May 2015 - Weekend Getaway

We decided a few months ago that we really needed to have a weekend getaway but we 

didn't know where or what we wanted to do.  So after a lot of talking we decided that 

St. George would be a great place to go. I've always wanted to see a show at Tuacahn 

and we had friends that hooked us up with a place to stay. It worked out that it happened 

the last week of May, right after school got out, and before Pat went back to school to 

start working on his Masters Degree. My mom and Karri were able to help us out by keeping 

the kids for the weekend. School got out at noon, we loaded the car, and Mana came down 

to the house, then we were off on our adventure.

When we got to St George we dropped our stuff off at the condo we were staying in, then headed 

to dinner at a local restaurant, Black Bear Diner.  We had heard good things about it from friends 

and they were right, it was really yummy!  We both got BLT type sandwiches that were big enough 

that we were able to save half of them for breakfast the next day.

We had bought tickets to go see a movie, but it didn't start until after 10 pm, so 

after dinner we headed back to the condo for some down time until the movie.  

On our way to the movie we stopped at Dairy Queen for a dessert.

I bet you can't guess who's is who's.

When we got to the theater this is what we found.  It was completely empty, so the show 

was just for us. At least that's how it was until the movie started and about 3-4 other couples 

showed up. But still! It was so empty! We saw Tomorrowland, it was really fun and we liked it a lot.

The next morning, Saturday, we went to do a session in the St. George Temple. 

It was the first time either of us had been there, so it was extra fun.

After the temple we changed clothes, got lunch at Subway, then went shopping for the afternoon. 

We both found some new clothes at Old Navy, and bought a new family game FARKLE.

Later that day we headed up to Tuacahn to see Beauty and the Beast! 

This was also a new experience for both of us. It was so pretty and quite, I loved it.

When we bought our tickets we also bought tickets for their pre show dinner. It was really great 

food and all you can eat!! They even had the food tables decorated to go along with the show!

We got there quite early and had to wait for about an hour 

and a half before the show started, so we had a little fun.

We bought our customary magnet, some snacks and hung out 

on the lawn for awhile until we could go sit in our seats.

It was really warm outside, even when the sun wasn't blaring down on us, so we 

got some Frozen Strawberry Lemonade while we waited for the show to start.

We had a lady behind us take this picture. I should have asked 

her to make sure and get the book in the picture too. Oh well. 

The show was really enjoyable and they did a great job.

The next day, Sunday, we headed into Las Vegas! This was the first time we had been 

here since we were here on our honeymoon! We went to a few malls first, then headed 

into the city! We parked at a mall close to the freeway, then walked down the strip.

We were on a bridge over the road and I thought it was cool that you could see down the strip.

We found a cute little waterfall/pond.

We started out at the Venetian! It's such a beautiful building.

On our honeymoon I had wanted to take a gondola ride, but felt it was too expensive, 

we were newlyweds on a budget! So this time I told him that I wanted to do it.

It was really fun and we were able to do the gondolas that were inside the hotel.

It's always good luck to kiss when you go under a bridge.

Here's Tino, our 'captain'. He was really funny and sang a few songs in Italian that were really beautiful.

This is a cool fountain that was outside of the Venetian. 

Afterwards, we headed across the street to Caesars Palace.  I had to take a picture 

of their curving escalators for Xander, because I knew he would think it was cool.

There are so many cool things to see, like a small aquarium.

and large statues.

After we explored the strip, we headed over to Freemont Street because I had never 

been there before. I was really amazed that they had zip lines down the street.  I was really 

interested in doing it, but very chicken at the same time. So we opted not to do it. Maybe next time.

Pat really wanted to do a little bit of gambling at the slot machines. 

So we both had $20 to gamble. He was lucky and won a bit of money!

My picture turned out blurry, but he won 73 dollars.

I ended up losing all of my $20.

Afterwards we were really hot and tired, so we drove around a bit. Pat found a little 

toy shop and found out that they had another one across town. So we went to see that one 

too, then had dinner at an Applebee's before heading back to St. George.

Monday morning came and it was time to go home. After a McDonald's breakfast we headed over to The Fractured Prune to have doughnuts!  It was really cool because you could pick your own toppings!

Pat had a keylime and banana cream. I had a banana cream and of course chocolate!

Our weekend was fun and ended fast, but it was great to have time together, just us. 

I am so thankful for my mom and sister that took time to be with our kids for those 3+ days. 

They are so wonderful to us and I can't thank them enough.