Spring Break-- Days 4 & 5

Spring Break 2018

Tuesday, April 3 and Wednesday, April 4

Randy had work for Momdot that needed to be printed, signed, and faxed back, so while he went to a Kinkos, the kids and I played on the Strip.  I forgot to mention that we'd stopped in at the M & M's store and the Coca Cola store.  While in the M & M's store, we found machines to stamp pennies with an image-- we always try and do one of those if we're on vacation, saving quite a few over the years in a collectables case.  We didn't have any quarters or pennies that night, so we planned to do that this morning.  We also planned to go to Hershey's.  We'd had breakfast at a McDonld's and sent Randy on his way to work while we played. Story of Randy's life.

Because Randy was feeling a bit guilty about working on our vacation, he told me that he'd be ok if I allowed the kids to get something.  Oh my goodness, our children were not the only "kids" in the candy store-- I was just as giddy as they!

 I actually gasped as I saw these Strawberry Syrup bottles as soon as we walked in.  If the delicacies in this store were going to be this large, we were walking into the store of my dreams!  I used my sunglasses as a reference!

 I'm not even joking, if they would have had a Reese's this size, I would have gladly walked the Strip all. day. long with my purchase strapped to my back. 

Tyson found a bag of Jolly Rancher lollies (you have to say lollies with a British accent, kay) and never once seemed to consider any other treat.  Brennon immediately said he wanted to do the slot machine Hershey's Kisses (seen behind Shelby above).  I noticed that they were sold by the pound, so I handed Brennon the bag, telling him to fill it that a certain point, about 1/4 of the bag.  Only I didn't realize how much the bottom of the bag opened up with any weight.  Brennon filled the bag to the exact measurement I gave, MUCH more than I realized it would hold.

Shelby chose the slot machine Jolly Rancher's after watching Brennon have such a good time getting a few of each sample.  This time, I knew how much the bottom of the bag opened up, but since she'd seen the measurement I gave Brennon, I had to say she could get the same amount.  It would come back to haunt me later.

Keilie wandered around a bunch, not sure what candy she wanted to actually get.  She asked if she could use the money she'd spend on candy to put towards a purchase of a shirt.  I agreed.  As it turns out, Tyson's purchase was the cheapest (the actual cost of a bag of candy from the store, since it was pre-packaged), with Shelby, Brennon, and Keilie spending the same amounts...

As the cashier told me the price, I felt heat flush my face-- we had just spent $67.00 in the candy store.  It's not so bad to say that she bought a Twizzlers shirt for $20.00 (for a souvenir that's not too bad), but realizing that $47.00 was spent on Candy-- YOWSA!  I was mortified!  The candy was consumed before we made it home two days later, by the way.  It's right up there with my recent incentive for a cute 10-year old boy to yank gingerly press out a tooth.  They're good disguising the amount those bags can hold-- sneaky devils.

After our spending spree, we went to the M & M's store for our penny pressing.  Each child got to choose their own, with Keilie's choice on the fourth level of the store.  Boy, I never thought I'd say this, but the chocolate smell was too much.  I actually had a slight headache after leaving that store.

Randy made it back in time to grab a quick lunch before our Magic show with Mac King.

 There were a few parts of the show that had a bit of adult humor, but not many. At one point he said he was going to teach us how to count in a language that doesn't really exist.  "One-skin, Two-skin, Three-skin..... {suggestive eyebrow raise, with a curt}FOUR... and Five-Skin."  I was glad my kids didn't get the joke.  He did some amazing acts, made it fun by pulling people from the audience, and made us all laugh.  I loved hearing the kids verbally express the things I was thinking.  "How did he do that?!"  I would recommend him to anyone that enjoys good, clean fun.

 Our family selfie in our KK (Caden's baby nickname) section.

Backstory: On Monday night, after walking the Strip, the kids really wanted to go swimming.  We told them to hurry and get their suits on, since we were pretty exhausted and didn't want to be too late getting to bed.  With suits on, we headed to the elevator while Randy called the front desk for directions to the pool.  We all thought he was joking when he stopped mid-stride and incredulously said, "The pool is closed?!"  But when he faced us, still talking to them, we knew he was telling the truth.  Pool hours were 10:00am-5:00pm.  That means that they expect people to go on vacation to this destination, forgoing all other activities around the town, to swim during the day in a place that stays hot until after dark...  I was ticked.  The kids were discouraged and sad.  Randy was relieved.

Between shows, Keilie and Tyson wanted to do the roller coaster in New York, New York, while Shelby and Brennon wanted to go swimming.  We made the long trek to the roller coaster, only to be turned away-- Tyson was just 1-2" too short, and Keilie didn't want to go alone.  Randy and I chose not to, since there was a possibility it could cause us headaches (which happened to both of us the last two amusement parks we've gone to).  Swimming it was.

By this time we only had about 20 minutes left to swim.  The kids still had a great time.  We'd taken goggles for the pool, so we were decked out and prepared for a good time.  We dried off and prepared for our buffet dinner and Cirque Du Soliel show.

 While waiting in a line that would put Disneyland to shame, we stood next to windows that showed them preparing the desserts of our meal.  I knew right then and there that this was going to be the best buffet I had ever eaten at in my entire life!  And this was only a tiny sample.  They had about 5 different kinds of cookies, pies, and cakes, and ice creams.  They had cotton candy, brownies, eclairs, and cheesecake.  And Brennon's favorite:

Cereal with milk.  He'd had pizza and chicken before this-- this was dessert!  The food variety was wide and delicious.  The desserts were even more so!  It was an incredible buffet!!!  Made even more wonderful with the extra ticket we were able to give away as we thought of Caden.

 This show was amazing.  The drums, the singing, the acrobats, the ambience all made for an all-encompassing experience that both felt and looked spectacular.  The strength and beauty displayed was magic of a different kind that seen earlier in the day.  It was fantastic!  Although, I did think, "Oh, so you can climb that vertical 10' pole with only your hands as you keep your body perfectly horizontal?!  Well, get a load of this-- I can blink my eyes!"  Every act was incredible.

Sleep came faster this night.  Again, it was so full, I was exhausted.

Wednesday morning, Randy took the kids to breakfast while I packed the two rooms to head home.  Once packed, we headed on I-515 for the Hoover Dam.  The traffic was intense, but we had a great time.

 I can never have enough family selfies

This may be the only time in my entire life where I thought, "You know, I've got [all] of my ducks in a row."

We drove to St. George to pick up our Mira girl, while saying goodbye to Jackie and Grandma Louann,

and headed to back Roy for the final night of our vacation.  We woke on Thursday morning and headed home.  It was a great vacation, sprinkled with both sorrow and Caden reminders that we knew were whispers from our Heavenly Father.  Caden was with us.  We are loved.  

As a side note: The Dollar General bag you see in the picture above is actually another work thing we had to do.  While still in Vegas, we had to go and take pictures of ourselves buying Dixie Paper Plates in the Dollar General, eventually using those paper plates and writing about it.  Nothing screams family vacation quite like taking your Cannon and kids into the dollar store to take pictures of purchasing paper plates!  Good Times!