leaving las vegas

We sneaked in a little extra pool time before flying back to Atlanta and this time Zach was able to join the boys while I packed up all of our stuff.

We were a little nervous about the flight home because Atlanta was experiencing some terrible thunderstorms that whole day and they were forecasted for the evening as well.  While the flight was pretty calm, you could see lightning out of the windows as we were getting close and poor Micah was freaking out because it looked like the pilot was flying straight towards them.  However, our pilot was amazing and flew in and out of the storm clouds and landed us safely in Georgia.  We were quite thankful to be off the plane and even more thankful to be heading home when we entered the airport and saw people upon people upon people as every flight that day had been delayed or canceled.

I love trips but my favorite part is always walking into our home after being away.  I love the coming back to the familiar while dreaming about the away.  Best of both worlds.

vegas babies

I made the boys promise me that when they told their teachers about what they did on Spring Break they would tell them about Zion and not just tell them we went to Las Vegas!  Logan, having watched a Looney Tunes movie set in Vegas, started singing Viva Las Vegas as soon as we stepped off the plane and then kept asking where Daffy Duck was...nut!

Zach's conference was at the Mandalay Bay which is across the street from the airport and has a great view of the strip without being in the middle of the chaos which is the Vegas Strip.  This mainly meant there was lots of fun things to see out of the window and not too many things I needed to blindfold my boys for.  The pools at the Mandalay Bay are amazingly fun and warm :)  The boys and I spent 7 straight hours by, in and around the pools while Zach conferenced.  The morning started out chilly but we powered through and it was gorgeous after lunch.  

Micah and Connor's favorite thing was the lazy river and while Logan and I enjoyed it as well, he did not enjoy having to wear his floaties.  By the end of the day we worked out a system where I could see one of the entrances to the Lazy River while being in the regular pool with Logan.  M and C had to come up the stairs and wave at me every third trip around the river so that I knew they were ok.  Yes my mother in law and one friend in particular would have possibly been freaking out that they would be kidnapped BUT they were under strict orders to scream and punch if anyone tried to grab them and there were life guards EVERYWHERE!  It also was not super crowded since it was the middle of the week and the only other people there also had tons of kids so I doubt they would have wanted two more.  

While Vegas is still not my favorite place we sure did find a spot there that made me forget we where we were for awhile.

valley of fire and red rock

The main reason we were able to take our awesome trip to Utah was because Zach was presenting at a conference in Vegas.  After two days in Zion we had to head back to Nevada but were able to squeeze in a trip to Valley of Fire State Park and Red Rock National Conservation Area before having to return our car.

Valley of Fire was really cool and a very climbable area for the boys.  We were here maybe an hour but spent the time well checking out lots of boulders.  The boys and I found one that reminded us of Jango Fett's ship and thus began them renaming all the rock formations to whatever they thought they looked like.  

We rolled into Red Rock just ahead of a huge storm that was coming in, we made it inside the visitor's center right before the bottom dropped out and were able to watch the storm go across the mountains from their observation windows.  It was awesome!

Fortunately, the storm blew out just as quickly as it came in and we were able to do a short hike called the Lost Falls which started Micah and Connor repeatedly saying if they Falls were lost how do they know where to put the trail?  and other such witty dad like jokes.  So clever, those fellas.

After that, Zach, Micah and Connor scurried up a very high and steep mountain side while Logan and I sat midway and waited for them to come down, safely I hoped.  

Our goal for this first trip was to leave them wanting more instead of leaving when everyone was over it.  Mission Accomplished!  So excited for our next adventure!