Vegas

Day 1
We drove to Vegas – caravan’d with the Reese & Sosa families – and checked into the Mirage…
Pretty much crashed for the night.
Although, I will note that our kids were smitten with our very “old-Vegas” style hotel suite. There were 2 tv consols with large square TV’s that would raise/lower out of the top of the consol when you pressed the power button on the remote. Luckily, the tv’s were very sturdy because this became a carnival ride. To sit on top of the TV then raise with it as it popped up. I’ve been playing online craps and touching up my skills ready to hit a casino. There is no way I’m coming to vegas and not going to at least one casino. Playing online has helped my confidence grow and I think now I’m ready to play someone face-to-face. Once it’s out of my system, I can return to my family holiday, unless I win…

There was a post card in our room showing the “newly remodeled” rooms in the Mirage, ours was not one…

Day 2
Papa stopped by the hotel to have a swim with us – It was fun to see him, he always looks great!


The Howell Boys met up with us for a bit to swim and then we all went to see Siegfriend & Roy’s Secret Gardens and Dolphin Habitat. Currently they have 2 tiger cubs that are really cute, although it was naptime when we saw them and they were pretty lazy…

Nevada Star Ball

Kiana & Myla {and partners} did fabulous at the ballroom competition!
We had the expected last-minute costume adjustments, but it all turned out great. It seems with each ballroom competition the costume regulations change just a bit from the prior competition. This time, we were quickly trimming one ruffle off Myla’s dress, hemming Kiana’s dress to make her skirt one length, and cutting off flowers…

The final dancers line-up for awards –

Myla & Ammon competed in five events-
Pre-teen American cha-cha: 6th place.
pre-teen American swing: semi-final.
Pre-teen international cha-cha: 7th place.
Junior American cha-cha: 5th place.
Junior American swing: 6th place.

Kiana & Tristen competed in 8 events!
Pre-teen American cha-cha: 2nd place
Pre-teen American swing: 3rd place
Pre-teen international cha-cha: 4th place
Pre-teen international samba: 7th place
Pre-teen international rumba: 5th place
Junior American swing: 5th place
Junior International cha-cha: semi-final
Junior International samba: semi-final

Kiana & Myla also performed 2 showpieces together, this was their first time EVER to dance on the same team while performing. A showpiece is a team dance that is performed but not judged…fyi.

The funnest part of competing in Las Vegas is the family who is able to come support us! Kiana & Myla had a fabulous fan club, thank you!

{back row, left to right} Ryan, Ranee, Danny, KJ, Dusty, me, Nancy, Lee, Dani
{front row, left to right} Suzi, Ethan, Eli, Kiana, Myla, Jonah

Day 3
{{{Happy Birthday, Sara}}}
The Howell’s and Staker families met up with us for the day.
We first headed over to the New York New York and Danny/Ethan/Dusty/Kiana rode the roller coaster. They were the only 2 kids tall enough to go who were willing to go.

Then we took the tram to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. While we were standing in line we ran into Dusty’s nephew Jared & his family! We were so excited to see them. We had meant to organize plans to meet up with them and never got it done, then wha-la, we meet up unexpectedly! It was awesome!

We had lunch at the House of Blues, which included birthday cake for Sara!
{insert photo here from Sara’s blog; when she posts Vegas!}

At this point of our day, Kiana & Ethan split from our group to go see “Mamma Mia” with the Sosa family. The rest of us headed over to the Luxor. Most of us did the “Tour of the Obelisk” virtual ride. I sat next to KJ which in itself was more fun watching him than the ride. Matt & Sara had birthday/date plans to see “Beattles LOVE,” but we kept Kaden & Trevan with us to go to the ever-so-incredible “BODIES the exhibition.” Truly, one of the coolest exhibits ever. I was in complete awe of the fetus displays.

We decided to not break up into four taxi groups and we took a limo back to the Mirage at the end of the night. This was a first-time limo ride for Danny, his boys, Kaden, and Trevan…everyone was so excited!


Kaden and Myla having a pillow fight –

Day 4
We slept in, made one last stop to the pool and spent the afternoon shopping at Fashion Show Mall…so nice

Sela enjoying her cheetos and diet coke…


Vegas was wonderful, we are back home and we only have one more day of summer vacation…
What happened to school starting AFTER labor day?
I would love 2 more weeks of sitting by the pool, eating popsicles with my kids…