24hrs X 7 days ~ Our Way Too Long Spring Break in Vegas (*_^)

Valley of Fire!

This year for Spring Break, hubby packed us all up to go to Vegas.....for 7 days! Joe somebody at work had a good deal.... 7 days in Grandview Hotel timeshare for $300. So what's a penny-pinching family like us to do....but to go for the full 168 hours?

Our friend Sam took our side view ~ very interesting!!

Caleb loves hiking!

Luckily some buddies from church also went to Vegas for a few days, so we had dinner with them on Sunday, and the next day we all went to Valley of Fire State Park together!

~ Grandview Buffet ~ This is where the pounds come in...and Stay!

I was surprised Valley of Fire was the 1st State Park in Nevada!

Valley of Fire is very beautiful, with majestic red rocks all around. We were captivated by the breathtaking view, and the kids loved chasing the chipmunks around and climbing the surprisingly well-tractioned rocks!

 

It's funny ~ during our family picture, ALL the kids ran over to take pictures with us!

 

Warning: This Video may cause dizziness in many viewers (^_^)....or is it just me?



Caleb and I rarely take pictures together (or he won't let me), so I enjoy this "on the cliff" moment. Sometimes our mother-son relationship is 'rocky', but through it all, I thank God for the opportunity to watch a little baby boy grow to a little man in just short 9 years!

The next day we went to Hoover Dam, which was a very short excursion. After all, how long can you stand there and look at a dam? Nevertheless, it was fun and good to get out of the one-bedroom, half-kitchen apartment (^_^).





This bridge was completed Oct 2010 so people can see the view of the Hoover Dam

The Dam's view from the new bypass bridge



Caleb hangs over a ( pseudo) cliff near Hoover Dam

The Red Rock Canyon State Park has 19 hiking trails and is very beautiful as well! Our first "Discovery" hike was a 0.7 miles long, rocky hike and we ended up at a beautiful waterfall.

We passed several bushes en route and discovered lots of "catepillar nests", where many baby catepillars squirm around in their stringy caccoon-like homes. Really cool (and kind of gross)!



Kids pose for pictures along the Discovery Trail



Doesn't the pose look EXACTLY the same?







Caleb hikes with daddy at White Dome trail in Red Rock Canyon



The rest of the vacation was a blur, as we began to fight after several days of being cooped up in the hotel watching reruns of Sponge Bob Squarepants and iCarly... But nonetheless, I am thankful for the opportunity to share good (and even boring) moments with my loved ones. We had 4 buffets in all, and now I'm working on losing the pounds (which is quite easy, since I'm currently on antibiotics for 10 days.....and have no junk food appetite). Hubby is already planning on our summer vacation....'while I'm still doing laundry and unpacking from our 2-weeks-ago-trip!