The great thing about getting back from our Vegas vacation on Wednesday night is that we have a 4 day weekend with the boys! We're gonna make a little staycation out of the long weekend.
This morning we went to Daddy Steve and Namaw's house to pick up Brody and Barrett. When we walked in the door, Brody immediately went into warp speed and began showing us everything he'd learned to do in the last week and everything that he'd played with. Barrett had a very different reaction. He was sitting on the floor when he looked up and saw us for the first time. He paused and stared at us for a few seconds and then threw himself on his face and started bawling! I guess he suddenly remembered that we'd left him and that he was supposed to be upset about it? It took me a good 10 minutes to get him calmed down.
When we got home, they played with their toys for a while and then went down for naps. After dinner, we took them to Target and let Brody pick out a movie (Ratatouille) and some movie snacks. I think we were still on Vegas time because on our way home we looked at the clock in the Durango and realized that it was already 8 pm! We put Barrett to bed but let Brody stay up late with us and watch the movie. That's what you're supposed to do on vacation...right?!
Thursday, July 09, 2009
In the Know
While in Las Vegas, we saw many strange/interesting people. One that really struck us as odd was a lady with a video camera. Her husband was standing against a plain, white wall outside of one of the hotels. He wasn't talking to her or doing anything special, he was simply using his Blackberry. The lady was standing there video taping him on his Blackberry for the entire time it took us to walk up to the hotel (and she was still videoing when we went inside). We laughed as we thought about how exciting that video would be to watch when they got home from vacation.
This incident spurred an obsession of photo taking on our vacation. No, not photos of landmarks in Vegas...but photos of Mike on his Blackberry! We didn't have internet in our rooms, so Mike's Blackberry was our sole source of information. Most of the time he was on his Blackberry he was looking up something for all of us, but that didn't stop me and Caleb from capturing it on camera!
Here's a photo collage for your enjoyment (click on the collage to see it on a larger scale).
This incident spurred an obsession of photo taking on our vacation. No, not photos of landmarks in Vegas...but photos of Mike on his Blackberry! We didn't have internet in our rooms, so Mike's Blackberry was our sole source of information. Most of the time he was on his Blackberry he was looking up something for all of us, but that didn't stop me and Caleb from capturing it on camera!
Here's a photo collage for your enjoyment (click on the collage to see it on a larger scale).
Walkin' Shoes
We may not have been hiking in the mountains of Colorado during our vacation...but we still put on the miles! Caleb's phone actually records his steps and displays how many miles he walks each day. We walked almost 55 miles on our Vegas Vacation!
Friday - 9.2 miles
Saturday - 8.8 miles
Sunday - 10.4 miles
Monday - 9.8 miles (plus at least 40-60 miles on a jet ski)
Tuesday - 9.7 miles (plus the 3 miles straight down while skydiving)
Wednesday - 7.0 miles
Caleb and Audria did it all in flip flops! Mike varied his shoes...and I wore my Chaco's 99% of the time. Looking at Caleb's phone at the end of the day eased our guilt for not making it to the gym.
Friday - 9.2 miles
Saturday - 8.8 miles
Sunday - 10.4 miles
Monday - 9.8 miles (plus at least 40-60 miles on a jet ski)
Tuesday - 9.7 miles (plus the 3 miles straight down while skydiving)
Wednesday - 7.0 miles
Caleb and Audria did it all in flip flops! Mike varied his shoes...and I wore my Chaco's 99% of the time. Looking at Caleb's phone at the end of the day eased our guilt for not making it to the gym.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
On our way home
Today was our last day in Las Vegas. I think we all agree that Las Vegas is a one time trip...but we're still sad to go home. Vacation is fun!
This morning Audria and I spent some time down at the pool (for the first time!) while the guys when to see an auto show. None of us took cameras with us...so I don't have any pictures of our morning. It's too bad because it was an exciting one! Not long after Audria and I got to the pool we saw thick black smoke just over the wall around the pool. We couldn't tell if it was our hotel or the one next door...but it didn't look good! Everyone was sitting up and looking at the smoke. Audria and I got up and walked towards the smoke. We arrived at the outer wall at the same time as one of the employees who opened one of the emergency exit doors. When he did we saw a huge billow of flames and smoke! He told us that it was an RV on fire in the street. We heard a huge explosion as the tires blew, but within a few minutes the firemen had the blaze under control and the fire was out. When we got back to our room we could see the burned out frame of what used to be someone's RV.
