Day 12: Las Vegas, baby!

Just like how we'd do it before we hit the road the next day (since day 4), the husband dictated that our set-off time the next morning will be early. 

Me: like, before the sun rise kind of early? 

H (Him/Husband): uh, 6am. ... maybe 7am.

Me: what... so we don't get to eat breakfast? *disappointed tone

H: hm, can can, we grab breakfast quickly and go 

Me: ok. That's fine. So we can wake up at 7... us before 7, wake the kids up then go eat breakfast then set off... 8am can?

H: grunt.

That's us. Me, the overly chatty planner of all minuscule details and him, the man of no little words.

Anyway, the plan is set and being the Mother that I am, I usually am the first to get up and I'll get myself prepared. Or pack for the kids, wake them up then prepare for them and scoot them out of the room so that I can then prepare myself. It is a ceaseless routine of packing, packing and more packing - I kid (hah) you not. I'm not sure why, maybe it is because I check and I need to check again, I think and I re-think about what is needed, then I put in more than less stuff because you never know right, then sometimes I remove them because I feel ridiculous packing so much. Anyway... you get my point. 

So the next morning, I got up and packed and woke the kids up and by this day, the kids will be somewhat familiar with their accommodation. They love roaming the corridors on their own, basking in the independence and thrill of being a #miniboss. "Mommy I want to go downstairs by myself, ok?" - they'd holler. We allow them the freedom, as long as it's within reasonable limits. Through the trip, they mastered recognising the rooms that we lived in and the surroundings. Love how adaptable and adventurous they are. 

(Uh, just to clarify that we are not irresponsible parents, we allowed them to go to breakfast on their own because we were living on the second floor and it was a short trot from the room down one flight of stairs to the lobby area.)

So the thrill for them in the morning is to go down to breakfast on their own. By the time I was done with my preps, this heartwarming sight greeted me.

I can nearly pretend that this was my living room, for real

Just for memory's sake, here was my typical angmoh breakfast. I'd start off with a cup of coffee, followed by a piece of toast and peanut butter/butter. I'd have some plain yoghurt with granola and finish off with some fruit. Then if I can afford it, I'd have another half-cup of coffee.

View while I was having my brekkie. Love how simplistic and functional the set-up is.

After everyone had their fill, off we went. It was 9am. So, we were behind schedule by an hour, but hey. Everyone was full and in good spirits so it was all good.

View from the lodge lobby. It was such a lovely view. 

The drive from Lake Tahoe to our next stop was about 8 hours - one of the longest on the roadtrip. It had to be done, no way about it, which is why we tried to prepare for it. The mobile pantry was full, our bladders not - and off we went. Food was an amazing form of distraction and entertainment for the family, one and all. While the kids used the opportunity to eat all they can (that I'd allow), the husband would do so for different reasons - to keep himself awake. I tried to eat healthy as much as I could, because I was so afraid that I'd fall ill and I really did not want to. 

Thankfully, after a lot of story-telling, squabbling, laughing, singing, talking, looking around.. the kids fell asleep. I think it's the drone in the car, but it always worked to lull them to sleep. I remember the drive was long... and I couldn't decide if I was hot or cold. I was also worried that I'd feel uncomfortable especially going downhill. Thankfully, it wasn't as awful at all once the children fell silent. And I remember basking in the seat, speaking randomly to the husband and soliciting an occasional nod or rare response or sound from him. The views changed quickly too, from open fields and mountains, to dry desert sand for vast spaces ahead. 

Random memory insert here - I recall we made a pee stop and I accidentally threw the husband's coffee away. So it's been sitting in the cup holder since morning and it was probably afternoon by then, and I thought he was done with it - but truth is, even though I felt that it wasn't an empty cup when I shook it, I was also thinking in my head that hot coffee turned cold should not be drunk it must be awful - and while I was bringing out a load of trash from mobile-pantry-roadtrip-part-1-to-LV, I took the cup along and thew it all away. He was astonished to return from the pee-break to find his cup gone missing and said had wanted to sip at it to keep awake ... but he didn't kick up a fuss. I think I remember this because if someone had thrown away my coffee I'd be mighty upset! Though that's just me and my coffee (preferred hot thank you) and there are other occasions that I'm more forgiving than him - so we all have our moments #insertinnocentsmile

This was also the time that we ate such bad Burger King it was not funny. The food was so salty that it was nearly, practically inedible - I kid you not. I had to refrain the children from eating much and even after a few bites, I was done. It was awful - the epitome of American Junk Food. 

