What happens in Vegas...

We just got back from a weekend in Las Vegas with Brian and Jill- we had so much fun! 

Day 1 : Thursday☟

We left Thursday morning and drove all the way down to Vegas. Brian and Jill were awesome chauffeurs. We all had a good laugh when Marty woke up from a dream and shouted, "I need a life jacket!" 

It was nice to check into our hotel after a long drive. We stayed at Circus Circus Hotel in the West Tower. 

After getting settled into our rooms we decided to get dinner and explore a little bit of the strip. We ate dinner at Grimaldi's Pizzeria inside the Palazzo-Yum! Afterwards we walked around the Venetian along the canals. We ended the night with the Pirate show at TI (wouldn't recommend it) and a long walk back to our hotel. We narrowly escaped the flash floods that happened later that night. 

Day 2: Friday ☟

Friday we did a TON of exploring! We started out with the Wynn (so Brian & Jill could pick up their show tickets) and then we parked at the Bellagio and walked around from there. 

Jill and I had a ton of fun (and shopping success) at the H&M in Caesar's Palace (top right). I loved the sparkly decor inside the cosmopolitan (top left) and the fall displays at the Crystal and Aria (bottom right). 

We took a break for lunch at the Spice Market Buffet inside Planet Hollywood-Yum! I've never been so full in my life.. Marty was in heaven and I'm pretty sure he tried one of everything (especially the desserts). Marty's fav was the buffalo shrimp and I liked the chicken fajitas and key lime cupcakes. 

After lunch we watched the fountains at the Bellagio-a must see every Vegas trip. 

More pictures from the mall inside the Crystal- we were fascinated with the swirly water tornadoes (bottom pic) and the ice display (top and middle pic). 

Fountain wall outside the Aria and awesome bird chairs. 

I was so happy to run into some penguins outside of minus 5 -even though they were VIP penguins "vaguely inappropriate penguins" haha only in Vegas... 

One of the unexpected highlights of the trip was the Coca Cola store. We sampled coke drinks from all over the world, some delicious and some tasted like cleaning products.. 

After coke we headed over to the M&M store for some classic Vegas pictures. 

We ended Friday night at NY, New York. Marty and Brian rode the roller coaster and then we took the tram back to the Bellagio. After that, Brian and Jill went to their show Le Reve and Marty and I hung out in our room. 

Day 3: Saturday ☟

After checking out of our hotel we went to the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. We had fun looking at all the fish, but I was sad there were no penguins.. 

Next we went to lunch at a local mexican restaurant Casa Don Juan. The food was amazing and we enjoyed listening to live music. 

Then we went to the Las Vegas Mormon Fort. The only piece that still exists of the original fort is inside the walls of the adobe house pictured on the bottom. The fort you see in the top picture is a replica. It was cool to learn about the roots of Las Vegas and the part that the Mormon settlers played in its history. The Mormon settlers stopped here because this was one of the only places with water. Las Vegas translates to "the meadows"-they built the fort to secure the water supply for settlers heading west. 

We ended our time in Vegas with a trip to the Las Vegas Temple. Even though all of the casinos and hotels in Vegas are beautiful buildings, they can't even compare to the beauty of the temple. I am so glad that we chose to end our trip this way :) The church is true! 

We spent Saturday night at my Grandma Carol's house in St. George. She is always such a wonderful hostess! 

Day 4: Sunday ☟

Sunday morning we woke up, ate some waffles, and made the long drive home... 

We had such a good time, but it was nice to go home. Pongo was sure happy to see us when we got back :] (he spent the weekend with Bruce & Karen- Thanks again for watching him!). 

Thanks again Brian & Jill! We had so much fun chillin' with you guys in Vegas! I'm sure we'll have some more awesome adventures in the future (hopefully with the rest of the Abbott gang as well).