Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Viva Las Vegas!!

On February 4th we flew to Vegas for Jake's gymnastics competition. We snuck in a few extra days for some sightseeing. We did a ton of walking and came home with sore feet. It was well worth it and everyone had a blast!

The excitement mounts as Jake gets ready to board a plane for the first time.

A view of the New York New York from our hotel room.

Emma after a visit to the arcade and M&M World.

A run in with the stone man.

Emma in front of the New York New York. Unfortunately Jake was too small to ride the roller coaster.

Emma in front of our hotel, the MGM Grand.

The Statue of Liberty at the New York New York hotel.

A view of the Excalibur at dusk.

We started our second day with a great breakfast in Boulder City and then headed to the Hoover Dam. It was amazing!

In the backdrop you will see a massive new bridge project that is underway.

Erek and I.

Erek strking a pose.

A plaque at the Dam that speaks for itself.

My Goofy family after an Ice Cream break at Ben & Jerry's in the Paris hotel.

The kids.

A shot of the waterway in the Venetian. Hopefully next time we will get a chance to ride the Gondola. This hotel was definitely one of my favorites.

Emma and one of the Venetian ladies.

A fountain at the Venetian.

Thursday night we decided to take the kids to the Rainforest cafe at the MGM. Here's Emma with her Monkey baloon. We had gone to one of these restaurants in Disneyland with Grandma and Granpa and I forgot all the ways they try to squeeze money out of you. Earlier we had a guy come to the table doing magic tricks. I guess we are just suckers....we couldn't say no.

A happy boy!

And then here we are at competition on Friday. I told you to get used to seeing a lot of these pictures. We are almost done. There is just the State meet left in March. Lookin' good on rings Jake.

Jake's floor routine.

Going up into his stalder press.

A second place team win!!! Way to go GCG!!

The boys were lucky enough after their meet to see the Men's practice session. Here is USA Olympic gymnast Jonathan Horton on rings.

Jake was so excited to have Jonathan sign his shirt. Here he stopped for a quick snapshot.

Here is another USA Olympic gymnast Justin Spring signing Jake's bag. So cool!!

The Paris hotel on a cloudy day.

Erek and I waiting with the kids for the water show at the Bellagio.

And here is a picture from the show.

We left on Saturday. It was actually raining which is a rarity in Vegas and we left some snow behind on the way out.