Vegas, Kids, Tips, Tricks

Probably the number one comment I've heard about our trip has been, "I'd never have thought of taking my kids to Las Vegas!  But now that I've seen your trip, I can see how it would be so fun!"  So I thought some practical advice might be in order in case our trip inspires you to take your kids to Las Vegas.

1.  Make sure you have the right kid or the right parent for the trip.

Leah is super high energy.  The number one thing people said to me while we were wandering through casinos was, "Wow, I wish I had energy like that!"  (I seriously lost count of the number of times people said to that to me every single day.)  Some children are super high energy or have a decent amount of energy.  My niece and nephew, as much as I adore them, are Leah's polar opposite--they're far quieter, more sedate children, and I'm not sure Las Vegas would be their thing.  I can see them at the beach, hanging out and relaxing, enjoying a pool somewhere, but I don't really envision them running all over a city.

That said, your child doesn't need to be super high energy to enjoy all the things we did.  You can certainly have your child in a stroller and wheel them around.  Las Vegas has plenty of calm things--gardens, animal sanctuaries, animatronic shows, and the like that will keep a more passive kid entertained.

Also, I am not a party type, nor am I gambler.  You must be 21 or older to enter the gaming sections of the casinos, and there are special pathways in the carpets in the casinos that kids have to stay on to navigate through.  For us, no big deal.  I didn't so much as breathe on a slot machine while we were there, but if you want to gamble, go to a club, see a late show, etc., you should either bring back up childcare or consider a service while you are there.  There are no babysitting/nanny services formally connected to the casinos, but certainly you can hire them from reputable companies who do advertise while you are there.  If I had wanted to go out clubbing and gambling, I'd have been pretty unhappy stuck in my hotel room.  But I didn't and I was perfectly happy to stay in during the evenings and regain some quiet and inner peace.

2.  There are lots of bargains

When you arrive in Las Vegas, there is no shortage of coupon books available for free.  They give you great discounts on area attractions, restaurants, and shows.  In fact, I would not recommend bothering to buy tickets to anything until you get out there.  Unless it is a show you are absolutely dying to see and there is a danger it will be sold out while you are there, wait until you're there to purchase tickets to attractions or shows.  There are always discounts to be had.  There is even a place called Half Price Tix that has booths all over the city where you can go and get recommendations and cheap tickets for same day entertainment.

And that does not mean you have to talk to the people who are shilling 'free' shows and hotel rooms and the like at every corner.  Ignore those people and keep walking.  There are ALWAYS strings attached.We had some people offer us 3 nights free at the Luxor.  We just had to give them a $175 deposit first, which we were promised would be refunded when we booked our trip.  That's not free.

Secondly, children 4 and under are usually free to the attractions.  Leah got in free to the Eiffel Tower, Shark Reef, Titanic.  She ate free at the buffets we went to.  She got discounted tickets to Madame Tussauds, the gondola ride, and Siegfried and Roy.

There are in-state resident discounts, military discounts, student discounts, senior discounts and more.  Always ask.  I nearly paid full price for the Titanic exhibit, but the cashier offered me a discount with a student ID.  It made me wonder what else I had missed out on getting cheaper.

There are also packages and bundles.  For instance, I could have bundled the Shark Reef, Titanic, and Siegfried and Roy for significant savings; I just didn't honestly think we'd get to all of them.

3.  There is lots of cheap and free transportation.  

I really like the Las Vegas Monorail--it is a cheap and quick way to go north and south on the strip.  You can buy up to a 3 day unlimited ride pass for $28, but grab the Monorail magazine in the station, and there's a coupon for a discount.  Children under 5 ride free, so we didn't pay for Leah at all.  That made it extremely cost effective--particularly in comparison to cabs or renting a car.  There is also a bus that goes up and down the strip that has a similar deal.  The advantage of the bus is no running back and forth through huge casinos to catch it!

Additionally, the hotels sometimes have their own transportation services.  For instance, our hotel, Excalibur, had a free tram between it, the Luxor and Mandalay Bay.  You can get a free shuttle bus to Rio (which is off the strip) from Bally's.  There is also a tram from the Mirage to Treasure Island (FREE) and from the Bellagio to City Center to Monte Carlo (FREE).  Get the picture?  It's so easy to get places and not pay a dime to do it.

