5th Anniversary and Catching up!

Last Friday - March 19th, Jesse and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary... To celebrate we took a trip to Las Vegas!

We stayed at Circus Circus, mainly becuz we got a GREAT price through the internet! Our first day there we only left the hotel once, to go to the car. The rest of the time we spent wandering the 2nd floor circus attractions, like playing the claw games (trying to win an MP3 player), and watching circus acts, checking out the AdventureDome, and of course, eating at the buffet.

The second day was just the opposite. Once we woke up and got going, we saw very little of Circus Circus! We bought a bus pass, and traveled to the opposite end of the strip; that's where we visited New York New York, and a 1/2 scale version of the Statue of Liberty.



In addition, we saw the "Brooklyn Bridge

."

After "New York" we traveled across the street to the MGM Grand. There we saw lions, literally right over our heads!
. And, little baby lions, too! FYI: You can feed the baby lions, but it cost $200 for 5 minutes, which unfortunately was out of our price range.

We ate lunch at the MGM buffet... It was AWESOME! Jesse had smoked salmon, and I had the most yummy, chocolate dessert! The lady at the dessert bar said there were rules to follow, for desserts, "You must have one of each; that's why we make them small!" I think I love her!!!

Afterwards we attended the viewing of a possible new TV show, which we were asked to review and give our opinion. I don't remember the name... Something like Miami Medical, which was created by the producers of CSI Miami. Basically, it was a mystery as to how 4 people were affected by the same accident, and which one ended up dying. Jesse loved the show. As for me, on a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being wonderful), I gave it a 2.

From the MGM we headed north to the M&M store... Four stories of M&Ms in every way, shape, and form, possible. We bought blue and gold M&Ms for mom, and all pink M&Ms for me. We even bought coconut M&Ms. We watched a 3D movie, "I lost my M in Vegas,"

and took our picture with several colors...


, including Nascar's#18 M&M. And an M&M classroom.


We also got a great view of the Las Vegas strip!

I think we could make our own movie: GIANT TAYLORS TAKE OVER IN VEGAS!!!

Next was the Belagio to see the conservatory... It was beautiful!!!


And, a display of Chihuly glass.

The Belagio has a water fountain display, choreographed to "The Pink Panther." We took a video of this, but I haven't figured out how to transfer it (yet), but it was beautiful!

Across the street from the Belagio is Paris (the hotel)... It took a couple of trips to Vegas to get a good picture, but this time I think we did it!



We also walked through Cesear's Palace... This place is ENORMOUS! Although it was beautiful, near the fountain, it wasn't near what I expected.

By this time we were exhausted, so we got back on the bus and headed back to Circus Circus... We didn't get back until 8:00 PM.

On Friday we heard about a program that was running through the hotel TV station, for greatly reduced vacations, so we took a half hour and listened to their spiel. Jesse was very interested, but I talked him into "thinking about it." Just for our time they gave us coupons for 1/2 price buffets, $10 in slots, and a $300 gas voucher! BTW: I talked Jesse out of this program, cuz there was a $250, up front fee, then $25 per month... That's $300 a year, even if we don't go anywhere! Any way, that got us a pretty cheap lunch. Afterwards, Jesse took a nap, and I headed for the pool... The goal: Some color on my pasty white face... ... It didn't work.

The plan that afternoon was to ride on a couple of the rides in the AdventureDome... Long story short, that didn't happen. But... While strolling through we saw this place that makes holographic photos; we had to try it. I'm adding both pictures (the best I could take)... When you tip the picture back and forth it alternates between seeing our faces and us kissing.
... These pictures do NOT do it justice... It's AWESOME!!!

Then, to celebrate our anniversary, we went to the Venetian, where they offer gondala rides. We shared a ride with a couple from Australia. The gondalier was so funny and had a beautiful tenor voice... he sang 3 songs for us, and told us it was good luck to kiss under the bridges! ***Smack*** This picture is a picture of the picture we bought.
Then, to wrap up the evening, we took the bus down to the Freemont Street Experience. We had no idea what to expect, other than some old Vegas strip signs and lights. In reality, it was a HUGE street party, with a fantastic light display overhead!



Now for the catching up part...
2010 started off rough. As I mentioned in my last post, I didn't feel very good over winter break. I had an infection running through me, all over, which apparently affected my eyesight... I couldn't see with or without my glasses. But, I put off buying new ones until I accidentally stepped on the old ones (the kitties knocked them on the floor and I didn't see them until it was too late).

And, on a sad note, my dog, Sammy (really my mom's dog, but he's lived with me the past 9 years),got painfully sick (it was so hard to watch), so we had to have him put down. Literally, this broke my heart. Even today, if I think about it too much I get all choked up. I loved that dog, like my brother, and I miss him.

My cat, Chuckles, had 4 babies again, 3 weeks ago. They are adorable! If anyone wants one, LET ME KNOW!

Spring break lasts another week. By the time we go back there will be 2 months and 1 week of the school year left. Time seems to be going by slowly (in the present), yet it's hard to believe we're so close to the end of another year (I'm not complaining).