Vegas Baby!!! Oh I mean...Vegas with a BABY!

So I think I completely jinxed Hubby & I in my previous blog posts when I said we have the “most well travelled baby in the whole world”.  We decided to drive out ot Las Vegas the weekend after Easter to catch up with some old Newcastle RAAF friends of ours who were visiting from Australia.  The drive out started ok with Kayla happily watching some new DVDs we purchased for her.  I don't know how parents did car trips without these fandangled things years ago!!! Anyhow, that's when the tantrums started…but we got through it with some snacks, telling her to look at things outside her window....& a switch to more dvds!!! Lifesaver :)

Things got much better once we were out of the car.  When we arrived in Vegas all Kayla could say was 'WOW'! So cute watching her take in all the lights, the rollercoaster & the masses of people on the streets. We checked in to our hotel & were happy to have a separate lounge room for Kayla to sleep in, as opposed to the walk-in closets or hallway entrances she was used to on our last trip! Great parenting!! 

Kayla mesmerised by my colourful Mummy drink & her Daddy's boot cup!

Our first steps on the Strip in Vegas as a family. Look at Kayla's WOW face!!

CHEERS to the Weekend! 

Once we were settled in we were off for a walk down the strip, with baby in tow! I never thought that Vegas & a baby would gel well with each other but I was suprised to see how much Kayla loved it.  A huge amount of entertainment everywhere she looked.  Good thing she didn't take much notice of the 'flickers' on the strip & what they were handing out.  For those who don't know what 'flickers' are, they're people standing in a line, usually about 10 in a row, flicking small business card type things that have promos for Stippers or clubs on them.  Most showing pics of topless women with tiny stars on their bits.  So I am not sure how we would go hiding our child from those types of things once she's a little older to take notice of it.  Anyhow, our first stop was to get Mummy a tasty Margarita & Daddy his cheap beer & walk up to Treasure Island to get some dinner.

A little obsessed with throwing pennies into any form of water feature now :)

There was even more entertainment for Kayla seeing the people doing line dancing inside the restaurant/bar at Treasure Island.  We tried to get a spot to see the Pirate Ship show but it was way too busy.  Dinner was really nice & the waitresses were very friendly.  Kayla thought that her Daddy's drink in a big cowboy boot was pretty awesome & was insisting that we keep 'cheers-ing' each time we took a sip. Very cute moment.

We finished dinner & then headed off to meet up with our long lost friends.  After a drink with them & a quick catch up, Hubby walked our little munchkin & I back to our hotel so we could get our Zzz's.  After the trip out to Vegas that we had, I was more than happy for hubby to go out & party it up in Vegas while I slept in our SUPER comfy bed all to myself...yes...I've changed...depending on how my day goes with a toddler I'm either keen to party or keen to sleep...mostly it's the sleep that wins :)

Great to see our Newy Crew again! Miss you guys & the old days xo

The following day was spent with a trip to the roof top pool enjoying the sunshine.  A walk to see some sights & for those who know my Hubby well, we had to stop at Hooters in Vegas for lunch.  Out of all of the Hooters Restaurants that we've tried, I think this one would have to be on the bottom of our list.  The food didn't taste fresh at all.  A little disappointing considering it was located within a Hooters Hotel in Vega, so you'd assume they'd get it right as their main restaurant.  Anyhow, Hubby was happy he got his hot wings & added another Hooters Restaurant location to his list! I think he's now done a fair amount of the USA chains as well as Australia & Singapore.  Just a little obsessed.  Good thing they market it as a 'family restaurant' hey?! :)

Kindness of strangers. A man offered to take our family picture for us.

Day 2: Sightseeing in Vegas!

Once we were finished at lunch, we all went home for an afternoon nap after the previous late night.  When we woke well rested we were off to check out some more sights.  A walk through the Bellagio to see the beautiful garden & massive Swan & a stop off at the Paris Casino to taste some pastries were some of the highlights. We were hoping to show Kayla the Tigers at the MGM so we wandered over there...unfortunately we missed it...by almost 4mths :) Whoops! Luckily she didn't know any different & was over excited with checking out the Rainforest Cafe Gift Store with all of their stuffed animals, the huge aquarium, & the big snappy crocodile. We also stopped at the M&M Store which amazes me every time with the delicious rainbow wall of chocolate! Loved their free taste testing :)

Checking out the huge butterfly deco's flying up high.