4.  There is porn and there are lots of barely dressed women around.

We went out one evening and there were men handing out business cards with naked women on them.  Leah and I quickly developed a code where I told her to "look at the sky" as we passed the areas where people threw those cards on the ground in heaps.  Prostitution is NOT legal in Las Vegas, contrary to popular belief, but there are plenty of strip shows and seedy bars and things that cater to individuals looking for that.  Additionally, when we walked into the Monte Carlo, right smack dab in the front as we walked in was an exotic dancer.  Granted, she was wearing some sort of Ugg-like boots to protect the modesty of her calves, but her ass was hanging out and her chest was barely hanging on to a small bikini.

Women who go to Las Vegas also don't seem to wear much.  We sat in a restaurant at one point and two women walked in.  Leah asked me quite loudly, "Mama, why doesn't that lady have any pants on?"  Damned if I know, kid!  Guys are wandering around in shorts and t-shirts, just looking normal, but women are dressed in as little as possible.  I used a lot of distraction on Leah when we encountered that type of thing.

5.  Those people on the street are always after money, and there are lots of ways people make money off tourists.

There are cartoon characters, showgirls, male strippers, superheros and more crowding the streets of Las Vegas.  They lure young children in, ask the children if they want a picture, and then tell Mom and Dad, "Sorry, no can do without a tip."  We did it once because Leah was utterly bedazzled by a couple of pink showgirls, but after that I was out of cash, and I resolved not to use an ATM while we were there.  Easy access to cash seemed dangerous!!!  After that, I allowed her to go say hi, high five, or hug whatever characters or people she met on the street, but we had a strict no pictures policy.

Additionally, as I mentioned before, there are always people telling you they have something free to give you if you'll just step inside for a minute.  They literally will not take "no thank you" for an answer.  I eventually found it was best to just keep walking as if I hadn't heard them or didn't realize they were talking to me.  They can get quite aggressive, and unless you want to be berated, harrassed, or yelled at, it's better to just keep going.  And no, your child is not a shield from them.  We were bugged for helicopter tours, Grand Canyon adventures, free stays, free money, free limo service, free shows, and more.  It's never free and it's not worth being polite.  Leah was actually scared by one guy who was yelling at us.  Not worth it!

Additionally, we were cautioned by a fellow passenger on the airplane that cabbies often take tourists onto the Freeway to get to their hotels on the Strip.  This allows them to jack up the meter and often tourists don't know any better.  It is patently illegal, and you can let them know that you know as much, and call in their badge number if they don't shut the meter off and get you where you're going.

6.  Be prepared to answer the tough questions.

Not only do you have to answer questions about why ladies don't have any clothes on, but Las Vegas is teeming with homeless people panhandling.  They usually sit on the pedestrian walkways with signs and hope for change or money.  Leah called them "homesick people", which is cute, but we did have a rather somber discussion about why some people don't have food or homes to go to.  Your kid might be willing to hear something sugar coated or might be able to ignore the situation, but due to our circumstances, my kid is pretty savvy to the world's tragedies and wants straight answers.

7.  There are plenty of cheap places to eat!

Every casino/hotel has its own food court in addition to the more upscale restaurants it has within.  Sometimes these are fast food joints like McDonald's and Krispy Kreme, but often you can find good food fast as well.  Excalibur has Tropical Smoothie and Baja Fresh, New York New York had a NYC pizza parlor, MGM Grand has an Underground with quick places to grab a cheap bite, Paris has a creperie, etc.  It's worth walking out of your way a bit to find and enjoy these places--the food can be really good and really cheap. 

8.  There are lots of shows that are kid friendly.

I went to Half Price Tix one day to see if we could get cheap tickets to something on Sunday night, as it was the only night I didn't have a special show planned.  A man came over and asked if he could help us, I told him I was looking for something kid friendly, he asked how old Leah was, and when I said 4, he said, "Well, that eliminates pretty much everything."

But I don't think that's true.  First of all, there are about 6 different Cirque du Soleil shows, any of which would have been appropriate.  We saw Blue Man Group, which Leah loved, and David Copperfield, which she also loved.  Excalibur has a Medieval Times type dinner theater, the Luxor has a show called Jabbawockeez that looked kid friendly, there are variety shows, concerts, and more.  Just because you can't go to a burlesque show doesn't mean all of Las Vegas entertainment is off limits.  It just means you can't go to the burlesque shows.

9.  Take time to rest.

This is my final tip.  Leah and I were really hard charging on this trip, the result of which was that by the end of day 2, we were both sore and by the end of day 3, neither one of us could move very well.  We came back to the hotel mid-day each day to rest, but we still really did a LOT and we were exhausted.  The climate is radically different there from the East Coast--we were very, very dry and had to make an effort to drink, despite which I still suffered from nosebleeds daily.  Make sure you get out of the sun.  You can't possibly see all there is to see, so don't try.  Take time to relax and enjoy and have a little downtime each day.  Bring a stroller--Leah passed out cold on the way home from Blue Man Group.  She was just exhausted.  Even though she has long outgrown a stroller, having it saved me from having to carry her three casinos' worth back to our room.