When the guys got back we finished packing up our rooms and then checked out of the hotel. The guys offered to take the luggage to the airport and go ahead and check our bags so that Audria and I wouldn't have to sit under the luggage again. Since the airport was only 10 minutes away, we thought that was a great idea! Audria and I headed out to do a little shopping while they went to the airport.
They guys picked us up after they checked the bags and we headed to lunch. We ate at a little place called Duo Wood-Fired Pizzeria. The pizza was delicious!!!
Our last meal in Vegas...
After lunch it was time to head to the airport. We turned the Mustang back in at the rental car agency and then rode the shuttle to the terminal. We didn't have to wait very long before our flight began boarding. As the plane took off, we caught one last glimpse of the Las Vegas strip.
Then it was all desert!
We watched the sun set as we flew towards DFW, however, without any clouds in the sky...it didn't make for a very good picture.
We were happy to see that all of our bags made the flight with us and happy to see Daddy Steve waiting for us just outside baggage claim.
We had so much fun going on vacation with Caleb and Audria. We can't wait for the next adventure together!
This morning Audria and I spent some time down at the pool (for the first time!) while the guys when to see an auto show. None of us took cameras with us...so I don't have any pictures of our morning. It's too bad because it was an exciting one! Not long after Audria and I got to the pool we saw thick black smoke just over the wall around the pool. We couldn't tell if it was our hotel or the one next door...but it didn't look good! Everyone was sitting up and looking at the smoke. Audria and I got up and walked towards the smoke. We arrived at the outer wall at the same time as one of the employees who opened one of the emergency exit doors. When he did we saw a huge billow of flames and smoke! He told us that it was an RV on fire in the street. We heard a huge explosion as the tires blew, but within a few minutes the firemen had the blaze under control and the fire was out. When we got back to our room we could see the burned out frame of what used to be someone's RV.
When the guys got back we finished packing up our rooms and then checked out of the hotel. The guys offered to take the luggage to the airport and go ahead and check our bags so that Audria and I wouldn't have to sit under the luggage again. Since the airport was only 10 minutes away, we thought that was a great idea! Audria and I headed out to do a little shopping while they went to the airport.
They guys picked us up after they checked the bags and we headed to lunch. We ate at a little place called Duo Wood-Fired Pizzeria. The pizza was delicious!!!
Our last meal in Vegas...
We were happy to see that all of our bags made the flight with us and happy to see Daddy Steve waiting for us just outside baggage claim.
We had so much fun going on vacation with Caleb and Audria. We can't wait for the next adventure together!
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Date Night
Tonight we went on separate dates. Caleb and Audria wanted to see Lion King and we wanted to see a comedy show. Caleb and Audria were a little disappointed when Lion King was sold out, but they ended up going to a movie (Transformers) and loved it.
Mike and I went to see Defending the Caveman billed as "Broadway's Smash Comedy About the Sexes". It was hilarious! We were laughing so hard we were crying!
Mike and me with Kevin Burke (the star of Defending the Caveman). At the end of the show Kevin told the audience that he's proud to be the only show promoting monogamy on the Las Vegas Strip.
After we left the show we walked down to New York New York to look for a place to eat dinner. We decided on Gonzalez's, a quaint little Mexican restaurant. We sat on the patio and felt like we were on the streets of New York.
Staci in front of New York New York.
Statue of Liberty in front of New York New York.
We spent some time walking around the strip and then headed back to the hotel. It was fun to just relax together for an evening. Mike is an amazing husband and I fall more in love with him every single day. It's been awesome to have so much one on one time this week! (Thanks Daddy Steve & Namaw for watching our boys!)
Mike and I went to see Defending the Caveman billed as "Broadway's Smash Comedy About the Sexes". It was hilarious! We were laughing so hard we were crying!
