Living Large

It was hard to leave the kids for four days. I felt a little guilty and I missed them.

Chris picked me up at the airport and we headed straight to the Bellagio Champaign Brunch. I think the look on my face is "I am glad to be here and this food is fabulous."
Everything seems over-the-top in Vegas. Here is Chris waiting for an elevator at our hotel. The black wall behind him is leather. This set of elevators goes straight to floors 30 -63; there is another set of elevator for floors 5 to 30. Actually there are no floors numbered 40 to 49. When I asked about this I was told, "In Asian cultures the number four is bad luck, especially 44, so their are no floors in the 40s."

This isn't the best picture, but I loved the color scheme in the cafe at the Encore. The curtains and black, white, and green. The seat at the bottom of the photo is hot pink and there was a black and white pillow on it. The chandeliers are a light green color.

This picture was taken in the shopping mall at The Palazzo (the newer resort that is part of the Venetian). It is beautifully decorated.

We had a lot of great meals, but my favorite was at the steakhouse Prime in the Bellagio. Right after we sat down, the couple beside of got their entrees which they quickly devoured. They seemed to enjoy their steaks so much that Chris asked the waiter what they had, NY Strip, and ordered the same thing.

I always feel like a bit of an imposter when we stay at the nice resorts in Vegas. Only because these places make the bulk of their money from the casinos, thus the rooms aren't as expensive as they would be in other cities, (and then this time the prices were reduced in an attempt to attract more visitors) are we able to afford to stay in such nice hotels. But I am not complaining;I do enjoy staying in those fancy places!

Here is a photo of our room. That flat panel TV, swivels around to the face the living room.

"Things Are Different Now"

We hear a lot about the R word on the news but we, thankfully, don't see a lot of it where we live. In Las Vegas the evidence was very clear. The first sign was at the airport. Typically the wait time for baggage claim is 45 minutes to an hour. One time, Chris took the bus to the rental car place, had to wait for a bigger minivan (the Wrights were with us), and returned to pick us up and we were still waiting for our luggage. This trip, the wait time was only about 20 minutes at most.

Next, the line for taxi cabs was very short. The first time I went to Vegas, in 2000, the wait time was about an hour. When we left Vegas this time the security line at the airport had no wait time. In the past we usually waited 45 minutes to an hour. We always thought the lines at the airport were worse in Vegas than other cities. A few years ago, I read that it was the third busiest airport in the country. That is not true now.

We stayed at a brand new resort, Encore, that was very nice. The resort cut their prices in half, in an attempt to fill rooms, thus we were able to afford to stay at the latest luxury resort.

Everywhere we went it wasn’t as crowded. The casinos weren’t as busy, the shopping areas, were emptier, and there were fewer people waiting for tables at restaurants if they were waiting at all. For example we went to the Bellagio champaign brunch on Sunday. We go there about noon and we expected there to be a line as in past years at that time. We walked right in, paid, and got at a table.

We also saw the signs at the tables. I like to play Pai Gow Poker. I don't consider this gambling (I know some of you reading this would never gamble). Typically you don't win a lot of money at this game which is fine with me. I just want to play for as long as possible before losing all of my chips (which is why it doesn’t really seem like gambling to me). It usually takes me about three hours to lose $100 so I feel comfortable spending that once a year to play cards at the tables and enjoy a couple of “free drinks." It is really fun to talk to the dealers and the other people at the table.

In past years, we had to really look for places where the low limit was $10 or $15. Usually on the strip, you can only play for $10 a hand if you sit down before 11AM. This was not the case this year. At Encore, one night we played for $15 a hand and watched another table change from $15 to $10; we have never seen the tables decrease. Of course, we switched tables so our money would last longer.

We also saw $10 a hand at 8PM at ....Bellagio which is known as the nicest place in town! We have stayed there four times. On all of those previous trips the low bet at 8 AM was $25 a hand and by 8 PM it was $50 a hand thus we have never played a table game at the Bellagio.

At the Bellagio is Prime Steakhouse. I have "always wanted to eat there." But two things stopped me. One - Chris was usually resistant to the high prices and "jacket required." Two - I usually called one or two weeks ahead of time to get reservations and they were full.