Checking out the beautiful garden display in the Bellagio along with a Butterfly Exhibit!

Kayla checking out the snapping crocodile at the Rainforest Cafe Store

Sampling at the M&M Store!

A delicious sweets store we came across...unfortunately we had already tasted pastries from elsewhere
just before we saw these...Have to go back!!

Out little trio had a great time in Vegas & even though it was a very short stay, it was nice to see some familiar faces & hear some Aussie accents :)  The trip home....not so great.  It could be a whole other story altogether...But I'll fill you in quickly. 

Kayla seemed super hungry in our drive home, so we would give her some snacks when she asked for them (by asking for them, I mean her going ‘ugh ugh’ and pointing to the front where she knew I had her lunch box full of goodies.  She was happy with her homemade healthy egg & banana pancakes.  Then she had a cup of my homemade granola, as well as a fruit pack!!  This is all within a 4hr time period & extremely slow traffic...so we thought it was justified :) That was until…I heard a whinge from the back seat, turned around to find Kayla spewing a yellow river down her front.  Nice! We pull over & get her cleaned up, all whilst Mummy was gagging (I don't handle spewy smells very well for a Mother).

She calmed down after her sickness & the rest of the trip wasn't too bad (apart from the lingering smell).  Once we arrived home I had to strip & wash the carseat & air out the car! Joy!! Exactly what I want to be doing after a trip away.

But that’s not all. When we got home, she didn’t feel like eating anything for dinner but went to the fridge later & pointed at a fruit pack. I was worried she would be going to bed hungry (I know…what the?) so I gave it to her. We sent her to bed in her cute lil Winnie the Pooh PJ’s we just bought her from Disney Store Outlet in Santa Barbara last weekend.  Kissed her goodnight.  Checked on her before we went to bed ourselves, & then came the morning...

Jase went to check on her before getting ready for work that morning & that's when I get woken up to... ‘Tahn! She’s vomited everywhere!!!’ Happy Monday!!! The cot (& Kayla) are covered in a similar yellow lava from the day before. And boy did it stink! So it was bath time for Kayla & laundry time for her entire bed set! Thank goodness for those cot air wraps as it contained it all from spewing out the sides of her cot.  Needless to say, that Kayla & I had a lazy day around the house after this… she fell asleep on me twice throughout the day, which I completely lapped up every moment of! She’s growing so quickly now that I have to make the most of those precious baby moments.

Luckily, Kayla seemed better by that evening & was back to her usual eating-everything-in-site self by dinner time.  Although, I was nervous about giving her egg & banana pancakes & any granola seen as I had seen what it looked like after she tried to digest it the day before! TMI? Nah... :)

I thought that was the end of our exploding moments for awhile...I thought wrong...

Tuesday came around & after being housebound the day before I decided we should venture out of the house & be productive.  We went to visit her new daycare & meet the teacher that will be caring for Kayla once we enrolled her & also went to check out a pilates studio for myself & their child minding facility. We had a lovely Mummy & Daughter lunch date at our fave Panera Bread, followed by a spot of shopping for a lovely new kettle & tea-for-one mug at Sur La Table. I love that store!!! Everything cooking, baking & coffee all rolled into one!! Back to the car to unload our goodies…& then the smell hits me as I’m getting Kayla out of her pram…. A lovely exploded nappy to deal with & all through the pram!!!! I took a pic of it & sent it to Jase at work :) Lovely wife.  That’s what he gets for making a comment about my new profession (a stay at home mum) & saying that he would love it as you ‘just’ get to play with Kayla all day & read books! Ha!!! That'll teach him....although, it would have taught him a lesson more if it happened on his watch while I was no where to be seen to clean it up.  So, just when I thought I had finished my loads & loads of washing spew...then it was time to go & pull apart the pram & wash of a load of poop…Yay!

Our unwell little girl on the way home after 'the incident' with no pants on because
 Mummy had cleaned out the car after the other 'incident'.

Following this, Hubby was sick....& then it was my turn! Turns out that maybe Kayla didn't have an illness from over-eating in the car on the trip back & that she may have picked up a stomach bug from Vegas & kindly packed it, & brought it home with her to share with her Mummy & Daddy! Nice! The good thing, was that we all played tag team with the illness & there was still one parent functioning to have energy to deal with a toddler :)  We all finally recovered by the time the next weekend came around... I don't think a toddler understands the whole, 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'! 

xoxo T