Bailey's Birthday Surprise!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAILEY!
I can't believe our youngest is 17 years old! What the heck?!? There was nothing she wanted or needed, so we decided to take her on a fun birthday adventure instead! On Tuesday I left a note in her car telling her that her and Mason would be missing school on Friday, so they needed to talk to their teachers and get any work they would be missing. On Wednesday, I left another note telling them that we were going on a birthday adventure for the weekend. I told them we'd be gone for 3 nights, and gave them a list of things to pack. It said that they needed to be at our house, ready to leave at 4:00 on Thursday. When they got in the car on Thursday, I gave them another note telling them our first stop would be dinner. It told them to browse the enclosed menu and decide what they wanted to eat. The menu let them know that we were going to Maddox for dinner. It's a restaurant in Utah that Bailey loves.

A yummy birthday dinner at Maddox was the perfect way to kick off our weekend!

After Maddox, they got another note that told them we had a 5 hour drive. They got a basket with all kinds of stuff to entertain them in the car. I made them some personalized games (crosswords, word searches, and other fun puzzles). They had all their favorite snacks, card games, Bop It, Yahtzee, the new Hank Smith CD, movies, etc...

We ended up in Saint George sometime between midnight and 1:00 in the morning.

They were so funny in the car! All the stuff was perfect, and they never got bored!

Bailey couldn't figure out what we'd be doing in St. George. She assumed that's where the surprise was going to be. The next morning, when we were leaving the hotel, I gave them their final note. It told them we were spending the weekend in Las Vegas! It said they could do whatever they wanted (and I listed a ton of suggestions), but that two things were planned. We were going to the Blue Man Group on Friday night, and they had unlimited ride passes for the 3 crazy rides on top of the Stratosphere for Saturday. They were so excited! Every time we drive by Vegas, Bailey says she wants to ride those crazy rides! Now she would get her chance!

A fun birthday surprise!

We kicked off our Vegas adventure with a picture at the famous Las Vegas sign! Then we started walking the strip and touring some hotels. We started with the Bellagio. They have the best botanical gardens, and an amazing chocolate shop with some incredible chocolate art! We spent a lot of time at the New York New York. We've been to New York, so it's fun to look at all the detail that's put into the hotel. We loved the Hershey Store. After that we went to the Pinball Hall of Fame. Such a great place! They have almost every old pinball machine imaginable, and a few classic arcade games. Everything is refurbished, and you can play it all for a quarter or $0.50. We could have spent WAY more time there, but we had to leave to make it to our show on time. The Blue Man Group show was AMAZING! I'm pretty sure I've never seen Mason laugh so hard! So fun! After the show, we walked around a couple more hotels (Luxor and Excalibur), stopped in a few shops, and stopped to watch the fountain show at the Bellagio on the way back to our hotel.

The famous Las Vegas sign!

The Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio were awesome! They had a super fun fall theme. Bailey and I saw them a few years back in the summer time while we were in Vegas for a concert. I want to see them for every season! I bet they are great in winter for the holidays. 

This tree was huge! It blinked it's eyes and talked! The giant squirrels in the tree were animated too. 

New York New York

Hershey's Chocolate World!

This Statue of Liberty was made out of chocolate! It was so cool, and had so much detail! 

The Statue of Liberty on the second floor was made out of Twizzlers. So Fun!

We loved the Pinball Hall of Fame! We could have spent hours there!

Mark found a 24 pinball machine! Jack Bauer is his man crush! :)

The Blue Man Group was so awesome!

This guy was impossible to get a good picture with! So funny though!

 

The Luxor

 

The M&M Store!

 

The Paris

The Bellagio fountain show.

 The second day was just as busy as the first. We walked the strip touring a lot more hotels. We started with Caesar's Palace, which is HUGE and super cool! Then we saw the Mirage, Treasure Island, the Palazzo, the Venetian, and the Flamingo. Then it was off to the Stratosphere for the crazy rides! Bailey was so nervous, and so excited! They rode Insanity first, then X-Scream, and then Big Shot. They rode them all several times during the day, we stopped to eat dinner, and then they rode them all several more times at night. We had no idea they would be entertained for so long by the rides. They had tons of fun! When the rides finally lost the thrill, we headed to Freemont Street. We just wanted to see what it was like. We didn't stay long, because we had to drive to Cedar City that night, but I could have hung out there for hours. Such a fun, high energy place. They had bands playing, a cool music show, people zip lining overhead, and lots of crazy people to look at!

Caesar's Palace

This hotel has so many cool things to look at!

Looking at the aquarium while we waited for the show to start.

Gelato in Caesar's Palace! 

The Mirage

The canals in the Palazzo and Venetian.

The Venetian

We found Bailey some giant corn dogs in the Venetian

The Flamingo had some GIANT fish!

Flamingos!

The Stratosphere was where the real fun got started!

The highest view point in Vegas!

Insanity is a ride that hangs you off the edge of the Stratosphere and spins you around (while tilting your seat toward the ground)!

So crazy!

Insanity Video

This was X-Scream, and it made me nervous just watching it! I think I could be talked into the other rides, but I don't think I could ever do this one.  You are basically roller coastering off the edge of the Stratosphere! Then it stops you, lifts you back up, backs you up, and you repeat that 3 times. No thanks! Bailey and Mason loved it! They would wait longer in line just to get the front seat!

Crazy stuff!

X-Scream Video

They saved Big Shot for last, because it's the one that made Bailey the most nervous. Her face is classic!

They loved it!

Big Shot Video

Dinner break before round two of crazy rides!

The view from the top of the Stratosphere at night is so cool!

 

They loved the rides at night!

 

So many lights!

Freemont Street

We drove home on Bailey's actual birthday. We stopped at the Cheesecake Factory and she got a nice birthday treat!

When we got home, Bailey got her birthday presents from Mason. Remember the creepy baby from previous posts? She gave it to him for his birthday, and he had the pleasure of gifting it back to her for her birthday. He cut it's head off, hollowed out it's eyes, and turned it into a night light. So dang funny! I'm pretty sure she'll have a great time using it to mess with Sawyer!

He also got her this giant bag of popcorn! She'll be in popcorn heaven for a long time! And yep, the classy poop hat is from him as well. Leave it to Bailey to mention that she wants a poop hat, and leave it to Mason to make sure she gets one! Hahaha! I have banned her from leaving the house in it! He also got her a fun album of some of their adventures together.

She had a great birthday! She works so hard at everything she does, so we were happy to give her a stress free weekend full of fun! Happy birthday Bailey!