It's day 13 of Christmas Break and I figured we better get ourselves out of the house and do something. Let me tell you, this break has been won.der.ful. Relaxing, quiet, did I mention relaxing? Each day the kids have alternated between playing the Wii and playing outside with a neighborhood friend and have been fully entertained. We took a trip to the local park one day, and another day we brought lunch to Scott's office.
I realized though, that I needed to take advantage of the opportunity to do some exploring with them. When school is in session we don't ever have time to do outings (even the weekends seem busy).
For this day's adventure I took them to the Container Park in downtown Las Vegas. It is located on Fremont Street, about 2 blocks down from the Fremont Street Experience and fairly new, I guess. It was really easy to get to and I was super excited to discover that there was a parking lot right across the street! ($2/hour)
At the entrance you are greeted by a praying mantis
A giant praying mantis
The park consists of a playground in the center surrounded by little businesses, shops, and food. But here's the kicker . . . . everything is made from recycled freight containers. Like, train cars. When I heard about this place I had to go check it out for myself. Pretty cool!
The kids loved the park. As soon as I said, "3-story slide" they were sold.
I really enjoyed the modern/urban design. And the place was so so clean. Spotless!
After living in this city for a while, the design actually caught me off guard! It is SO not Vegas. In fact, the look plus all the "green" elements (recycled freight cars, the playground floor was made from recycled sneakers) reminded me of something I might find in the Northwest!
I loved all the outdoor seating. Tons of it. And fun little alcoves with couches for lounging. I think it would be fun to come back for a date night, grab something to eat, and take a trip down the slide. Get this -- after 9pm, the slide is only open for adults 21 and up. Party? Party.
The kids enjoyed playing with these foam blocks on the playground and the small concert lawn.
While there we grabbed a few slushies to drink and some Kettle Popcorn for snacking. Yum. There was a BBQ place that smelled really good and a restaurant called Pork and Beans that looked busy. I made the kids eat lunch before we left because I didn't want to shell out a bunch of money on food. We walked around a little bit, checking out a few shops. Overall the shopping seemed just o.k. Which was good because it meant I wasn't in there for long.
On our way out I made the kids sit for a picture in front of the heart -- it is covered with locks and messages about lovey dovey stuff. You can surmise from these pictures how they felt about that.
Next to the parking lot are these huge painted murals. Kinda cool. I told the kids to check them out and choose their favorite one. Anna picked this one.
Then Conner, somewhat embarrassed, pointed out that the mural right next to Anna featured a naked woman. Oops. Run to the van kids and don't look back!!!
Guess that's what I get for taking them to Fremont Street.
