Viva Las Vegas! ...almost

Still trying to get in posts of everything that happened this summer. So we'll go back a couple of months. This was 4th of July weekend. Mom and I used to go on vacations together all of the time. But the last one we went on was in about 1991 when I was still in college. So it was pretty exciting to spend a few days with her this summer. I knew Marty would do awesome with the kids and it was so nice to have a little break. Mom got a great deal on a flight/hotel package to Laughlin, Nevada (about 100 miles from Vegas). It was like $200 total. I think they must have known I would lose a lot while I was there!!

DAY 1

Here's me and Mom just getting off the airplane at the massive Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport. Two whole terminals!

And they loaded us on a bus right away for our long journey across the river. As soon as we got on the bus we could see our hotel/casino. We stayed at Don Laughlin's Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino.

And here's a view of the river (that's the Colorado River by the way) and mountains from our hotel room. The second picture is the Laughlin strip. Not quite Vegas but fine with me. We didn't leave the hotel very much anyway.

We didn't waste any time (ok maybe we took a nap and watched a little tv) but then we got down to business. Here's Mom planning out our first day of fun.

You would think our first stop would be the casino. Nope ... first we walked through the world's biggest watch shop (I highly doubt that claim!). Then on to ... the car show! Why not? It seemed like something fun to do.

And the sun started to set on our first day in Laughlin. Here's another picture of the river and mountains from our hotel at sunset.

But we didn't let a little darkness deter us. Nope we headed out to walk down the river and see the other hotels. Besides ... it wasn't 115° out after the sun set! Here's our hotel at night.

So we went to the car show, took a walk ... it's time to gamble now, right? Well no. Ya gotta eat! And lemme tell you ... we ate ... A LOT! I couldn't find a meal that had everything I wanted. So I just ordered 2 meals! Mom controlled herself a little better than me. And just a side note: Nevada sausage is really nasty!

So NOW it's time to gamble!! Nah. We were too sleepy the first night. All that traveling, walking and food made us tired. Night, night!

DAY 2

Did I mention that it is HOT in Nevada in July? So, of course, we had to walk around outside a little. I mean it was so hot that it made your eyes hurt. We only stayed out long enough to snap a few pictures.

And then we actually went in and gambled some. Actually I gave the blackjack dealers my money pretty quickly and mom won a bunch on 3 card poker (think that's what it was called). Anyway, we gambled a while then mom took me to the buffet because I was sooo broke. And what's the best part of a buffet?! Getting to eat as many desserts as you want! Here's me being a pig again.

We didn't stay out really late the second night either because it was the 4th of July and we wanted to watch the fireworks over the river from our hotel room. The fireworks show lasted about half an hour and then we talked about going back downstairs but never made it.

DAY 3

Day 3 is kind of a blur. I know we wandered around a while and looked at stuff. Then we spent most of the day in the casino. Since I was broke, I played the nickel slots for a while. And then we headed down to the non-smoking casino. I didn't even know that existed. And what did we discover there? It was an oasis! (Yes I know drinks are free while you gamble but you can't get a big ol' frozen margarita!)

So we were pretty silly after a few of these. Then we decided to go back to the main casino. I told you, I was completely broke. So I called Marty while Mom gambled. And he was so sweet and told me to get out another hundred dollars. Well this musta been the magic money. No I didn't win but I know I sat down at this one blackjack table at around 4pm and didn't leave until about 2am! And some moron at my table decided at about midnight to start ordering coffee and Kahlúa for everyone. Well drinks are free while you gamble so no biggie there but all that caffeine had me really wired. So when the money was finally gone at about 2am, Mom asked what I wanted to do. EAT of course!! And then we went back to the room because we had a flight to catch in the morning. But I couldn't sleep. Here I am at about 3am or so.

DAY 4

We had to check out of our room a few hours before our flight so Mom played Keno for a while. I was sooo sleepy and thought the Keno lounge would be a perfect place to catch a little sleep. The 2 police officers that woke me up didn't think so. Then we headed over to catch our bus. It was in the back part of the casino. And we saw the funniest thing ... a DOG in the casino. Never seen that before so we had to take a picture.

And that's it. Our adventure to Laughlin. Mom came home a winner. I was a loser but had fun. I'm so grateful to Marty for letting me go and watching the kiddos while I did. It was a needed break.

