The Livingstone Family: This one time, we went to VEGAS!.....

WELL!!! I can't believe I never wrote about our Vegas trip!! Back in May 2013, Brian and I jetted off to Las Vegas with no kids for 6 days! We flew out of Great Falls so it was even cheaper but after taking the trip, we decided that it was NOT worth the 5 hour drive each way to the airport. But you live and learn!

On the way to the airport Brian surprised me with some big news...he had booked us to go SKYDIVING!!!! I won't write about the hours of hyperventilating I went through...I'll just say I was NERVOUS! Brian knows me well - that I sometimes need to be pushed into something scary without much thought or preplanning so I don't chicken out and that I love surprises. He did the same thing when he booked us to go Bungee jumping at West Edmonton Mall (SCARY, by the way).
As it turns out....I LOVED SKYDIVING!!!!! I have always said I wanted to do it, but having it booked was more real than saying one day I'll do it....
It was the biggest rush ever and I was totally nervous to go, but once you're in that airplane you just have to commit. There was ZERO hesitation when the door opened to jump out. I went first out of the whole group and I much preferred that. I HAVE to go first before Brian or I think I might chicken out after he's gone. SO I even looked down the 15,000 feet and prepared to jump by getting into the position they taught me and jumped and screamed! Its about a one minute free fall (at 190km/h!) then they pull the chute. After your heart settles a little bit, I could enjoy the view of Lake Mead, the Hoover Dam, the Vegas Strip and some mountains in the desert. IT was the funnest thing ever!!!!
Brian LOVED it too!! He'd actually done skydiving before - much smaller and not tandem while we were dating. This was WAY better because it was higher up.

The rest of the trip was also eventful!! We enjoyed lots of buffets - the Bellagio was our FAVOURITE buffet, watched the Bellagio water show lots of times, shopped, enjoyed the pool and then Brian (aka Mr. Romantic) surprised me again!!

A LIMO picked us up one night at our hotel to take us on the town!! We stopped at some typical tourist spots and then we went to the Paris hotel for dinner. The Paris hotel is shaped just like the Eiffel Tower and the restaurant is at the very top! It was an expensive dinner, but worth the one time thing. Its a French restauarnt (obviously) and its like 5 courses - some delicious and some were like what the heck is this??! But we loved the experience and our table looked out on the strip and the Bellagio water show - perfect!! Then the limo picked us up and took us back to our hotel! Such a fun night!!!

We also took a day trip out to the Hoover Dam. That was really cool!! Its HUGE and the history is quite interesting. We looked through the museam first to learn about why and how they created the dam and then walked across it. You can stand in Las Vegas and Arizona at the same time at this point. It was crazy hot out, and we got INSANELY thirsty so we were happy to go after a few hours.

We also went to the Shark Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. Theres like over 60 species of sharks or some crazy number like that. And I got to touch a sting ray and see jellyfish!! Those were so cool!