We celebrate birthday dinners every year with our good friends, Sandy and Ray. Sandy's dinners for us are always true "gourmet". My dinners for them are true "quick and easy" (but still tasty). This January, Sandy celebrated a big one - 65!! We decided during dinner that we needed to do a bit more to celebrate this milestone, so by the end of the evening I had booked a February trip to Vegas for the four of us.
Happy Birthday, Sandy! Lookin' good!
Ray will join her next October. Hmmmm, I wonder what we'll come up with for that one?
The end of February arrived before we knew it, and here we are on the airplane.
We made it! We took a 5:00 pm flight on Wednesday from MSP and arrived at Las Vegas in time for dinner!
Sandy and Ray took a Hoover Dam tour the next morning, but since Chuck and I had been there several years ago, we set off on a mission to M&M World to buy some "stuff" for the grandkids.
We couldn't resist a few pics with my favorite characters!
Cute, huh? We even went to a 3-D M&M adventure movie.
Now that's really living it up in Vegas!
We hooked up again with Sandy and Ray and started our wandering . We had lunch at Wolfgang Puck's at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace.
The margherita pizza was almost as good as in Italy!
Chuck and Ray just had to pose in front of a NASCAR display. 100,000+ people were expected to be arriving for the races over the weekend.
The Arboretum at the Bellagio was celebrating the Chinese Year of the Tiger with a beautiful flower display.
This is the glass sculpture display on the ceiling at the Bellagio. The artist, Dave Chihuly, has work throughout the hotel. It's beautiful!
We explored the new City Center designer shops at the Crystals Mall, but needless to say, we did NOT buy anything here. M&M World is more our speed. That's a restaurant inside the middle of that huge sculpture - we didn't eat there, either. :-)
These water cyclone tubes were fascinating!
Chuck and Ray relaxed in front of a wall of waterfalls in front of the new ARIA Hotel and Casino.
Wake up, Ray!
Sandy debated buying some gourmet chocolates. The displays were amazing, and so were the prices. She ended up buying some half-price Valentine truffles at a Godiva shop instead.
They were great at a fraction of the price.
Remember typewriter erasers like this sculpture?
This is the entrance to the City Center area from Las Vegas Blvd.
Ahhhh, $3.00 margaritas at Diablo's on a Friday afternoon - can't beat it! And no snow or winter coats!
We went to two shows (Tony n 'Tina's Wedding on Thursday night and a Cirque du Soleil show on Friday night), and we spent the rest of our time relaxing and enjoying the 60+ degree weather! Chuck even put on his shorts on Thursday afternoon.
We had a 10:00 dinner reservation after the show on Friday night. Funny how you have more energy on vacation. We're usually snoring by that time at home (or at least Chuck is)!
So....I'd say Sandy is about done with her birthday celebration, and we'll probably be back to a ski vacation next winter. Red Lodge, here we come!
Maddox was definitely the entertainment for the afternoon. His question for each person was "Do you have a problem?" And then, depending on the answer, he would try to offer suggestions for solving it. What a kid!
He loved all the presents, especially the lotions. He was also a great help at picking up all the wrapping paper.
Future Auggie??
I'm working on this quilt to coordinate with the forest animal theme in the baby's room. The top is done, so I wrapped it up even though it isn't finished yet. It's now off to be machine quilted so I can bind the edges and wrap it again for the next shower.
High school friends, plus one and a half.
Hear anything in there?
Jenna had fun practicing her baby-holding skills.
Kallie is 3 months old.
Here's the whole group - what a great bunch of friends Jenna has!
It won't be long now!
Kallie is 3 months old.
Here's the whole group - what a great bunch of friends Jenna has!
It won't be long now!
