Pizza Factory in Apple Valley, CA, is my absolute favorite pizza place. My kids love their arcade area and are so excited when we eat there. They have lunch specials available for $6-$8 which include sandwiches, pastas, and pizza bars. The service is always friendly. They also have several televisions that always have the latest sporting events playing.

Our weekly playgroup loves to try new places and activities to wear out our little ones. This last week we visited Acrobrats. The staff was very accommodating and set up a special class with activities for our group. At first, my 3 year old was a bit nervous of all the equipment, but he loved all of the things to bounce on and climb on after I told him they were great for football training. Acrobrats offers classes and activities for children as young as 18 months old. The activities were very age appropriate and all the kids from our group loved it.

After a long walk down the Las Vegas Strip, my family was famished. My husband and I both have very fond memories of visiting the Excalibur Buffet when we were younger and decided to see if it still met our expectations. It was just as good as I remembered it! While it may seem a bit high on the price scale if you are on a budget, you will defiantly not leave hungry or disappointed. There is a special for $32 to visit the Excalibur Buffet and the Luxor Buffet for the entire day which seems like a good deal. My boys were able to get all of their favorite foods from fresh salads to pizza and macaroni and cheese to a great dessert bar. I enjoyed scalloped potatoes and prime rib as well as a crème brulee from the dessert bar. My husband wasn’t very excited about the Chinese food, but, all of the other foods were great. Kids under 4 eat free. It was a great place for the family to eat.

Upon entering the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef exhibit, I forgot I was still in the middle of the desert in Las Vegas. The sheer size of the aquariums made me feel that I was at one of the aquariums closer to the ocean. My boys were very excited to get the passport that was handed out that explained the different shark and animal species that were located in the exhibit. They were also very excited to get to pet the manta ray in the touch tank. The staff was very helpful and informative. They were very patient with my boys’ questions. A couple of the attractions got a bit backed up which made it a bit hard for us to see the animals, but overall, it moved through pretty smoothly. This is a great exhibit for all ages. I felt the price was ok; children 3 and under were free, and my 3 year old thoroughly enjoyed it. While I was surprised by the size of the exhibit, we were able to go through it in about an hour. I would recommend it as a great place to visit if you have the money.

The M&M store is located next to the Coca-cola store. These two stores offer a great oasis off the Vegas strip. The M&M store offers merchandise and so much more. There is a free 3D movie starring some of your favorite M&M characters as well as a full sized race car for the kids (and adults) to look at. While you are there, they are often giving out samples of new products; we sampled the cherry M&M’s. My boys enjoyed the spontaneous dance that broke out with the yellow M&M during a song. Overall, the M&M’s store is a great quick visit, it took us about one hour to see the movie and view all the floors. My boys can’t wait to go back.