Viva Las Vegas Pt.4

We finally had a rental car on the last full day in Vegas, so we packed in as many non-Strip activities as possible. Like seeing the original "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign.

Yes, that is Ruby completely passed out in my arms. I'd say that's a good representation of how we were all feeling at the tail end of our vacation.

We also made the trek to Hoover Dam. The scale of it all was pretty astonishing.

We couldn't take the littles on the whole dam tour, so a few of us stayed back to supervise them in an observation area. At least the kids made a good time of it.

Are those jazz hands, Braxton?? Haha.

The other greatest sign in Las Vegas. For how close our hotel was to In-N-Out Burger, I'm sad we only made it there once. The "Double-Double" was as delicious as ever.

Pawn Stars fans out there?? LOVE IT. As soon as we started planning our trip to Vegas, visiting the "World Famous" Gold & Silver Pawn was high on my list. The line to get in was out the door & the length of the building the first time we drove by, so I was afraid we weren't going to make it in.

We cruised by a second time to find NO LINE!! There also weren't any stars from the show working, but I wasn't really expecting to see anyone. Still, it was super cool to see where one of our family's favorite shows is filmed.

Suddenly, Ruby wanted to wear my clip-on earrings. I think this girl was inspired by seeing all the jewelry.

More driving around Vegas. The famous Little White Chapel (with 24 hour drive up).

Fremont Street. Now this is what I think of when I imagined Las Vegas before visiting.

Filming part of a magic show for the Travel Channel.

At this point, I was feeling a little overstimulated by it all.

Leading up to the finale of our trip--seeing a Cirque du Soleil show with my Mom, sis (& her husband). We got to see Ka at MGM Grand and it was MIND-BLOWING.

One thing I didn't expect was to have so many options to see Cirque shows (there are currently 7 running in Vegas). The shows are a little pricey, but worth every penny.

One tip is to call the box office on the day of the show and do some "negotiating". Our other sis saw this same show for $70. Our tickets weren't as cheap, but they weren't much more. Tickets for shows can typically run $110-200.

So long, Vegas...it's hard to say when we'll be back again. But if we do, I'll be seeing another Cirque du Soleil show and will also pay a visit to the Neon Museum/ Boneyard (which sadly, we did not squeeze into this trip). 

One last story to share, and this one it pretty crazy...

On our flight home from Vegas, an elderly man starting choking and passed out in the aisle. The flight attendants called for medical personal over the intercom, and my Mom (a nurse) was able to provide assistance (as well as two other people). They were pumping oxygen, doing chest compressions, and at one point thought they lost the man. It was pretty dramatic. Then miraculously, he came through. He even told my Mom afterward that could see everyone working on him outside of his body. 

It was pretty amazing to see my Mom in action and staying so calm through it all. She even made the call to keep the plane going (an emergency landing was being considered) after checking his vitals and confirming he was ok to continue the rest of the flight. WHAT. A. LADY. Her daughters were all so proud (not to mention teary-eyed over the whole ordeal). 

Hope you enjoyed reading about our trip & maybe you even picked up some tips for planning your own Las Vegas vacation:) Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions! xx