Here's an old song for you. Wilco: Casino Queen ... "The room fills with smoke and I'm already broke. And the dealer keeps on jokin' as he takes my last token..."

Starting to scrap again...

My best online buddy Christine (aka Fiddlette) has not given up on me even though I have been on a scrapping hiatus for well over a year. But she recently asked me ... again ... to be on her creative team. And I said yes! I love her design style so much. It almost makes me want to start designing again. (I said almost!!) But for now, I've been using her awesome creations and have scrapped a few pages. I have a few more in the works but I need to fire up my scanner again. Hope it still works. Gonna have to blow off the dust!

I make a page for my birthday every year. Well ... I missed last year because, like I said, I was on a BREAK! (Did anyone catch the Friends reference there?) But here is the page I made this year. I celebrated #39 on July 27th. Almost everything here is from Christine's Love of Jane collaboration kit with Sherrie JD.

And in case you want to see what I made for the last few birthdays ... here are my layouts from 2005, 2006 and 2007. It's fun to see how my scrapping style has changed over the years.

And here's just a fun layout I did for my kiddos. I can't believe how grown up they are getting and I wanted to express my feelings that I want them to be able to be whatever they want to be ... "Caged birds can't fly." Again almost everything here was designed by Fiddlette. The majority is from her Clarabelle's Collage World kit.

And that's it for now. I mentioned that my kids are really growing up and I can't believe I never posted this video I took a few months ago. I love it. Shows how silly they are.

And now for some music. Just gonna play what I've been hearing for the last hour or so. Lauren has this BLARING upstairs. This is Miley Cyrus: Party In The USA. Yeah I know ... but at least she's not playing The Climb anymore. This one is at least danceable!

Like no time has passed.

I had to do some training in San Antonio this week so I called my old college roommate, Desiree. We graduated in 1992 and I have only seen her one time since graduation. So it was really great to see her and catch up. We had a nice dinner and then just hung out for a couple of hours and talked. Funny how you can not see someone for years but can pick up right where you left off. Here we are on Thursday night at dinner at the Alamo Cafe. I learned that tortillas are made of lard, water and flour. YUM!

And here we are in 1991 at a party at our apartment at A&M. Left to right: Desiree, Rick, Mindy, me, Bonnie and Michael. (I think we look better now. The 18 years has made us more distinguished, don't you think?!)

I'm pretty excited because I have to go back to San Antonio in May and we're going to get together again but next time, our other roommate, Bonnie, is going to drive down from Austin and we'll all be together for the first time since Bonnie graduated in 1991.

And we need some music from 1991. How about this one from LL Cool J? I can't even tell you how many times I listened to this song!

King Tut, Steak and Cheesecake!

Marty and I had a great Valentine's Day. Well except for my initial reaction to Marty's big surprise. He was so sweet and had the whole evening planned. So on the way downtown, I asked where we were going and he said, "To the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art." To which I replied, "No REALLY, where are we going?!" He just laughed and said that was where we were REALLY going. Oops! But it was all good. He tries to culture me. But I'm a museum moron.

So anyway, we got to the DMA and you would not believe how many people were in line for the exhibit! And these were all people with tickets! Luckily I was running late (how unusual) so our ticket time was 4:30 but we didn't make it til almost 5 and the 4:30 people were still waiting to get in. Anyway, after about 20 minutes, we got in the exhibit. Of course there were no cameras allowed. Well I have to say that all the Tut hype was way overrated! And Marty agreed with me. I mean the stuff was cool and all but you see one pharoah, you've seen them all! But we had a great time watching all of the people listening intently to their little speaker things and trying to look all intelligent and interested. That alone was worth the price of admission!!

After we were done with the exhibit, I tried to take our picture outside by the big statue of the pharaoh. As you can see, I was not very successful. But I think the pictures are funny.

And then it was time for dinner. Marty knows me well in the food department. I mean is there any other choice but a steak restaurant? He took me to The Capital Grille and oh man was it good! I got a big juicy filet and Marty had salmon (crazy ... I know!). We also had some lobster and crab cakes and lobster bisque and salad. Then after dinner, I was stuffed. But NEVER too full for dessert! And let me tell you, they had the BEST cheesecake! So worth all those calories!

