Las vegas....sun, shops and some seriously huge meals!!

We arrived at our vegas hotel ....the stratosphere and we didnt know what we was more excited about ....a lovely bed we could sleep in together, a hot bath or actually bring here in vegas! After we recieved our key to our 15th floor room we just couldnt wait to get in there! It was a Great room with a huge bed, bath! And tv! So we litrally got on the bed for 5 minutes to lay down in some comfort and then i ran a bath! I hadnt really warmed up for days and although death valley was hot i still kept getting cold very easily. We had to sort out our bags aswell so that ment our stuff was everywhere! But we didnt really care we were just happy to have our own space and a normal bed! The bath was lovely we both had a long bath each and it was heaven! Just what we needed ! It was around 8pm by this point and we was tired and hungry so instead of going to the strip we decided to have a nice meal in the hotel and go up to the observation tower! It was the best view of vegas and as hotel guests we got in free saving $40! We wanted to see it in the day and night so we would return in the morning to see the view in the daylight! We first had a meal in one of the hotel restaurants called "roxys diner" it was a old style american diner where the waiters and waitresses sing! It was great fun, and of course the meals were huge ! Luke ordered a foot long hot dog filled eith chilli and cheese! & fries & i had a vegi burger with avocado! Which was so bloody huge! We could t really eat the fries but we gave the burger and hot dog a good go! After this we really needed a food nap! Especially luke! We struggled to walk! Anyway went up to the observation tower and when we got up there the view was lovely you could see all the lights. There were three rides on the top of this hotel all look scary! two of them sent you over the edge of the building making you think you was going to fall! We also watched the sky jumpers that jumped off he building ! It looked terrifying ! Made me think how the hell did i do a sky dive! We spent awhile on one of the sofas just looking at the view :) it was very relaxing!  we went down to our room after this we was so tired and we wanted to facetime my parents as we hadnt spoke to both of them together for ages! And by he time we did all of that we ended up going to bed at 1am! And then at. 3.30am a prostitute knocked on the door! So it wasnt the best nights sleep! But it was so nice being warm! 

We woke up early but didnt get up until about 9.30! We had a lovely surprise when chester and millie decided to facetime us :) we were just laying in bed and the ipad started ringing! we cannot believe how much millie is talking and what a cute little voice she has :) and chester boo showing us his skylander money box he made :) he is saving for the next series 4 skylanders ! He said he has been finding money around the house! And earning money from doing little jobs! My little entrepreneur in the making he is :) i quite litrally cannot wait to cuddle these little monkeys :) anyway after all of this and getting ready we deicded to go to roxys diner agiain for a brunch! We loved this all american diner with singing waiters and waitresses! Very us :) luke had blueberry pancakes and i had a vegi version of eggs benedict.... tomato replaced the ham! And it was bloody good! We were ready to go out but we wanted to go up to the tower again to see the view in the day before we went out and again it was a Great view but so different in the day! 

We bumped into some of the group before breaky and the night before they had all gone on a party bus apart from a few of us it was $40 each and sounded ok but we were there for such as short time we just wanted to do the things we had planned! And we are glad we didnt in the end! As the younger ones that were under 21 and couldnt drink out in the pubs had got drunk before hand and as a result were falling all over the place all night and the guide got completely smashed on a bottle of jack daniels the group had to "prop up" these people and at the end of the night take them back to the hotel not carry them back litrally but you no what its like when people are so drunk its as if you are carrying them! It sounded like there night was ok but lets face it how fun is it propping up drunk youths because they cant handle there drink or dont know when to stop? Me and luke do a lot on our own as this is a once in a lifetime trip and we wanted to see and do the things we want ! We are old enough to not follow the crowd and be able to say we are going to do our own thing and a lot of the groups we have seen seem to play follow the leader when in reality they would probly have a better time if they just explored on there own and saw what they wanted to see, i think that breaking away from the group when you are on a group tour like this is harder for the younger ones they look to others for direction, we may seem like we are distancing our selves but its our trip and we will do what we want to! In any case we were glad we didnt go out with them that does not sound like a night we would have enjoyed!

We decided we were going to get a 24hr bus pass for a bus called the duece it was $8 for and took you up and down the strip as much as you wanted! Perfect as we hadnt fully planned the day yet! We got a bus timetable and saw there was outlet stores at either end of the strip we decided to go to the one furthest away and then make our way back slowly! I dont know why because we should have gone to the one closest to us! Anyway luke was desperate for a hat and i just needed something warmer! It wasnt a huge outlet but big enough! We gave ourselves 2 hours! Time just flys by in these outlets and we had other things we wanted to do! We came across a fox shop which is the same brand as lukes jumper he got in macys and there was a huge sale! Luke found me a lovely was style coat it was $30 knocked down from $150! What a bargain and i wasnt even looking for a coat and then he found a hat! And got 50% off it as it was buy one thing get the next half price! We couldnt believe our luck! We had a wonder found loads of bargains but we prioritised what we actually needed to buy! And just bought a few gifts for millie poppins as there was a disney store outlet, we also bought ourselves a huge micky mouse towel ! It was giant sized! We were gunna buy towels in florida anyway and this only $10! So we treated ourselves! We were going to try & find a minnie one somewhere!  Before we knew it our 2 hours were up and we headed back to the bus stop. We headed towards the MGM hotel and NEW YORK NEW YORK, the sun was so bright we struggled to get a good pic of all the buildings, we got a few but the sun was just in the wrong place....

We next headed to M & M world! It was tiny! And there wasnt many features as the other ones! But we had a wonder and met green m & m....

It was around 4pm now and we decided to have dinner we were right outside dennys....perfect! We had dinner for $15! We started walking down the strip and there was so much to see & look at! It was great just to walk and observe!! We went into a few shops but mostly just took pics and walked! ....

....a few snaps as we wonder!

We wanted to see the fountain show at the Bellagio hotel, We found a great spot and when they started it was great....it was all to the song "and all the jazz!" Not sure if thats the official name! It was really good, wish we could have seen it in the night time.

After this we went and done a bit of exploring at ceasers palace! Luke really wanted to go inside. The place was huge! And very grand! This is definately the place to stay ! Maybe one day :) we then continued to walk and came to treasure island hotel which was nice aswell but not on the same scale as ceasers! 

....ceasers palace

We quickly went into one of the shopping malls so i could pop into the disney store to try to get some frozen stuff for millie....no luck! They had nothing! Gutted! By this time it was 7pm, we really wanted to see all the lights back down the strip but we had to pack and get up early....there just wasnt enough time :( so we headed back to the hotel....

We got in bed around 11pm which wasnt to bad ! We was all ready to leave. In the morning i had my last bath :( and luke went and got us takeaway breaky from roxys! We was all ready and at the bus at 8am ready to leave vegas :( 

We really enjoyed las vegas and would definately return :) but need more time there, we didn't get time  to take in all the lights of the strip at night :( which we wanted to do, there is just so much to see and do, just wondering up and down the strip can take a day! And there are so many shows everynight we wanted to see one, and luke wanted to see some boxing and my fave singer britney was doing a concert the day we left gutted :( but the 2 nights we spent there was a good taster for us to plan another trip there!! But for now its goodbye to vegas and onto the grand canyon via route 66! So excited!