Dad put a lot of work into planning our Spring Break family vacation, and it was quite the adventure!
We stayed in Las Vegas for the first three or four days, and Dad took us on a LONG walk through downtown so we could see all the cool hotels. It was like traveling the world!
"Don't let the giant flamingo step on you!"
The Bellagio was decked out for Spring and it smelled like fresh flowers.
The kids were pretty worn out after all that walking, so we took a drive out to see the Las Vegas Temple.
The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, and we laid out on the grass to enjoy the gentle breeze. The temple grounds seemed so quiet after being surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the big city. We asked our kids if they could feel the difference between such a peaceful atmosphere and the overwhelming worldly distractions we just experienced. Chelsea replied, "It feels like we just crawled through a dumpster, took a shower, and then laid down in a field of flowers."
It definitely helped us to recharge our spiritual batteries before going back to our hotel.
We stayed at the Planet Hollywood and walked back down to the Bellagio that night to watch the fountain show.
We let the kids hang out in the hotel room for most of the morning and got some lunch.
With two queen beds and two cots we made it work. 
Oh, and luckily we had some extra blankets with us to hide that creepy male model mural hanging on the wall.
Later that afternoon we took the kids to see The Mac King Comedy Magic Show at the Excalibur hotel.
He had some pretty cool tricks and animals up his sleeve.
We stopped by the M&M Factory and grabbed a souvenir on the way back to our hotel.
The next day we went to the Discovery Children's Museum, and the kids had mixed emotions about how much fun they were having...
Look at those faces...
Who needs Las Vegas entertainment when we already have a bunch of talented acts in our family!
Now this is where these clowns truly belong!
We watched two circus acts and the kids got to play quite a few games at the arcade and even won a few prizes. That's as close to gambling as we got.
Before dinner we took a drive out to see the Red Rocks.
They're addicted to breadsticks now.
After we left Las Vegas, we got to drive through Zion's National Park and see all the beautiful rock formations.
Leah bumped her knee trying to climb up on that rock, but she still tried to force a smile through her tears.
On our way to Page we stopped at this cool tunnel called "The Belly of the Dragon" and took a short hike through. It was pretty cool.
We had hoped to make it down to see the Grand Canyon, but some of the roads were closed because of the snow (This has been a ridiculously long winter!) So the next morning we stopped at the Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River and it looked so big!
There are boats down there, but they're so tiny you can barely see them!
Even though it was snowy and cold, we decided to check out Bryce Canyon National Park.
The wind was blowing HARD at every lookout, but we braved the freezing temperatures and got a quick family picture in front of this beautiful canyon.
The kids were pretty hungry after all that exploring, so we found a pizza and pasta buffet next to our hotel in Richfield and stuffed ourselves silly.
That is the face of someone who ate too much ice cream after dinner, and was up puking in the hotel toilet from about 2:00 - 7:00 a.m. I guess she learned her lesson, and mom learned that Shaelyn likes to clap her hands in her sleep, and Dad must have been beating someone at video games in his dream at 4:00 a.m. because he snapped his fingers and said, "How do you like that!" It was a busy night!
Our final stop on the way home was in Bountiful so we could visit our Grandma Bunny!
We took her to dinner and the kids got to swim in the pool at the hotel.
Now that we're FINALLY home, look what mom gets to do for the next three days...
That mountain of laundry is not as pretty as the mountains we saw on our trip, but I guess it was worth the memories.
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