Many people have said, "Well, I'm sure you had fun, but what did Leah think?"  Well, I'd say this picture says it all:

Las Vegas can be wonderful with children.  Just a little bit of pre-planning, and you can have a great family vacation with your kids for pretty inexpensively.  Enjoy!  Feel free to leave a comment or email me if you want to know more or have any questions.  I'll update this post if needed.

Vegas Day 3

Day Three in Las Vegas dawned and I was pretty tired and sore.  It became clear that Leah was kind of over it too.  We probably could have gone home after 2 days, but we had one more day to go.  So I decided we would try to stick close to the hotel and keep things light and easy.  I looked through the list I had prepared before we left and it was done except for one thing: the Siegfried and Roy Secret Garden and Dolphin Sanctuary.  But that was way down at the Mirage and I was just not that worried about it, really. 

I couldn't get a straight answer out of Leah about what she wanted for breakfast, so we decided to take our initial trip to a buffet.  Excalibur and the Luxor have a mutual agreement--if you pay $35, you can eat all day at either one of their buffets.  I decided to do that.  When I got there, Leah was free!  So for the two of us to eat as much as we wanted all day was very, very inexpensive.  I was happy she was free because for breakfast all she wanted was watermelon.  Crazy kid!  But I had a nice breakfast of oatmeal and fruit and a croissant, and couldn't really complain.  They had a huge variety of things, including breakfast burritos and an omelet station, pancakes and french toast, waffles, you name it.

Afterwards, we went up to our room.  Leah was very attached to being in there, and so we sat and I asked her if she wanted to do anything special.  She said no.  So I looked through a magazine and she caught sight of an ad for the Bodies exhibit.  She said she wanted to go see that.  Well A) I had no interest in going to see it and B) I thought it might be too scary or intense for her.  So I suggested that we go see the Titanic exhibit instead.

Big. Big. Mistake.

Leah was completely and utterly devastated by the story of the Titanic.  She could not get over that people died, that the ship sank.  She was just so upset.  She demanded to see videos of how the boat sank, and then she just got so worked up over it, I felt awful.  Poor kid.  Plus, when you enter, they give you a 'boarding pass' with the story of a passenger onboard the ship and at the end, you find out if your passenger lived or died.  One of our passengers died and one lived.  This did NOT sit well.  Not at all.  I was half tempted to take her to the Bodies exhibit just to calm her down, but then I thought this would just add fuel to the flames.  But even last night when we went to dinner with her little pal Anna and her parents, Leah was telling them all about how the iceberg ripped the ship up and the ship sank and everyone died.  It certainly made an impression.

So we were at the Luxor for that exhibit, and I decided we would try their buffet for lunch.  It was fine food--I was particularly crazy about their Mediterranean bar with couscous salad and hummus, which were both awesome.  The rest of the food was standard buffet fare, but there was plenty and much of it was fresh and good.  They had a nice little dessert bar and we got some wee little desserts.  Leah was kind of mad I didn't let her keep the cups. But oh well!  We already had swizzle sticks to bring home from David Copperfield.  There was nothing remarkable about these cups other than they were "cute".

We strolled around the Luxor a bit to have a look-see, and I have to say, it's a pretty impressive area.  All the casinos are beautiful, I mean, you really can't believe they are built for just getting people to gamble and give up their money, but that's really the extent of it.  It's like Disney World for grown ups... 

So we finished up at the Luxor and headed back to Excalibur (going over we took a moving walkway system between the Luxor and Excalibur--MUCH faster than the tram system.  Coming back, we took the tram, which is probably faster than the moving walkway).  Leah wanted to do something else, so I asked her if she wanted to go see the tigers and lions and dolphins.  She thought that sounded fun, so even though we were tired and it was way the heck up The Strip, we hitched up our suspenders and headed north.  We did take the monorail, as I was too tired to walk that far, and it was a nice ride.  We got out and had no trouble finding the place, even though, predictably, it was way in the back of the casino like all the other attractions we'd been to.

In hindsight, although Leah was free to the Shark Reef, Titanic, and Siegfried and Roy, for myself it would have been cheaper to buy the 3 for $57 pass they sold to those attractions.  I did get to use my student ID at the Titanic Exhibit--the woman working the desk there absolutely could NOT have been nicer, so I got a slight discount, but I do think it would have been cheaper to package them, nonetheless. 

