Vegas Baby!

Sorry for the hiatus. This time I have a really good excuse.  I was out of the state!

Jason earned a trip through his employer to Con Expo in Vegas for the two of us.  It was my first trip to Vegas so I had no idea what to expect.  First, let me thank my parents for moving in to our house for a week to take care of the munchkins.  And a special thanks to Whit and Evan for giving Nana and Papa a break by taking the boys to Incredible Pizza one night.  We could not have made this trip without your help!
Jason and I flew out on Tuesday morning along with some other Titan employees and their wives.  We were in Vegas that afternoon.  Titan booked us rooms at Planet Hollywood at Westgate.  Our view was pretty amazing.

Planet Hollywood Westgate

View from our room during the day

View from our room at night

The weather was in the mid 60's during the day and it was pretty chilly at night.  We were able to hang out by the pool one day so that was really nice.

On Tuesday night we ate at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, went to a really fun outdoor bar called Carnaval, then ended the night at the Moon Lounge in the Palms Hotel.  We were excited to be on vacation with friends we don't see very often and may have over celebrated.  This was the night Jason either lost his wallet or was pick pocketed.  Either way, his money, credit cards, ID and room card were gone. Yep, night number 1.  Luckily my mom overnighted Jason his passport so we could still enjoy the rest of our trip.  Thank you Mom!

On Wednesday we went to the Construction Expo, which happens every three years.  Part of it is outside and there are several buildings to walk through as well.  I never made it through the whole thing.

Me checking out the Case equipment

The outdoor part of Con Expo

Jason went back to the Expo on Thursday and I stayed back at the hotel for a massage.  Best massage ever!!  The next few days consisted of a Case event at Club Pure in Caeser's Palace, Holly Madison's Peep Show, an impersonator show, Frank Calliendo comedy show, dinner at the Strip House, a little shopping, losing one whole dollar in the penny slots, dinner at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, Cirque Du Soleil (Ka), clubbing at LAX (saw Ronnie from Jersey Shore), checking out Fremont Street, and a trip to the Minus5 ice bar.

Jason and I at Margaritaville

Overhead light show on Fremont Street

At Club LAX 

After the Minus5 Ice Bar (can't take pictures inside)

 On Friday Jason and I had a free day and decided to walk along The Strip since I had never seen it before.  I wanted to check out some of the hotels that I had heard about.  We walked down to New York New York to see the roller coaster.  It wasn't running because of the wind.  We went to the M and M Store then walked through the City Center, the Bellagio, the Venetian, and a few others.  Upon Jason's request we took a cab to In and Out Burger for lunch.  He was having cravings.  The MGM Grand is where we saw Cirque Du Soleil.  It was amazing.  If you ever get a chance to go to one of their shows, DO IT!

MGM Grand

New York New York Hotel

In front of the Bellagio where the fountain show happens (too windy)

Jason

The Venetian

Paris Hotel

On our last day in Vegas we took a tour of the Hoover Dam.  I have to admit I wasn't super excited but went along for the ride.  I was pleasantly surprised at how cool it was.  They also just built a new bridge near the dam in 2010 which is VERY high up in the air.  The only reason I stepped foot on that bridge was to get a picture of the plaque at the Nevada-Arizona border which is of course in the middle...YIKES!  I was the one speed walking to get back off of the bridge.

Hoover Dam

A view of the new bridge from Hoover Dam

A view of Hoover Dam from the new bridge

The plaque in the middle of the bridge

Side of the bridge from the Nevada side

We crammed all of these activities between Tuesday and Sunday.  Thank you Titan Machinery for the great trip.  We could never have done all of these things on our own.  Vegas is expensive!  We had such a great time and I would love to go back some day.  I could not wait to see Nash and Nolan when we got back.  I cried when I saw them...what a sap!  They looked like they had grown up a little since we left.  It's always so good to be back home again.  Home.  Sweet.  Home.