The Detten Vegas Tour - Part 1

I take my four children with me to Wal Mart ALL.THE.TIME.  I often get comments on how brave I am.  In my eyes, I figure that is the best way to teach children how to act in public.  This often results in a few more gray hairs for me, but I know in the long run, we will all be better for it.

But when we considered going to Las Vegas, I questioned my ability to take four small children (age 1 year to 9 years).  And I especially questioned Dennis's ability to be out and about alone with them.  If he goes to Wal-Mart, it's usually by himself.  I knew it would take a massive amount of courage on both of our parts (and our children, too!).

Not that I don't have confidence in my children's behavior.  They generally mind their manners, but stick them on a busy sidewalk in 105 degree weather -- or in a crowded M&M store -- things can change.  That, compounded with my concern for their safety with so many people with unknown intentions, made me nervous.  Moreover, Dennis and I were playing "tag-team" during the day -- on separate days we each went to the World Market Center at Las Vegas for the furniture and accessories market while the other took the kids on daily adventures.

That being said, we did really well -- saw many sights -- and had so much fun as a family. 

We stayed at the Mandalay Bay.  This is a great hotel for a family.  Okay, except for the "Love Box" that was in the weight sensitive mini bar.  Rachael asked me what this was!

The pool was wonderful, and our room was well appointed and comfortable.

Dennis attended market on Monday and Tuesday, while I took the kids around to see a bit of Vegas.  On the first day, we went to the MGM Grand.  Avery was VERY concerned about the live lions that are on display.  Actually, she was afraid of any dangerous live animal..."Can the sharks get in our room?"  There were so many people around the live lions that I could not get a good picture.  Here is a picture of us in front of the beautiful gold statue in the entrance:

This is where we ate at the Rainforest Cafe.  Again, a great place for families!

From there we went to the M&M's store.  The kids had been looking forward to this place for a LONG time.  Three stories of M&M's themed merchandise.  Kids in a candy store.  Enough said. 

Our next stop was next door at the Coca Cola store.  This place was really neat, too!  After a picture with the cute Cola bear we went straight up to the 2nd floor cafe where they had ice cold drinks including yummy Coca Cola slurpees that we enjoyed.   The bear was really cute and could open and close his eyes and mouth.  Bet he was hot in that 105 degree heat!

Since New York, New York was right across the street, I snapped a quick picture of the kids in front of the "skyline."  At this point, Sam and Avery were needing a "change of scenery," hence Avery in the stroller (and Sam strapped to me!). 

We were pretty tired, so we went to the hotel to rest until Dennis got back in the early evening.  That evening I went to the "Alfresco" event at the World Market Center (post coming soon!) while he stayed in with the kids and ate delivered pizza. 

On Tuesday, we started with pool time at the hotel.  There are several pools, a lazy river and a wave pool with a "beach front."  We walked to find the least populated pool and enjoyed the morning listening to great music and swimming and splashing.  The dry heat of the desert, with no wind, made the pool area very comfortable.  Because there were height requirements (48") and only Jack met them, we were unable to enjoy the wave pool. 

After cleaning up, we drove to The Venetian for lunch, followed by time in the shopping area.  The kids loved watching the gondolas and looking at all of the beautiful murals.  Here they are with a live "statue" and with an accordian player.

The murals inside The Venetian are gorgeous.  I was amazed at how even the overhang in the front drive outside was painted.  I couldn't help but get a picture of this Last Supper on the ceiling.

Caesar's Palace was our next stop.  We were only able to catch one of the moving statue shows, but we did see all of the fountains and statues.  We met up with Dennis and ate dinner at a foodcourt, complete with $1 hotdogs on a stick, followed by the pirate show at Treasure Island.

More to come....