So anyway, the main attraction there is the dolphin sanctuary.  They have 3 pool areas with various dolphins and the dolphins work with trainers.  There seems to be a little 'show' every 15 minutes or so.  The dolphins do flips, play with a ball, standard marine animal show fare.  But Leah enjoyed it and I got to test out my quick shutter on the camera and got great pictures of the dolphins flipping around.

After seeing the show a couple of times, we went into the Secret Garden area.  It was a warm day and most of the cats were asleep.  We saw white lions and white tigers, as well as a couple of leopards.  Only one tiger was up and moving, everyone else was fast asleep. 

It's hard to get decent pictures through the fence--I really need to learn some focusing techniques with this thing because autofocus just wanted to focus on the chain link and I really had to mess with it.

So it was much smaller than I thought and not really all that exciting, but Leah enjoyed seeing the animals.  It is nowhere near even the size of the smallest zoo I've ever been to, so I can't say anything that it's necessarily worth the cost of admission for a family, but for the two of us it was a passable way to spend a couple of hours.  The staff was very friendly--Leah had a question about how deep the dolphin pools were and they were only too happy to chat with her.  (answer: 20 feet)  We enjoyed a bit of juice and water overlooking the pools to end our visit and then wandered out.

We wound up walking back to the Bellagio--I wanted to see the gardens in the conservatory there.  But nearly as soon as we got there, Leah wanted to leave, so we didn't go see them.  As we were going out, the fountain show started, and it was the first time I'd ever gotten to see it, so I stopped on the footbridge to get a look.  I put Leah up on my shoulders, and almost immediately she was screaming she had to go potty.  (SIGH)  So we went to the bathroom and I've now seen about 30 seconds of the fountain show.

So after that, we got on the Monorail and headed back to Excalibur.  I was so tired I just collapsed on the bed after dinner and decided to set the alarm early and pack in the morning.  Apparently my body was still refusing to give up East Coast time because I woke up at 4:45, not to sleep again.  But I was actually fine with that.  We packed up all our stuff, grabbed a quick breakfast, checked out, and headed to the airport on our little shuttle again, which picked us up promptly at 8AM.  Leah had a great time playing on this giant turtle in the airport, and an older lady was looking at the turtle, which Leah took as an invitation to chat and gab her ear off for about 10 minutes.  The woman, whoever she is, now knows that Leah has a cousin named Chunk and that her daddy died.

After that lady wandered off, we went down to the gate area.  There was a recharging station, and I wanted to plug in my phone and as we sat there, a few people from Virginia filtered in.  We were all nervous about the weather--several of us were flying in to Richmond and others Charlottesville.  Everyone was making phone calls and swapping weather reports.  I was worried about turbulence.  I don't exactly like flying--I just view it as a necessary evil.  So I was NOT looking forward to these flights home.  Plus, I wasn't sure if my driveway would be covered in snow, if I'd have to shovel at 11 o'clock at night, what was waiting.  On the plus side, Leah's school was closed for the day, so she didn't miss anything!

So another woman came over and sat down next to Leah and Leah just decided this woman was her best friend EVER.  They made princesses together on Leah's various apps, and Leah commanded the woman, "Make them stylish!" and the woman obliged.  She had been in Las Vegas for a friend's birthday party and said she missed her kids a lot, so she was happy to keep Leah entertained, for which I was very grateful.

Around about 11AM, I thought we should make a potty run, so we did and then I thought "Oh, it's close to boarding time, isn't it?" being that our flight left at 11:20.  So we went to the gate to find most of the plane had already boarded.  Ooops.  So they needed people to check their suitcases again, which I happily did, as well as checking the stroller, and we just kind wandered on and sat down.  There was no standing around or waiting in line, they were all kind of waiting on us, which I found quite funny.

The flight back to Charlotte was OK.  Leah was hungry and again I bought her a meal.  There was mild turbulence, but nothing terrifying.  The flight to Richmond, on the other hand, was another matter.  They canceled the beverage service, and I prayed so hard.  I mean, I have long given up praying, but I was so scared, I was sure the plane was going down.  It seemed to be moving way too quickly, there was a lot of noise like you would expect if it was moving quickly, and furthermore, there was just tons of turbulence.  When it landed, I was so grateful.  I can't even tell you.  We got our bag no problem, hopped in the car, and within about 20 seconds, Leah was sound asleep.  We made it home and happily everything had melted . I picked Leah up, put her to bed, and I fell asleep in about 20 seconds myself.

