Day 1: Penthouse and The Strip {it's not what you think!} #TheCrossesTakeOverVegas

If you follow us via Instagram or Facebook, you'll know that we just came back from an almost week long vacation in Las Vegas with the kids!! 

Call us crazy but it's my fourth time in Vegas and each time I had gone before, I began to notice more and more families with young kids - strollers and all - walking down the Strip.  I thought, what a fun place to bring the kids and, knowing my hubby, he would totally go along with it.  And why not?  After all, you only live once and if the kids have to come, the kids are coming!

Day 1 started out like this:

I started packing the kids' suitcases a few days before we were scheduled to leave because I knew I wouldn't be able to remember everything all in one day.  List?  What list?  {I hate lists!}.  Besides the essentials, I only usually write down stuff we must NOT leave behind.  If we forget a pair of underwear, we can always buy it when we get to Vegas, right?

So the kids were all packed and, thankfully, Miss S packed her own suitcase.  Hubby repeatedly refuses to pack until a couple hours before we need to leave the house.  I'm left fending for myself and two littles.  And making sure they both have their snacks, lunches and proper liquids - not to mention extra clothes, diapers, wipes, headphones, blankets, toys, stroller, Pack 'N Play, car seat, pajamas and toothbrushes {did I forget to include anything else but the kitchen sink?}.  Packing for kids is no easy feat and I ended up putting together my own list after we came back home {go figure, right?!}.

We took a 6:35pm flight and ended up with no exciting incidents except for me spilling every liquid possible onto myself and myself only.  The kids were calm:  Baby Z was satisfied as long as she had food in her mouth and Lil J was entertained by whatever kid show WestJet was playing on the video monitor.  Speaking of WestJet, I can't tell you how thankful I am for the understanding flight attendants on both of our flights {except for the male flight attendant who yelled out "just swallow, kid, just swallow" during our return flight.  More on that later}.

After we landed, we ended up being the last family to get off the plane {stroller, car seat and massive amounts of luggage slowed us down}.  I think by then, we pretty much just wanted to get to our hotel, eat and go to sleep.  But we decided to take our time, making a pit stop in the washroom before heading to the baggage claim.  Bad idea.  By the time we got to the baggage claim, there was a lovely WestJet employee manning our bags.  We took what was ours and then hailed a taxi to our hotel.

Exhausted and just wanting a meal in our bellies, we made our way to the 36th floor of The Signature at MGM Grand.  I ended up booking directly through the {PENTHOUSE!} suite's owner and got an amazing deal.  And the suite did not disappoint!  With a huge bedroom, ensuite and a second bathroom, plus a balcony overlooking the pool and with views of the Strip and a full kitchen with fully stocked dishes and cutlery, we couldn't complain.

And it doesn't even stop there!  Being the crazy parents we are, we decided to take three tired kids to the Strip to get dinner and groceries.  I was so hungry to the point where I would have eaten my left foot and couldn't imagine waiting at the suite for food.  Plus it's Vegas.  What happens there stays there, right?

Just before the pizza fell into hubby's eye - LOL!

Oh and did I mention that we were missing a piece of luggage {Baby Z's suitcase} and didn't even notice until we got to our suite?  Luckily there was a happy ending and the suitcase made it's way to our hotel the next day.  This was after a lot of sleuth work,  investigating and persistence on my part, and a wonderful West Jet employee at LAS who went out of her way to make sure our luggage was tracked down.  Our trip was saved and Baby Z had all the diapers she needed!

This post is not sponsored in any way.  It's my personal journal and recollections of our recent trip to Las Vegas with three kids - and we survived!  Day 2 is up next!