Adventures Las Vegas Style

We finally made it down to the Strip, which I hadn't been to since I was a junior in high school. And it was an adventure. We started the day full of vigor and excitement, Lucy couldn't wait to see the "castle" and "America" which we'd passed a couple of times on our way to pick people up from the airport, so I was thinking it was gonna be a good day. But in true Vegas fashion it was more or less an adventure.

We started at Excalibur where we were way-layed by a time-share shark er, I mean salesperson, who nagged us for 30 min. to come tour this new hotel, etc. etc. etc. and they would give us 2 free tickets to the Jousting dinner show at Excalibur and 2 tickets to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay plus free lunch for all of us. I was sold, but Jon was not so sure he wanted to spend the afternoon cooped up in a high-pressure-sales pitch with 2 naughty kids, so after our little sidetrack we headed out of there to the New York, New York (Dad, I trust I can count you in next time?).

We continued heading our way down Las Vegas Blvd. to the M&M factory, the Magic Mile, The Paris, the Bellagio, etc. But it was H-O-T. Like pass out, hot. And S-M-U-T-T-Y. Yes, like porn-everywhere-you-looked-smutty, so we were ready to call it a day at that point and find some lunch!

We headed back over to the MGM Grand where we'd seen a Rainforest Cafe which we thought the kids would like, so I snapped this picture, waited in line, got seated, only to then realize the kids meals were $9.99 each. For mac and cheese?!? You gotta be insane! So we inconspicuously wheeled or enormous double stroller outta there before the waiter came to take our order! Tacky?? Cheap?? I know. But it saved us $60I can think of a million better ways to use.

And just because I never get anyone to take my picture since I am the designated photographer in the family, Zachy and I attempted one. Yeesh.

And here we are enjoying our much more family-friendly In-N-Out burger for lunch. Yum! I love this place! I know we didn't get to some of the other big name casinos but I think it's safe to say we're "Las Begus"-d out for a little while.:)

Pioneer Day

Pioneer Day? What's that?!? Living in the East Coast for the last 4 years had sort of left us forgetting that July 24th constituted a holiday for mormons everywhere!! Oh yeah!! Pioneer Day!! So this year we got to celebrate it in style in Cedar City,UT with Jon's Grandma Cardon (the kids' great grandma) and lots and lots of Utah cousins.

We started the day off with a pretty cool small-town parade right down the middle of Main Street. Jon's family has lots of Cardon history in Cedar-- we got to watch it right in front of the "Cardon Block" where his family has had a menswear and shoe store for many, many years.

Zachy was mesmerized by the firetrucks and police cars yet again, but Lucy was definitely not as thrilled with the loud noises. She stuck close to Grandma almost the entire time until one of Jon's little cousins helped her out to the street so she could catch some candy.

Jon's cousins Amanda and Aubrey were SO sweet with Lucy! Lucy immediately attached herself to them and followed them everywhere (it may have something to do with the fact that they offered her one of her heart's truest desires--the donut she is clutching tightly--but that's just a guess). They even took her to the City Park after the parade where there were some Pioneer games and such going on, so I could have a nice little break.:)


After the parade and other festivities, Jon's grandma and Uncle Ron were nice enough to throw a BBQ for everyone back at their house. Lucy was in long-lost-cousin-heaven! She played with new friends, ate hot dogs and ice cream, and probably ran both Amanda and Aubrey ragged, though they never complained. Zachary on the other hand was slightly feverish, super ornery, and overall not feeling well so that was kind of a bummer.

Here's the whole family! Okay, so not the whole family-- only 3 of the 6 brothers' families (minus a few here and there), but still a pretty good sized group.

We woke up Sunday morning to make it back in time for our 1 o'clock church, and bid farewell to a great weekend. We came home to an air conditioning unit that was broken (NO cool air in the upstairs meant 100 degrees to sleep in) so we immediately wanted to go back!:) And I'm sure we'll have lots more opportunities.