Vegas #6: good times, but not much poker

I've been having a great time in Vegas since my wife Sarah, son Owen, and our Moms got here Sunday night!

A lot of the trip has been centered around Owen (as is always the case with kids I guess!). It has been absolutely ridiculously hot, and tomorrow is supposed to set at record at 115 F, which is about 47 C. This is pretty crazy hot for a kid under 2 years old, so we've had to be careful with Owen, but he has been a trooper!

First day we walked to Mandalay Bay. This was our first and last walk. I rented a Rav4 and have since realized parking is much easier than I suspected it would be. We checked out Shark Reef which is okay, sort of overpriced for what you get, but I still recommend it for kids. Without kids, it's just so-so. After that we trained over to Excalibur and didn't find much interesting there. Had the buffet and headed back to our room.

By the way, our hotel is called the Desert Rose Resort and it's pretty good. Price is decent at $1,400 for the week and the room is about 800 sq. ft. with two full bedrooms with bathrooms and a full kitchen, dining area and living room. You could comfortably sleep 5 adults. The pool area isn't anything amazing, but it's fine and has a hot tub and kid pool, and isn't super crowded.

Next day we just did some walking around Caesars shops and that area. I showed them the Bellagio Fountain show and Owen was pissed I wouldn't turn the fountains back on after the show. Last night I went to downtown Las Vegas for the first time ever with the gang (Sciangula, Angst and his girlfriend & sister, and Quentin). I didn't realize it was so cool! Played some craps and roullette and found out my wife rocks at roulette.

Today we went to the Grand Lux Cafe in Venetian (I highly recommend), then Sarah and our Moms used their Cirque de Soleil Mystere tickets I got them while I watched Owen. I went to the Mirage Botanic Gardens and Dolphin Exhibit with my boy. We had a blast. The tigers, lions, and other animals were pretty active too because it was the evening (I recommend going around 6pm for this reason, though it closes at 7pm). Owen was trying to order all the tigers and lions to go in the water because it was so hot. He was getting pretty annoyed that they wouldn't listen to him. Haha, everyone around us was cracking up. Owen immediately fell asleep on the car ride back to the room, it was a long day for him!

I played a little online at Full Tilt after Owen went to bed and am up almost $3k so far, so that's good. It's been a while since I put in a real session there, and the play is actually pretty damn weak which is nice to see. I might quit soon because my connection is getting a little wonky.

The girls are still out partying so I'm glad they're having a good time. Not sure what all else we'll do, but I have Danny Gans tickets in a couple days which should be cool. One day I want to take a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon, but it'll take a little more convincing for Sarah to get on a helicopter.

I'm planning on playing the Bellagio $2,500 tourney on Friday. Maybe I can make a 2nd break for the first time in Vegas! There are a couple more tourneys at Venetian for the CEO Poker Tour I'd love to play after that but I'm not sure that will pan out. My family leaves on Sunday, but I don't have a plane ticket home myself yet! I'm not sure if staying a couple more days is going to be passed by the boss (i.e. my beautiful wife, love you honey! Maybe I'll win $100k or more for that new kitchen we want!!!!), but we'll see.