Mike and me with Kevin Burke (the star of Defending the Caveman). At the end of the show Kevin told the audience that he's proud to be the only show promoting monogamy on the Las Vegas Strip.
After we left the show we walked down to New York New York to look for a place to eat dinner. We decided on Gonzalez's, a quaint little Mexican restaurant. We sat on the patio and felt like we were on the streets of New York.
Staci in front of New York New York.
Statue of Liberty in front of New York New York.
We spent some time walking around the strip and then headed back to the hotel. It was fun to just relax together for an evening. Mike is an amazing husband and I fall more in love with him every single day. It's been awesome to have so much one on one time this week! (Thanks Daddy Steve & Namaw for watching our boys!)Since tonight was the last night at our hotel, we HAD to see the Sirens of Treasure Island show! How could we stay at a hotel with a big show (that's free) and not see it? Mike and I headed down for the 10:00 pm showing. Since we're hotel guests, we get VIP "seating" (you're actually standing) at the very front. We were so disappointed when the show was cancelled due to high winds. A hotel guest standing behind us said that the earlier show was cancelled due to wind and so was the one last night. It was still really windy at 11:30 pm (the last show time of the night), so we didn't get to see the show. I found some pictures of what we might have seen if the winds hadn't been so blustery...
It's kind of sad that tonight is our last night in the hotel. We've had a really fun vacation together! Even though we're sad that our vacation is almost over, we're excited to see our boys again. We've really missed them!
First Food & Bar
It took me a little while before I felt like I could eat lunch, but once we were walking around the Palazzo and smelling food...my stomach was suddenly cured of it's queasiness and was growling! We decided to eat at a place called First Food & Bar which had a great view of our hotel out the window.
The restaurant has a New York City flare and even serves pretzels and dip as an appetizer (instead of the typical bread or chips and salsa).
The food was delicious! Mike ordered the BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado).
Caleb got the mini burgers and Audria got the pigs in a blanket.
We were so full when we left that we just stumbled back across the street to our hotel room for a nap.
Why gamble with your money when you can gamble with your life?
That's what the t-shirts at Skydive Las Vegas said. Yep. I said SKYDIVE! I think Mike and Caleb were a little surprised (but excited) when Audria and I said that we wanted to jump too. We got up early and were to the airport in Boulder City by 8:00 am. On the way there I thought (and said) several times, "Are we really about to JUMP out of a plane?!?"
When we arrived we filled out a bunch of forms which basically signed away all of our rights and acknowledged the risk. Caleb said that by the end of the form he expected to see a line that said, "You WILL die!" lol. The forms stated that the chance of dying while skydiving is 1 in 75,000. You have better odds of winning at a slot machine in Vegas (Wikipedia says most slots pay back 82-98% of money wagered) . We played the penny slots a few times and didn't win anything...so we figured our odds were pretty good of surviving a skydive.
After signing our life away, we watched a video about tandem skydiving and then practiced flying and landing techniques. Then it was to the hanger to get suited up and meet our instructors.
(Caleb ordered pictures and I ordered a video, but we haven't gotten those in the mail yet. I'll use a few "stock" photos below until we get them.)
We signed up for the highest skydive in Vegas...3 miles high. We boarded the plane and buckled up. I was sitting in front of the roll up door and was able to watch us fly higher and higher. I can't tell you how many times I thought, "What am I doing?!? We're soooo far from the ground!!!" When we reached cruising/jumping altitude, our instructors had us sit on their laps and they hooked their harness onto ours. I was 3rd in line to jump out of the plane (behind 2 people from a different group). When it was my turn we scooted towards the door and Russ, my instructor, told me to swing my legs outside the door. He said, "Ready...go!" and then we were flipping thru the air away from the airplane!
Once we were free falling, all my fear was gone. It was awesome! We were falling so fast that I felt like I was getting water up my nose...only it was wind! We fell for a full minute (1.5 miles) before Russ pulled the cord to open the parachute. Suddenly we were peacefully gliding towards the ground. I noticed the golf course below, Lake Mead, the airport, the stip, and a gorgeous view of the desert.
