Vegas Baby

That's right, we hit the strip in sunny Las Vegas for the first leg of our trip. While Vegas might seem like it focuses on adults, I will have to say that it was surprisingly very baby friendly. Maybe it was because we had a baby with us, but we noticed strollers everywhere. Vegas really agreed with Jax as well. He loves warm weather which was good because it averaged 100 degrees during our stay. It didn't seem that bad since we have been having temperatures close to that at home plus lots of humidity. We would go out for short periods to see the other hotels and sites and then spend the second part of the day indoors to make sure we kept cool. Jax loved being in his stroller and I have learned that he is a people watcher. For a boy that likes to constantly be stimulated and entertained, being able to see all that was going on in Vegas was perfect.

Our first full day there was sent just walking the strip and checking out all the cool displays in the lobbies of the hotels.




Jax is such the globe trotter. :)

We were so lucky to be able to meet up with our friend Ryan who went to college with Jasper. He lives in L.A. and drove out for the weekend to see us. Ryan usually comes to Kentucky every year for Derby but since Jax was born right around Derby, we didn't make it this year. We were so glad we could see him and introduce him to Jax.

Since everything is so close we were able to take plenty of breaks to rest in the hotel room. I brought Jax's playmat so he would have something familiar to play with.



That evening we went to the Grand Canal shops. We had stayed at the Venetian Hotel which had an indoor shopping center made to look like the streets of Venice Italy, with a canal and all. Can you believe this is actually inside? They even dim the lights in the evening to make it feel like you are outside at night.

We walked around the shops for a little while and then ate dinner at a restaurant in St. Marks Square.


At dinner Ryan joined us along with a good friend of mine from law school, Heather. Heather moved to Vegas right after graduation and has practiced out there ever since. We were all very excited to finally get together again.



This was Jax's first time eating at a nice restaurant and he was great. Sure we had to make three trips to the restroom to change diapers, but he was happy to play with his toys and look around while we ate. He even fell asleep on Jasper which made it hard for Jasper to eat his steak. Luckily Ryan offered to cut his steak for him, they are close like that. :)


The next morning we went down in our pjs to see Ryan before he headed back to L.A. Thanks for coming Ryan and we really hope we can see you again soon!


I didn't take many pictures the next day. Jasper played in a poker tournament (you can't come to Vegas and not play a little right?) and Heather and I went shopping, had lunch and just caught up. It was wonderful. On our way back to the strip area we stopped by the iconic "Welcome to Vegas" sign to take a quick picture. Thanks for being such an awesome host Heather!


That night Jasper, Jax and I walked down the strip to see the fountains at the Bellagio. There is an amazing fountain show every fifteen minutes set to different music. We watched three shows from different areas around the water.


A combination of the heat and the sound of the water put Jax to sleep.




The following morning we were able to take a picture with a Gondolier between boat rides. Jasper and I went on our honeymoon to Italy and loved Venice. One of our favorite things were the Gondoliers that would say "Gondola, gondola?" to ask if you wanted a ride. We figured it was time for Jax to enjoy the same experience, even if he hasn't made it to Italy yet.

Compare the guy in Vegas to the Gondolier we had in Italy in 2007, pretty close right?


We also thought of our dogs who spent the week at the dog spa. We missed them.

Before heading out I figured that I should probably do some betting, in order to at least say I gambled in Vegas. I am not much of a gambler and decided to just play a few hands of black jack. They wouldn't let Jasper stay by the table with Jax (for some reason they don't want parents bringing kids to the Casino while they gamble!) so Jasper just walked him around for a little while. I was having a great time and Jasper gave me a hard time when he came by and said we should probably head out and I responded "just one more hand." Maybe it is a good thing I don't play more often. Here is the only picture we could take at the casino, at the entrance. You aren't allowed to take pictures once you are on the casino floor.


All in all it was a great little trip before heading out to to San Francisco!