What's better than one set of parents visiting in October? TWO sets of parents visiting in October! If those of you in Las Vegas noticed the extreme decrease in temperature and the massive increase in threatening, gray clouds, yes, my parents were in town and brought a taste of the Canadian weather with them. (By the way, the forecast for the week immediately after their departure: "Gorgeous" according to the weatherman, 80s all the way. Sorry you missed it, Mum & Dad!)
It did stay nice the first day they were here, so I showed them around the complex, including our Goldilocks pools (there are 3: luke warm, cold & colder).
We showed them the clubhouse (the first time we'd actually been there) and couldn't resist a couple of games of pool. It would have been better for us if we'd kept walking...to put it lightly, we got slaughtered.
Brandon had committed to making cookies for our friends and sought Dad's guidance when his dough ended up looking nothing like any cookie he'd ever seen. For the record, they turned out to be absolutely scrumtrulescent.
We also introduced Mum & Dad to Carl's Jr. and I think it broke Dad's heart to have been missing out on burgers like this for the better part of his life. As a matter of fact, I believe this picture is Dad's desktop background. Yes, they were that good.
*Let the record show that I did cook while they were here, and planned some of my most delicious meals for their visit to show them I've come a long way since not being able to boil water in high school. Let the record also show that Dad gave me a 9...and he doesn't give 10s.*
Apparently the first few days of Las Vegas excitement were a little much for Mum. Here she is taking a power nap in anticipation of having an amazing time at...
...the Titanic exhibit! Our family has always been fascinated by the Titanic tragedy, so a visit to the exhibit at the Luxor was incredibly interesting for us. Here we are with some of the remains of the ship. Someone coined the name "The Big Piece" because apparently "The 20 Ton Section of Corroded Titanic Steel" was taking too long to say. I think "Big" is a bit of an understatement, since it's 25 by 15 ft and again, weighs 20 tons, but what do I know?
Standing on a replica of The Grand Staircase was a bit surreal. We half expected to see Kate Winslet - which would probably be the only way this moment could have been better for Dad.
Then it was off to explore some more of The Strip. Not a family to overpay for food under any circumstance, we headed to Carl's again, but not before searching for a value menu at one of Vegas' finest restaurants. Worth a try, right?
Mum, Brandon & I went to The Phantom of the Opera at The Venetian and were blown away. Not only by the sheer awesomeness of the sets and singing, but by the overwhelming ignorance of tourists that continued to take pictures after being threatened by security and told multiple times that it is forbidden to take pictures inside the theatre. Some people's kids! So we waited until we were outside the theatre to snap a quick picture which we were 99% sure was okay to do (since we were outside) but we still ran pretty quickly after we took it :)
Not sure what Ebert & Roeper would say (anyone else miss Siskel?) but we gave it two thumbs way up!
We think we're so funny. So did the people waiting & watching us take this ridiculous picture.
I'm ashamed to admit that in the 1.5 years we've lived here, this was our first visit to Red Rock Conservation Area. It reminded me a lot of Utah, where we went hiking (once). Not really big on the outdoors. But it was really cool, especially for Mum & Dad who'd never really seen such wide open spaces.
Brandon quickly settled into cowboy mode, grabbing his belt buckle at every opportunity. Dad was playing it cool, channelling his inner John Wayne.
Mum is not scared to climb up a mountain. It's a pity you can't see how high we actually were, you'd be very impressed.
The classic foot-on-fence pose proved to be more of a stretch than Dad had anticipated, necessitating Mum's help lifting his leg on & off the rail. It didn't look quite as fun & fancy-free as it was intended to. We kept walking and found a lower one that helped them look a little more at ease. Aah, the great outdoors.
Any of you that have been reading for a while have learned that we can't resist a good jumping shot. Although this one nearly gave me a coronary (he was already 30 feet off the ground pre-jump) it turned out amazingly well.
Although, in all the excitement of leaping into the air and making his in-laws and wife gasp and shriek, Brandon sacrificed one of his flip flops to the rocky terrain (he wears them everywhere - and brings them to Canada for Christmas "just in case", but that's for another post). Lucky for him, he married me and I had my contacts in, so was able to locate the flop and squeeze into the small crevice (I've lost 3 pounds) to retrieve the long-lost footwear. Not just a mildly pretty face, people.
Now if you can't go exploring with Daniel Boone, Kevin Haw is the next best thing. He kept his eyes peeled for desert dangers, specifically rattlesnakes and coyotes. Don't worry, this set of animal droppings wasn't recent enough to indicate any immediate danger. Thanks for looking out for us, Dad.
