Las Vegas vacation...

 We stayed at the Tahiti Village...a hotel on Las Vegas Blvd, but a couple of blocks south of the airport.  Family friendly (ie: no girly shows or casinos), an amazing pool area and a kitchen were perks..the most important reason we booked this hotel being location.  It was conveniently close to the sports arena where the Blackjack Meet and Winter Cup were being held.
The pool was advertised as being warmed to 85 degrees all year.  And while I don't doubt this to be true, unfortunately the weekend we were there they had just drained, cleaned and re-filled their pools meaning the water still hadn't warmed completely.  The kids were brave, though, and with the hot tub to warm up in, spent some time in the cool-ish bigger pools.  How neat is it that there was a sandy "beach" leading into the pool??  I'm thinking we will stay here again on future trips to Vegas.  

After swimming, we headed out for the kids' first looks at the uniqueness that it is The Strip.  All the buildings lit up like light brights...they were suitably wowed.  The Bellagio fountains were, of course, a big hit.  

 I love this picture of Rebekah.  I was originally trying to get a picture of her looking out towards the street but she turned around and started walking back...not realizing.  All the lights blurred in the background, the lit up sidewalk, the tree with it's individualized branches...and then Rebekah in focus, in motion, looking up.  Yeah...I don't know why but I love it. 

 Saturday we casino hopped.  No...that doesn't sound right.  Because though we walked through numerous and multiple casinos, casino hopping makes it sound like we were gambling all day...which, rest assured, we were not.  Umm...we resort hopped?  Better?  Every hotel with a different theme or style made for some very interesting sight-seeing and people-watching.  At Mandalay Bay we stopped to take in the Shark Reef.  We don't really have anything like that in Utah so we were all enthralled.  Despite the awesomeness of the sharks, my favorite were the jellyfish.  Seriously, I couldn't get enough of them...so delicate, beautiful and fascinating!

And though this picture is dark and grainy seeing as it was taken on my cell phone...I still included it because it makes me laugh...both of us so interested in what was going on all around and above us in that glass tunnel that we had a hard time focusing on the camera.

Seriously, what is with all the dressed up characters on the side of the street?  I thought the Mickey and Minnie who were drinking beer were especially humorous...in a kind of disturbing sort of way.  Speaking of disturbing, would you have been totally shocked if I posted a picture of me with a snake around my neck?  Yeah...me too.  That's why I declined...although I did consider it.  Captain Jack Sparrow, owner of the snakes, was rather persuasive...