Month of June Part 2: Las Vegas Vacation!!

So as not to overwhelm you (I know my posts have been very long recently), I decided to make our vacation into a two-part post.
Our first stop for the month of June was to visit my family in Las Vegas, Nevada.

William sat with me and Joseph sat in the row
in front of us with Alex.
Little man was ready to rock and roll!  He was fully
equipped with his Thomas the Tank Engine head phones,
snacks, books, and plenty of movies to keep him
entertained throughout the 5 hour trip.

I can proudly say that William did a fantastic job
on the flight!!  (Major progress from the last time we flew to Vegas!!)

We got to Vegas around lunch time and my Dad asked
us where we wanted to pick something up to eat.
Joseph and I looked at each other, as if it was a no-brainer,
and both said, "In-N-Out, please!!"

I can't go to Vegas without eating some In-N-Out burger.
This was JUST what this pregnant lady was craving.

The next day, my parents took us to the Las Vegas Museum of Natural History.  I had never been to this museum before and was excited to take the kids there and explore!

Mom and Dad took the boys to go and feed the
ducks and swans in their neighborhood one morning
while Joseph and I finished getting ready.

Alex, wearing dinosaur feet and making footprints.
What a cool idea!

Joseph helped William to "fly like a pterodactyl."

William in action.

The boys, putting together a dinosaur puzzle.

Time to climb the rock wall!

Alex, being a "Junior Paleontologist," and digging
for dinosaur bones.

William joined in.

Dad, helping William on to the little Triceratops.

The boys were amused to be riding on top of
baby Triceratops dinosaurs.

Alex trying his hand at manual labor.  He attempted
to lift both of these buckets, but they were too heavy.

Joseph helped Alex write his name in Hieroglyphics.

Alex getting an up-close look into an aquarium.

After that, we went to the Container park for lunch and playing around.

Alex and William loved playing with this interactive
button pushing game.  (The perfect game for these kids,
if you ask me!  Pushing buttons haphazardly and running
around is pretty much what they do all the time!)

They played this game for a while.

That night, Joseph and I went out to the strip for a nice dinner together to celebrate the end of his residency.  Joseph made reservations at a restaurant called Picasso that was located in the Bellagio hotel/casino.  The restaurant had many paintings by Picasso and a beautiful view of the water show.

Mom and Dad watched the boys while Joseph and I
went out to dinner.
Thanks so much for watching our wild animals, Mom
and Dad!!

Tiring the boys out by running around the pond
in their neighborhood before bed time.

Picasso plates

An amuse bouche that was a creamy soup with
slivered almonds, and a crunchy, cheesy bite to
welcome us to the restaurant.

Butter that had Picasso's signature on it.  I'm always
so tickled to see how fancy restaurants present their
butter.

A chilled lobster salad with celery, melon, and tomatoes.
Light, sweet, and delicious.

A delicious and meaty scallop in beautifully whipped
potatoes and a delicate jus.

A beautifully sauteed foie gras served alongside
marinated cherries and pistachios.

Mmmm!  The star of the show!!
A buttery, rich, and meaty wagyu steak served in a
beautiful jus and delicately whipped mashed potatoes. 
It was topped with an onion ring, sauteed mushrooms
and had a small dollop of horse radish and vegetables on the side.

A-ma-zing!!!

An oozy chocolate lava cake with a delicious banana
sauce and caramel ice cream.

A fun take on banana stuffed french toast with caramel.

A lovely way to end a wonderful meal and a great way to celebrate!

Joseph and I walked around for a little bit after dinner,
but we were so tired, that we just headed home and crashed.

It was about 100 degrees F every day we were in Vegas, so pool time was a must every afternoon after lunch.  The boys loved splashing around, William got more comfortable in the water, and Alex got lots of practice with swimming.  It was great to beat the heat and have some fun in the water.

Alex jumped right in, while William needed some
coaxing in the beginning.

There he goes!

Playing around in the pool.

That next day, we checked out the Discovery Children's Museum.  It's relatively new and we were most definitely looking for places that were indoors for the kids to play in during the day.  It was great!

The water table area was FAR superior to that of
the Boston's Children's Museum.  It was awesome!

Alex enjoyed firing water at the chimes to make music.

The boys climbing up into a castle.

Alex wanted to get a little more exercise.

William was learning about how to make a healthy meal.
(But really...he was just pushing buttons and grabbing things.)
:-p

William climbing up the play structure, while my
Dad made sure the little guy didn't take a tumble.

Alex seeing how springs affect different objects.

Joseph and William designing a ramp for a ping pong
ball to go through.

