Vegas Baby Vegas!

Well, unfortunately, our Vegas trip has now come and gone.  It was a lot of fun, but no winnings to show off this time around!  It was great to get away and wine and dine and shop til we dropped and gamble til all our money was dropped, but it sure is hard to get back in the swing of things when you come back to the real world.  We missed the kiddos like crazy, but we made the most of our time there. 

Here’s what we did:  Left ATX airport at 7:20 a.m. Thursday.  Arrived in Las Vegas at 8:15 a.m. their time.  We had a full day of gambling and eating and resting and shopping.  Thursday evening we went to Freemont Street and enjoyed dinner at Hugo’s Cellar at the Four Queens and walked around. 

Friday, Brandon and I were up early and went for a little jog down the Strip.  The weather was absolutely beautiful so it was nice to get out for a while.  We went up the road a little ways, found a Starbucks, had our morning coffee, and then made our way back.  On Friday we shopped the Forum Shops at Caesars while the guys played slots, then ended up at Cabo Wabo (a must stop place every year we go) for lunch and drinks and people watching.  After Cabo Wabo, more stopping in and out of casinos and gambling and shopping, then back to the hotel to get ready for the evening.  Dinner at STACK at our hotel, the Mirage.  Then off to the comedy show – we got to see Kevin James and Ray Romano.  They also had an opening act by Gary Valentine.  Fourth row seating that wasn’t too shabby.  They were all hilarious and my stomach literally hurt from laughing so hard by the time we got out.  That was a really fun experience!

Saturday, Diane and I squeezed in a little spa time in the am – mini massages and facials – so refreshing.  Then, we were off for more gambling, a little football watching and more shopping.  After a full day of all of that, it was time to get ready for the evening again.  We went to dinner at Le Cirque at the Bellagio.  Then we made our way to the Monte Carlo – here we visited Minus Five Degrees ice bar (so cool!) and then watched the new Blue Man Group Show.  Since it was our last night there, we stayed up til between 3 and 4 making the most of it, and then had to get up at 6:15 to get ready to catch our flight on Sunday.

Sunday morning we left Vegas and were back in Austin by 2, Texas time.  It was a great fast trip and Vegas never disappoints for me and Brandon.  It’s the best of both worlds – he gambles, I shop and we get to eat so well!  Now it’s gonna take me a couple of weeks to lose the weight I managed to find while over there :)

Here are some pictures from the trip – some are mine and some are Diane’s. I didn’t take my SLR, just a little point and shoot and my iPhone, so I didn’t get as many as I would’ve liked. She took most of these.

On the way there –near the Grand Canyon…

Our mode of transportation for the duration of our trip ;)

Happy to finally be there!

Quick stop at the Las Vegas sign!

At our hotel, the Beatles’ bar – Revolution:

Wayne and Brandon hit this not long after we’d got there – too bad we didn’t come home with it!

 

Lunch at BLT Burger – another one of our favorite places!

 

Ready for Freemont Street:

Here is my self portrait while we were in the limo – this was to prove how stress free and happy I was knowing that my studio was in good hands for the night under Amy K.  I’ve never been able to enjoy myself so much on a Thursday knowing that everything was fine back at the studio! :)

A quick drive by the famous pawn shop from the tv.  The line to get into this place was about an hour long – crazy!

 

Happy, Happy, Happy!

 

Dinner at Hugo’s:

 

Brandon’s steak – it looked as round as my thigh:

Beautiful morning in Vegas on the morning of our jog:

Cabo Wabo – woo hoo!

Ready for dinner and comedy:

Cocktails and dinner at Stack on Friday night:

Wayne’s tomahawk steak:

Out and about on Saturday:

And I’ll have you know, we all represented our Horns by wearing some burnt orange that day!  Wayne has a Longhorn on the side of his cap – can’t tell in the pic.

Ready for our last night out:

Le Cirque:

Desserts at Le Cirque:

  On the way to the ice bar:

You couldn’t take pictures in the bar because you couldn’t take your camera in with you – I’m assuming because it was soooo dang cold.  When you got there, you got boots, a parka and gloves.  All the drinks were served out of actual ice glasses.  Here are pictures of the pictures that they took of us in there – the backgrounds are completely made of ice!

And lastly, some scary pics of me and Brandon giving you are best impression of Blue Man Group faces:

It was a fun time – as always, can’t wait to go back!  But for now, it’s back to reality!                    

Prompt Pumpkin Patch Pics…

That’s right guys- the pumpkin patch was only Saturday and look at me already posting pics.  Could it be I could finally be back on track?!?!  I am trying and I must say it feels good, almost therapeutic, to be caught up!  One more thing to cross of my never-ending checklist, right?

So on Saturday morning, we enjoyed the annual pumpkin patch.  The weather was gorgeous, the set up was lovely and the kiddos were in great moods.  All of these conditions combined, what more could you ask for?  I did manage to get some decent pics.  MeMe and Grandpa had Will, Luke and Anna so they joined us, too.  It was a fun time.

 

Now, a picture of all five was a little difficult and even a picture of my two together wasn’t easy, so I went the individual route for the most part!

I did managed to make Mallory’s top about a month ago so all I had to do last week was add the pockets and make the hairpiece.  So glad I finally figured out how to make those easy fabric rosettes.  I can now stop wasting money on them and start rounding up fabric scraps that will suit them all just fine!  And, I’m digging Malllory’s curly piggies with a headband lately, so I have a feeling you’ll be seeing a lot of this hair style in the future ;)

Terrible photographer obviously had them looking straight into the sun!

Anna left early for the Derby Doll mini clinic so I did manage to get some pictures of her before she went to dance!

Luke, Anna, Will

Will:

Luke:

Comparing tattoos:

 

Coloring pumpkins:

Snake painting:

And of course, this little girl wouldn’t be left out.  She wanted a snake like all the boys – but hers was requested to be on her face and colored in pink and purple…

And a few family pics in the bright sun:

DeDe and the kiddos:

MeMe and the kiddos:

 

Then, in the afternoon, we were finally able to attend one of Brock’s pee wee football games.  He’s the quarterback this year and they did awesome.  It was fun to cheer him on!

Brock is #12 and Scott is one of the coaches: