Vegas with Kids & Christmas

So, I wanted to share a bit about our family trip to Las Vegas. It was strange taking a family trip to Vegas. It was certainly very different from the trips I've taken with adults. Neither P. nor I gambled one single red cent, and we probably had 4 drinks between the two of us all week. And we were there a whole week... as opposed to a weekend. "You took kids to Vegas. What did you do?," everyone wanted to know.

Well, we checked out many of the free sights around town -- circus performances at Circus Circus, gondolas at the Venetian, faux thunderstorms at the Miracle Mile Shops, faux snow at the Town Square, and the art installations & architecture at City Center. We also did some shopping, went to see the Blue Man Group (they're amazing!), and left town and visited the Hoover Dam (also very cool). While we went shopping one day, the kids went to the Adventuredome. And P. and I did our own running tour of Vegas -- we ran 16 miles around the Strip, the airport, and Sunset Park (we're in training for the marathon). Lastly we did a wee bit of relaxing in our hotel. We actually had tons more things we could have done in and around Vegas. We left feeling like we'd barely scratched the surface. I wouldn't say that Vegas is the most kid-friendly (or cheapest) vacation spot, but there definitely were many things to see and do for all of us.

We got back on the 24th and then hosted Christmas Eve dinner at the house. It was the family plus Sean and Mike. My mom made her famous Christmas Eve Soup, Haitian pates, and hot chocolate. We also had some yummy chicken and lasagna. It was really nice and I loved that my nephew, Rowan, was here for his first Christmas (his original due date was January 5). Christmas Day we had another great meal -- turkey with all the fixins -- at Marfua's house. And then we opened the mound of presents under the tree. Perfect holiday.