Last Night in Sin City!

Our last night was lots of fun.  We had the opportunity to catch up with our cousins Jim, Christine, Anthony, Julianna, and Evan at the Rio Casino Buffet.  It was great to hear about their travels as they made their way through California and Nevada.
It's funny how we're all so busy in Toronto, but we were able to meet up for a great night in another city and country!
Afterwards, Dad, Oliver and I made our way into the casino.  After watching dad play the game "Let it Ride", for some time, I joined in the fun and got a straight flush on my first hand!  Yippee!  I made 2 piles of my chips and once my first pile was done, I got up and cashed in.  I walked away UP in Vegas!  My dad was upset that I got his cards...but hey, as long as the $$ stays in the family!:)  I think it was all the poker nights over the past few years that brought me the luck - Thanks to all for your advice and support!  Watch out everyone - I'm going to make it to the "Big Table"!

Hook Them Young!

The girls had a great time at the Fun Dungeon in the basement of Excalibur.  Some of the games are similar to the casino games, so kids are able to know how to gamble when they are of age...these people in Vegas are brilliant! 
For most of the games, the kids can win tickets which they could then redeem to go shopping for dollar store toys.  Our girls favoured the virtual skipping game where they had to jump over a light which represented the rope.  The had a blast - I even tried it and won some tickets too!

Baba scored big by winning the 500 ticket jackpot on the Spin to Win game!  Too bad she didn't have that same luck upstairs!

Hotel Highlights

We toured a number of the hotels and saw lots of different ways to entice people to come in and gamble.

We really liked the free shows like the Living Statues at Caesar's, the Mirage Volcano, and/or the Fountains at the Bellagio. 

Vegas Animals

Throughout the week, we tried to see the different animals at the various hotels.  There was the lions at the MGM, the aquariums at Caesar's and Mandalay Bay, and the lions, tigers, and dolphin habitats at the Mirage.

Daily Life in Vegas

We landed in Vegas on Friday, August 12th and met up with my mom and dad.  We stayed at the Desert Rose Resort which was just off of the Strip.
Over the week in Vegas we fell into a quasi routine.  Since we are timeshare owners, we had breakfast delivered to our room everyday.  Then it was time for dips in the pool before the temps soared over 100 degrees in the morning hours.
Sometimes we went shopping, other times we went touring the hotels, or just hung out by the pool.  One day we went shopping to the North and South Outlet Malls - the deals were fantastic!  Whatever we did, it was always fun!
Oh yes...we saw Cirque's Mystere at Treasure Island - it was incredible!
Dad's routine involved finding a lucky casino ...so you won't see him in most of the pictures!