Livin' It Up In Las Vegas...With A 2 Year Old

In anticipation, Brian cheerfully started packing us the night before we were to leave my grandma's. Excited for a vacation from our vacation, I guess. Our goal was Eli-friendly, inexpensive fun while we were there. Although no Las Vegas hotel advertised kid-friendliness on their website, I did find a site that named a few. We stayed at Excalibur, which has a huge arcade on the bottom floor, was half the price the day after New Year's, and is next to (and connected by a monorail to) Mandalay Bay and it's aquarium. Brian was happy he paid the extra $5 for some coupons at check in. They ended up providing half the fun.

Mandalay Bay Aquarium

Eli finally decided to take a nap in line and missed most of the fish that we went to see for him. Our favorite were the sea turtles and the tank with a tunnel you can walk through.

Tournament of Kings

With our 2 for 1 coupon we went to go see the nights of the round table compete and battle the enemy while we ate Cornish hens and broccoli with our hands. The horsemanship and acrobatics were amazing, although I am still worried I lost some hearing while covering Eli's ears.

Not At The Bar

Wanting to take advantage of a drink coupon, Brian got a virgin dacari. The bar tender thought we were crazy, first for our drink choice, then when he had to tell us that Eli couldn't sit up at the bar. Then the boy squawked because he wanted some of dad's drink. We didn't know if we take the cup to our room since it was glass and thought people would call the police if they saw us giving him a drink in plain view. They didn't.

The View

Eli and I got to know our room and its view since we were up too early for any kid attractions to be open and Brian had left us for some pampering. He found it appropriate since his muscles were sore from an intense training with Master Jang in Santa Barbara. It was good to have some down time, even if I wasn't with Brian for his Swedish massage, sauna, and hot tub excursion. I wasn't surprised when he said he wanted to make this a yearly trip.