Las Vegas: Brace Yourself for more Richards

*I feel the need to preface this post with an apology for my extended absence. In the coming posts (that's right, I'm planning more) you will see glimpses of the goings on that have kept me away from the computer. Stay tuned.*

Las Vegas got even more crazy (believe it or not) on October 16th, when Brandon's parents, Chuck & Brenda came to visit under the guise of attending a medical conference. Unfortunately, I had to leave for San Francisco for work the following morning, so I didn't get to see much of my dear in-laws. We did manage to squeeze in a show the night they arrived and they took us to KA, a Cirque du Soleil show that was absolutely phenomenal. Then I flew off and gave Buddy some alone time with his parents.

In true Buddy fashion, he took advantage of every opportunity to mooch and ended up staying at Mandalay Bay with them all weekend. If they like to feel needed, they had the right son for the job.
He took them to his "place of business", which in 1.5 years should actually be a place of business, and not a school. Just in case you forget which campus you're on, the benches are all neatly marked for you. Thanks, UNLV.
Buddy has yet to develop real UNLV pride, so tends to sport high school, Spokane, BYU or Wendy's shirts to school. He really enjoys his program, though and took Ma & Pa Richards to the place where the magic happens.
In a different combination of BYU & Spokane gear, they trekked over to the Hoover Dam. This is hands down the most impressive structure Buddy has ever spit off. (The plight of the photographer: Poor Mom was taking all the pictures, so didn't end up in too many.)
The Titanic Exhibit is in town (apparently for the next 10 years, so I guess there wasn't a huge hurry) and the Richards clan went to view artifacts, hear stories, pay respects and get pictures taken on the Grand Staircase:

...and in front of "The Big Piece" (clever):

Having his parents here really brings out the best in my husband. (He'd like me to add that no money was deposited in the machine depicted here, it was merely a pose. I say whatever it takes to pay back those student loans...)
I got back on Monday afternoon, in time for an evening of fun. When I say "fun", first & foremost there was food. And if you think you've seen this place before, you're right. It's Pin Kaow, our token Thai restaurant we insist on taking people to in order to maintain the charade that we're cultured.
To cool our mouths off we ventured over to Yogurtland for some frozen yogurt, which in hindsight would have been more delicious if the coldest wind in Las Vegas' history hadn't been blowing at us the whole time. Although, Buddy doesn't seem to be hindered at all... Next on the agenda were select locations on The Strip.We almost went to Madame Tussaud's Museum of Wax, but apparently some bigwig had rented out the place for the evening. So, we had to settle for pictures outside of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson with Brandon "The Roll" Richards.
We did manage to make it over to Bellagio, while the garden was featuring some more-than-enormous pumpkins. This one weighed in at almost 890 lbs. We're waiting for announcements of free pumpkin pie, courtesy of Bellagio. We'll keep you posted...
No trip to Bellagio would be complete without pictures of the psychadelically amazing ceiling and an up-close-and-personal view of our nostrils. Mom & Dad, we were thrilled to have you come and visit, and hope you enjoyed yourselves thoroughly. Come back soon! Love you!