VIVA LAS VEGAS!

UH OH! Guess who is back already? Okay, you can pick up your jaw now...

So, VEGAS. Yeah... We had an AWESOME time!! We left on a Friday morning, and headed to San Antonio to catch our flight. Landon got to stay the whole weekend with Nonna and Po, so I knew he was in good hands, and was able to relax the whole time (though I did call him at least once or twice a day!). Anywho, we got to San Antonio a little bit early and headed to the mall to do some shopping to kill time. We bought Landon a little something before we ever left Texas - go figure! Then, we met our friends Eddie and Amy at the airport and had lunch. The flight there was pretty uneventful - we flew Southwest. I've decided I'm not a huge fan of the whole open seating concept. I like knowing I'll for sure have a seat next to my husband, and anyone else we are traveling with if we so please. Thankfully, Aaron and I were able to get seats together a couple rows away from Eddie and Amy.

Flying over the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam was great! So pretty, and I hope to visit both someday! So, we got to the airport at about 5:00 Vegas time, grabbed our bags, and caught a cab to our hotel: The Luxor. The drive was nice, and we were all taking pictures out the windows with our phones. However, none of mine turned out very spectacular :). The hotel was great though! Our room was nice and big, with a big ol' bathtub, and a big ol' shower, and a big ol' TV, and a big ol' bed. I wouldn't have any problem with staying there again.

We actually stayed in the tower to the right - cause the Pyramid rooms didn't have bathtubs



The "ceiling" on the inside of the Pyramid


After we got checked in and changed, we went to eat dinner at the hotel buffet. Not too shabby!  We did some gambling, and then decided to check out a few other hotels/casinos nearby. The Luxor is right next to Excalbur, so we went there first, gambled a little bit, and then moved on to the New York New York. We gambled there too, and then rode the roller coaster. Definitely not bad as far as roller coasters go, but it does kind of "beat up" your neck area.



Wearing boots + lots of walking = blisters :(

We pretty much only played BlackJack cause it wasn't too hard, and we could find tables with minimum bets we were comfortable with. I was a little nervous to try any other games... maybe if we ever go again, we'll "study up" on how to play the other games before we go. We figured we might play some Texas Hold 'Em, but never wanted to sit down at a table long enough to really get a game going. We stayed up until just after 2:00 Vegas time... which was really 4am to us.

Sooo many lights!

I love my goofball husband :)

The next morning, it was decided that maybe we should have turned it a little earlier the first night there hehe. Saturday was really fun as well! We started out pretty early with breakfast and then gambling. We decided it would be a great day to go down "The Strip" and check out more hotels/Casinos/shops/restaurants/etc. --but first, Amy and I got Swedish Massages at the hotel Spa! Talk about relaxing!! After our massages, we had lunch at a nice little burger joint --though the service could have been better.  Then began the trek down the strip. I took a bunch of pictures, but if you want to see them, you'll have to go friend me on Facebook.

A pretty fountain. :)

Amy and Eddie - our travel buddies





Posing with Buzz Lightyear and Woody, for Landon!



Playing the slots back at our hotel

 That evening, we went to the Criss Angel: Believe show at our hotel. This was included in our trip package, and we all enjoyed it. I don't know that I would have picked it over other shows, but it was still good. Of course, we were not allowed to take pictures or videos, but he did allow pictures right before he ran off the stage at the end:



We were obviously not sitting very close :)

After the show, more gambling! Oh, and as long as you are gambling, you get "free" drinks. I had a few yummy pineapple malibu's - but we all made sure not to overdo it. We all crashed kind of early on Saturday night - we were all just sooo tired!

On Sunday, after breakfast, Aaron and I caught a cab to the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, which is from the show Pawn Stars on the History Channel. We were hoping they would be filming so we could see "famous people" - but alas, they weren't, so we settled for just walking through the shop instead. It seemed a lot smaller than they make it look on TV. At least, that's how I felt about it...



This is the side of the building that is always shown on TV

 

I tried to get Aaron to buy one of the "I <3 Chumlee" shirts...

After the pawn shop, we walked back towards the strip, and made it to the Stratosphere, where we were going to wait for Eddie and Amy to meet back up with us. My feet were killing me by this time - that's what I get for wearing boots the first night and then old tennis shoes the next day. If I ever go to Vegas again, I'm wearing flip flops the whole time! There was some confusion, and Aaron and I ended up walking to Circus Circus to meet them, and they ended up going to the Stratosphere. We ALL wanted to go to the top of it, so Aaron mentioned walking back (FYI, it looks a LOT closer than it is on a map when you have blisters on both feet) -- but then I think he saw that I was really close to crying at just the thought of more walking, and he got us a cab. Best Husband EVER! and I'm positive that was the best $7 spent :) -- getting me from point A to point B.  Anywho...back to the Stratosphere -- sooooo beautiful from up there! Though, there was a weird elevator operator... really kind of creepy. We bought some souvenirs while we were there and ate lunch, and then headed closer to where our show was going to be that night.



On the walk from the Pawn Shop



So prettyful! - A view from the top of the Stratosphere





Outside the Mirage



Umm... Hahaha? :)



  

We had some time to kill before going to our show, so we mostly just hung out and went to different casinos. We of course had to go to Margaritaville, where we had a great time at one of the BlackJack tables (even though Aaron and I didn't win ANY money there). Our dealer's name was Reggie, and he kept us laughing the whole time we were sitting there. We asked if we could sneak a quick picture with him, and he got permission...

We finally had to catch a cab down to the Monte Carlo, which is where we were seeing the Jabbwockeez perform. The show was soooo goood!!!! I would recommend it to anyone who likes to watch dance or listen to music. Seriously... I didn't think they guys would enjoy it, but they said it was great too. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures (boo, hiss, sad face).

We decided to check out the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner that night before heading back towards our hotel for more gambling...



Our waiter was kind enough to take a picture for us.

After some more gambling that night, we headed off to bed, cause we needed to get up pretty early for our flight the next morning - though we did stay in the casino until we were just flat-out exhausted. We had an early breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the airport. Now for the reason I'm not crazy about Southwest Airlines open seating: I had to sit between two men on the way home.  Thankfully they were normal, unfortunately, neither of them was my husband. Aaron ended up next to an older couple-- who made him sit in the window seat, and acted annoyed if he needed to get up to go use the restroom. Eddie and Amy were also seated with strangers. Lesson learned though, next time we fly Southwest, we will print our boarding passes when we buy our tickets!

Altogether though, our trip was a blast, and we can't wait to plan another trip - hopefully sooner rather than later!