We went to Vegas this past weekend.  I had spent a day here and there in Vegas before, but this was the first excursion where we stayed multiple days in Vegas.  We had a mini-vacation package that was about to expire and now that Dallin is ready to become a Johnson road warrior, we scheduled this weekend.  We stayed at Club 36 just east of the strip.  We almost left Kiara at home with grandma for the weekend, but in the end...with Dallin in tow, we decided we may as well bring Kiara too.  I'm glad we did bring her.  There's never a dull moment when she's involved. 

We pigged out at a prime rib buffet for just under $10/head and cruised the strip for most of our available time.  A collection of DVDs and cartoon episodes kept the natives at bay while in transit or during down time in the room.  We basically hit a section of the strip on each of our days there.  Kiara loved all the lights, escalators, fountains, and other mayhem.  I enjoyed watching the fountains at Bellagio. We saw a RobotGuy and Kiara was very scared of him, but loved to talk about him after I gave her a dollar to put in his hat and took a picture with him.

We tried to see the Sirens show at Treasure Island but there was a slight breeze, so they cancelled it.  When they announced they might not be able to perform due to conditions, I had to think twice about what it could be and then guessed that it must be the 2 mph breeze.  Oh well.  We did stop by the Mirage fire show and I enjoyed that.  Kiara had fun feeding the ducks out of her hand before the show, but she was quite alarmed when the fire started going.  During the finale, I was filming her face and she was absolutely terrified.  Priceless face!  During the trip, I seemed to have a knack for struggling to locate good parking and we ended up parking in some inconvenient places.

We also hit the south end of the strip, visiting New York New York, MGM, Luxor, and Excalibur.  Kiara loved the lions and it was fun to watch the crowd cower when the lions jumped onto the plexiglass tube where the tourists were standing.  We learned that it is a bad idea to try to ride the tram with a double stroller (a.k.a. assault vehicle), especially when you don't know exactly how it operates, the stops, and which side the doors will open on.  We ended up returning to our departure point and walking.  We took in all the sights we could and I just had to gamble a dollar while we were there.  For the record, I went up 50 cents for a little while and then lost my whole dollar.  Amazing how packed every gambling space was in every single hotel on the strip.

As a reprieve from the great and spacious buildings, we visited the Vegas temple on the way home.  I try to stop by the nearby temples on our trips and I think it will help the kids to learn their importance as they're growing up.  We had a good weekend.  Our next adventure is San Diego and the beach.  Kiara is already excited to get her fill of the sand.

Kiara was so happy and giggly feeding the ducks at the Mirage.  Then the fire and water show started.  As the show went on, she became increasingly concerned such that by the finale, I think she definitely wanted to high tail it out of there. She's a good kid.