Vegas is the perfect weekend getaway. It just happened to be the weekend after my company’s layoffs, so it was great way to unwind after such a stressful week. It was only a three day trip (Sun-Mon), but we were able to cram in a lot of activities into that time! We were able to see Le Reve, our first Cirque du Soleil show, which was mind-blowing. (The stage was made out of water!) And best of all, our trip was a sweet, sweet deal – it came to $300 which included one Cirque show, round trip airfare (SFO to Vegas), and 2 nights at the Excalibur hotel. There is an upside to a recession.

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Mike and I at the SFO airport. It’s 7 or 8 in the morning (I don’t remember)…but we weren’t sleepy at all! We were too excited. I was excited about leaving cold San Francisco weather for hot desert weather.

I knew it was going to be a great trip because a giant desert rabbit greeted me at the Vegas airport.

The majority of our trip honestly felt like this. A LOT of walking, in 90+ degree weather, with a huge sweaty crowd. Each hotel is huge, so getting from one hotel to the next made my legs feel like rubber. Melted rubber.

This is the Eiffel Tower outside of the Paris hotel. It’s one of my favorite hotels there. It’s still over the top, but a little less tacky. The Eiffel tower is huge in Vegas, but is really just a smaller version of the actual thing (and cleaner, too).

The sky is not photoshopped in here! It looks just like the painted, faux-sky ceilings in some of the hotels.

The Bellagio has a Conservatory which changes themes to go with upcoming holidays. Since we were there on Mother’s Day weekend, it was covered in tulips, and giant butterflies. There was this crystal-ball fountain in the middle of the garden. It was mesmerizing to watch.

Me posing with a giant snail made of roses. The best smelling snail I’ve ever met.

I think this is also part of the Mother’s Day theme, but I wasn’t sure. They were cute.

The Chihuly glass display on the ceiling is a permanent display at the Bellagio lobby.

I know, everyone has a picture of the Bellagio fountains. I’ve seen the show so many times, but it never gets old. I like it when they play classical music, it’s just that much more epic.

They had these interesting fountains at the Bellagio Conservatory. They looked like clear plexiglass tubes but…

…was actually water that was in a “laminar flow” (where the water molecules line up?!). Mike knows smart things like that.

This is the “Bird Man”. He does regular bird shows at this place on the strip. We saw it when we were walking by, and watched him do tricks with the trained birds. We went to Vegas and did all this family-oriented stuff instead. Ha.

I forgot their names, but they were super cute, and very smart.

We went to eat at the buffet at Excalibur. It wasn’t that great. Mike has the appetite of a 7-year-old. Seriously…corn dogs and mac n’ cheese. If there was tater tots, those would be on his plate, too.

Mike was attacked by a camel. But he wasn’t hurt.

Me in the mirror in the hotel room. It was full of tacky stuff like this.

What? The towers at Excalibur aren’t real?

This was the view from the room.

::nom nom nom:: The MGM lion was pretty awesome. He’s huge!

Here’s the mama lion.

I wasn’t the only one with a camera.

How we got around Vegas. It would have been helpful if the monorail or hotels had an app…but they don’t.

Giant slot machine! I didn’t see anyone win though. That would be fun to watch. What if big coins come out?

YUMMY! The desserts at the Paris hotel. They were gorgeous.

French style ice cream called a “glacée”, which is very similar to gelato. The best chocolate ice cream I’ve ever had.

Mike has never seen so many gold flecked, stale macaroons before.

The fountains at the Paris hotel. Check out the composition and the fast-shutter speed goodness. Oh yeah.

I won $4 at the slot machine! Yeah, that was all. I’m not into gambling. I tried the slots for the first time, and it wasn’t that fun. You put money in a machine and hope for the best. Not cool. I think tables are more fun but I don’t know how to play anything other than Solitaire or Hearts. So sad. Maybe next time.