I tried to look up to see our parachute and every time I looked anywhere but down Russ said, "Keep your head looking down!" The easy gliding only lasted a few seconds before Russ had us spinning in tight circles (I later learned this accelerates your speed towards the ground). This made my stomach a little queasy. As we came in for a landing, we leaned back and set down on the ground softly. AWESOME experience!
It wasn't until later that I found out why I couldn't look up, why Russ sped up our descent, and why he didn't offer to let me steer the parachute (like Mike, Caleb, & Audria got to do).
As Caleb was gliding he heard his instructor say, "Oh no! Who is that? Arg. It's Russ. What's he doing?" Caleb knew I was with Russ and said, "Um. That's my sister! Are they gonna be ok?" Instructor, "Um. Yeah. His suspension line is broken...but he should be able to land it." Russ never let on that anything was wrong...not even after we landed! I'm guessing that's why he didn't want me looking up...he didn't want me to notice something was wrong (although I wouldn't know what to look for anyways!)
Audria and I gave skydiving two thumbs up! I'd definitely do it again. It was a blast!!!
When we arrived we filled out a bunch of forms which basically signed away all of our rights and acknowledged the risk. Caleb said that by the end of the form he expected to see a line that said, "You WILL die!" lol. The forms stated that the chance of dying while skydiving is 1 in 75,000. You have better odds of winning at a slot machine in Vegas (Wikipedia says most slots pay back 82-98% of money wagered) . We played the penny slots a few times and didn't win anything...so we figured our odds were pretty good of surviving a skydive.
After signing our life away, we watched a video about tandem skydiving and then practiced flying and landing techniques. Then it was to the hanger to get suited up and meet our instructors.
(Caleb ordered pictures and I ordered a video, but we haven't gotten those in the mail yet. I'll use a few "stock" photos below until we get them.)
We signed up for the highest skydive in Vegas...3 miles high. We boarded the plane and buckled up. I was sitting in front of the roll up door and was able to watch us fly higher and higher. I can't tell you how many times I thought, "What am I doing?!? We're soooo far from the ground!!!" When we reached cruising/jumping altitude, our instructors had us sit on their laps and they hooked their harness onto ours. I was 3rd in line to jump out of the plane (behind 2 people from a different group). When it was my turn we scooted towards the door and Russ, my instructor, told me to swing my legs outside the door. He said, "Ready...go!" and then we were flipping thru the air away from the airplane!
Once we were free falling, all my fear was gone. It was awesome! We were falling so fast that I felt like I was getting water up my nose...only it was wind! We fell for a full minute (1.5 miles) before Russ pulled the cord to open the parachute. Suddenly we were peacefully gliding towards the ground. I noticed the golf course below, Lake Mead, the airport, the stip, and a gorgeous view of the desert.
I tried to look up to see our parachute and every time I looked anywhere but down Russ said, "Keep your head looking down!" The easy gliding only lasted a few seconds before Russ had us spinning in tight circles (I later learned this accelerates your speed towards the ground). This made my stomach a little queasy. As we came in for a landing, we leaned back and set down on the ground softly. AWESOME experience!
It wasn't until later that I found out why I couldn't look up, why Russ sped up our descent, and why he didn't offer to let me steer the parachute (like Mike, Caleb, & Audria got to do).
As Caleb was gliding he heard his instructor say, "Oh no! Who is that? Arg. It's Russ. What's he doing?" Caleb knew I was with Russ and said, "Um. That's my sister! Are they gonna be ok?" Instructor, "Um. Yeah. His suspension line is broken...but he should be able to land it." Russ never let on that anything was wrong...not even after we landed! I'm guessing that's why he didn't want me looking up...he didn't want me to notice something was wrong (although I wouldn't know what to look for anyways!)
Audria and I gave skydiving two thumbs up! I'd definitely do it again. It was a blast!!!
Monday, July 06, 2009
Bellagio
Back at the hotel we changed clothes and rested for a little while before heading out on foot. This evening we walked all the way down the strip towards Mandalay Bay. We walked thru several of the hotels that I've already posted about. We spent a little more time inside the Bellagio since we hadn't been in that hotel yet.
