Day 9

We were up early to leave Vegas but the kids remembered that we promised them a trip to the M&M store.  So one more stop before we head out.

 We also watched a short 3-d show.

We left Vegas and headed to the Grand Canyon.  We also decided to camp since the weather was great.   We put the tent up first so that we didn't have to do it in the dark.

 So excited to be out of the car.



We saw some wildlife as we entered into the Grand Canyon.

WOW!!!  WOW!!!  WOW!!!

We had dinner at a local pizza place.  If you plan to go to the Grand Canyon, make sure you get gas and eat before you get there.  Prices are crazy, expensive there.

A little game of UNO before bedtime in the tent.

Day 8

Happy Independence Day!!!

When we arrived in Nevada, we visited the visitor center for Las Vegas.   We were given a guide of free things to do....so we thought we would try some of those out.  Our first stop was in Caesar's Palace.  We saw the Fountain of the Gods, the Atlantis Fountain, and an aquarium... actually, I would call it a large fish tank.

Then we headed to the Bellagio to see the Conservatory.

 Can you tell Carson is done taking pictures?

If we are traveling on the 4th, we try to find a small town to enjoy fireworks.  We decided to give Boulder City a try.  The Hoover Dam is also there, so we headed out early to take a look at that first.

 Haylee is in Nevada and Carson is in Arizona.

We walked to the top of the bridge from a previous picture.  We walked half way across the bridge.

The view from the top of the bridge. 

Then we headed back into town to pick up dinner for our picnic and to get ready for the fireworks.

The weather was perfect.  We actually could have used jackets.  I guess there is no burn ban or rules for shooting fireworks within the city limits since everyone around us were "popping" them.  Once the real show started it was GREAT!!

Day 7

We spent most of the day resting and relaxing. The kids went swimming and then spent the night at my dad's house. So David and I explored the strip in Vegas without kids. First we had dinner at Fat-Burger.

David heard about this place on the Food Network.  The burger was pretty good.

Then we went to see the show, Surf, the musical.  It was based on Beach Boy songs. The show was very good.    The we headed out to the strip.  We went to New York, New York and walked around before calling it a day.

Day 6

We were up early to try and squeeze in as much Disney as possible.   Today is the day we would ride the new ride in Cars Land at California Adventure.  Well, we were wrong.  We were there before the gates opened and there had to be hundreds of people in line for Fast-Passes.  In fact, they were all gone for the day by 10:30 a.m.   The actually line for the ride was already at 2 hours.  So all we could do was walk by it and watch others enjoy the new ride. 

We did see Mater was we walked through Cars Land.

Now on to do the few other things we wanted to do.

One of Carson's new favorite shows is Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  This is now part of Disney Junior so we had to watch that show.  It also included other friends from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Hanny Manny, and the Little Einsteins.

Then we rode a few of our favorite rides just one more time.

Haylee noticed a new ride that she wanted to try.

Phineas and Ferb passing by...

One more time to DisneyLand...

One place we had to go was to see Rapunzel from Tangled.  The line was very long.  So the boys head out for Carson to ride something.  He wanted to ride the Jungle Cruise. 

While Haylee and I waited in line for Rapunzel, I was just people watching and then noticed someone I recognized.  It was Meri and her daughter from Sister Wives.  I thought it was neat for them to be away together and then they were all there. All 4 wives, Kody (the husband), and most of the kids. Of course I wanted to take pictures but I refrained except for a few.  I know, I know...  I shouldn't be watching that show. 

Christine and one of the girls

Kody walking with the baby.

I had time to take these pictures because once we got to the front of the line, the princess needed a break....REALLY.. finally about 70 minutes later...

We meet up with the boys to try and finish up.  We didn't feel that we got very much accomplished because the parks were so busy.  Someone over heard me telling David how busy it seemed compared to the previous two days and she said that locals can't use there passes on the weekends.  I found that interesting but it was packed...

We couldn't leave before going to the Enchanted Tiki Room and the kids were begging to go to Tarzan's Treehouse.

After this, we decided it was time to head out, but on the way we couldn't pass up one last autograph.

Carson didn't really believe we were really leaving.  Once we realized we were out of the gates, he started crying that he didn't want to leave.  He really got made when we tried to take a picture of him crying.

Once we got everyone loaded, it was off to Las Vegas.