Vegas, Baby!

I know, I know... I'm a little bit behind. School is finally out and I've got a few minutes to post about our Vegas trip (Memorial Day weekend).

First of all, you'll notice that the girls (and bears) all look pretty comfortable and happy, don't they? It was pretty amazing (to me) how much more spacious DaddyDude's new truck was. He really enjoyed being able to cram all sorts of stuff in the back (baseball gear, cooler, luggage, etc.) without worrying about whether or not it'd all fit. I don't think a single bear hit the floor the entire trip! That's something!

We stayed at a place called The Orleans - here's the view from the room during the daytime. It's incredible how these places are designed to provide everything you need  - so you don't have much of a reason to leave. Let me tell you... I really enjoyed not having to cook!

The girls insisted on visiting the pool a couple of times, of course. The weather was rather odd the first day - it was extremely windy (Marika actually got blown over!) so our visit to the pool that day was rather short.

And here's the reason we were in Vegas anyway - baseball! All of the high school fields and park fields were extremely well-maintained. They were gorgeous! It's interesting how much money they seem to have to use on public properties... but about the tournament - DaddyDude's team was in the wrong age division (25+, should have been in 35+ - don't ask, there were annoying reasons why that happened) and ended up losing every game (mercied out 2 of the 4 games). Oh, well...

The girls were troopers and didn't complain once about all the waiting and watching. I guess they are pretty well-trained, though... :)

They did manage to get some of their own practicing in, too. Marika loves to wear Mika's old face mask. I'm not really sure why... Mika is slowly getting used to wearing her retainer.

We were fortunate to have enough time on Saturday evening, to visit Caesar's Palace and - on the way back to the shuttle - catch 2 showings of the Bellagio water show. It's always a breathtaking display!

And lo and behold - the rare family photo! Please note that everybody looks happy. :)

We did try to visit Viva Las Vegas Stamps, but they were closed. I mean, their sign said "OPEN" and we were there during their regularly scheduled shop hours, but nobody would answer the door! I was really bummed! I guess it wasn't meant to be...