A visit to Las Vegas isn't complete without a lot of things. One of the most important being a buffet. We fasted and prepared for The Feast Buffet at Red Rock and certainly ate Mum & Dad's money's worth. Did you notice that we were seated about as close to the desserts as you can get? They saw us coming.
The majority of Mum & Dad's visit consisted of them traipsing up and down The Strip, taking pictures of anything that moved and enjoying the larger-than-life scenery while I was at work and Buddy was at school. I'll just show you some of the highlights...
After visiting every hotel on The Strip and noticing that most had an overlying theme, Mum & Dad were "disappointed with the decor" at Hooters. Aren't they cute? Dear parents, I think they were trying to focus your attention elsewhere...
Cute Mum with the MGM lion. She didn't end up in many of the pictures, since she was on the other end of the camera more often than not.
We showed them the clubhouse (the first time we'd actually been there) and couldn't resist a couple of games of pool. It would have been better for us if we'd kept walking...to put it lightly, we got slaughtered.
Brandon had committed to making cookies for our friends and sought Dad's guidance when his dough ended up looking nothing like any cookie he'd ever seen. For the record, they turned out to be absolutely scrumtrulescent.
We also introduced Mum & Dad to Carl's Jr. and I think it broke Dad's heart to have been missing out on burgers like this for the better part of his life. As a matter of fact, I believe this picture is Dad's desktop background. Yes, they were that good.
*Let the record show that I did cook while they were here, and planned some of my most delicious meals for their visit to show them I've come a long way since not being able to boil water in high school. Let the record also show that Dad gave me a 9...and he doesn't give 10s.*
Apparently the first few days of Las Vegas excitement were a little much for Mum. Here she is taking a power nap in anticipation of having an amazing time at...
...the Titanic exhibit! Our family has always been fascinated by the Titanic tragedy, so a visit to the exhibit at the Luxor was incredibly interesting for us. Here we are with some of the remains of the ship. Someone coined the name "The Big Piece" because apparently "The 20 Ton Section of Corroded Titanic Steel" was taking too long to say. I think "Big" is a bit of an understatement, since it's 25 by 15 ft and again, weighs 20 tons, but what do I know?
Standing on a replica of The Grand Staircase was a bit surreal. We half expected to see Kate Winslet - which would probably be the only way this moment could have been better for Dad.
Then it was off to explore some more of The Strip. Not a family to overpay for food under any circumstance, we headed to Carl's again, but not before searching for a value menu at one of Vegas' finest restaurants. Worth a try, right?
Mum, Brandon & I went to The Phantom of the Opera at The Venetian and were blown away. Not only by the sheer awesomeness of the sets and singing, but by the overwhelming ignorance of tourists that continued to take pictures after being threatened by security and told multiple times that it is forbidden to take pictures inside the theatre. Some people's kids! So we waited until we were outside the theatre to snap a quick picture which we were 99% sure was okay to do (since we were outside) but we still ran pretty quickly after we took it :)
Not sure what Ebert & Roeper would say (anyone else miss Siskel?) but we gave it two thumbs way up!
We think we're so funny. So did the people waiting & watching us take this ridiculous picture.
I'm ashamed to admit that in the 1.5 years we've lived here, this was our first visit to Red Rock Conservation Area. It reminded me a lot of Utah, where we went hiking (once). Not really big on the outdoors. But it was really cool, especially for Mum & Dad who'd never really seen such wide open spaces.
Brandon quickly settled into cowboy mode, grabbing his belt buckle at every opportunity. Dad was playing it cool, channelling his inner John Wayne.
Mum is not scared to climb up a mountain. It's a pity you can't see how high we actually were, you'd be very impressed.
The classic foot-on-fence pose proved to be more of a stretch than Dad had anticipated, necessitating Mum's help lifting his leg on & off the rail. It didn't look quite as fun & fancy-free as it was intended to. We kept walking and found a lower one that helped them look a little more at ease. Aah, the great outdoors.
Any of you that have been reading for a while have learned that we can't resist a good jumping shot. Although this one nearly gave me a coronary (he was already 30 feet off the ground pre-jump) it turned out amazingly well.
Although, in all the excitement of leaping into the air and making his in-laws and wife gasp and shriek, Brandon sacrificed one of his flip flops to the rocky terrain (he wears them everywhere - and brings them to Canada for Christmas "just in case", but that's for another post). Lucky for him, he married me and I had my contacts in, so was able to locate the flop and squeeze into the small crevice (I've lost 3 pounds) to retrieve the long-lost footwear. Not just a mildly pretty face, people.
