Andrew and I have been to Vegas a number of times since we’ve been together and I used to go there a lot when I was growing up. Andrew tires of it, but I think that there’s always something fun you can find to do that doesn’t involve gambling or alcohol. Some say Vegas isn’t kid friendly, but we usually always go with our kids and they enjoy doing all the free touristy things. 

One place we’ve never visited before was the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. I first heard about this when Bellagio first opened, but I was unsuccessful in finding it. Turns out that it’s right by the check-in desk and you have to enter through the front doors, not the shopping area. It was such a pretty place and Isabelle loved going around smelling every flower. This was a highlight for us in Vegas.

1. Massive Topshop store 2. Yummy ramen

And as always, Vegas isn’t complete without a little shopping (my first ever visit to the new Topshop at the Fashion Show Mall was like a dream come true), a lunch buffet at the Spice Market in Planet Hollywod (this is usually the buffet we hit if we’re doing any buffets), Yelping for dinner at a Japanese ramen house, and a visit to the Chinese bakery in Chinatown for some goodies to bring home.

1. The farmstead on the Anasazi Trail 2. Andrew riding down the trail with Isabelle

When we were back in St. George, we looked up some biking trails and decided to try out the Anasazi Trail since it looked like a family friendly one that we haven’t been on before. According to this recommendation, it was going to be fairly easy for kids too which is why we decided to do it. We started off on a late start in the morning and then the road signs were minimal and not very helpful in finding the trail head. It was through an unmarked double gated entrance which we finally drove through after passing it the first time. There were vaulted toilets there which was a nice break for the kids. I was under the impression we were going on a paved trail which was definitely not the case. The trail itself wasn’t too bad except that it was steep in some parts. It also looked like they were trying to deal with some eroding issues which meant there were tubes placed randomly throughout the trail and some had huge potholes around them that we had to walk around. Note to self: Never bring a bike with training wheels mountain biking again. Jadon had some troubles and his bike was definitely not up for it so he ended up walking half the trail.  Reaching the farmstead finally, we had a look around and read the plaque but there wasn’t really much of anything that we could make out. We originally wanted to go see the petroglyphs here, but the heat and the uncertainty of how far away it was made us turn around. This is definitely a trip for when our kids are a little bit older, although Isabelle did love hitching a ride on Andrew’s handlebars the entire time.

Our Red Rock Road Trip was overall very successful and the kids had a lot of fun. It was our first time ever being really spontaneous during a vacation and it turned out pretty well.