Thanks for a great day Marty!! I love you.

Let's see ... we need a love song or something for this post. Oh wait! I think I'll go a different direction. Here's a classic ... Steve Martin: King Tut.

AC/DC Concert

Marty and I went to the AC/DC concert on Friday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. It was an awesome show! Here are a couple of pictures I took during the concert.

My favorite part of the show was when they had the big blow-up chick (Rosie) riding the Rock N Roll Train. I took this video at the concert. They were playing "A Whole Lotta Rosie."

Concert Review:

Talk about an explosive opening. AC/DC began its blazing gig Friday night at American Airlines Center with a video, an animated doozy of a clip (see video below) featuring guitarist Angus Young as the devilish train operator too tempted by the female persuasion to keep his locomotive from crashing. When it does jump the track, it ends up center stage in a ball of smoke. It's equipped with the band's trademark horns and logo, of course.

"Rock N Roll Train," from the band's comeback smash Black Ice, started it all and for the next hour and 45 minutes the group never let up. For an entity that's been together since 1973, these five rockers still perform as if they have plenty to prove. The 18-song set featured five from Ice, three from 1980's seminal Back In Black and pretty much every other AC/DC anthem you can think of.

Anthems are key here. For AC/DC, rhythm-heavy rock tunes need a chorus the crowd can chant. The packed house did just that time and again. Let's see here: "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "Thunderstruck," "Hells Bells" and "T.N.T.," to name a few.

During "The Jack," a bluesy number from 1975's T.N.T. album, the unpredictable, unstoppable Young launched into a striptease, removing pieces of his trademark schoolboy uniform until he revealed boxers with AC/DC emblazoned on his backside. That was one of many memorable moments.

It really was a great show and Marty and I had an awesome time. I'll close with my favorite AC/DC song. It wasn't played at the concert. From their Back In Black album, here's "Let Me Put My Love Into You."

Happy New Year! ... and a Trip To Terabithia

Today was a great start to 2009. It was a very fun, productive day. Marty and I spent a couple of hours taking down Christmas decorations (that's why I'm not doing a Christmas post today ... I'm all Christmased out ... but I promise the pictures are coming soon.) It was a beautiful, sunny day and about 70°.

We live right by a lake and there is a finger of the lake that comes behind the houses and you can hike around the woods. It's pretty muddy and the kids always come home filthy but they love it. They call the spot Terabithia. (Like the book/movie Bridge to Terabithia.) Lauren came home today with a tadpole. I asked if she would take me to Terabithia and she was so excited so I put on my boots and we headed out the door. We went with one of her friends and the boys all wanted to go with us but I had told Lauren it was just going to be the girls. But while I was putting on my boots, the boys left and I was pretty sure we would be seeing them!

Lauren was so sweet. She kept asking if I wanted to go the long or the short way? ... The easy or the hard way? ... The muddy or the rocky way? (There are many ways to get to Terabithia apparently.) But I told her that I was going to follow her whichever way she wanted to go. So we went through the creek. Here are Lauren and her friend Mackenzie in the creek.

I knew it wouldn't be long before we ran into one of the boys. We heard some rustling in the bushes and out popped my son Mackenzie!

So we asked him to take a picture of the three of us and then we were on our way again. The boys went their separate way.

And then we made it to Terabithia. This is the first picture I took. The sunshine makes it look magical ... just like in the book!

We spent a good hour or more walking around the woods and by the lake. I was really glad I had worn rubber boots. Lauren weighs about 43 pounds and does not sink in the mud. I am a different story! Here are some miscellaneous pictures of Terabithia.

And then we saw them again ... BOYS! I think they were spying on us the whole time. But this time we decided to stay together and head over to the bridge. My son Mackenzie had gone home. Nick told me that Mackenzie had found some trash and said he wanted to clean it up like WALL-E (Mackenzie has a slight WALL-E fascination at the moment). The boys in the picture are Nick in the glasses and our neighbor Jonathan (Lauren's friend Mackenzie's brother).

And we finally made it to the Bridge to Terabithia. Here it is. And the kids wanted to go under it. They are convinced that a "hobo" (Lauren's word) lives under the bridge because there's some carpet under there.

Christmas pictures are coming soon. I promise. But for now we need some music. How about a bridge song? Here's the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Under the Bridge.