MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! All the way from Vegas!

We would be doing exciting things on Christmas Day, unlike the last time we came here and actually went home on Christmas Day, so the day was spent traveling instead of enjoying the day that time.

Today would end up being a nice 63°. Not as warm as yesterday but still manageable.

Everyone was up between 6 and 7:30 and ready for some breakfast. We headed downstairs and decided to just go back to America again since their food was good and plentiful.

This time I would ask if we could sit under the United States so I could observe it more.

It was interesting to see what they came up with that related to each state. Some were spot on and others...I was a little confused about.

Here is my state's "rock" on the ceiling. I was kinda left scratching my head.

The tire is there because it was famous for being the "Rubber Capital of the World" in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company was founded in 1898 and one of the world's largest tire companies. Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was founded in 1900 then later purchased by Bridgestone. B. F. Goodrich Company is also located here and was acquired in 1990 by Michelin.

There is a building there, which I first thought it was a school or something but after seeing pictures online, I assume that was the tire factory.

There's something that looks like water and and a star in the middle. I'm not sure if that was to represent the Scioto River or if those were hills. Ohio is pretty flat until you get toward the bottom of the state. I'm definitely confused about the star in the middle of it. ???

Then there's a church on the hill? Or maybe it was a house. I have no idea what the significance of it was.

I feel like they dropped the ball on this one. They should have put a plane on there somewhere since the Wright brothers were born here and known as the "Birthplace of Aviation". They flew the first successful airplane here in Dayton, Ohio in 1903.

We are also known as the "Buckeye State" and it is our state tree. Where is the Buckeye? Oh, they replaced it with a star???

New Mexico is known for hot air balloons and that was on there.

Nevada had the Vegas strip and it actually had lights on it and since it's the desert there was also a skull. Wyoming known for it's wildlife and Western heritage and had a horse and cowboy and teepees.

South Dakota had Mount Rushmore.

Nebraska is known for corn and one of the top corn-producing states in the US.

Kansas...yep, you guessed it, it had a tornado on it and it's also known as the "sunflower state".

Oklahoma is home to the American crows.

Arkansas is the top producer of wheat.

Georgia: of course that would be the peach and peanuts.

Florida: oranges

They got it right on a lot of the states and without even knowing what state it was, you would know just for what was located there.

On the side wall they included Alaska and Hawaii as well:

Our breakfast was good, just like before and we were ready for an exciting day ahead of us.

Now guess what I discovered....you can actually download the RTC app (for the Deuce bus) and BUY YOUR 3 DAY PASS ON THERE! Geesh! Why didn't I discover this before I spent $80+ for a day ticket the other day. I was kicking myself after this but at least we were able to buy our tickets now and not have to search for a kiosk.

Off to the bus stop we went across the street. The kids had their matching Christmas sweaters on. Yes, they like to plan to match these days. So cute.

We got on the bus and of course headed upstairs. Sakari would not get the front seat this time because a couple had taken up both sides, sitting alone, when they could have sat together and gave up one side of the seats.

So guess where we are going today....This will give you a hint:

It was time to jump off a building. Again, I'm encouraging Karl to go with his instinct and he didn't have to do it. I told him to wait until we bought the tickets to go up to the top and he could have a look from up there. He kept saying "I'm doing it".

We went to the office to talk to them. I asked if we could buy our tickets up to the top and if he decided he wanted to jump then could we come back down and purchase the jump and them credit the amount to go up we had paid for. They said "Sure!" I gave Karl every "out" I could...but he didn't take the offer. He said "I'M DOING IT! I'm going to face my fears."

So this was going to be another VERY expensive day. To do the Sky Jump on a week day (cheaper and that happens to be today) it is $149.99 a person. If you want to do the Video Package (which includes a 360 wristcam you have with you during your jump) it is $164.99 per person. I decided I wanted Sakari to have a camera with her during her jump. I needed to know her reaction and wondered if it would be a lot of screaming like she did during the zipline. So, it would end up costing me a whopping $411.84 for these kids to jump and our tickets. ARE YOU SURE KARL???? Don't have me pay for something and then you back out. Are you sure you don't want to go up first to check it out? I got an astounding "no, I want to jump...for sure!" Alrighty then. The hubby and I purchased our observation deck ticket's, which were $21.95 per person.

We headed out and I told the kids to pick a spot on the meter that represented them. Of course Sakari picked the Daredevil, which says "Was that supposed to scare me?"

Poor Karl decided he was the Coward, which said "No F*!king Way" although he had decided to do it anyhow. He's living life I tell ya. We are breaking him in fast these days.

We headed up to the tower and they had it decorated nicely with Christmas trees up there.

So time to look around and check out the view from 1,149 feet above the Las Vegas Strip. It is the highest free-standing observation tower in the United Stated and has a 360-degree view of the Las Vegas Valley and beyond with floor to ceiling glass windows. There are indoor and outdoor observation decks.