It was a great trip, probably one day too long, and got the Vegas bug out of my blood.  I would be OK if we never went back, although it was fun enough that I could go again and still enjoy it.  I will do a little write up of tips and tricks for you all in a day or two...  Thanks for reading if you've gone through all these days!

Las Vegas: Day 2

Las Vegas Day 2 dawned much later--6AM this time--and for that I was grateful!  I was tired after the previous day's excursion and a bit sore.  We've been playing a lot of Wii this winter and sitting on our butts, so this was like going 0-60 in a nanosecond.

Still, Leah woke up with a great deal of vim and vigor, so after a quick breakfast at McDonald's, we decided to walk over to the M&M Store, which was just across the street from our hotel at the base of the MGM Grand.  It opened at 9, which was the earliest thing on my list, so after puttering about the room for a while, we headed over there.  They had just opened and were pretty empty.  Green came outside and a woman offered to take our picture, for free, using my phone, so I actually got one picture of me and Leah together, which was great.  The M&M store is pretty much what you'd expect.  Lots of stuff with M&Ms all over it.  My favorite was a $3,000 lambskin bedazzled-with-Swarovski-crystals M&M jacket.  But they had office supplies, dishes and cups, candy dispensers, clothes, towels, etc. and they even had an on-site printing area so that if you wanted to, you could have M&ms custom printed while you wait.  With the wedding industry in Vegas, that probably does a bang-up business.

After there, we just started walking.  We were accosted by a really rude guy at the Chamber of Commerce who literally screamed at me as I walked away down the street.  "I HATE NOT GIVING AWAY FREE MONEY, LADY."  Yeah right.  I'm sure if I had gone in, they'd have wanted my name, address, credit card, email, phone number, blood type, and everything else, and at best I'd have walked away with a book of coupons totaling the $75 he was promising was free. He made himself look stupid, after I politely declined no fewer than 4 times.As I said to a friend afterwards, "I may have sucker written all over my forehead, but I've got East Coast Bitch written into my DNA."

My plan for the day was pretty simple--head to the Venetian to go to Madame Tussaud's and in the afternoon, our second show, David Copperfield.  We walked all the way to the Venetian.  It was a beautiful day and I just wanted to be outside in the sunshine.  Leah was kind of pissed about it, whining incessantly that she was tired or hungry, but when I got her a snack, she wouldn't eat.  She just wanted to be in the stroller, but I had refused to bring it given that she had so much energy.  She somehow miraculously regained her strength and energy when we arrived at Madame Tussaud's.  The best thing I did on this trip was to keep my iPhone well charged, turn on the camera, and let Leah snap pictures as much as she pleased.  She had an absolute blast running around taking photos, making me pose for a change and although I deleted most of them, as they were blurry, it did keep her engaged and happy for a long time.  Her favorite display was Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer, mainly because she discovered that if she dropped a golf ball in the hole on the green, it would cause loud cheers to come forth.  She must have done that several million times and then bowed.  It was quite adorable and many passersby commented on it.

She also took a particular shine to Will Smith and Beyonce.  Of course, I only had eyes for Clooney.

After we left the exhibit, I thought it would be nice to show her the canal inside the Venetian.  She only needed to catch sight of one gondola before it was clear we were going to ride on the canal ourselves.  I told her to follow the canal to the end and we found the ticket booth and got tickets.  She was very excited, especially when we got to skip ahead to the front of the line because we had to share with two other people.  Our gondolier, Caj, was a nice man who sang a lot.  He was Sicilian.  He sang some children's songs in addition to the music he thought the adults would like to hear.  It was a short ride, only about 10 minutes, but again, Leah was free, so I didn't mind.  They took lots of pictures of us for cash, but I elected not to buy any or even look at them for that matter.  I'm sure they were quite nice.  I'm sure they were also quite expensive.  Leah announced when she saw the white wedding gondola that either I am getting married there or she is because we are riding in that white boat, damnit!

After the gondola ride, we walked back out and saw a crowd of people around a store at the Venetian.  It turned out Joe Montana was doing a signing that day, so I grabbed a quick picture of him.  Not that I much care about football or Joe Montana, but at least I'd heard of him and I knew several people who would be interested.

By now, it was lunchtime.  I asked Leah what she wanted for lunch and she said she wanted spaghetti.  I had seen a lot of advertising at Excalibur for Buca di Beppo and thought it would be great to go there and then rest for a bit before the show.  They were hot on selling their giant meatballs (1/2 a pound!) and so Leah and I split a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, which was delicious, I have to say!  Then we ordered a chocolate volcano for dessert and while we were waiting, they came around and took our picture "for free".  We were given a picture that was the size of a postage stamp, literally, and then offered larger 'suitable for framing' prints at a price, which I declined.  There was a wedding a couple of tables over, and Leah happily watched the bride and groom and enjoyed herself till our dessert arrived--and that dessert was AMAZING.  This was easily the most expensive meal we ate while we were in Las Vegas, and I don't mind saying, it was worth every single penny.