Next to the Cirque Du Soleil Theatre there was a display of sculptures.
We browsed thru the gallery admiring the craftsmanship and the asking price! Several of the sculptures cost more than our house!
Next we found the Conservatory at the Bellagio. The foyer leading into the Conservatory was covered with flowers made from blown glass. The colors were vibrant!
I don't know why I didn't take very many pictures in the Conservatory, but it was neat to walk thru. My favorite things were the animals that were crafted out of various flowers and other vegetation.
Caleb and Mike found the arches of water interesting. I think they were devising a plan to squirt us as we walked under the arches.
View of the Eiffel Tower from the Bellagio.
It was almost time for the fountain show as we were leaving the Bellagio, so we decided to wait and see it.
It was awesome to watch! We really want to go back when it's darker to see the show under lights.
The water shoots so high that we can see the climax of the show from our hotel at night!
We stopped for dinner at a restaurant called Palm Grill and then continued on to our destination of Mandalay Bay. We were in search of a place called Minus 5 that we'd seen on a TV special called Adventurous Las Vegas. It's a bar that is made entirely out of ice! We thought it sounded like a cool place to go on a hot day...but when we arrived we weren't quite as excited. The show on TV didn't tell us that they charge $25 just to enter! That includes parka, gloves, pants, and one drink...but we didn't think it was worth $50 a couple just to see the ice bar. So...we'd walked all that way and were bummed that we didn't get to go inside the object of our trek. As we dejectedly started walking back towards our hotel, the fatigue set in. We had several miles to walk to get back to our hotel. When people started getting grouchy and complaining about things hurting, we decided to get a cab to drive us back. We walked up to New York New York and boarded a taxi.
Don't think we were wimping out. Even with the taxi ride, we walked 9.8 miles today! That doesn't include the 2 hours of jet skiing.
Next to the Cirque Du Soleil Theatre there was a display of sculptures.
We browsed thru the gallery admiring the craftsmanship and the asking price! Several of the sculptures cost more than our house!
Next we found the Conservatory at the Bellagio. The foyer leading into the Conservatory was covered with flowers made from blown glass. The colors were vibrant!
I don't know why I didn't take very many pictures in the Conservatory, but it was neat to walk thru. My favorite things were the animals that were crafted out of various flowers and other vegetation.
Caleb and Mike found the arches of water interesting. I think they were devising a plan to squirt us as we walked under the arches.
View of the Eiffel Tower from the Bellagio.
It was almost time for the fountain show as we were leaving the Bellagio, so we decided to wait and see it.
It was awesome to watch! We really want to go back when it's darker to see the show under lights.
The water shoots so high that we can see the climax of the show from our hotel at night!
We stopped for dinner at a restaurant called Palm Grill and then continued on to our destination of Mandalay Bay. We were in search of a place called Minus 5 that we'd seen on a TV special called Adventurous Las Vegas. It's a bar that is made entirely out of ice! We thought it sounded like a cool place to go on a hot day...but when we arrived we weren't quite as excited. The show on TV didn't tell us that they charge $25 just to enter! That includes parka, gloves, pants, and one drink...but we didn't think it was worth $50 a couple just to see the ice bar. So...we'd walked all that way and were bummed that we didn't get to go inside the object of our trek. As we dejectedly started walking back towards our hotel, the fatigue set in. We had several miles to walk to get back to our hotel. When people started getting grouchy and complaining about things hurting, we decided to get a cab to drive us back. We walked up to New York New York and boarded a taxi.
Don't think we were wimping out. Even with the taxi ride, we walked 9.8 miles today! That doesn't include the 2 hours of jet skiing.We went to our rooms with the intention of going downstairs to watch the Sirens of Treasure Island show...but again...we fell asleep. Maybe tomorrow???
Jet Skiing
Today we ventured away from the city to enjoy some time in the great outdoors. It's a little hot to go hiking around in the mountains, so we opted for a water adventure. We headed to Lake Mead and rented 2 jet skis.
The water was surprisingly cool (not much over 70 degrees), but it felt great since the temperatures were in the 100's by 10 am! We got a unique view of the Hoover Dam by riding right up to it on our jet skis.
