"Get Up and Shake the Glitter Off Your Clothes..."

Okay, so our Vegas trip wasn't QUITE that wild, but we did have a great time on our President's Day/Valentine's Day vacation.  We flew in early Saturday morning and immediately reviewed our blackjack strategies in the hotel room before heading to the MGM Grand and New York, New York to see if they worked.  No, I'm not kidding...my husband printed off strategies and the odds for each card the dealer's holding so he could brush up on the plane.  I love that man.

After much chaos with their flight, Dan and Lori finally made it into town and we all met up at the casino in the MGM Grand.  Mom's forte - the Wheel of Fortune machines; Dan and Rob - the poker tables.  We ate at the Bellagio Buffet which was excellent! 

"Ahhh yes, so you just push the button like so, eh?"

Every hotel had something in its lobby to celebrate the Chinese New Year

We were lucky and caught one of the fountain shows just as we were leaving the Bellagio.  So cool!

Sunday, Valentine's Day, was another day of hitting the blackjack tables at various casinos.  Unfortunately, I had blown through all my gambling cash by the second day and rather than lose all control and go to an ATM, I hit up my husband for another $50.  I turned the $50 into $150 by the end of the trip, which was good enough for me.  Yes, he got his loan back.

In front of our hotel

Excalibur

New York, New York

For our Valentine's Day dinner we all ate at Battista's Hole in the Wall off the strip, which has decent Italian food and a cute old man who plays the accordion.  Some people were a little bit put off that he only sang one line of "That's Amore" after we requested it, but I wasn't one of those people.  He's old, give him a break!

After dinner we took cabs up to Fremont Street in the original downtown area.  The light show under the canapy was definitely something to see!  We saw Queen and later KISS. 

Holding the world's most disgusting Pina Colada.  I drank a little bit and then Dad and I ended up knocking it all over the floor underneath a blackjack table.  Eh, not a loss.

A random limo was driving by offering a great deal cheaper than our two taxi rides, so of course we couldn't pass that up.  He was kinda surly and was yelling at us to get in, so actually I could have passed on that.

This was taken at about 3:00 a.m. while Lori and I waited on Brent to meet us on the bridge between NY, NY and MGM.  We wanted to really stay out late that second night, but we were so.tired.  He found us asleep on a bench.  Not really, but close.

On our last day we hung out at the pool in the early afternoon and then Mom, Lori and I went up and down the Strip looking at different hotels. 

Paris

The Venetian

The girls all went to see LOVE - The Beatles Cirque du Soleil at The Mirage on our last night, and we LOVEd it indeed!  I couldn't get the Beatles' songs out of my head for the next several days.  If you're going to Vegas soon, it is definitely something you should see.  I promise.

This is Brent and I leaving for the Vegas airport.  Bonnie was ticked when we came home with that poodle, but she's coping with it.