What Happens in Vegas ...

We went to Las Vegas this past weekend for a little getaway and to celebrate my 27th birthday! We loved playing Blackjack at Encore and Caesar's Palace. And, I knew it was going to be a good weekend when we walked up to the Roulette table and I hit my lucky number on the first spin. Woohoo! 35:1, baby!

We saw The Cirque du Soleil show LOVE that goes along to Beatles songs.
It was really cool. My favorite parts were "Something in the Way She Moves" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

The most visually stunning show was Le Reve.
It was an intimate, round theater with a huge water tank in the middle. The show involved aerial acrobatics, synchronized swimming, high diving off platforms, dancing, contortionists, singing, and more. They even had an amazing smell permeating the theater ... we think they did it on purpose for the whole "sensory" experience OR they just needed to cover up the smell of chlorine. :)

We had two fun, unique dinners out.

Friday night was at Japonais ... a trendy sushi/Japanese place. They had one in Chicago too that we always wanted to go to, but this was our first opportunity to go to one. I HIGHLY recommend "The Rock" ... yummy marinated thin slices of New York Strip steak, served with a lava rock that's heated to 450 degrees ... you place the slices of meat on the rock and cook them yourself at the table (about 5 seconds/side for medium). WOW ... the best tasting steak either of us ever had.


Saturday night was at a cool new restaurant called SWITCH at Encore ... the new Steve Wynn hotel/casino that just opened in December. The ceiling, walls and lighting literally "switch" all around you about every 30 minutes while you're dining. It is a really innovative concept and definitely gives the sense of something that would only happen in Vegas!


On the way there and back, we flew over the Grand Canyon. I had never seen it before, so even just getting a glimpse from the air was awe inspiring. Would love to go there someday to see it up close. What a beautiful world we live in!

Duck Hunt

So, there is this wooden duck standing on a speaker in the first floor of our house. Kodi Bear thinks the duck is lording over that area of the room. We entertain ourselves by throwing toys into the vicinity and watching how he handles the incursion into enemy duck territory.

Check out the video below (warning: it's kinda hard to see the duck because it's camouflaged ... brown duck against brown wall). If nothing else, you have to see the "Kramer" moment about 1/3 of the way through. Ha!

By the way, this duck has been in the same place for all of Kodi's life and has never once done anything to elicit such respect (or is it fear?!)

Triathlon, Here We Come!

Jeff and I have decided to participate in the Dallas Triathlon on October 11, 2009! We're going to do the sprint distant, which is 800m swim, 25mi bike (it's usually half this distance, but the layout of this course makes it longer) and a 5k run. We are starting training this week ... which for now really just means getting back to the gym on a regular basis. Ha! Hopefully in the next month or two, we will get on a more structured training regimen.


I am nervous about the swimming part ... apparently there is a lot of contact when you first start the race in the water. But, hopefully a lot of training over the next few months will get us really prepared! We'll keep you posted on progress :)

Trip to Hudson

A couple weeks ago, I went home to Hudson, OH to be with my Mom as she recovered from foot surgery. I took our puppy Kodi with me ... he stayed in a bag underneath the seat in front of me on the plane. As a side note, he actually doesn't mind planes. He's been on commercial and private planes a few times now. Here is a picture of him on his first plane ride.


Anyway, the time in Hudson with my Mom and Dad was really wonderful. Mom is SO strong and she's a great patient. The surgery on her foot went smoothly, and after the first day or so, the pain was under control. We had time to visit and catch up. We also worked on a couple projects to help keep Mom's mind off her foot. We worked on finding paint colors for the dining room, hanging wildflower prints in the kitchen, and a collage of b&w photos in their entryway.

The dogs - Kodi and Jasmine - provided a lot of comfort and entertainment.


It was hilarious to see Kodi Bear play in snow for the first time. He loved it! This is Jeff's favorite picture of him :)





The snow really clumped in his fur! It was hilarious :)