Vegas Baby!

Kirk and I enjoyed a long weekend in Vegas while Sarah stayed home with Kirk’s parents. We flew out early Thursday and returned Sunday morning. The forecast for Vegas during our mini-vaca called for 115 deg F highs with extreme heat warnings. So we stayed in air conditioned buildings for the most part.

Our flight to/from Vegas took us over the Grand Canyon in an area that allowed aircraft below 15,000 ft. The views were amazing from the air. We flew into Henderson Executive Airport in Vegas which is the premier spot for business and celebrity travel. The treatment upon landing and taxing to the fuel dock was top notch. We were both in heaven after flying 2.5 hours.

We stayed at Treasure Island, now re-branded as “TI”. The entire hotel was recently remodeled so the rooms were nice. We had a great view of the strip overlooking the Mirage, Venetian, Caesars Palace and could see a bit of the Bellagio water fountain show in the afternoons/evenings.

We had a great time eating well, shopping up a storm (I heart the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale!), hitting the nightclubs and attending The Fray’s concert at the Palms. Jack’s Mannequin opened up for The Fray and they were great. The Fray’s show was fantastic and though our seats were up at the top level, the venue was designed so that every seat in the house had a close, great view. (we were surprised how well the picture turned out)

When we arrived on Thursday, we called to get our names on the guest list for Tao, the hot nightclub at the Venetian. I guess being on the guest list meant your wait outside was shorter. We still had to pay to get in but we were convince that was because we weren’t dressed like the rest of the hip, Vegas crowd in the short dresses, platform stilettos and in True Religion from top to bottom. We enjoyed people watching as we nursed our beers and walked through the club. The main dance area was huge with several small tables on the perimeter roped off with velvet rope. We couldn’t tell who the people were in the roped off areas. But one table definitely appeared to be occupied by either NFL or NBA players. These guys were huge! The music was loud playing the typical “inst, inst, inst” techno stuff with the occasional tribute to MJ (can we give it a rest already?). There were girls in minimal lingerie dancing on elevated areas around the main dance floor along with other topless women in small tubs “dancing”. It was interesting to watch and neat to say we went but after being there for about an hour, Kirk and I were done. We realized that we felt old and the nightclub scene wasn’t our thing anymore since we were thirty something and married with a kid.

On Saturday we decided to take it easy and catch a movie. What better place to watch "The Hangover" than in Vegas. Kirk and I haven't laughed that hard in quite some time. It's a definite must see. I laughed so hard that I cried many times throughout the show.

Some other highlights of the trip included: a great dinner at Emeril Lagasse’s steak restaurant Delmonico at the Venetian on night one (we dressed up for dinner and it was great!), the great finds at other shops, seeing the B-52’s singer Fred Schneider at the Forum Shops in Caesars Palace, the little person dressed as Elvis singing “Sexy Back” on the strip, but mainly walking hand in hand with each other and enjoying three days with no schedules (except for making the concert and any dinner reservations reasonably on time).

First Tea Party

Sarah was able to enjoy her first tea party during the 4th of July weekend with her cousins, grandma, aunt and I. Grandma Darlene (aka Gaga - Kirk's mom) and her sister Deree brought antique bone china tea cups and saucers, special cakes, white lacy gloves, hats and tea for the girls. Sarah drank her juice but we called it tea for fun. The little cakes were a hit and it took just about the entirety of the tea party for Sarah to warm up to wearing her hat. The gloves never made it on. We had a great time watching the girls be girls!

4th of July Weekend

We had a great time over the July 4th weekend. We spent 5 days with Kirk’s family in Delta, CO and attended the Cherry/Porterfield (Kirk’s mom’s side) family reunion. It was great visiting with everyone including those we haven’t seen since our wedding almost 11 years ago. Sarah had a blast with her cousins Ann Marie and Maura along with their doggies Sophie and Angel. She still talks about the doggies to this day. Kirk was able to get on the Gunnison with his dad and cousin for fishing too! It was a blast.

We were able to finally retrieve the Cessna after it being out of commission with the annual and prop refurbish. We got it just in time for our Vegas trip this weekend without the kiddo.

Kirk and the boys - cousins Matt and Chris.

Water fight! There were many squirt gun fights during the weekend with Ann Marie, Maura, daddy and cousin Chris.

Maura reading "Robert the Rose Horse" to Sarah. Sarah enjoying peas right out of the garden. Sarah was able to pick the first cherry tomato from Papa's garden. Playing with the doggies.

Sinus Upate

I went to an ENT/allergy doctor in Durango for a second opinion. His thoughts - no surgery. Instead, let's do allergy testing come late fall to determine what gets me in the spring. From that we can start allergy treatments. If I start to develop a cold or sinus problem, then it's steroid time along with a major saline flush with this Nalgene type bottle he gave me. That's going to be fun. Then if it gets worse, we will try an antibiotic flush. (never knew that existed) If allergies are the culprit the surgery won't do any good. So I think for now, the surgery option is being put on the shelf alongside my tuck and new boobs. :-)

Decisions...decisions

I had to post these pictures just because I think they are so neat. No, they are not pictures of a future Johnson but of my head. I went to a Ear Nose Throat doctor in May after getting sick of dealing with recurring sinus infections. After spraying stuff up my nose and then shoving a long scope up to my eyeballs (not fun by the way and totally not expected!), the doctor suggested I get a CT scan. So I did just that and went for my follow-up last week. I have a deviated septum which you can see in the pictures. I also have some mucus layer building up in my sinuses and the drain holes are blocked which explains why I get infections easy. So I have two options...1. spray steroid in my nose from now until ?? or 2. get sinus surgery. They would fix my septum, make the sinus drain holes larger and clean out the thick layer of mucus. The issue with the surgery is it's surgery. It requires that I go under for the hour long procedure. I freaked immediately and told the doctor I'd talk it over with Kirk. I have an appointment with another doctor in Durango after the July 4th holiday for a second opinion. You know, it makes me wonder that if I went under for a nose repair, why not make it worth the anesthesia and get a tuck, suck and my boobs back. ha!

Just Dance

I finally pulled some video off the camera and had to post this gem. This is Sarah pre-potty training rocking out to Lady Gaga while sitting at the computer. Too cute!

Happy Daddy's Day!

We had a nice daddy's day celebration. It started last week when a shipment of Alaskan halibut and salmon arrived from 10th and M Seafood in Anchorage. We were missing good fish so I ordered a box of treats. We enjoyed swimming at the Durango Rec Center followed by a great lunch at Steamworks Brewery yesterday. Kirk was able to go fishing on Saturday and enjoy the sunshine (along with the afternoon down pour). I was registered to run the Steamworks Half Marathon on Saturday in Durango but sold my slot Friday night to a person on the wait list since I was battling a head cold, smokers cough and laryngitis to boot. So, I'll have to shelf participating in a half marathon for a later date. But I did get out for a 5 mile run on Saturday morning regardless of the head/chest crud.

I'm happy to report that potty training is going really well both at home and at daycare. The trainer pants are nice and aren't too bulky so that helps while at daycare. She's had one accident in the past two weeks at daycare and a clean slate at home for quite a while. So, I think we have this one in the bag.