The disposable water camera didn't take the quality of pictures that we're used to. The colors were so much more vivid than you'll see in these pictures. It was a beautiful day to be out on the lake.
After an hour or so of riding, Audria and I laid on the "beach" (it was dry land, but it wasn't much of a beach...it was rocks with millions of sea shells clinging to them...not the most comfortable place to lay) while the guys drove the jet skis. Mike's in the picture below.
Staci & Audria on the "beach"
If you have to pee when you're at the lake...what do you do? I'd hazard to guess that 99% of you would jump into the water and take care of business. Maybe that's why this discovery had us almost falling off our jet skis with laughter! There was actually a port-a-potty floating in one of the coves on Lake Mead!
The water was surprisingly cool (not much over 70 degrees), but it felt great since the temperatures were in the 100's by 10 am! We got a unique view of the Hoover Dam by riding right up to it on our jet skis.
The disposable water camera didn't take the quality of pictures that we're used to. The colors were so much more vivid than you'll see in these pictures. It was a beautiful day to be out on the lake.
After an hour or so of riding, Audria and I laid on the "beach" (it was dry land, but it wasn't much of a beach...it was rocks with millions of sea shells clinging to them...not the most comfortable place to lay) while the guys drove the jet skis. Mike's in the picture below.
Staci & Audria on the "beach"
If you have to pee when you're at the lake...what do you do? I'd hazard to guess that 99% of you would jump into the water and take care of business. Maybe that's why this discovery had us almost falling off our jet skis with laughter! There was actually a port-a-potty floating in one of the coves on Lake Mead!
The wind started picking up and the waves were getting bigger (meaning it was much tougher to ride a jet ski across the lake) so we headed back to the marina. We were exhausted after a few hours of riding, so we headed back to Boulder City to eat lunch in a park that we passed on Saturday.
Proof of the intense heat of Nevada. Have you ever applied peanut butter to your bread without a knife? We didn't have to use one. We just poured the peanut butter onto the bread and rubbed the two pieces of bread together!
Proof of the intense heat of Nevada. Have you ever applied peanut butter to your bread without a knife? We didn't have to use one. We just poured the peanut butter onto the bread and rubbed the two pieces of bread together!
Even though it was hot outside, the breeze and the shade made for a very comfortable lunch in the park. It was so nice that we decided to take a little siesta before heading back to the hotel.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Time to Race
Next stop of the day Pole Position Raceway. Mike and Caleb read about Pole Position in the traveler's guide and decided it needed to be on our "to do" list!
There was a huge audience waiting to watch us race around the track!
Ok. Maybe there wasn't a big audience, but it was a good sized indoor race track...
And they had some stylin' socks and shoes for sandal wearers to put on!
We also had to put on a head sock and helmet!
The cars went up to 45 mph and we were racing for the fastest lap. Mike crossed the finish line first, but he missed having the fastest lap by a fraction of a second (there were several others on the track with us).
There was a huge audience waiting to watch us race around the track!
Ok. Maybe there wasn't a big audience, but it was a good sized indoor race track...
And they had some stylin' socks and shoes for sandal wearers to put on!
We also had to put on a head sock and helmet!
The cars went up to 45 mph and we were racing for the fastest lap. Mike crossed the finish line first, but he missed having the fastest lap by a fraction of a second (there were several others on the track with us).After the race, we headed back to our hotel to rest. For dinner we went to the Mexican restaurant, Isla, that was located in our hotel. Yumm!
Audria and I went to their hotel room after dinner to watch a movie (Monster-in-Law) while the guys headed to Wal-Mart to get some groceries. We planned to go down to the Sirens of TI show at 11:30 tonight, but we had all fallen asleep. Maybe we'll hit that show tomorrow night.
More Chocolate!
Would you believe that we left the store without buying (or eating) any chocolate?!? They have bins of M&M's in different colors that you can buy, however, they sell them for $12.99/lb! You can buy a 2 lb bag at the grocery store for $2.50 (not on sale)...so we passed up paying WAY too much just for a bag of M&M's in our favorite color.
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