Sin City

Las Vegas was our next stop and they are not kidding when they call it Sin City. When I phoned Sam to let him know we had arrived I told him I was calling from either Sodom or Gomorrah I wasn't sure which. I've never been a fan of the whole Vegas thing, but being there with kids made me even more aware of all the craziness.

The kids were so cute and good to follow our direction to keep their heads down as we walked through the casino to check into our hotel room to avoid seeing the countless posters of scantily clad people.


We were quite the spectacle walking through New York New York with our troop of 7 children.




Thankfully, it was basically just a pit stop, getting in just in time for bed and leaving in the morning after a McDonald's breakfast smorgasbord. Tracey wanted to get room service, but the frugal in me couldn't bear it and offered to go get McDonald's for the whole crew. It worked out just fine, but Tracey did mention that with room service you get a table. She does have a point there. Oh well...the kids didn't seem to mind and hotel room floors are totally clean, right?

Besides breakfast, the kids found time to squeeze in scriptures and a quick game of "spies" before we checked out.


I'm not sure if this is a disguise or a hiding spot. (Don't worry that note is just part of their spy game.)


And always time for posing.


Ruby had to check herself out before we left. She looks mostly satisfied.



On our way out we stopped by the M&M factory (AKA a large store of M&M paraphernalia) where we watched a short M&M movie and bought some pricey M&Ms.




And then, since one chocolate factory is never enough, we also swung by (by which I mean we took a 1 hour detour to get to) Ethel M's Chocolate factory. At least this factory was actually a factory and we got watch as the delectable confections were created. It was neat to see. I do love a good factory tour. The tour was quick (so quick that I have NO pictures). Choosing the even pricier chocolate took a little longer.

Ruby and Issac mulling over which ONE piece they could afford.


Yep--they were in chocolate heaven.


Once we had met our factory limit for the day we finally headed out of the Vegas area, but not before swinging by Kmart and making the very wise purchase of a portable DVD player. Tracey's was missing a cord and since we don't have one I thought it would be an OK expenditure....and it was. The older kids were as good as gold, but this extra entertainment sure didn't hurt.


We still had a few moments like this...


And this. (Sorry Issac but your fit was the only one cute enough to photograph.)


And speaking of Issac...we also enjoyed about a million potty stops along the way. At least the views were nice from the side of the road.


Through it all we also had plenty of this...even without the movies.


Good bye Vegas---next stop Zion's!