Las Vegas

Grant and I drove out to Vegas on Tuesday night. We left at a little after 7. Traffic was fine, there was a short stretch before state line where the freeway was down to one lane, but the workers were out there paving and although we were slowed to about 20, it didn't last too long.

On the way, we started through a baby names book. I had already made a list, so this was Grant's opportunity. I read the names and he ranked them 1 - 5.

We stopped at Barstopw for dinner at Tommy's - it just sounded really good - and then continued on to Vegas. We stopped at the Walmart by the airport for some groceries and checked into our hotel around midnight.

We are staying at the MGM Signature. Vegas is having a tough time filling rooms with all of the airline issues, so rooms are super cheap again. We got a one bedroom suite this time for cheaper than the studio we normally get. It is very nice, and located on the 20th floor of Tower 3 (the furthest tower from MGM). We like staying here, particularly in the summer, over Marriott because of the MGM pool access.

On Wednesday, we woke up and had a small breakfast to tide me and baby over. Then we walked over to Paris for our lunch reservations at Mon Ami Gabi. We shared a steamed artichoke with a  yummy citrus-y mayo dipping sauce and a bowl of possibly the best French Onion soup I have ever had. Seriously, it was like a bowl of gruyere cheese. So good. I had an asparagus and spinach quiche and Grant had seared ahi, and we shared profitiroles for dessert. So freaking good.

Then we walked back to our hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon in the MGM pool, floating around the lazy river and sipping on virgin strawberry daquaris. So nice.

For dinner, we went to the Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay - yes we love this place. This time, I had a burger with blue cheese and asparagus - so good! I think next time, I'll get blue cheese, bacon and asparagus and it will be perfecto! Grant got blue cheese, carmelized oinions, and peppered bacon. We split sweet potato fries and buffalo fries.

After dinner, we went over to New York New York to see Zumanity, one of the last Cirque shows for us to see. You must be 18 or over to see it, and it is billed as the "sensual side of Cirque". Grant and I were both disappointed. First of all, I mainly enjoy Cirque for the amazing acrobats and acts they do. Well, this show was severlely lacking in original acts - the majority were aerial acts with spinning and swinging on ropes or ribbons, or pair floor acrobats with strength poses. There was a lot of dancing. The two most original acts were back to back at the very beginning - the fish bowl, and the hulla hoop girl, and then the rest felt very repetative. I felt the sexiness was sort of forced and not very natural - like I was being told to feel sexy instead of just letting it happen naturally. It felt more like a topless caberet show and less like a Cirque show. I enjoy my topless caberet shows, but that's not what I felt I expected or paid for. I feel this show has way more potential...

That being said, were glad we saw it - now we know!  
 

Brussles to London - Thursday/Friday

(oops - I always forget to post this last blog!)

Grant and I flew from Brussels to London, arriving at about noon London time. We stayed at the Marriott at Heathrow, so we checked in and dropped off our stuff, and we were in downtown London by 2.

Our first stop, of course, was the TKTS booth, where we scored two tickets to The Sound of Music at 50% off. After lunch, we walked to Westminster Abbey and then through Hyde Park towards Buckingham Palace. While at the park, I chatted it up with a teacher who was on a field trip with his "form 6" students (ages 10 - 11, what seemed like the equivalent to 5th grade…) These kids were getting ready to move on to their next school (like our middle school/junior high) and they got this one last fieldtrip to celebrate… a three day field trip to London! Can you imagine? (They were from another part of England, and many of them had never seen a big city like this before!)

Next, we headed towards the pier adjacent to the London Eye, and caught a narrated river cruise up and down the Thames - That was really cool, as it was a good orientation to the city and something we had never done before in London!

After a quick stop at a souvenir shop for some candy, we went to the London Palladium to see "The Sound of Music!" It was the same production that Andrew Lloyd Webber when he made the TV show "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" which did a talent search for someone to star as Maria. This was not the same person who won, but it was the same production whish we both enjoyed very much. We had good seats, too: Row N in the stalls (what we would call Orchestra) in the center section.

After the show, it was raining and windy, so we ducked into TGI Fridays at Piccadilly Circus and ate before catching our long subway ride back to Heathrow.

We arranged for a 2:00 check out, and left for the airport this afternoon to fly home!