What happens in Vegas...

totally rocked! After a fun-filled week at CKU, Mat flew in to SLC. I picked him and we drove to Las Vegas. It was a second honeymoon, of sorts, since the kids were still with grandparents. And I relinquished control to Mat on this one. He planned the locations. Total surprise to me. I was able to provide input but he made the ultimate decisions. And BOY! Did he ever pull off a great week for us.

For the first 2 nights, he booked a suite (yes, a SUITE!) at The Venetian. OMG! Can you say "WOW"? The room was incredible.


Great view from the 10th floor, overlooking the main pool. Large sitting area with a big ole "L" shaped sofa. Beautifully made king-sized bed.

Bathroom with marble everywhere. And not one, not two, but THREE flatscreen TVs in the room. The biggest one at the foot of the bed (on the opposite wall), another big one in the sitting room, and a small one mounted on the wall in the bathroom so you could watch it from the soaker tub or the glass-enclosed shower. Wow! Loved the little bottles of shampoo and lotion and gel. Sure, they were plastic bottles but they looked so much nicer. Oh! And the two big white robes with the gold-embroidered "V" on the chest. Luxury!


For dinner that night, we ate at B&B Ristorante (co-owned by Mario Batali). We opted to try the pasta tasting. Bread and balsamic vinegar and olive oil, followed by a green salad. Then 4 different samplings of pastas, starting with a lighter fare up to the heaviest (a foie gras ravioli in a balsamic vinegar reduction). This was the only one that I didn't care for that much, but it was more due to the balsamic reduction (very strong). The dessert that capped the tasting was very good! It was a creme brulee of sorts, drizzled lightly with a stout ale sauce.

We didn't get a chance to ride in a gondola which cuts a path through the Venetian property by way of the canal [heavy sigh]. But only because our days were packed!

The next night, we had dinner at Postrio (Wolfgang Puck's restaurant). This meal was even better than the night before! After a light salad, we had our choice of 3 main course items. We each picked a different one so we could share/sample. A grilled prime rib and salmon en papillote (salmon and grilled veggies wrapped in parchment paper). Same with dessert (13-layer tiramisu and another variation of creme brulee with strawberries)! In heaven!

To make the evening even better, we watched "Phantom"! Great seats! And the production was incredible! Many parts were better than the stage production of "Phantom" that we saw in SF. We definitely had better seats this time around. And "Phantom" holds a special place in our hearts since it was the first stage production that Mat and I ever saw as a couple.

We had to say "goodbye" to The Venetian on Tuesday, but drove down to The Excalibur! The reason behind this selection? It's the hotel we stayed at on our honeymoon! Yes, he's quite the romantic. It was great to walk through the place we stayed at oh-so-many-years ago.

We got tickets to two more shows: KA (one of the Cirque du Soleil shows) and Mamma Mia! (the stage production). Three shows. All different. All incredible!



We still had lots to do and see. And that includes two of Las Vegas' premiere fountains.

The first are the fountains outside the Bellagio. Each night, the fountains light up and dance to various pieces of music. Every half hour or so, there's a different show. And each is just beautiful.

The other fountain happens to be inside the Bellagio, at the Jean Philippe Patisserie. Dark, milk, and white chocolate flows through varying levels of glass.

And if that's not enough to get you drooling, maybe their many pastries will. OMG! It was soooo hard to pick just one. But we managed to narrow it down to a chocolate covered petit four with chocolate ganauche. Almost too pretty to eat...almost.











Since we're on the subject of chocolate, here are two final photos. First, I give you....me! Standing along side the very cool M&M race car, located on the 4th floor of M&M World. Yes, 4 floors of anything and everything M&M. Tshirts, jewelry, stuffed animals, figurines. Yes, even M&Ms... in every color imagineable.




And as wonderful as our Vegas vacation was, the best part of the trip occurred on the Friday we left. You see, we drove to Laughlin where we FINALLY got to see our kids again! We missed them LOTS during their four-weeks with Papa and Nana. But we know they all had a great time. Samantha and Nicholas got to see aunts, uncles, and cousins a-plenty. And they now have many wonderful memories of time spent with their grandparents. Call this one incredible adventure!