Prime and "O"

July 25 2008

On our last night in Vegas, it was only Dawn and Corey and us. Julia & TJ left that morning. We ate at Prime Steakhouse in The Bellagio. Talk about good steak! It's a 5-star restaurant & the food definitely reflects it. Here we are on the "Patio at Prime" after dinner. We're a bit dark, but the scenery is beautiful. The Bellagio's fountain show happens on the lake behind us. The last shot is a picture of the show. The first pics are from the restaurant, the next ones are from the patio & the last ones are from "O". "O" was great. Cirque du Soleil is a gymnastics show, for lack of a better description. It's centered around water & has moving stages, so the water is never at the same depth. YOu can never tell if it's deep enough to dive into or shallow enough to look like the show members are walking on water. Makes for some interesting theatre!

Fun with chopsticks, and a rockin' piano bar!

July 24 2008

On night 5, we had dinner at an Asian restaurant with a well-priced happy hour (who can beat half-price apps & $1 sake???), and after 5 days in Vegas, we needed it!! Here are a few pics of us goofing around (Corey goof off? NOOOOOOOOO). After dinner, we headed to New York, New York to check out their dueling piano bar. It was truly a blast, as you can see from us singing (uh, badly?) at the table. Scott & I played poker for a while afterwards, but, as usual, I lost my shorts, so no more spa for me :-( Overall, Scott lost a little, but we didn't do too bad.

Danny Gans and The Venetian

Danny Gans and The Venetian

Wednesday night, we saw Danny Gans at The Mirage. He's a comedian who does musical impersonations. We weren't prepared to laugh so hard!! I can see why he wins all kind of awards each year. His impersonations were spot-on--not only did he nail the voices, you could SEE the mannerisms of the persons he was impersonating. After the show, we had dinner at an Italian "cafe" in The Venetian. The Michelangelo-esque ceilings are in The Venetian, as well as the gondoliers and the gondolas. You could even take a gondola ride through the casino if you wanted to wait in the huge line. Some of the pictures are dark, but you should still be able to make out the gondola. The "cafe" was in the mall of the casino--another Disney look-alike. We felt like it was dusk, even though it was very late. I think it's a method to fool you into gambling later.

Scenery pics

scenery pics

These are pics from The Strip. Scott & I took a day off from gambling & sitting by the pool to do some souvenir shopping. It was the first (and only!) time we walked The Strip in the daylight. The weather was beautiful the entire time we were there, as you can see from these pictures. The temps got into the 90's, but it was breezy, so not too bad. The first few snaps are of New York, New York casino. It has a roller coaster on top of it (you can see it in the 2nd picture) and a replica of the Statue of Liberty out in Front. The Bellagio is the next one. It & The Venetian are the two nicest casinos on the strip, in our opinion. We saw "O", which is a Cirque du Soleil show, there on Friday night.

Lisa & Jay

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On Tuesday, the guys played in a card tournament in the morning while Dawn & I had a "spa day". Talk about fabulous!! The Grand Spa at the MGM Grand is wonderful. Sorry, but no pics of that ;-) In the afternoon, Scott & I drove about 30 minutes to see some friends we hadn't seen in a while. Lisa & Jay were stationed with us in Columbus about 6 years ago. It was really nice to see them. We had dinner and played some cards (what else is there to do in Vegas?) & had a LITTLE too much to drink, if that's not obvious from the pictures.

Day 2

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These are from Monday night. Corey, Dawn, Julia, and TJ were supposed to see Wayne Brady, but the show got cancelled at the last minute, so we all went to this Brazilian steakhouse in PlanetHollywood Casino. It was really good. Waiters bring around skewers of roasted meat & you get to sample anything that looks yummy. We ate filet mignon, roast beef, lamb, prime rib....Well, you get the picture. The last photo is from the "lake" inside the casino's mall. Every 1/2 hour, it "rains" and you see lightning and thunder and sprinkles come down from the ceiling. We thought we'd made a wrong turn at Disneyworld.

Vegas, Baby!

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Scott & I met Corey & Dawn in Vegas on Sunday, July 20th & stayed through Saturday, July 26th. Some friends they made while stationed in D.C. (Julia & TJ) were able to join us. We'd been planning this trip since we were stationed in Columbus, MS, so it was great to finally see the results of all the talk! Here are some snaps from the first night. Julia & TJ hadn't flown in yet. They got in late Saturday night & left early Friday morning.

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

Daniel's party 2008

We had Daniel's birthday party a week early (he won't actually be 2 until the 25th) so Nana & Grandpa Sam could be here. All of our friends & neighbors came over to help us celebrate in the backyard. The kids played on the swingset, in the kiddie pool, and in the sprinklers. Our backyard got a much-needed watering! **Click the pic for more!**

Scoopers & kickers

Here's a quick video of the boys jumping off of the side of our neighborhood pool. DAniel has gotten scary-brave & William is his usual, cautious self, although we've seen a few more daring activities lately. He's gotten great at putting his whole face in the water & even going all the way under & is quite proud of himself. Daniel can "swim" with the aid of his floaties (and is pretty good at it, contrary to what you see in the video!), while William is master of swimming with his inner tube.

