Viva Las Vegas 2011

Another successful Forgacs family vacation!

Last Friday morning we hit the road at 3:00 AM. We planned it perfectly as the girls both slept until Kingman. It was there that we stopped for breakfast and playtime and to wait for Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Pete. We were there for an hour and a half then it was just a hop-skip-and-a-jump to Vegas (or as Stevie declares, The Promised Land).

We stayed at The Flamingo (thanks Uncle Pete!) and were lucky enough to be upgraded to a mini-suite. We were also fortunate to be right across the hallway from Grandma & Grandpa. Vegas is certainly a different experience with kids! We spent a good amount of time just playing in the hotel room, avoiding the chaos of Sin City.

When it was time for an outing we walked to the race expo so Stevie and I could check-in. I couldn't resist this photo op:
On Saturday morning we had a great breakfast at Margaritaville and were lucky enough to have Becky and Andy join us and meet Harper for the first time!
And then we were off to Circus Circus! My mom had promised Shyla a lollipop so she got this blue dice shaped one and held onto it for the rest of the day.
Shyla had fun at Circus Circus! We watched two shows, played some games, and ate a snack. I love this picture because it looks like my dear sweet Shyla is flipping the bird at the camera!
And then we took a decent family picture.
And took the best picture ever (Stevie says I say that too much):
Have you heard the story about the Michael Jackson Immortal Tour tickets? Here's the reader's digest version: back in November 2010 we were preparing for our Vegas trip and became aware of this MJ Cirque show being there the same weekend so we bought those tickets immediately. And then we realized we had bought the tickets for 2011. Nice.
It was our date night as my parents took care of the girls in our room. The show was awesome, minus the disorganization of Mandalay Bay (a theme that continued the next day). Stevie really loved it and wants to see it again. I was just glad that the lady next to meet didn't put her acrylic nail through my eyeball doing all her dancing.
And then Sunday rolled around. The main reason for the trip: the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon. This was my 3rd year in this race and Stevie's 2nd. It was the first time it was held at night. Running the strip at night was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! It was dangerously crowded and surprisingly disorganized, but we did it! I set a new Personal Record with a time of 2:32 and Stevie finished in 1:57. I had to leave some formula for Harper to have while I ran which made me really sad and emotional, but I am proud of what I accomplished and she's going to be just fine.
All in all it was another GREAT vacation! We had lots of quality family time together and my parents had lots of quality time with my girls which makes my heart happy. Another HUGE thank-you to them for making it possible and for joining in on the fun!

A few quotes from the trip:

• "I don't like beer" -Shyla
• "Big shoes!" -then hearing Harper laugh
• "Must be shorter than 5'7" to ride on top"
• "I like Uncle Pete" -Shyla
• Shyla asking Grandpa to fix the escalator with batteries and the way she laughed at the fish-netted legs!