Ladd Photos

It was lots of fun to try out all the various instruments. I particularly liked the banjo, and the boys enjoyed releasing their inner rock star on the electric guitars.

In the morning, Connor built a Thanksgiving themed napkin holder at the local Home Depot. Later that day, we spent a few hours bowling. Aliciana kicked all our butts!

We started off by taking a look inside Independence Hall, an exact brick-for-brick replica of the original in Philadelphia. Then we headed into the park, which was extremely busy. We still managed to get on some of our favorite rides, such as the Sierra Sidewinder. The boys ate some boysenberry treats before we headed home.

During our first day in Vegas, we visited M&M world, which is 4 floors of anything you can imagine you could sell with an M&M logo.

Then we did the International Flavors tasters at Coke World. The “Beverly” from Italy is the worst thing I’ve ever tasted in my life. The “Fanta Sour Plum” from China tasted just like BBQ sauce, which was a unique flavor for a soda.

Today was the first of 3 days on our All-Inclusive Go City Las Vegas passes, which is a great deal if you cram a ton of stuff into your days. We were up for the challenge.

We started the day by visiting the Luxor to reserve our Blue Man Group tickets. Then we did Fly Over Vegas by “flying” through the Wonders of the American West show. We visited the Hunger Games Experience in the MGM next. Gavin enjoyed it because he had at least read the books, but only Ali and I have seen the movies.

Our next stop was across the street to ride the NYNY Big Apple roller coaster, which was a blast. Then we went into the Excalibur to watch a 4D movie about Aquaman.

Our last stop before dinner was the Illuminarium, where we spent 45 minutes immersed in an Africa Safari. Between the floor rumbling and the videos projecting all around you, it really felt like you were chilling in Africa.

After a good dinner at Rollin’ Smoke BBQ, we headed to the Luxor for the Blue Man Group show. The show was amazing, both hilarious and imaginative. The boys were blown away by it. Connor forgot his hat inside the amphitheater, and came back with his hat and two drum heads from the performance! An awesome souvenir.

The day started off at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, where we took photos with the stars. Then we headed to Marvel STATION which had a ton of Iron Man suits and other immersive exhibits from the movies.

After lunch we viewed “Leonardo: The Universal Man”, which was a cool immersive art exhibit all about Leonardo da Vinci.

Our last stop of the day was The Strat, where we had great seats for “Banachek’s Mind Games”. I went in as a skeptic but I have no idea how he pulled off the mind reading and other magic tricks he performed. After the show, we went up to the observation deck at the very top, to take in the view and watch crazy people jump off the edge.

We packed a lot of stops into the last day of our All-Inclusive Go City passes.

The first stop was National Nuclear Testing Museum, where we learned about the development of the nuclear bomb and how they tested it in the Nevada Desert. The information wove in nicely with all we learned at Los Alamos about the development of the first nuclear bombs. We also got to experience a simulated nuclear explosion.

Next we explored the Discovering King Tut museum at the Luxor. The history was told well and Connor especially loved all the artifacts, because he is studying Egyptian history in school.

We moved up the strip and took in the view from the High Roller Observation Wheel, which is the tallest in the Americas. Only the one in Dubai is larger.

Our passes came with $80 to spend at Sweet Sin LV, with the stipulation that you were required to use the complete amount. So we had quite a sugar rush with mountains of gelato and tons of macaroons to bring home.

We headed to Bally’s next for the National Geographic “Rarely Seen” photography exhibit. I loved it. They had so many beautiful photos blown up to cover entire walls, which made you felt like you were inside of them.

The sun went down as we headed to Paris to take in the view from the observation deck in their half-sized replica of the Eiffel Tower. We caught part of the Bellagio water show while up there.

We finished off the night with another show at the Illuminarium, this one immersing us in space. Then we visited a trampoline park down from the strip, which was pretty run down, but since it was free on our pass, it was still worth it.

After the last 3 days of running between different attractions, we were exhausted, so we spent the morning swimming and relaxing. Then we spent the rest of the day wandering the strip, visiting the Venetian shops, the Forum shops, and watching the Bellagio water show.

We ate a delicious deep dish pizza at Gordiano’s, which was our favorite when we visited Chicago. Then we explored some more, visiting the Cosmopolitan and the holiday decorations inside the Bellagio. At that point, it was time to say goodbye to Las Vegas, and drive back to San Diego.

Out enjoying a nice day at the Safari Park, when it was all decorated for the holidays.

In addition to all the rides, we saw “The Gift of the Magi, 1885” at the Bird Cage theater. But the highlight of the night was Snoopy’s Night Before Christmas, the new ice skating show.

The park was decorated beautifully for the holiday season with all sorts of lights. There was a light tunnel where the lights synced up with music. We also visited the babirusas and the platypus, before finishing the night with the lantern light show in the lagoon.

With no big trip this winter break, we instead did a few little ones. We spent the night at Great Wolf Lodge up in Garden Grove. That gave us 2 days to enjoy the indoor water park. The boys even gave boogie boarding a try.

We spent the morning opening presents, and the rest of the day with the Loera clan, eating and opening more presents.

If you are ever near Old Town, make sure to check out the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. The interactive tour is very well done and it is an interesting bit of San Diego history.

The boys got annual passes from their Tia Kristel, so they got to experience Six Flags for the first time. Ali and I hadn’t been since we were teenagers. The park was beautifully decorated for the holidays.