Vegas Thanksgiving

 This year we had a Vegas Thanksgiving...and it was a blast!

We knew Jason would only get a few days off and he had a lot going on with his school right after the Thanksgiving break so we decided to head out to Vegas for a week to spend some time with him...and my parents decided to meet us out there for Thanksgiving!!!

We left out of SFO late Tuesday night and this was Riley's first flight where she got to sit like a big girl!

She is almost 4 and I was not about to lug her big carseat on the plane being 34 weeks pregnant so now was the time...and she LOVED it!  She was so enamored with her new way of flying that she didn't even want to watch a movie or do anything...it was a pretty quick flight and we got some hot chocolate and before we knew it we were there!

 We were both so excited to see Jason but nothing beats this little girl running through the airport to jump in her Daddy's arms.  Before we got down to the baggage claim she was quickly thrown into the world of Vegas...we were about to go down an escalator and there was a huge Chippendale's sign and Riley spotted it and said "ooohhhh why are those boys naked?"  I hadn't seen the sign so I was caught off guard but quickly figured out what she was talking about and she said it loudly so there were many people around us tickled with her comment.  Oh goodness!

We got to Jason's room and got all settled.  We were in tight quarters but just happy to have some time as a family!  Jason had made a special fort for Riley next to our bed and her tent fit under it perfectly...she loved it and we got her to bed!

Jason had class the next day so Riley and I found a park on base and she got some swinging in !

 We got to join Jason and his classmates up at their school for lunch...the cadre brought in Mexican food and they had a "GraciasGiving" lunch!  It was fun to meet everyone.  Riley was a hit...especially when they dressed her up!

 Jason was done for the day after lunch and we all went and took naps before we packed up for a few nights on the strip!

My parents flew in that evening and we picked them up and headed to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner!

 We stayed at the MGM Grand and my parents stayed at Paris.

The next morning was Thanksgiving and we met my parents at their hotel to start the day off checking out the strip.

There are lots of people looking to make a dime by dressing up as characters which of course is a big draw for kiddos.

Riley spotted Batman and Spiderman off the bat so she had to get her picture with them!

We walked across the street to check out the Bellagio first.  They always have a great display in the atrium and we had heard there was a talking tree that Riley needed to check out!

 Silly girl posing with Grammie and JoePa!

 Family pic!

The talking tree...Riley did love it and just kept talking away to it as if she were the only one in the room!

After the Bellagio we walked over to Caesar's Palace...and Riley decided she needed to dance for a bit!

She had two dance partners and they each got their turn to dance with her!

We eventually made our way to the Venetian where we had a fabulous Thanksgiving brunch.  The food was great and the company was even better...no leftovers but also no cooking!

We had a good walk back to Paris so we were able to walk off some of that food!

Of course we saw some crazy things on our walk back...check out this dog with huge sunglasses and a hat...only in Vegas!

 Riley stayed with my parents and Jason and I headed back to our hotel to take a nap...Riley was supposed to nap too but she was having too much fun playing with Grammie and JoePa!

We met back up in their room later to watch the Aggie game...that's all I have to say about that..a bad ending to a great day! 

The next day we decided to spend the day away from the strip...you can only be in Vegas for too long (especially with your kiddo) before it's just time to get away.  Since Jason had been in Vegas for a few months he knew of some other places to go and see.  Our plan was to head to Red Rock Canyon to walk around and take pics...but first we had to grab some lunch.

We headed to the Red Rock Resort and Casino and found had lunch at Yardhouse.  We were checking out the resort which had a casino, several restaurants, a movie theater, and a bowling alley.  It was VERY nice and there were no seedy people like you find on the strip.  Jason went walking around and realized they had a Kid's Quest where Riley could go play for a bit while we had some adult time.  We checked it out and it was AWESOME...they had a full playset with tunnels, a basketball court, an iPad station, dress up area, and much more.  She saw it and decided she wanted to play right away so while she played we went and did some gambling with my parents.  Basically the way things went was that I won money and then Jason would go and lose it...haha!  After a couple hours we went to get Riley and she said "are you just checking on me?"  She was having fun but we told her it was time to go!

They had a cool arcade next door that was basically a much nicer version of Chuck E Cheese and we spent some time playing games and winning tickets with her!

First off was air hockey which is one of my favorites too!

 Next was some guitar hero with her Daddy!

 And some Deal or No Deal with Grammie!

We all played and won tickets so Riley could pick out some good loot before we left!

Her choice of items was priceless!

She picked out a crown, a princess bracelet, a sparkly pink ring....AND THESE TEETH!

 I love this girl and her oh so fun personality!

We all got a kick out of the teeth...they were surely a hit!

 What started out as lunch ended up being an all afternoon adventure but we all had a blast!

Finally it was time to head to Red Rock Canyon just before the sun went down!

It was beautiful and we got some good family photos! 

Riley insisted on a funny face photo too!

 We let Riley ride in the front seat between her Daddy and JoePa since it was a scenic road with very slow traffic...she LOVED it!

 We drove a little further and got a few more pics from another scenic view!

We were able to get all our pics in just before the sun went down!

We took my parents and Riley back to their hotel...Riley spent the night with them and we got a date night...woohoo!

We had already checked out of the MGM and I just assumed we would go back to the base that night but my hubby had different plans!  He got us a room at another off the strip resort called the Aliante and it was great!

We had an awesome room and we had dinner at the Italian restaurant at the resort and did some gambling...same trend as earlier...I won..he lost :)

We had a great night just the two of us...it was possibly our last date night before we have 2 kids!  Thanks to Grammie and JoePa for giving us that time!

We had plans to have brunch at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill the next day so we got ready and picked up my parents and Riley and headed to brunch.  

She had a great time...they went to the M&M store, to the movies, and to see the Fountains at the Bellagio.  She hadn't had a nap that day and it was a late night...so you know some drama was in store!  Apparently she was all tucked in with JoePa and it was looking like she was about to head off to sleep when all of a sudden she said she needed her teeth...you know the beautiful teeth she had won earlier in the day :)  My parents told her she didn't need them and she tried to convince them that those teeth were her nightguard and the dentist said she had to sleep with them every night...oh my goodness!  You see I just got a night guard and she had been to all of my appointments with me so that's why she had all this knowledge about a night guard.  They still weren't buying it and that led to a total breakdown and she pretty much didn't let it go until she passed out in shear exhaustion...crazy girl!

So off to brunch we went and one of Jason's classmates and his daughter were able to eat with us as well.  The food was amazing...everything was great and it was fun to try lots of different things.  We were totally stuffed by the end!

Riley had fun meeting Steve's daugher Terren and they kept each other entertained during brunch!

Silly girls!

After brunch it was time to take Grammie and JoePa to the airport.

We had such a fun Thanksgiving...Vegas style!