Alex enjoyed putting light weight objects into a
wind tunnel to make them fly up.

So did William.

Joseph was showing Alex how to make a paper
airplane to put into the wind tunnels.

Dad and William looking through a microscope.

Afterwards, my parents took us to the new Downtown Summerlin area for lunch.  It had gorgeous landscaping and was very Zen and serene.  We had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and then enjoyed walking around for a little bit after lunch.

Mom and the boys walking around.  The boys
loved looking for palm trees - and were pleased
that they could find them anywhere they looked!

Our two play boys, sunning themselves.

Mom and the boys enjoyed the mist from this fountain.

The mist felt great on that super sunny and hot day.

Time to splash around in a new fountain!

Once we got back home, we splashed in the pool again.

Dad and William playing with squirt guns.

The next morning, we stopped by one of my favorite places to get breakfast (and thankfully it's right by my parent's house).  It's a great locally owned diner called Baby Stacks.  They have lots of Hawaiian and Filipino inspired dishes along with some amazing pancakes.

A chicken adobo with rice omelette and hash browns.
I was in heaven.

Alex got S'mores pancakes and shared them with William.

After breakfast, we took the boys to the Adventuredome at the Circus Circus hotel/casino.  The boys had an absolute blast riding rides and watching interactive movies.

The kiddos loved riding around on the airplanes.

Since I'm pregnant, I can't ride any of the rides with
the kids.  So, Joseph joined them for most of the rides.

The boys loved the train roller coaster ride.

And yes, they fought over who got to ring the bell.

I did go on one mild ride with Joseph and William
while my Dad took Alex on the bumper cars (since
William was too short to go on them).

"Wheeeee!!!"

My mom got a great picture of us on the ride.  HA!

Dad and Alex on the bumper cars.

Then Joseph took both of the boys on this ride again.
Baby girl bounced up and down in my abdomen
a little too much when I went on this ride, so I
decided to sit out on this round.

Time for a 4D movie with Grandpa and Mama B!

Joseph and William, ready to watch a Spongebob 4D movie.

I could at least join the kiddos and Joseph on the carousel
that morning.

Joseph and Alex, ready to ride.

Joseph and the boys ready to ride another ride.
The boys love riding amusement park rides.

William began to be more of a dare devil on the rides
and began lifting up his arms while riding.

That next day, my sister arrived and joined us for the weekend.  We decided to start off the morning by having some pool time.

Kristen showing the boys the art of the cannon ball.

The boys loved it!

I loooooooove floating around in my parent's pool.

Slow motion pool fun!

Cannon ball!!!!!

That evening, my parents got us tickets to go see the Tournament of the Kings show at the Excalibur hotel/casino.  The boys absolutely LOVED watching the knights jousting and battling one another.  They also loved the food!  HA!  It was a really great night to scream and holler for our knight who was on Team Ireland.  Thanks for a fun time, Mom and Dad!

Joseph, me, and the boys, ready to watch the show.

We got there a little early, so Joseph played a few
carnival games with the boys.

Unfortunately they didn't win anything.

Selfie time!  Good thing my Dad has long arms!
Dad, Mom, Kristen, Me, Alex, William, and Joseph,
ready to cheer on Team Ireland!  Huzzah!!!!

Mom, Kristen, and Me, ready to whoop it up!

Mom and Dad got the boys some glow in the dark swords
that my sister brought in her purse for the boys to play
 with during the show.  The boys loved holding
up their swords and shouting, "HAAAA!!!  TAKE THAT!"
during the show.

Alex doing his war cry, and Joseph photo bombing
Alex.  I see where the boys get their naughtiness.

Yep.  :-)

Time to say good bye and start the next leg of our journey. 

Mom getting some last minute snuggling in with Weewum.

Mom and the boys.

Mom and Weewum at the airport.

Unfortunately, after we got through security, we discovered that our flight was delayed 2 hours!!  Argh!!  Not so fun when the kids were already hot and tired, and now we'd have to wait another 2 hours until we got onto the flight.  Womp wommmmmp.

Joseph and William, trying to get comfortable
in the airport while we waited.

Snuggle time.

Alex and Mommy selfie.

Most of the out takes look like this, normally.  :-)

We got the boys a smoothie to share while we
waited for our flight to board.

Thank goodness for some grapes that we had prepared
as a snack for the flight!

No longer a grumpy William Billiam.

We had a wonderful time running around Las Vegas and exploring new places to play.  It was great to see the family, have the boys play with some of my toys from when I was a little girl (YES, I played with Legos and other things like that), and splash around in the pool!  I can't wait for baby girl to come here so she can join in on the fun!!
Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki