Kevin and Kim's Las Vegas Trip

At The Tank at The Golden Nugget

At the top of the Stratosphere

At the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris Hotel

At a waterfall at the Flamingo Hotel

At the doors of the Las Vegas Temple

So, here are some pictures from our Las Vegas Trip. We had so much fun together! I added more pictures to my facebook so you can check those out if you want. On the way up, we stopped for a bathroom break at the Hoover Dam and took a few pictures. Kevin and I were able to go to the Phantom of the Opera on Monday (our anniversary) which was fabulous. The one in Vegas has a lot of special effects. We also went to a show called Human Nature, courtesy of a time share presentation. Human Nature includes 4 Australian men who sing Motown songs, some of which were a cappella. There were fabulous! We also had a free buffet, courtesy of a time share presentation. We stayed at four different hotels, yes I said 4. Kevin is a hotel hopper. He likes to check out as many hotels as possible (I would never do that with children--not moving their stuff more than once). The first hotel we stayed at was The Flamingo, right on the strip in Las Vegas. Excellent location--middle of the strip right across from Caesar's Palace. Nice room. Had a lazy river and a small water slide, also flamingo wildlife habitat--quite beautiful actually. Outdoors there was a little garden area that was fun to walk around. The second hotel we stayed at was the Stratosphere. It is the hotel that looks like the space needle. I think this was the best deal overall. It is a good location, just a few blocks from the strip. Large pool and jacuzzi, Nice rooms, cheap price--It was $30 a night. The third hotel we stayed at was the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas. It is off of Fremont Street, older hotel, but still quite swanky. The pool at the Golden Nugget has a Shark Tank. The water slide goes right through the tank which is filled with fish and small sharks. It was awesome! Our children now think we are cool for the time being. It was quite powerful, actually. Kevin's glasses fell off as he came out of the water slide from the force (He had those eyeglass holders on). He had to snorkel around to try and find them. Luckily, he found them. This hotel had a nice large jacuzzi, and the pool stayed open until 2 a.m. The other hotels we stayed at the pools closed at 6 p.m. I guess they want you to go out and gamble. The fourth and final hotel we stayed at was the Hard Rock Hotel. We were actually upgraded to a suite, which was very, very swanky. It was black and silver colors with red accents. There were two bathrooms, a living room with large, flat screen t.v. and awesome stereo system and a silver couch, a bedroom area with a large flat screen t.v., and a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. All throughout this suite, were items that if you even picked up an item, it was charged to your hotel bill. Water bottles were $4.50, candy bars $5, Alcohol $50-$100, Intimacy kits $25 (yes, I said intimacy kits). It was all weighted. Of course, we didn't dare touch any of it. We could never stay at this kind of place with our kids--they would touch everything. This hotel had three sandy beach pools, a lazy river and water slide, and three jacuzzis. The light fixtures were cymbals, music note carpet, records and rock star memorabilia throughout the hotel. They even had leather elevators. It was pretty sharp! We enjoyed every moment together and created lasting memories! It was a nice, relaxing break and I think, well deserved after 14 years. We had an absolute blast!

The food was incredible. We only ate one meal a day--we saved up for the buffet. After the buffet, we were stuffed for a while. Best buffet we went to was Planet Hollywood Spice Market Buffet. It had cuisine from around the world. You wouldn't believe that the item we kept going back for was their fresh fruit--no joke. They had the freshest watermelon and honeydew we have ever tasted. They also had this incredible fruit dip that was made with cream cheese, honey and apricots. I am going to have to figure out how to make it. I learned that I make food way too boring, and am going to experiment more when I cook. I have so many recipes to figure out. The Spice Market buffet also served custard, rather than ice cream. Fabulous! We also went to some cheaper buffets, some of which were actually comparative in food quality to the Spice Market Planet Hollywood. The station buffets--Main Street Station and Boulder Station--had excellent food and excellent prices. It was $8 each. We usually had 2 for 1 at most of the buffets, so it was really cheap, which we love! Excellent Chicken Broccoli Salad at Boulder Station. Yum! Makes me hungry just talking about it. We went to Pink's Hot Dogs, which is specialty hot dogs. We had a Vegas Dog and a Showgirl dog. The Vegas dog had chili, onions, guacamole, jalpenos, tomatoes. The Showgirl had tomatoes, onions, relish, and sauerkraut. There were delicious. I brought home the menu so I can experiment with hot dog toppings. We also went to a sandwich shop called Capriotti's. I had a turkey, stuffing, mayo and cranberry sauce sandwich--called a Bobbie. Kevin had something with a lot of sandwich meat on it, but it was also very good. I don't remember his as much, but mine was fabulous! We actually did not spend very much money because pretty much everything we went to was 2 for 1. We caught a meal deal at midnight--for a quick snack--that was a burger and fries for $2. Kevin and I split that because we were still quite full from the buffet, just wanted a snack. That was cheap!

Did we gamble you ask? Well, this is what we did. Many hotels offered a certain amount of money in free slot play. So, we would only play the money given to us by the casino and then cash out when it came ahead. We did not spend any of our money. It is sad to see how many people become trapped at the slots trying to make some easy cash. There is no easy way to make cash, it's hard work! Anyhow, we actually came ahead. Since we were using free slot money, I think we made about $25 in cash and spent none of our own. We did a lot of swimming and sight seeing. Kevin and I enjoyed walking around all the shops and hotels. Most of the hotels in Vegas are themed. We took a picture with one million dollars. The picture was free and how often do you get to take a picture with one million dollars? So, we did not even spend money on pictures--most hotels offer to take a fancy picture for you for about $16--this one was free and they took two pictures and printed them for us! We went to Circus Circus Adventuredome and rode the rides there, went up the Eiffel Tower, up the Stratosphere tower--the one that looks like the Space Needle, but most importantly we ended our trip going to the Las Vegas Temple, which is quite beautiful on the inside. We liked how the women's and men's bathrooms had an exit that led right to the chapel. The endowment room was also where the veil was and the celestial room connected right to that--very organized layout! The celestial room was beautiful--all white with some green plants and a large picture of the Second Coming of the Savior! It was a wonderful time and we appreciate all of you who helped watch our children so that we could spend some quality time together. I have realized that I am so grateful that Kevin and I are sealed together forever because forever is really not long enough! We enjoy spending time together and I am so grateful to my husband for being such a phenomenal man!