We returned to our room to relax a bit before heading over to MGM to see David Copperfield.  We went early to get our tickets and they let us in early.  There was a strict policy against taking pictures, so we just sat there and drank Shirley Temples and posed for more pictures.  I started to feel like the paparazzi was after us!

The show was great... Leah was so impressed by the fact that cars and motorcycles and stuff appeared out of thin air.  I remember growing up and watching DC's specials on TV as a family--they were a highlight of the year, really.  He came to Syracuse NY one time and I was on a campaign to get my parents to take us to see him, but they didn't, so this was really a dream come true to go see him do a show.  In general, I thought his demeanor was a little off putting, honestly.  He was on the edge of being hostile or bored, a bit of a show off without showmanship, and in general he didn't seem very fun, happy, or nice.  It was disappointing, but the magic was great.  He did a wonderful bit at the end which even involved emailing those present a "poster from the future" (see right), and was a lovely tribute to his dad, and I cried so hard, I'm not ashamed to say so.  He did a couple things which involved the entire audience.  And at the end, he made 12 members of the audience disappear from the stage and reappear at the back of the theater, and I still don't know how he managed to do that.

As we left, Leah said, "Mama, I think I'm pretty tired now", so we just went back to the room and put on the TV.  She happened upon Rocky II of all damned things, and she became completely enthralled with Sylvester Stallone.  After Rock whooped up on Apollo, I made her shut it off and she was asleep in seconds.  The kid likes the damnedest things, seriously... I followed her to dreamland shortly thereafter!

Weekend in Vegas: Day 1

So this has been a really, really hard winter.  The weather hasn't been THAT awful until the 2014 part of this winter, when we've had some fairly decent snow by Virginia standards.  The threats of bad weather have been enough to shut school down, Leah hasn't been in a decent routine in ages, I've been busy trying to get my ducks in a row for summer, and school started again.  It's been exhausting and overwhelming.  The more I try to settle down and clear my calendar, the more things seem to come up.  For instance, the pre-school Valentine's Day party got canceled on account of snow, pushing it to a day where I already had 3 other things going on, none of which were able to be canceled, because they'd been put off long enough.  It's just been that kind of year.  There are times in my life when it's very quiet and sedate.  This just isn't one of them.

But I have come to realize that a lot of the busy-ness has been a coping mechanism for not having to deal with Mike's death.  So I've been forcing myself to sit down with some of those feelings and let them out.  Between that and the crap going on with my family, as well as some health issues, it's just been a very, very trying winter.  So I knew even though it was a coping mechanism yet again, it was time to get out of Dodge for a while.  I had two criteria: warm and cheap.  So it was that I decided on Las Vegas, and happily I was able to get a great deal on flights and a hotel for me and Leah.

Mike and I went to Las Vegas for our 5th wedding anniversary.  I was so, so, so excited for that trip, I remember typing out a huge itinerary, having it planned to the Nth degree without having any real knowledge of how big those casinos were, and what guiding Mike through that craziness would actually be about.  We booked a couple of tours as well as 2 concerts, so when all was said and done, I hadn't seen much of the Strip itself.  I always wanted to go back, but Mike didn't like it there all that much and had no desire to go.  So even though I've had it in my blood to do it, I haven't had the opportunity.  Till now.

Friday turned out to be a teacher work day at Leah's school and so I booked us to leave Thursday afternoon.  Richmond Airport is the greatest airport in the world.  We got there only an hour before our flight left, but we were at the gate within minutes and had plenty of time to spare.  Leah was excited about the trip--I had let her choose the hotel and she chose Excalibur because she wanted to live in a castle like a princess.  Our flights were uneventful, although we did fly over the Hoover Dam on our way out there, which was pretty awesome.  I was glad to be on that side of the plane--my luck is usually just the opposite!!!  I have now walked across it, ridden across it, and launched from a boat at the base of it, as well as flown over it.  I don't think I can do much more other than slide down it at this point.