This year, I called last week and made reservation for 9 PM which wasn't ideal but at least we got a table. When I inquired about the dress code I was told it was business casual. When I asked, "Wasn't it jacket required in the past?" the person responded, "Things are different now."

Differences in Dining

While Chris is out of town going to a fancy steak restaurant with a celebrity, riding in a limo, meeting the president of the hotel/casino, getting a complimentary room upgrade, and ogling new technology, I am choosing a restaurant (to take my parents and kids to) based on where I can use a "buy one entree get one for 1/2 price" coupon.

The kids love this restaurant with the fish tanks, free toys, and free kids appetizer - peanut butter with celery, carrots, and crackers.

Lydia used a carrot stick as a spoon to gobble up the peanut butter.
I have to try this snack idea at home.

Sleeping Bags

If you have ever given Wesley a stuffed animal, chances are he sleeps with it.
Some of the stuff animals fall off the bed and some get stuck under the sleeping bag, but he keeps track of them. We have tried down-sizing by removing some of the animals when he isn't looking. He always remembers them and ask for them. Why are our kids sleeping in sleeping bags? We got tired of Wesley yelling "banket on" in the middle of the night so last winter we got him a Mickey Mouse sleeping bag. We put it away this summer and when it started getting cold again, he started yelling "banket on" again. We kept forgetting to get out the sleeping bag until one night before we went to bed. Wesley was already asleep and we just picked him and put him in it without waking him up. The next morning Lydia called it his sleep sack. Of course, it wasn't long before she started asking for a "leaping bag."
She likes to sleep on her tummy and she often wants us to put her special blanket on top of her. She puts Baby Pooh and her baby dolls on their tummies for sleeping.

Outside Play in January

I really am trying to take the kids outside more when the temperature is above 40. On Saturday, Chris took them to the playground while I went shopping. I felt only slightly guilty.
I am sure Lydia was asking to be pushed higher - she loves it.

Their hats look a little small, but the kids seem to like them.

Wesley loves jumping off this platform. He usually "sticks" the landing. Chris had fun using the new camera in sports mode.

Today I went to the playground. It was 45 degrees and I thought it would feel cold, but I really was comfortable in my winter jacket (I am such a cold weather wimp).

Lydia has recently mastered climbing this ladder by herself. She can also sit safely in the big kid swing while swinging slowly.

At one point, Wesley, Lydia, and Max (who is 4 y.0.) were going down the slide together in one big heap. They all seemed to love it. In the photo below, Wesley and Max are rolling in the mulch. They spent a lot of time doing this.

I think this is a very cute picture of Rachel. If she and Janet had not come over, I probably wouldn't have thought about going outside today but I am so glad we went to the playground. Tonight, when I was praying for Lydia she wanted me to thank God for the playground.

We took the double jogger so Baby David could nap some and, of course ,Lydia wanted to ride in it instead of walk. It is hard to make her walk when there is an option to ride. My kids took great naps today!

Bath Time

On Wednesday, after David, Amanda, and the girls left, Lydia wanted to get in her crib and hold her blanket. She often likes to have some down time in the crib and snuggle with the blanket. Wesley gets in the crib with her sometimes.

Well, after a few minutes in her crib, she started screaming. I assumed Wesley had taken her blanket away from her so I started up the steps to give it back to her. He casually started walking down stairs right after she stared screaming.

I asked, "Why is Lydia screaming?" as we met on the stairs.

Wesley replied, "Because she is taking a bath.''

"What do you mean she is taking a bath?" I asked.

He answered, "I poured water on her so she could take her bath."

Oh my! He did what? I found Lydia soaking wet in her crib and crying. Wesley had filled up a cup in the bathroom sink and poured it on her head. Her hair and clothes were very wet as was her crib. She quickly calmed down once I picked her up.

Here is what she looks like during a real bath. Her hair is getting longer.

Speaking of baths...we know Frank Beamer enjoyed getting the Gatorade bath at the Orange Bowl. Woo hoo the Hokies won a BCS Bowl!

The Cousins

I only have two cousins. Both of them are 18 years older than me and I never got to know them. Chris has no cousins (well no first cousins).

We are thrilled that our children have cousins to play with at family gatherings. We just wish they got to see each other more often.


The boys.

The girls.