Sunday, April 26, 2015

Day 13: A full day at Las Vegas

So, after walking practically one whole strip of LV the night before, we awoke with two key things on our agenda. 

First, to go indoor skydiving - on our long walk the night before, we had seen the facility; and second, to conquer the best buffet in town - which honestly, the husband and I had been fantasising about since months ago. 

After an informal breakfast 'room service' style - uh, not that we actually ordered any food; more like, we continued eating out from our vehicle-pantry (that we carried right into our room). Hah!

Everyone was pretty excited when we arrived at our destination - Vegas Indoor Skydiving. We drove there as it was some distance from our hotel; but more because after we unwittingly walked the entire strip last night,  the husband figured out that driving up and down the strip would be a lot more comfortable; and so we did. 

I think what really worked for us at this sky-diving joint was the fact that there was no age limit to being allowed to try this so it was great for us who wanted to do this together, as a family. We did the necessary administration and after dropping our things in a locker, were led to a briefing room.

Watching a safety video 
We were told of several positions and key actions to keep in mind, the critical ones. Then, came the fun bit - dressing up!

The littlest suit to fit the littlest man
Hoisting herself in
My adorable munchkins
My goofy boy
My little girl - who, at first glance, looks like her brother in this pic
My first attempt - excited much
Flying family fun
We had 15minutes of tunnel time between four of us, and honestly, it was way more difficult than I imagined. I think I have disjointed shoulders and awkward elbows that made my balance off - that's what I tell myself anyway. The best flyer - discounting the husband who is semi-professional - was actually K! She was such an adventurous being who was game to fly and fly again; and did a good job at that! Little J tried it one time and that met his quota. He much preferred to huddle at the side to watch the flight. All in all, quite an exciting activity attempt for us all; and hopefully the husband - who really itched to fly, scratched that need. My personal favourite take-out from this was how we all had a common experience to share and talk of.

So, after this first, we made a bee's line to fill our growling tummies. Research was done and decision to lunch here was made ages ago - the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesers Palace. It was said to be the best buffet line in town and we were excited to take it on.

Food heaven
We arrived and had to wait for a while, and then we entered into food heaven. The spread was amazing, and more than our eyes could take in at one go. I finished seeing every item only the second time round. We spent a good 2+ hours there, eating everything imaginable; with only a tiny grouse of slipshod service. Otherwise, it was pretty awesome. I ate until I could eat no more. My personal favourites were the oyster shots, the roast, the salad/fruit spread and dessert. Burps.

Meal-time entertainment
Sugar high

After devouring all those calories, we took a stroll in Caesars Palace to help with digestion. As it was nearly Chinese New Year, we chanced upon this elaborate display of a dragon. 

Rawrr

We had no plans for the day, and loosely came to the decision to watch a show. We headed to secure our tickets, and with a couple of hours to spare, we hit the shops! Hello you beautiful outlet mall! As we know, having children around when you try to shop is not the easiest and thankfully, the mall offered this lovely solution of a trolley in the form of a vehicle; even better that it's a two-seater - hooray!

Everyone's happy!

The husband and I checked out several shops and made some good buys; and before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel to catch our show. Tonight, we had gone for Mystere at Treasure Island. The show was suitable for all ages, and recommended for children - a perfect choice for us.

Pre-show snacks
The show was a cirque du soleil and as expected, had exciting acrobatic acts of all sorts with nimble bodies that melded like liquid metal. The child and fun element came in the form of an eccentric old scientist who teased the crew and played pranks among the audience, eliciting giggles from children and adults alike; plus two 'babies' played by acrobats that crawled about and did silly baby acts that made the audience laugh too. 

Both the kids enjoyed the show and as expected, loved the baby antics "the baby so funny, right" but I also explained to the kids that everything that we saw was a played out dream of the babies; as they see things innocently through their creative eyes with no boundaries. The tickets were really not cheap (!) but hey, it's buying an experience that we cannot simply enjoy in our hometown. Jake's favourite act was the drums; and mine was the flying trapeze act that was so beautifully synchronised that it was truly an art. The side acts of white (literally face painted white) men with white hair and white costumes were so magnificently mysterious and added to the fantasy of the show too. I wonder how much of the show the children really got but it didn't matter I guess, as long as they had a good time. 

Mystere
Note: K was not in this picture because she was throwing a tantrum. She had wanted to buy a hat from the gift shop but I flatly refused because it was so impractical plus I knew the hat will have a very short life-span not worthy of the price that I would be over-charged on. Just so we all remember this silly little nugget of information!

It was late by then, and time to fill our tummies (ah, the joys of being flexible with timings when on holiday. As long as we kept to the concept of routine - breakfast, lunch and dinner needs to be accomplished but the actual timings we had them…). The husband opted for this Italian we spotted while walking across The Venetian the night before and off we went. It was an authentic Italian called Canalliso (which literally means the canal) and the whole place was designed to be as if we were in the Italian square by the canal. The high ceilings echoed and the painted-on skies made it feel as if we were transported to little Italy. The meal was pretty good, and my surprise of the meal was the oysters - yummy!

Dinner conversation 

Hungry bunny

Glee!
Love

After a fulfilling diner, we strolled across the road back to where we parked the car at Treasure Island. We picked up the car from valet, and drove back to Circus Circus where everyone crashed for the night. And for the second night in the row, I laid in the hot tub I prepared for myself and soaked my body to relax the muscles; and enjoy the quiet, before going to bed.

Read about our previous day here.

2 comments:

  1. Omg I'm so tempted to bring the kiddos too.... Hmmmm
    It looks like so much memories together

    ReplyDelete