Everything but the Kitchen Sink: December 2009

Part 6 of Thanksgiving week!

On our last day in Vegas we attended John's cousins wedding. Here are few pictures from the evening.

I couldn't skip taking a picture of the bar at the restaurant that they had their reception at. It lit up different colors. It was neat.

John and I caught our flight out that Friday night and made it back Saturday to the East coast. We had such a great time.

Part 5 of Thanksgiving Week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving, we headed back out to the strip to take in more sights. We stopped at the Hooters in Vegas for lunch. We did have turkey dinner at the resort for dinner, don’t worry!

This was the view from our room.

A fountain outside the Paris Las Vegas- a replica of La Fontaine des Mers

The Eiffel Tower replica during the day.

The New York New York hotel and casino. We went inside to find out more about the roller coaster. We didn’t ride it though, it was just too pricy! We did get a little lost in the casino part though. It is not easy to get out of those places once you get in!

This is the Volcano outside of the Mirage Hotel. We are standing across the street at The Venetian.

This is one of the many detailed ceilings inside the Venetian hotel.

This is the ceiling inside the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian.

Another shot inside the Venetian. The sky is incredibly real looking.

John inside the Grand Canal

And another video: Volcano at the Mirage

Volcano at the Mirage

Part 4 of Thanksgiving Week!

On Wednesday we woke and packed up our bags. We were heading to Vegas!!!

One last look at the beautiful Pacific Ocean….

We made one last stop by the Foli’s to visit for a while. I painted Lil’s nails while we were there.

She had the strongest, thickest, longest, most beautiful nails I’ve ever seen.

Dan, Grandpa Foli, & John….

Dan, Grandpa, Tim, & John….

Tim, John, Dan, and Lil….

Lil, Dan, Tiffany, John, Kristi, & Ernie….

We headed to Vegas that afternoon. Traffic was ridiculous! But we finally made it. I snapped some pictures of the desert on the way. I had never been to Nevada until this trip. It was nice to see.

Beautiful, but not quite like the Smoky Mountains….

The Luxor

The Monte Carlo

Mandalay Bay

New York, New York

Caesars Palace

Paris Las Vegas

Trying out another thing I just learned how to do…..

The Bellagio Fountains water show….

The Bellagio Fountain

Part 3 of Thanksgiving Week!

We started day 3 of the trip with a little shopping. Then we headed over to the Foli’s.

Birds of Paradise flower at the Foli’s house.

John…

Grandpa Ernie….

Granma and Grandpa….

John was doing a Rising Card Magic trick with Grandma on his Ipod. (Leave it to John-the-magician to download an app that is a magic trick!)

We hung out most of the day with the Foli’s.

Grandpa- probably watching a classic western or a classic movie like Pretty Woman.

Grandma Lil- Aka- Noni. She is sharp. She is most likely working on the crossword from the N.Y. Times.

Ginette and Grandpa in the Kitchen….

Ginette can cook up a storm. So can Grandpa I hear. True Italian cuisine.

After a nice quiet dinner, John and I headed to the pier. We hadn’t even been down at the beach where we were staying. So we went for a walk.

John and me….

It is always clear there.

There were lots of fishermen on the pier. This fish had just been caught and unhooked. I can’t say where it went next. Hopefully back in the ocean. He was a little guy.

One more pose. Then we called it a night. The time difference was taking a toll on us East Coasters.

Part 2 of Thanksgiving Week!

On the next day of our trip, John and I drove to meet Dan & Tiffany. We ate at a great Mexican restaurant. It was fun to try some different things. They had a different salsa that was supposed to be hotter than the regular, but to be honest, John and I just thought it tasted like mud! I also attempted to eat a pepper. Once John saw how hot it was to me, the one of us who eats really hot stuff, he decided not to eat his. After drinking a lot of water, we headed to La Jolla Cove to Seal Beach. Check out all the pictures…..

Another picture from the top of the resort.

The weather was always beautiful. A little chili at times, but always sunny. It was a nice break from all the rain on the East coast.

La Jolla Cove (pronounced Luh Hoi-ya or something like that)

Being the chicken I always am, I was hesitant in jumping over the little gap in the rocks. The guys could just step over, but remember, I’m 5’2”. It was a big step for me. I did end up crossing over finally!

I don’t think I could ever live in California, but I really could get used to seeing the sun set over that beautiful ocean.

The “Seal Beach” is very popular with the seals during the winter months. They make their nest there. There were quite a few there the day we visited.

I’m trying out this new (to me) tool called Picasa. I made a collage. I hope you can see some of the many pictures I tool of the seals. (if it doesn’t look good, I’ll change it eventually.)

Seal Beach Collage

After visiting the Seals we headed to the San Diego area again. We went to the Harbor and visited for a while. We checked out all the boats. (Dan is in the picture with the pirate ship below)