Viva Las Vegas!!!

We survived the 13 hour drive (yes, it does take that long... especially when you have to use every rest room between here and Vegas), the 117 degree weather, and the girls fighting with every breath they took. We had a really great time. We did SO many super fun things and I took WAY to many pictures to post. So I'll just give you the highlights.

We went up in the Eiffel Tower right after we got to town. Cody (Justin's little bro) forgot to mention that he was afraid of heights... until we were in the elevator on the way to the top! He did good though. We went in the day, which was fine, but hot air does rise... and it would have been super sweet at night (but more expensive). So here is the Eiffel Tower pic....

And here is the view when we got down... Griffin and I did not feel well. She is also not a fan of heights, apparently.

We have a pool on the top of the resort where we have our timeshare, so of course the girls wanted to go swimming the first night. Bad news. The pool was closed due to a "beehive issue". So I let them swim in my big bathtub. That was a slippery, splashy fun time.

We went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. It's kinda pricey, but SO worth it!! We highly recommend it to kids young and old! They give you these little things that look like phones and you push numbers on it that correspond with numbers on the exhibits, which was cool, unless your 6 year old is more concerned with that stupid little gadget than the weird undersea creatures that she may never see again!!! I finally took it away after she dropped it in the sting ray tank. Not kidding. I hope it still worked. We didn't tell anybody what happened! So here are some pics at the Shark Reef exhibit...

Griffin and the Golden Crocodile, checking each other out. See the gray thing in her hand? That's the stupid gadget. Ugh.

I don't know if you can see it very well, but this fish was sticking his tongue out at everybody. Do fish have tongues? This one certainly did!

Lexi, Griffin, Justin and Cody got to pet the stingrays. I was standing right next to the sting ray lady who was trying to talk me into taking my life in my hands... um, hello! Steve Irwin!!! No, thank you. I was freaking out enough just watching the kids. And this is where IT happened...

Oops! After much hand sanitizer we were off to the shark tanks. Whoa! It was cool, but creepy. You go through a tunnel with all sort of exotic fish swimming all around you and then suddenly you hear it... the jaws music. You are transported into the belly of a sunken ship and you look up and holy crap! This is what I saw...

Creepy. Justin got some pretty good video of it, but I have no clue how to get video on the blog. If you'd like to see all 47 hours of our family vacation, feel free to come on over. Justin would LOVE to show off his sweet video skills.

We went to see Lance Burton (the magician) one night. Sorry no pics, no photos allowed. It was really great and the kids totally loved it. Griffin was on the edge of her seat the whole time and Lexi was busy analyzing every trick, trying to figure out how it all worked.

We also went to a show at the Stratosphere called "American Superstars". Again, no pics. It was a celebrity impersonation show. Elvis was first and this was very confusing to Griffin, since everyone knows that Elvis is dead... Rod Stewart was next and since we are not Rod fans it was kinda lame. Cody was texting on his phone alot and Lexi was rolling her eyes alot. Then Tim McGraw came out and he was great. Then Christina Agulera (like I can spell that!) came out with some VERY scantily clad dancers. Needless to say, this was Justin and Cody's favorite part of the show! She really was very good and sounded just like Christina, but the boys didn't notice that. Weird. Then came the man we were all waiting for... Michael Jackson. We are super fans of early MJ (you know, before he went nuts), so the girls were singing the words to the songs and loving every dance move. The guy was GOOD!

Okay, this post is WAY long! Sorry. It was a great vacation for us! We just want to share the joy with all of you!

We also rode the gondolas, which the girls and I thought was great, but Justin and Cody thought it was lame. We couldn't all ride together so I went with Griffin and Justin went with Cody and Lex. The gondola man sang to us...

And Griffin sang to him...

Justin and Cody made fun of their gondola man, but he sang to them too and he was really good.

The girls got to meet some real Vegas show girls... Justin was jealous, he wanted his picture taken with the ladies. It didn't happen.

We also went to see the Siegfried and Roy exhibit at the Mirage. Again it's kinda pricey, but worth it! They have dolphins and white tigers and their cubs. Very cute.

We went to the wax museum at the Venetian. I think the kids thought it was gonna be lame, but we all had a great time and got some great pics...

Me and the girls with Matthew McConehey. Ooohhh, I SO love him!

The girls with "The Rock".

The boys...

Did I mention I am now Mrs. Clooney? Eat your hearts out, ladies!

Justin and his hero. Hm, no Tony Stewart statue? What a shame. NOT!

Cody and Michael... I think Cody's heard about Neverland....

So on that note, that pretty much wraps up the Dance family vacation 2008. Next year, Disney!!!