Day 78: Las Vegas, NV

We are on vacation in Vegas! We slept in this morning and had breakfast at an Irish Pub before heading to the pool.

After swimming for a few hours, we surprised the boys with an extra special buffet lunch at Excalibur. They absolutely love buffets and were so excited. Our favourite foods were the chicken tinga (Krystal), sushi rolls (Seamus), bread pudding (Liam), chocolate soft serve (Alistair), and kielbasa sausage (Ian).

We then headed to the Thunderland Theatre at Excalibur to attend our first show in Vegas. We attended a matinee performance of the MacKing comedy and magic show. It was hilarious and the magic tricks were exceptionally well executed. We loved the magic rope tricks, the disappearing/appearing signed card trick and the camping shadow puppet trick. Seamus was chosen as a volunteer to go on stage. He helped the magician with an impossible trick making coins appear inside a mineral water bottle. It was amazing and Seamus was a hilarious magician’s assistant. The magician showed him a bottle of PEAR brandy and asked what whole fruit he saw in the bottle - clearly a pear - Seamus suggested it was a potato. We nearly died laughing. Seamus held the empty glass bottle, the magician tapped it, and ta-da the coins appeared inside the bottle. Pure magic. Everyone, including Seamus, was astounded.

After the show we headed downstairs to try out the arcade. With so many options it was almost impossible for the boys to decide what games to try. Seamus was a master at the whack-a-clown. And Alistair was a pretty good motorcycle rider (Daddy helped a tiny bit with steering). The points cards got accidentally swapped so Alistair got all Seamus’ points which caused a bit of drama but everyone eventually recovered.

After some quiet time watching TV until the sun went down (this allowed us to both beat the heat and see the lights), we walked along the north side of the strip. We visited the Cosmopolitan, the Bellagio, and Caesar’s Palace. We caught the Bellagio’s fountain show set to the soundtrack of Pink Panther. Caesar’s Palace was hopping. The card tables were full and the casino was working at full capacity. The Fountain of the Gods in the Forum at Caesar’s Palace was beautiful to see but Ali was getting tired and on the decline. The walk and tram back to Mandalay Bay was uneventful, though we did briefly watch the Dueling Pianos play Summer Lovin’ and Bohemian Rhapsody at New York New York on the way home. We also got to see the spotlight shine up from the apex of Luxor. The boys crashed immediately upon climbing into bed. It sure was an exciting day in Las Vegas!

Day 77: Calico, CA to Las Vegas, NV

Today we took our flamingo stuffies, Franny and Danny, on a trip home. 

From Calico, we drove through landscapes that looked like we were driving on Mars and past high tech solar farms that looked like we were living in the future.

With MUCH excitement (the boys were vibrating in their seats), we finally arrived at our destination - Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.  Virtual check in was a breeze and we were in our swim suits and ready to dive in (figuratively since the pools are shallow) at the Mandolay Bay beach. We blew up our inflatable tubes and floated around the lazy river many, many times. Next, we swam in the wave and salt water pools and soaked (briefly as it was incredibly hot out) in the hot tub. It was 42 degrees Celsius again today and the pool deck burned our bare feet after seven steps. It was SO hot.

Our hotel room is three times the size of our trailer. What luxury!

Seamus blowing up his tube.

After a couple hours of swimming, we were starving. We headed over to New York New York for hot and gooey New York-style pepperoni pizza from Sirrico’s. It was fantastic.

We also found delicious and economical (for Vegas) treats at the Reese’s Store - huge cookie sandwiches with icing in between (think Oreo-style but with two soft and chewy jumbo cookies) for 3 for $20. The boys decided to go in together using some of their trip spending money from the Grandmas. They were generous and shared several bites of their cookies with both each other and mom and dad.

After such a delicious dinner, it was time for an evening stroll. We continued down the strip for some sightseeing. In all we visited Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York, the M&Ms and Coca Cola stores, Paris, the Flamingo, the Venetian, and finally ended up with a view of Sphere. During our stop at the Flamingo we saw the real flamingoes; there were only three but their pink feathers were brilliant. The koi in the pond there were absolutely enormous. We also stopped at the Flamingo Gift Shop to adopt a cousin for Franny and Danny. He has been named Manny and now belongs to Alistair, so every boy has their own bird. Franny and Danny came to live with us when Liam and Seamus were just babies, Ali is thrilled to be a flamingo papa now as well.

We watched a robot bartender mix drinks.

We uber-ed back up the strip since Alistair was done in and all the boys were fast asleep less than an hour later. After so many cold and/or timed coin operated showers lately, Ian and I made good use of the huge bathtub and shower to scrub off all the dirt that has accumulated on us over the last 77 days. Unlimited hot water for the win. Vegas, Baby, Vegas!