"Hey Karl, look down here!"

The enclosure you go into of no-turning-back-now prior to the jump:

It had a great view of the sphere from up here.

Of course the Christmas Smiley guy was so cute and a favorite of ours: (click the link)

https://youtube.com/shorts/7ymgt6DZJyQ

Look at those beautiful mountains in the distance. Some day one of my trips to Vegas will include visiting there.

On the outside deck they had a kiosk that said you could have your picture taken and post to your Social Media. It gave a countdown and we posed. We went through all the steps only to find out that you needed to purchase them to remove the "Proof" from the picture. Oh well. I'm spending enough today so this wasn't going to happen.

We would just resort to taking our own pictures.

So now was the time...we had stalled long enough and to give Karl an idea of how high he was jumping off a building and potentially losing his breakfast or consciousness. You decide.

We headed back down stairs for them to gear up.

Forms needed to be filled out warning you of everything that could go wrong I'm sure.

Waiting to get geared up for the jump.

Ok, things were getting real now.

One last picture before going back up:

So we decided at this point that the hubby would go up with the kids to take a video of them jumping. I would remain downstairs where they had a viewing area at the landing pad with lounge chairs to relax in while you waited. This would be my view:

I'm sure it was the longest ride to the top for Karl. But, this was happening.

Sakari decided to let Karl chose if he wanted to go first or last. She didn't care either way. She was so excited. Karl decided to jump first.

Last chance Karl....

I mean he did have a huge grin on his face. Was he just trying to hide his emotions?

Then....HE DID IT!

Can you spot him in the picture above? He's the little green spot seen in the round building toward the bottom. Here he comes!

He had survived and said it was fun. His bucket list is skydiving and this was pretty darn close. He took his place in the lounge chair next to me to watch Sakari come down.

Now if you're wondering how you know which dot belongs to you coming from way up there, there's a guy on the bottom with a walkie talkie that relays the information on the next jumper with their name and when they are coming. They give a countdown and let you know within the minute of jumping. That makes it nice. I wasn't sure how I would know when it was actually them coming down instead of someone else. I was fully prepared to video every person that came down so that I didn't miss it.

Ok, Sakari was ready now. She's waving and giving the thumbs up.

And here we go......

She looked like a dot floating down.

Dangling like a rag doll. I didn't hear any screams but then again, she was so far up there I wasn't sure if you could hear it from down where we were. (I would later find out when reviewing the video's that you could in fact hear Karl screaming on the way down)

You could tell she absolutely loved it! And I was still a mother of four plus one (Karl)

We headed inside for them to remove their harness. She really wished she was doing the two for one and would have went again if given the chance. Yep, she was still smiling.

They said they would send me and email within 10 minutes to download her video and I pulled a couple screen shots from it to share here. There's no fear in those eyes.

And here we go....

Just look at that face! She was loving it.

After watching her 360 video, yes she screamed with joy and loved every minute of it.

Here's a video of them jumping from multiple angles including Sakari's 360 video. They had such a blast.

Since this was our second time coming to the Strat, I didn't want to do a third time. So...I knew that Sakari wanted to see iLuminate again while we were here in Vegas. It was one of her favorite shows last time and since we had Karl with us, she wanted him to see it as well. I decided to book tickets and surprise them both.

We walked outside as if we were about to catch the bus down the road and I sat down on the curb and told the kids I was wanting to make sure they sent the video because I wasn't taking any chances. Honestly, I had already received it and was booking the tickets to the show. The show would cost $262.92 for us and I purchased the cheaper ticket because, once again, I knew the layout and we would be fine no matter where we sat.

After awhile, I told the kids "Let's head back in to see what's going on" and I acted like I was upset about not getting the video and in we went.

After arriving right outside the theater I was like "Aww, ok, I got them...well....while we are here..." and I walked around and got in line for the show. Sakari jumped up and down because at that point she knew exactly what was going on. Karl was confused of course. She screamed "We're going to the iLuminate show!!!"

We found our seats and we were decently close to the stage.

Popcorn at $10 a small bucket was becoming the norm for us:

The show started and it was, of course, the exact same as the last time. Sakari squealed when her favorite dancer hit the stage.

My favorite part of the show...Michael Jackson. You of course can't put on a Michael Jackson show without doing "the lean"....

The dancers did come out into the audience, like they did before, but I didn't see them actually pull people up from their seats and dance with them. The last time Sakari got to dance with her favorite dancer and it was all she talked about the rest of the trip. They did come give high-fives and Sakari got a fist bump by her favorite person DJ Sammie.

The show was good but we felt that we weren't as excited about it as we was the last time we watched it. I guess maybe because it was repetitive and we had already seen it? Karl liked it but not as well as watching the Jabbawockeez the other night. I guess the Jabbawockeez had set the bar pretty high for him.