Nana and Grandpa Sam

Nana & Grandpa Sam

Nana & Grandpa Sam made the looooooong drive up from Louisiana on Wednesday to visit. They're going to stay with the boys while Mommy & Daddy head to Las Vegas for a week with Aunt Dawn & Uncle Corey. The first order of business was the neighborhood pool. The boys had a blast with new suckers to take them into "the big kid pool". William is doing great with pre-swimming with an inner tube & with going all the way under the water. Daniel is getting braver by the day & launches himself off the side, not paying any attention to where the person who's supposed to be catching him is. It makes for a very tiring morning for the adults! Be sure to click the pic to see more.

Yee-haw!!

 
 
 

Claire & Maddie brought the boys cowboy hats from the great state of Oklahoma when they came to visit. They now have to wear them when they ride Chocolate, the bouncing horse. Daniel scrambles up there & shouts "Yee-haw", while William calmly says, "I'm Cowboy William" as he mounts up.

Claire & Maddie!!!

Claire & Maddie

Claire & Maddie came to visit!! Phil & Katie's parents live in Chicago, which is on the other side of us, so they made a pit-stop to see us on their way to visit their families. I'd been tellng William that Claire was coming, but he hadn't really understood what I was telling him. If only I'd captured his little face when he saw her in our driveway!! It was like Christmas morning as he said with wonder, "CLAIRE's here!" The four kiddos had a blast playing in the basement & on our new backyard swingset. Of course, I didn't manage to get one single picture of all four of them. It was so nice to see all of them. Everyone stayed up WAY too late catching up & we were so sad to see them go.

Daniel's birthday present

Park in our backyard

Here is a pic of the boys catching their first glimpse of their new backyard swingset. You can tell from William's face in some of the other pics exactly how excited they were. We had the hardest time getting him to stay in his bed at night when it was being assembled on our driveway! He wanted to watch the daddies put it up. Scott & Paul, our neighbor, took 2 evenings to get it assembled, even with help from Brian, another neighbor. Paul's wife, Mikki, and I spent 2 hours one morning labeling all the parts to make it easier for the guys & it STILL took 8 assembly hours. Our boys & the neighborhood kids have been having a blast playing on it. Lots more pics to come! **click the pic for more**

Backyard fun

 
 
 
We had our friends, Calvin & Alayna, over today for some backyard fun in the fishie sprinkler. Here are the kiddos sitting on the steps having pretzel sticks for a snack. Obviously, getting four wild little monkies to sit still & all look in one place for a picture is a major feat!

St. Louis Zoo

July zoo trip

We decided to pack everyone up & visit the zoo in St. Louis. The boys & Mommy had been there in the spring for a school field trip, but this was Daddy's first trip. We got there in the early morning (okay, it was 9 AM, but it seemed really early to get 4 people out of the house & drive 30 min!), so the animals were out in full force. Later in the day, it's a crap-shoot because if it gets too hot, they all hide in their caves & houses. St. Louis is a zoo where the animals get to run in areas resembling their natural habitats instead of in cages, like the older-style zoos. It's a BEAUTIFUL zoo with lots to see. There is a train that takes you from one area to the next & a carousel. We had to ride both, of course. William even got to meet one of the zoo caretakers when he scrambled over the fence at the giraffe enclosure. I was giving him a dressing-down & putting him in timeout when the caretaker overheard me & asked, "Who climbed over the gate?" William looked scared to death as the man told him that climbing over the gates was not allowed & if he did it again, they would make him leave. When his lip started to tremble, the gruff-looking bearded man said, "And, we don't allow crying in the zoo, either!" and walked away. William was getting no sympathy there!! Needless to say, we had no more problems with fence-scaling! **Click the picture to see more**

H2O, anyone?

 
 
So, with all the hooplah about plastics right now, we invested in aluminum water bottles for the boys. They are from a Swiss company & there are several options for designs. The boys each picked theirs off the website & then waited anxiously each day for them to arrive. William is already a pro at opening his & heaven help you if you try to assist!!! Daniel thinks he's a pro & then gets angry when no water comes out. Either way, they're drinking more water than we ever thought possible!

The Fish Sprinkler

fish sprinkler

This is a pic of the boys having lunch after a long morning playing in their "fish sprinkler", as they call it. It hooks up to the hose & shoots water into the air. It has a little pool at the bottom that collects about an inch of water, so they can also splash & slide into it. We've been using this a whole lot this week since we're stuck in the house while our basement is being worked on. Here is a quick video of them going down the slide into it: