Because Top Ten lists are fun.....

I've decided to do a few more!

I now give you................

The Top Ten Things We SHOULD Have Done in Vegas!

1. Tournament of Kings at The Excaliber -- We planned to get tickets for it, but the show was sold out by the time we tried to get the tickets.

2. Cirque de Soliel Beatles LOVE -- The show was off the week we were there. Otherwise we would've shelled out the big bucks.

3. Gondola rides --At only $16/person, it's one of the cheaper activities and would've been a highlight.

4. Roller Coaster -- In New York, New York, there was a roller coaster. We just didn't have time.

5. Fremont Street -- The Fremont Street Experience was closed that week as well.

6. M&M factory -- I've heard it's fun and free and you get chocolate. We didn't know where it was until it was too late.

7. Circus Circus -- This is kind of far away from The Strip "proper" and didn't know where it was until we were leaving.

8. Treasure Island -- No time.

9. Mirage volcano -- It erupts on the hour after sunset. We weren't there at the right time either night.

10. Las Vegas Mob Experience -- This is only $30-$40/person, and again, we didn't know in time. (We thought we had everything planned out, but we were WRONG!) Apparently this is some kind of interactive show at the Tropicana where you're given an envelope with a "job." It's right up our "Host a Murder"-loving alley, but we didn't know about it till our last night.

So for those of you who mentioned using my last Top Ten as a guide, use this one, too.

And just for kicks, here are:

The Top Ten Things I Won't Miss about Las Vegas:

1. The smell. Cigarettes. Alcohol. Cigars. Sweat.

2. The taste (The smell is so potent you can actually taste it.)

3. Men trying to hand out flyers. At least they're not allowed to talk to you.

4. Feeling so utterly covered. I know that I live in a bubble. I'd like to think I'm aware of what that entails. But to go from 89 degrees in Happy Valley to 106 in Sin City was quite a shock. It was very weird to me to be the ONLY woman with sleeves and shorts to my knees. I wasn't prepared to feel so..........Amish.

5. 65-year-old cocktail waitresses. Sad, but true.

6. Pregnant cocktail waitresses. Even sadder, but still true.

7. $5 slurpees. Superman had a serious Slurpee craving while we were there and the cheapest we could find were $5 for a small. And it wasn't even that great. Luckily we found an Orange Julius 20 minutes later and got something better.

8. Wondering if a really hot girl and and not-so-hot guy are a real couple. You know what I'm talking about. Description of one "couple" we saw: Mid-50s man. Graying. Wearing slacks and a button-up shirt. Mid 20s woman. Smokin'. Wearing a bikini with a button up shirt over it. Nothing else.

9. My aching feet. The soles of my feet hurt oh-so-very badly. They still hurt, in fact, weeks later.

10. The heat. We've been pretty spoiled in Utah and it's only now reaching the upper 90s. Not so for the Las Vegas Desert.

So. You planning a trip to Vegas any time soon?

Vegas, Baby! (Said in my best Joey Tribbiani voice)

While my parents were here visiting, Superman and I took a small vacation to Las Vegas. Our first ever vacation sans-children. We left on Monday morning and came home Wednesday evening. It was not nearly long enough to see everything we wanted to see, but it was a good amount of time for our kids and my (now exhausted) parents.

Rather than write an extensive travelogue, I decided to share my Top Ten lists for Vegas. So, without further ado, I give you:

THE TOP TEN THINGS WE DID IN VEGAS!!!

(image here)

10. The "Aquarium" at the Mirage

This one doesn't actually deserve a place in the Top Ten. I am only adding it for those who may think this is actually an "attraction." It's. NOT. It's a FISH TANK at the check-in counter at the Mirage. We walked all over that dumb hotel, looking for "The Aquarium." I was seriously disappointed when I realized how lame it was. I was more than disappointed. I was mad. This may or may not have been related to the fact that it was the end of day 2 and my feet and blisters were killing me, but it was a huge let-down. In any case, this is NOT attraction to go out of your way to see.

9. New York, New York

This was a fun hotel. I have never been to New York (it's on my bucket list) but this place looked like what I've seen on Sex and the City. Building smashed together, fire escapes, Irish pubs and hot dog stands. I was kinda disappointed that we didn't get run over by a taxi or mugged, but maybe that'll happen when we go to the real Big Apple.

