil (wow. I wonder if ANYone can type that without looking up how to spell it first) show. The show was - well, amazing. We'd never been to a show like that - comedy, acrobatics, music, gymnastics, lights, effects. It was really awesome. I wish I could have been at the table where they thought up some of that stuff.... "I know! At the end, let's have this gigantic inflatable tie-dyed snail! That would be sweeeet!" LOL! Sorry if I ruined it for anyone who hasn't seen it. It really is awesome though. We trekked back to our hotel, but Jason said he'd never been in the Stratosphere, so we went a bit farther & took the elevator to the top. If you go, just be aware that it DOES cost money just to go up there. $13/person. I gawked at the price, but we had walked all the way there & Jason had never been to the top. It was really neat. Back in my crazy college days, me & my roommate & a couple other friends drove to Vegas on a whim. We rode the Big Shot(a ride that shoots you straight up & back down) twice. It is terrifying. Now they have 3 new rides (OK - new from 1997) - one that shoots you over the edge & pulls you back, one that basically swings you over the edge, and one where you JUMP OVER THE EDGE. I am talking 108 stories up. Craziness. Let's just say that I'm not terrified of heights, but not too fond of them either. I was already feeling a bit sick to my stomach just looking out over the glass. But intentionally going off the edge... well, I just don't think so.

Sunday we took off (checking out was a madhouse!) & on our drive home, we finished reading our book. About heaven & Jesus and angels. What a contrast. I had such a wonderful time being with my husband. The environment, however, was not so wonderful. I don't know if its because I have become a parent since the last time I was there - or if it really has gotten worse (they are really working the Sin City/What happens in Vegas theme...), but sometimes it was hard to really enjoy things because everywhere I looked there was pornography. I mean - everywhere. I couldn't look up - there were billboards & hotel signs, I definitely couldn't look down - hard porn pamphlets littered the ground. And looking straight ahead wasn't a safe bet, either - the way people were dressed... wow. I hate to say it, but all that filth did kind of put a damper on our weekend away. Just too much junk. It just weighed me down. I felt like I was staying in the "Great & Spacious Building." I know it sounds funny, but it's true.

Still - we had a great time just being together & celebrating 11 years. Just the extra sleep was worth the trip! :) Here's some pics from the weekend.

World Buffet at the Rio - Jason enjoying his crab legs!

Our hotel

TI's pirate show

Adventuredome fun!...

Hmm - waaay too much food.

Water Show at the Bellagio- pretty cool!

Circus Show

Cesar's Palace

Mystere

Top of the Stratosphere Tower

Crazy people ride