When the show ended, all the dancers came out on the stage. The last time several of them met us outside the theater for pictures. They did not do that this time although I did see an option to add on to the tickets a "Meet and Greet". So, maybe you now have to pay for it.

Here's a video of bits and pieces of the show:

After the show we headed back out and down the street to catch the bus. We remember last time we were here the bus stop was down the street a ways toward Circus Circus.

Goodbye Strat....Yes, yes you guys jumped from that!

We caught the bus and was on our way.

On the ride back, I asked the kids where they wanted to go for our "Christmas Dinner". They were unsure but I knew I wanted it to be something a little different than just going to a quick place. I wanted to sit down and have a nice family meal. I suggested The Rain Forest. Sakari loved when we went there a few years ago when we were in Orlando Florida. She said "yes, yes, yes!" I looked online and there were several times available for reservations. However, there's really no way to predict just how long the Deuce would take to get us there. It gets really crowded a few certain blocks on the strip and I decided not to book anything and just go there as a walk up.

We got off at the Cosmopolitan, walked across the street and down to the Rain Forest Cafe. It is located in a mall on the second floor. From outside you can also see it and looks like there might be outside seating during nice weather.

We walked up to check in for a table and was told "We are completely full and booked for the night." Um, ok. I swear I was just looking at the online booking and it showed multiple times that we were able to book.

We walked away to discuss where we would go now. "Wait, hold up! I'm going to check online for reservations and see what it says". I checked and what do you know, there were time slots open for booking. She lied to us!!! I booked a reservation

Our reservations were for 7:15 pm and it was only 5:30 pm so we had a bit of waiting to do.

We walked outside to stare at the weird building and people watch (well, mostly car watch).

We noticed there were a lot of self-driving Robotaxi vehicles on Las Vegas Blvd. They were just everywhere during our stay. They have been in Las Vegas since June of 2023. What most of them look like (picture below is not mine):

My feet were hurting. We ask if we could sit down in an area by where you check in. She told us we were welcome to sit at the bar but the kids could not go in. I'm not just leaving my kids out there alone. Then she told us "Never mind, that area is closed" although we continued to see people sit there.

At 6:45pm the hubby said he was going to go up and ask if our seats were ready anyhow and they were.

You had to climb a few flights of stairs to get up to the restaurant.

As always, various animals were moving around us and Karl was having a new experience.

Now one of the things that is a rule with us is that if Karl wants to go on vacation with us he must pay his own way for most things. When we are on a cruise, he must pay for his own excursions we do. When we are on vacation, he pays for the excursions only (of course we pay for all the food and the house). Not a bad deal for anyone being able to travel various places for very little that he would normally not be able to do. While in Vegas, I told him he would have to pay for his food as well since we would be staying in a hotel and no access to a grocery store for us to buy food to cook at home like we do while on a Caribbean vacation in an airbnb. Karl has a habit of always being hungry and he eats a lot despite his very slender figure. It's expensive enough to feed 3 people...especially in Vegas.

Well today has been an expensive day with jumping from the Strat and seeing a show already. We sat down and Karl was looking at the menu and gasp at the prices. Then he was on a search to find the cheapest thing on the menu he could get. However, what he didn't realize was that since it was Christmas our present to him was a "free" day! That meant I was paying for his jump at the Strat, the iLuminate show and all meals today...including the expensive Rain Forest meal. I whispered to the hubby "I bet he's going to pick the cheapest thing on the menu but I can guarantee if he knew I was paying, he would pick the most expensive."

Sakari ordered herself a light up drink ($12.29) where she got to keep the cup where it will sit in our cabinet, collecting dust for years until we decide to donate it to a thrift store, which is what had been done with so many cups in the past.

We put our orders in and watched the animals moving around including the light jungle show that happens every so often during dining.

Our food came and it was oh so yummy!

I ordered the shrimp sampler platter ($31.99) and it was amazing.

Sakari wanted the beef lava nachos ($20.49):

The hubby was in the mood for a sandwich and ordered the Blue Mountain Chicken Sandwich ($21.99):

And Karl, well, he did exactly what I predicted and that was order the cheapest meal he could find...a salad called the Big Islander Caesar Salad but he added chicken, which actually made it more than the hubby's meal ($21.99).

Our $140+ bill arrived and we broke the news to Karl "Today is on us....Merry Christmas Karl". He was grateful and of course he replied "Oh man, I would have ordered something else if I would have known that" Yes, yes you would have Karl and I didn't want to influence your decision. LOL Jokes on you tonight! We all laughed and headed back to our hotel.

A video of a few of the animals around the Rainforest Cafe (click the link).

https://youtube.com/shorts/TSjIhWXGln4

Everyone was tired from the day and we didn't stay up too late after that. I would check my watch to see how many miles we managed to walk today:

Obviously we did more standing today than walking today and my leg was ok with that. I think it was getting used to all the walking again and it was hurting less and less each day but then again I was making sure to take my Naproxen prior to heading out and during our walks. Whew!

💤