Now if you can't go exploring with Daniel Boone, Kevin Haw is the next best thing. He kept his eyes peeled for desert dangers, specifically rattlesnakes and coyotes. Don't worry, this set of animal droppings wasn't recent enough to indicate any immediate danger. Thanks for looking out for us, Dad.
A visit to Las Vegas isn't complete without a lot of things. One of the most important being a buffet. We fasted and prepared for The Feast Buffet at Red Rock and certainly ate Mum & Dad's money's worth. Did you notice that we were seated about as close to the desserts as you can get? They saw us coming.
The majority of Mum & Dad's visit consisted of them traipsing up and down The Strip, taking pictures of anything that moved and enjoying the larger-than-life scenery while I was at work and Buddy was at school. I'll just show you some of the highlights...
After visiting every hotel on The Strip and noticing that most had an overlying theme, Mum & Dad were "disappointed with the decor" at Hooters. Aren't they cute? Dear parents, I think they were trying to focus your attention elsewhere...
Cute Mum with the MGM lion. She didn't end up in many of the pictures, since she was on the other end of the camera more often than not.
Über cool Dad in front of the Bellagio. If James Dean had lived longer and grown a mustache...
I love this one. Aren't they just the sweetest? You're welcome for saving you a trip to France, by the way ;)
No trip to Vegas would be complete without spitting off the Hoover Dam (not pictured, but may be the reason Dad's smile is so big).
Forgive the flagrant misuse of the word, but it's just impossible to resist.
At least we make ourselves laugh.
Again with the Dam. We were lucky enough to snag free "Dam Proud America" buttons & stickers. Perfect souvenirs for my British/Canadian parents. I'm sure my Dad will wear them with pride (dripping with sarcasm).
Me, my Mummy & The Dam.
A Bachelor's & 1/2 way to a Doctorate and he still can't follow directions.
One of our last adventures was heading over to the spectators' pull-in at the airport and watching planes taking off and landing. We're only 15 minutes away from the airport (the closest I've ever lived) and Dad is fascinated with planes, as evidenced below:
Here's Mum, taking the Mickey out (making fun) of Dad's intensity and kung-fu grip on the fence. Apparently, she doesn't share his enthusiasm. But those guys down the way with binoculars and ladders sure did.
I'm so glad they made it and I hope to see them again soon, once they have new luggage. Their suitcase arrived in Las Vegas minus a handle and it was downhill from there. Amazingly efficient packing (read: overstuffing) caused the suitcase to bust a zipper and had to be taped together on its way back to Buffalo. I think the culprit of the overstuffed suitcase was Mr. Jim Beam.
One of the highlights of Dad's trip was the impossibly low cost of liquor in Las Vegas (no, he isn't a member of the church). Even Wal-Mart had a huge liquor section (unheard of in Canada) and maintained their reputation for ridiculously low prices. He is by no means an alcoholic, he just couldn't refuse the rock bottom prices - in one case a 300% savings he was incredibly proud of. Here he is pleading with our bathroom scale to announce that his whiskey wouldn't put the suitcase over the weight limit. It didn't work...
Aside from the suitcase falling apart, there were minimal worries. With two kids still at home to worry about, it was nice to see them be able to relax & unwind. I only get to see my parents once or twice a year, so this was a wonderful visit. They get funnier every time I see them, and we had a blast. Come back soon!
LOVE YOU MUM & DAD!
7 pennies for your thoughts:
What a fun post. your parents were charming! Can't wait to see you tomorrow night!
What?! Kevin Haw is obsessed with airplanes too??? Between this and the Jim Beam, I KNEW we were meant to be friends!
Wow. You've been busy! Now you can top off the past few weeks with a trip to visit US!!
so fun that both your parents visited. looks like you guys had a blast.
p.s. we're moving to vegas. next month. yahoo! we'll definitely be seeing you soon. :)
Finally got around to checking your blog. Love the picture of us at the last GNO. Kylie and Peyton were sure excited to see it, too. Love the double chin on me, too.
Love all the pictures with your folks. Please tell me all about Phantom. I have been dying to see it. I love all the stuff you guys have done. Gave me ideas for when my visitors come. See you tomorrow.
you are hilarious! thanks for all you do with Jack. he had a cold that projectiled green snot every time he sneezed yesterday (too much info?), so I felt it appropriate to keep him home and not infect others prior to holiday.
p.s. LOVE Pin kaow (did Landers introduce you to them?). ever looking for someone to go with, give us a call.
So fun! I love the comments on your photos! That is a nice Dam ;)
Lindsey
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