Friday, February 10, 2012

What Happens In Vegas ... Days 4-5

Last day of competition was the 6's!!
It was a roller coaster of a meet, but the boys pushed through and hopefully it was a learning experience for all of them.



I don't get to work with these guys all the time so it was nice to watch their routines and see where they've improved even since their last meet.  Kev walked away with 3 medals and all the boys went home with modivation to get back in the gym :)
Sasha Artemev was there as a coach and we all got to meet him. He was an alternate on the '08 Olympic team and was called on at the last minute to fill in on the team.  He did a pommel horse routine in the team finals that will go down in the history of men's gymnastics, his routine earned the men the bronze team medal that year :)
After the meet it was another packed afternoon!!
We took the monorail over to Mandalay Bay to the Shark Reef Aquarium
It was neat, they had the biggest fish I have ever seen swimming in some of the tanks. There were tunnels to walk through where the fish would swim over the top and a touch pool with sting rays that the kids all really enjoyed





We took our time walking back, I hadn't been that far down the strip on foot yet so I wanted to take some pictrues of the Luxor and with the sun starting to go down it made for some nice lighting


Reflection off the Luxor

ME!!

Lily and the kids and I made a couple stops on the walk back
 The M&M store was great!!
It was superbowl sunday and because of the time difference the game came on at 3:30 in Vegas. We were in the time share so we invited everyone over to watch the game.  It was probably the most relaxing part of the trip, it was nice to be able to kick back and have a laugh with everyone

Al was our entertainment, especially when the Giants started winning :)
The game got over just in time for us to head over to the Excalibur for the Tournament of Kings dinner. It was a medieval time dinner theater show where you eat with your fingers and there's jousting and sword fighting.  I wasn't allowed to take pictures but it was a great time, the boys enjoyed being able to shout and cheer, and the fact that we were in the dragon's cheering section made it fun!!
 The lights at night were so pretty
The next morning we were headed home

A few thoughts on Vegas:
-The lights at night are beautiful and the Bellagio fountain show is a must see
-Instead of lines in the road they have little dots, and some of them light up
-You can't cross the street everywhere, a lot of major intersections have bridges to cross the street
-I was surprised at how close all the resorts are. Even flying in it seemed like such a big space but the resorts are so close a lot of them you walk, inside, from one to the next.
-Some of our group discovered that the tram from Bally to MGM sounds like a good idea, but it's really not as convenient as it sounds, in most cases walking is the best way to get around
-I found it interesting how in the casinos you can walk on and off the game floor and nobody bothers you. At the casinos back home I get carded walking on the game floor sometimes, but in Vegas we were walking around with kids through some of the slot areas and nobody ever questioned it or asked us to go a different way
-All the restaurants on the strip are expensive, even the regular places, but if you drive 3 minutes down the road off the main area there are normal places with regular prices . . . I guess it's that whole, you just need to know where to go, thing
-The card slapper guys multiply the later it gets but being a girl they tend to leave you alone and if you walk around with kids they don't bother :)
-The Starbucks are sort of hidden but they're there!!
-Power scooters fit in the revolving doors (don't ask how I know that)
-Since it gets chilly at night the resorts have propane heaters outside in the valet areas so you can stay warm while you wait for your car

It was a great experience!!
I've got a whole list of things I want to see and do the next time I go!!
Cheers!!

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