IN-XS

Nope.

Not talking about the band.


I'm talking about Las Vegas, Baby.


We left on Thursday and stopped at Cove Fort on the way down.

It took about an hour, but I'm glad that we did it, because showing the kids what it was like to live in pioneer days was the perfect juxtaposition for what they were about to experience.

(above) The pool at the Venetian.

(below) The Bellagio Fountain show.

(below) The kids at the fake Trevi Fountain at Caesar's Palace. Let me say, that this thing is so not cool after seeing the real one in Rome. Makes me wonder if that's the way Las Vegas is all together-- just imitations of the real wonders of the world.

(below) The "Suite" life of the Garrett family. Our kids have never stayed in a place like this-- and may not again. It was funny to see their faces when we checked into the much less swank hotel in St. George for night 3.

Here's Doug eating shrimp cocktail. What a strange choice for a 5 year old, but that's Doug!

A year ago or so, we told Emalee that if she learned to play "Phantom of the Opera" on the piano, that we'd take her to see it. She did, so we made good.
Can't tell she's excited, can you?

The Phantom theater in the Venetian is incredible. I've seen Phantom a few times and loved it every time, but this theater is awesome. Built just for this production, it pulls you right into the play.

Here's the boys at Circus Circus-- where they quickly flushed $40 down the drain playing skee-ball and balloon darts and for their labors won a bag full of stuffed-crap that I have hidden from them, as I think that it's made in China and is probably stuffed with lead.

Here's Doug in front of the Venetian where we stayed. He was really bummed that I wouldn't spend $16 a person to ride on the gondolas on the indoor canal.

One really awesome thing that we did that I didn't get any pictures of was in seeing the Blue Man Group. I had no idea what these guys did-- I just knew that it was one of the only clean shows we could take the kids to see. They were awesome! Doug laughed so hard, I thought he was going to fall out of his chair.

We had the option to stay in Vegas an extra night or go stay in St. George. Even though we had tons of fun, we chose to leave. After a while, that place is just too much.