It was probably late afternoon, at a particular pee stop that I really needed to make, that both kids happened to be awake and in pretty good spirits. Look at them :)

Monkeys on the road

And... just as the sun was setting, we hit the signs that read "Las Vegas, 9 miles". We had driven a loooooong way from Lake Tahoe to Las Vegas which was approximately 450miles. So when it was done to the last >10miles, it was pretty momentous. 

We found our way to our hotel Circus Circus - that boasted a creepy colourful clown as a signage. We had quite a bit to offload the car and we did so by wheeling what we needed (it was still a pram, a small luggage, each of their own mini luggages, and two big luggages!) and headed to check-in. 

As always, the feeling of comfort once we rolled into the room of our stay, was amazing. To be able to kick off the shoes and step into a hotel room... and just bounce on the bed and lie there to rest. Nice.

We wanted to have better chinese food so after checking in with our friend, Yelp, we located a shop that serves chinese noodles at The Venetian.

After being cooped up in the car all day, we opted to walk and so we did. Oh boy, little did we know then, but we really walked that night.

Playing with our shadows enroute to dinner

Dinner was a simple affair, rather expensive but perhaps it was because our craving for chinese food was strong, I even ordered a simple dessert for a whopping USD8 (or was it 12?) for 4 muah chee (peanut balls)! Ah, the things you do when you need something bad. 

After dinner, we did what one does in Vegas - explore. And true to how my memory remembers Vegas, it was indeed a ball of fun and buzz and lights and tourists. We did a trot from Venetian to the Bellagio, because we wanted to catch the water show. 

Look Ma, it's a boat! (gondola)

On a random bridge out of nowhere - but do check out the lovely 'street shops' by the side!

Let's take a pic on the travellator! (oh, such tourists)

We bumped into Bumble Bee!

A rare couple shot with the "Eiffel Tower"

HAHAH How can I not share this super pic?!

We hung around for a bit and caught two parts of the show. We caught a slow song, and a fast one too - and it was beautiful.

#nofilterpicwithbadlighting

Love

After the show, we decided to head back as it was getting quite late. And so we began our trot from The Bellagio back to Circus Circus.

On the streets of Vegas #familylove

It took us a while before the husband commented "what a long walk" and when we looked at the time, we realised that we'd been walking for nearly an hour! Unknowingly, we had underestimated the time that it'd take us to walk from the main strip to the corner of the strip, which is where Circus Circus is. It was indeed quite a work-out.

Bellagio is somewhere in the middle and Circus Circus is right at the top 

Towards the end, both kids were feeling really grumpy and tired. And this is how they roll...

Hooray for a strong Papa!

My legs were pretty achey by the time we hit the hotel and I must admit that the kids did well despite needing to be carried and being grumpy at parts of the very-long-walk. I think the exciting displays and differently-themed hotels along the way made it entertaining enough for them to keep going (pirate ship! dolphins!) - and even the hoardings were properly elaborate (dragons! huge temple!).

The night ended with the kids bouncing around on the hotel bed and because we had a decent room with a tub, I opted for a hot bath and soaked my tired body within. It was nice. 

Oh yes, before I forget, let me state that one of the key things since this trip was our sleeping arrangement. Somewhere along the trip, the husband encouraged them to sleep together - and perhaps it was the novelty, perhaps it was the fun-ness of it all, but they were fine to try and they did start to sleep together. The arrangement worked perfect because we assured them that we were just nearby in the next double bed, and one double bed for them both was more than spacious. It was nice to see them giggle and/or hold hands on nights that they felt they wanted to.. it was nice. And it also gave the husband and I time to bond with each other - it actually felt slightly odd to sleep next to him again and not a little body instead! #parentingtruths

That night, we all slept soundly and comfortably in the room. Hello, Las Vegas!

Read about day 11 here.