Viva Las Vegas (Day 1)!

I apologize for once again disappearing from the blog world. Say it ain't Sew participated in Christmas Village, and it was crazy! We didn't actually start sewing new items for the show until the Thursday before it began (it began on a Wednesday). All we did was sew, work at the show, and come home and sew some more items to take the next day. Ha! I do want to include one funny thing Carter has been saying lately. Somewhere, he heard about April Fool's, so he's been trying to play jokes on us and he runs out screaming, "Ate for bulls!" I asked, and he said it's "ate" like you ate something, not "eight" the number. Just so we are all clear.


Alan and Jonathan had a business trip to Las Vegas the day after Christmas Village ended, and Holly and I decided to tag along. This was the first time we had been on a trip without our children (Alan and me, anyway). Sunday, Nana and Pawpaw came to get the boys for the week. We didn't start packing or cleaning up the house until late that night - this is so typical of us :)



We left bright and early Monday morning, and flew nonstop to Las Vegas. We passed over the Grand Canyon, which even from the air, was very impressive!

Alan and I have been to Las Vegas 8 years ago (Alan has also been a couple of times for business, without me). I was surprised that a lot of the things were exactly the same as I remembered. I guess you don't build a huge, expensive casino/hotel and then just tear it down a couple of years later :) We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which was decorated in all rock items, and the rooms were very modern (lots of black, metal and glass). We had a nice view of the huge pool/cabana area, and we could also see the airport and the strip from our room.

We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant at our hotel and then walked around for a while. We went to the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace, and explored that area for a while. Caesar's (like many of the other places) is built to look like an outdoor scene - clouds and sky on the ceiling, cobblestone walkways, etc. Almost all of the nicer casinos have really nice shops, and I'm amazed that there are enough customers to keep them all in business! How many Hermes or Louis Vuitton stores do you need in one town, anyway?

After that, we went to the Bellagio and watched the dancing fountains. That was and still is my favorite thing in Las Vegas!

Then, we walked across the street to the Paris and ate dinner at a nice steak restaurant. Holly and I saw a slot machine sign that said, "Parlez-vous Poker?" and we cracked up! I don't know why, but that was so funny to us.

After dinner, we took a cab to Freemont Street. I had never been there, although we had driven by previously (Alan has been). We walked around and watched street artists, musicians, and celebrity impersonators until it was time for the light/music show.

We finally went back to the room to get a little shut-eye before the next full day of adventures!