I do have to say that American Airlines/USAir's merge isn't doing much for the consumer.  On a 5 hour flight, you get nothing other than 2 beverages--if you want anything to eat, you have to pay for it.  Not even a lousy sack of pretzels.  I didn't know this going into it, and being that we were on East Coast time and well past supper, Leah was hungry and getting worked up, so I did have to buy her a meal.  Additionally, for some reason, their system had Leah sitting elsewhere in the plane than me, so I had to change our seats.  I couldn't imagine that!  I had even requested seats together when I made the reservations.  On the plus side, they called for volunteers to check their carry on bags, so I happily did that so I only had to contend with the stroller and my backpack between planes.

Getting off in Las Vegas, it was a snap to get transportation to the hotel--we used Showtime Tours and got a round trip voucher to Excalibur and back, for 2, for $27.  A guy on the plane warned us that cab drivers often give you the roundabout to jack up their fares, and I can see why given that the airport is quite close to the Strip, so they probably don't make much money off airport fares.  Still, I was happy with the shuttle and it got us to the hotel in good time.

Once we made it to Excalibur, we definitely were in for a hike to find the registration desk.  Then we had another hike to go to our room.  Leah was thrilled with our view, as we did overlook the castle and had  a lovely glimpse of The Strip.  And then as soon as we did that, Leah was hungry and wanted dinner, so it was another hike to find dinner.  By the time we ate and got back, it was after 10 East Coast time, but only 7 Las Vegas time.  I wanted to stay up for a while, but honestly I was exhausted.  So we both crashed on East Coast time, and woke up at 4AM Nevada time, and that was definitely NOT cool.  Trying to keep Leah QUIET in a hotel for 3 or 4 hours till we could reasonably get up and go get breakfast and start our day at 9:00 when things got moving was quite a chore.  The only thing to do in Vegas at that hour is gamble and she's not permitted to do so, nor am I permitted to let her watch while I do so.  We tried the TV, but there was nothing kid-friendly on, and the internet access in the room was wired only so I couldn't hook up my iPad and let her watch Netflix.  It was intensely frustrating.

Finally around 6:30, we went to breakfast--Krispy Kreme and Starbucks.  I had made a list of "must do" activities that we had paid for tickets for, and then a list of 'suggested' activities that we COULD do if we had the time and inclination.  By 8AM, Leah was ready for action, so we struck out in search of adventure.  I knew about the tram that ran from MGM Grand (across the street from Excalibur) all the way up to the north end of the Strip near Circus Circus, and so I decided we should do that until we got our bearings.  First we got to cross the pedestrian bridge to New York New York, which Leah was thrilled with, given her present obsession with New York City.  She REALLY wanted to ride the roller coaster that threads through the facade, but I am not a roller coaster person by any stretch of the imagination, so my answer to that was "Hell no."  Still, she was happy to see a fake NYC, but got reassurances that we would still go see the real one sometime.

After that, we walked through MGM Grand and found the Pearls of Hawaii stand.  They are in all the casinos, but this was the first one we saw.  As you know, when I buy a souvenir of a place, I cross the following possibilities off my list:  T-shirts, stuffed animals, mugs, shot glasses, keychains, spoons, and other 'crap' as defined by 'stuff you can buy at the airport'.  So Leah was really taken with the idea of choosing an oyster to open and for 14.95, it seemed quite the bargain.  So I agreed she could do it.  She picked an oyster and she and Miss Isabelle did a little opening ceremony to convince the oyster to die with dignity.  She got a beautiful little pearl, and I agreed that she could have a charm and a necklace to put it on if that was going to be her Las Vegas souvenir.  So she said yes, that was what she wanted.  And as we were being rung up, SURPRISE!  We had spent enough money that we got to open a second oyster!  (Translation, we hope that if we give you one, you'll buy even more stuff!)  So Leah opened a second oyster and got a second pearl.  We were told the first one was green and the second one was pink, but honestly I couldn't see much difference in the color of them.  Still, I managed to get through the hard sales pitch and just put my pearl in a baggie and off we went.  Leah LOVED her necklace, although she has already forgotten about it, so I'll put it away for her for a special occasion like her prom or her wedding or something like that.

By then we were finally near the monorail and hopped aboard.  We only went 1 stop--down to Bally's/Paris because I decided that since Leah's other favorite city is Paris, we should see both.  We went on in and I decided that since it was just opening, it would be a good time to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and see the Strip from up there, which is what we did.  The other thing with Las Vegas is that they take your picture nearly constantly when you are about to do things, so this marked the start of a massive pile of picture taking--none of which I bought because the mark up is HUGE.

The view was gorgeous, you could see out to the mountains, past the city limits.  It was great.  It was early and there were only 2 other people up there. But Leah said it was too cold, so we left after about 10 minutes up there.  Oh well!  Next we walked over to Caesar's Palace, as I thought it would be fun to see the living statues and there's some sort of battle on the hour every hour, but Leah thought it would be way more fun to pretend we were being chased by lava through the casino, so we just ran around screaming "Look out behind you, there's lava coming!"

