Sometimes you just have to get away from it all

We have always liked to take a big family trip in February. It seems to be the time of year when the weather is dreary, and the daily schedules get monotonous. So this year we took off for the three day weekend to Las Vegas.

I have always wanted to see the Hoover Dam. Everyone thinks I am weird, but I love museums and monuments and things of that nature - so Hoover Dam was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. It was so big! I was enchanted by the 1930s architecture. There was such a romantic atmosphere about man's ability and responsibility to control nature. Not exactly the sentiments you hear now days.

This new bridge was just finished this year. It is higher than the dam and quite a breathtaking engineering marvel. We were able to walk across it and get a stunning (and dizzying)view of the dam.

We spent the entire day at the dam. It was fun to eat at the cafe, take the tour, and browse the museum displays. The elevator went so far down you had to pop your ears. We gave ourselves permission to make as many "dam" jokes as we wanted for one day. Andrew had the best one when we asked him how his food was. His answer: "Dam Good!"

Rub the toes for good luck!

This is the view from the memorial bridge. It was SO high.

After the day at the dam we went exploring around Las Vegas and Henderson. We got lost, wandered around the metropolis for half an hour, and then eventually found our way up to the temple. It is amazing how being on temple grounds feels like being home. It was beautiful and a nice break.

Day 2: we started the day at a chocolate factory and cactus garden. Now, once again some people may think a cactus garden is a lame thing to go see on vacation, but we just loved it! The kids really enjoyed seeing all the different species, especially the Joshua trees. The Baja display made us all a little nostalgic as well.

I wasn't really looking forward to spending a whole day on the strip with three kids. I have never really enjoyed the place. But with a little careful planning the day went really well and we had a lot of fun. Our main goal was to avoid walking aimlessly through casinos. Instead we scheduled everything so we were always on the move. We say the lions at MGM grand, we ate lunch at the Rain Forest cafe MGM grand (a lot like the Mayan in South Jordan), we visited M&M world which is really just a mega shopping center but there was a fun 3d movie we got to see.

Then we walked all the way down to the Mirage to see Siegfried and Roy's dolphin habitat and secret garden. Beautiful animals in a serene setting. We enjoyed the peace and quiet for some time before hitting the strip again.

A little dinner, Sirens of TI at treasure island, the volcano erupting at Mirage, and of course the fountains at the Belagio finished up our day. The fountains were my favorite part of the whole day, while the boys both couldn't stop raving about the volcano. another favorite moment: walking down the strip and having a foreign stranger stop me to say "your son is having a hard time walking with his trousers around his ankles." I looked over and Andrew was loosing his pants! we had a good laugh and made sure he knew that even in Las Vegas public nudity is a no-no!

We stayed at a hotel in Henderson with an indoor pool. Caitlin was thrilled about that. She had never been swimming before, and really enjoyed the hot tub. The cold pool she didn't much care for!

Now we are all refreshed and ready to plow on in our everyday lives until spring break. Yeah!