Vegas 2014 Continued

Vegas has continued to be fabulous!  Yesterday I spent the day relaxing and shopping.  There is a mall directly across the strip from the Bellagio so I walked over there while Brian was in meetings.  It is so rare that I get to go shopping without the kids and for myself so I made the most of it!  I hit my two favorite stores GAP and Loft.  Thankfully they were both having great sales!   I shockingly found two pairs of jeans that I loved and several tops as well. Usually when I'm actually able to shop for myself I'm not very successful finding things.  

After shopping I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and getting ready for dinner. We started the night with drinks at Yellowtail in the Bellagio. Then we had dinner at Fix (also in the Bellagio).  Yummy!  

After dinner we tried our luck at the blackjack table…the house always wins!  

Today I spent the day relaxing and catching up on some reading.  Tonight we have another work dinner to top off our trip.  I'm sure we will try to win back some of the $$ the casino took from us over the past 4 days too.  😉

The trip has flown by and I can't believe we are heading back home tomorrow.  I think next year we may need to extend the trip for an extra day or two.  Time truly flies out here!  But I am definitely eager to hug the girls and hear all about their time with MeMaw and PaPaw!  I'm also ready to start the Christmas decorating!!  Hard to believe that the year is coming to a close!

Vegas Baby (2014)

Our annual Vegas trip is in full swing and we are having a blast!  We arrived Saturday morning and hit the ground running with lunch at BurGR (Gordan Ramsey's restaurant at Planet Hollywood).  Amazing burgers and fries!  And the milkshakes looked delish but we just didn't have room. 

We are staying at the Bellagio again this year (the conference was here 5 years ago as well).  Bellagio is probably our favorite Vegas hotel (although they are all amazing!)  The view from our room is spectacular!  I was a bit bummed we didn't get a fountain view at first but when I saw the sunset over the red rocks my mind was completely changed!

We spent our first afternoon and evening with Brian's boss and his wife in their new Vegas suburb.  They took us to see the red rocks and gave us a tour of their area.  It sure is beautiful here! Then we went to dinner with them at an amazing restaurant near their home called Echo & Rig.  It was definitely one of, if not the best meal, we've ever had!   And that's saying a lot since Vegas has so many incredible restaurants!

Sunday morning we started our day at our favorite Bellagio breakfast spot – Jean Philippe.  The Nutella crepe is mind blowing!  We certainly don't go hungry while here.  

We always like to do a little bit of video blackjack while we're here, but our bets are always very low. That helps our losses to be low as well.  As of this morning (Monday), we are only down $15. Pretty good for two days of entertainment.  

Speaking of entertainment, we decided to go to the Boyz II Men concert at the Mirage last night. We were not disappointed!  It was definitely one of the best concerts we've ever attended. I became a high school girl groupie and even got to give Nate a hug.  Definitely a highlight of the trip!  23 years after they debuted they are just as good if not better. 

Before the show we had a late lunch/early dinner at Giada's new restaurant at The Cromwell.  Yet another amazing meal. We sampled several different antipastas including truffle pecorino cheese and an amazing beef salami.  The restaurant was beautiful and the food was so tasty and light.  And she got an amazing spot on the strip with great views.

Today and tomorrow Brian is busy with work meetings and such, but I will get to attend the work dinners each night. Those are always top notch meals!  While he works I'll spend my time resting, shopping and simply enjoying some down time.  

The girls are having a blast at home with MeMaw and PaPaw and we are so thankful to be able to take trips like this knowing that they are in great hands!

Halloween 2014

What a fun day we had!  We spent the day carving our pumpkin and preparing for our big night of trick-or-treating! 

Our pumpkin this year was the Disney castle (of course!) and we also had a princess pumpkin! 

The girls didn't decide until about 4pm what they were going to dress up as.  H decided to be Sleeping Beauty and E was "Palala" (Rapunzel), her current Disney obsession!  It was a chilly night so we had to be a bit creative with our layering!  

Grandma and Grandpa came up for the weekend to celebrate Halloween with us! We all had a lot of fun trick-or-treatingin the neighborhood, although we were a little disappointed in how dark our neighborhood was this year.  We may have to find a new trick-or-treating neighborhood next year. 😔

The girls didn't seem to mind being the only trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood - that just meant more candy for them!  Each house loaded them up since they knew they wouldn't have more kids coming by!  We caught Emma sneaking candy one time while riding in the wagon.  It was hilarious!  She was laying down low in the wagon and being awfully quiet.  Upon further inspection she had managed to carefully unwrap a reses cup and was just popping it in her mouth.  When she noticed that we saw her she immediately covered her eyes as if to hid from us!  Sweet girl!  Don't worry - we let her have it, along with several other pieces throughout the night.  😊

Overall it was a successful Halloween!  Everyone went to bed happy and we have enough candy to last us until next year. 😉