8. The Forum Shops & Atlantis

The Forum was breathtaking. As an extension of the Venetian, there were painted ceilings and Roman architecture everywhere. This is the Fountain of the Gods and I just happen to be standing in front of Aphrodite.

In the Forum is the Atlantis aquarium. A small fountain and circular aquarium (this one actually earned the title) set the stage for the Atlantis show. It's about 10 minutes long and there are pyrotechnics and quasi-realistic robots. It was entertaining. My kids would have loved it.

7. Dal Toro

This was a fantastic Italian restaurant in the Palazzo. The most delicious lasagna I have ever tasted. Also, the best house salad. My only complaint was that we assumed the salad was part of the meal, since the waitress presented it as such. We didn't realize they were TEN DOLLAR salads. Now, it was good, but I'm not really a fan of paying ten dollars for something without meat or chocolate in it.

For the rest of the trip, we used it as an excuse to not spend more money. "If we hadn't spent $20 on salads, we could have ridden the roller coaster." "Man, I'd love to spend $26,000 and get the authentic Superman cape that Christopher Reeve wore in the movies. Too bad we got those salads...."

6. Bellagio botanical gardens

Inside the Bellagio is an exquisite garden and Atrium. The fountains were fantastic and it was just beautiful everywhere I looked.

This is the ceiling of the Bellagio's lobby. This picture doesn't do justice to artist Dale Chihuly's work.

5. Breakfast at Tiffany's

Yes. We ate breakfast at Tiffany's. We bought bagels and juice at Starbucks and walked to Tiffany's in the Forum. We played the song on my phone.......

It was epic.

4. Bellagio fountains

Lame picture, but awesome sight. The song playing during this particular show was Elton John's "Your Song." Superman and I love the Moulin Rouge version of the song (how many times can I say song?) and thought it fitting that "our song" played while we watched. I wish we would've had more time to stay and watch other shows, but we just didn't.

3. The Lion King

The Lion King was a fantastic show. The sheer creativity involved in the costumes and set design were astounding. We saw it our last night in Vegas and as good as it was, I wish we had seen in the first night. We were able to get discount tickets from "Tix 4 Tonight." If you're going to Vegas and want to go to shows, definitely hit up these places. They are all over the strip. You'll want to get there early to make sure your show isn't sold out. They saved us 30% off our Lion King tickets and 25% off at Dal Toro.

2. The Venetian/Palazzo

The painted ceiling in the Venetian's lobby.

We were dumb-struck at this sight.

Do you see the gondolier? It was almost like I was actually in Venice.

Then I crossed the bridge and the "almost" went away. I think I even felt myself start to sink. It was a beautiful and convincing sight.

The entire Palazzo was mind-blowing. From the hand-painted ceilings, to the fountains, to the statues, to the gondolas, walking through the Venetian was..........

magical.

And finally,

1. Phantom

When Superman told me we had tickets to "Phantom," I didn't think it was the real Phantom. I thought it was some Vegas version of the show where the Phantom was a Thunder from Down Under guy and Christine was a show-girl. It wasn't until I saw the sign at the ticket-office that I understand we were actually going to see PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Freaking out commenced immediately.

"Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!!!!! This is going to be SOSOSOSOSO AWESOME!!!!!! You have no idea. OH MY GOSH. You have NO idea what to expect, do you, Superman? I mean, *I* don't really have an idea, but I have some idea. It's going to be incredible. OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH. We're going to see Phantom. We're going to see PHANTOM!!!!!!!!!"

The show did not disappoint.

There are simply no words for how extraordinary Phantom of the Opera was.

The music.

The effects.

The vocals.

It completely, one hundred percent, blew us away. We saw it our first night there and it set the bar so high, Lion King didn't stand a chance. And Lion King was a great show. But I wish we had seen it first, and Phantom last. It would have been the perfect ending, rather than the "aquarium" at the Mirage.

Stupid aquarium.

And a little child shall lead them

The Hulk came upstairs earlier today.

"Mom, can I have some yoguht and gwapes, please? I aweady asked you."

"Oh! Yes, you can, babe. I forgot that I said I'd get you some. I'm sorry," I felt bad for having forgotten my promise.

"It's okay. I forgive you," my son easily replied with a hug.

As I walked into the kitchen to get The Hulk's snack, he followed me in.

"Mom, did you know that I already forgave you? Even before you said sowwy?"

"Hulk, that's so great. Who taught you to forgive so fast?"

"I don't know. I sink it was in my heart."

~~forgive the indulgence. just something I wanted to remember.~~