By now it was lunchtime Nevada-time, and we were hungry and tired, so we took the monorail back to MGM and went to the Rainforest Cafe.  I was kind of pissed off because of the whole entire restaurant, they sat us on the very perimeter away from the majority of the animatronic animals--and I was like "Hello, I have a 4 year old here, this should be your core audience for being on the inside!"  So we spent lunch watching people come in and out the doors of the casino.  Yay. 

Afterwards, we went back to our room for a couple of hours.  It was only 1 o'clock, but we'd already been up and moving for quite a while and I was tired.  After a while, Leah got bored of the iPad and wanted to do something.  I had seen a free tram between Excalibur and Mandalay Bay and I knew there was a shark/aquarium attraction over there, so I suggested we go do that, and Leah thought it sounded like a great idea.  Again we hiked through Excalibur, took the relatively short tram ride, and then hiked all the way through Mandalay Bay to get to the shark reef.  One thing about casinos, besides the sheer size, is that you read the signs and head in a general direction, and you're positive you're going to get lost, but somehow you never do.  You can be walking 3 or 4 minutes without seeing a sign that you're on the right track, but you still wind up at your destination.  It's very odd, but nice.  We didn't get lost once.

Anyway, I was happy Leah was free because there wasn't a whole lot to see at this Shark Reef.  And Leah also, it turns out, doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of patience for waiting in line, and there was a family of 8 in front of us and they were sign readers.  And animal observers.  The attraction itself is beautiful to see, but if I'm being honest, I didn't notice too many sharks or very much reef.  There were a couple of underwater tunnels we could walk through, and there was a small touch tank with sting rays and horseshoe crabs, but unfortunately it was fairly deep and the wall around it quite tall, so Leah had a hard time touching anything.  She finally got a finger on a sting ray, and that made her giggle.  But kind of a bust.  It was good entertainment in a pinch, but nothing to necessarily write home about.

By now it was dinner time, and so we grabbed a quick bite, went up to the room to get the stroller because I knew it was going to be a late night and I didn't want to be carrying Leah home, and headed to the Monte Carlo to see Blue Man Group.  I've wanted to see them for quite a while, as I love shows like that--Stomp has always been a favorite and I've seen it a few times.  I knew that most of the shows on The Strip appeal to a more 'adult' audience, but BMG seemed like it would be great for Leah.  She was super intrigued by the blue faces.  As we were watching the show, the Blue Men went out into the audience and as the cameras panned and followed them around, I caught sight of Kody and Christine Brown, of Sister Wives fame.  And just as I thought, "Holy crap, that's Kody Brown!" the woman behind me said, "Oh my God, that's the guy from Sister Wives!" and the place erupted as everyone recognized them.  I felt a little bit bad for the Blue Men, but they put on such a show that it was quickly forgotten.  At the end, as we were coming up the aisle, I noticed a lot of people stopping to tell the Browns good luck, how much they loved the show, yadda yadda, so I got in line to do that too and before I knew it, it was just us and them in the auditorium.  So I started blabbering like an idiot and finally I asked if I could get a picture of them with Leah.  They hesitated but Kody said "Sure, why not?" I think if there had been other people around they would have declined, but it was awesome that we had the timing right.  An usher offered to get all of us, so there we are!  They got down with Leah and Christine asked her some questions and Leah talked to them like no one's business.  And then I thanked them and we left.  When we got out the door, a Blue Man walked right up to us and got right down with Leah, and Leah FREAKED.  I asked her if I could take a picture of her and the Blue Man and she was all, "HELL NO!"  So I said I would get in the picture with her, and she agreed to do it only if I held her, so I picked her up, gave the phone to another usher, who happily took a picture while the Blue Man eyed Leah, who gamely smiled.

By then it was most definitely bedtime.  I strapped Leah in her stroller and headed out.  Monte Carlo was only just past New York New York, so I walked it.  By the time I'd gone about 15 feet, Leah was snoring her head off.  She had collected a pile of streamers from the show (and I am not allowed to part with One. Single. Inch.), and she clutched them and fell asleep.

I was very fortunate that everyone in Las Vegas was so kind--people got elevators for us, opened doors, etc.  When we finally got to our room, I put Leah to bed, and then I just absolutely collapsed.  It was an amazing day, very, very full, and I knew we would both sleep well that night.  And I was right.  We didn't wake up till nearly 6AM.