Dress Shopping

Now that Brea and Andrew have decided (again) to get married here in MN, we actually get to do some fun, girly stuff, including dress shopping! I took Jackson down to St. Cloud a couple Saturdays ago so we could help Bre pick out and try on dresses. It was so exciting! Although I had supported their decision to get married in Jamaica and do something memorable that would make them happy, I think they ultimately made the right choice in deciding to share their big day with family and friends. Bre realized that she wouldn't want it any other way, and I know they will both be happy with the decision in the end.

Jackson thought his auntie looked very pretty, and even had some
"ooh"s for the first couple dresses. Doesn't he look like a little hick
with his hands like that?!

Helping us sort through the garment bags

Hamming it up for Grandma Paula

I can't wait until my sister gets to be a bride!!!

It's Been a While...

Are you sick of looking at pictures from our month-plus-ago Vegas trip? If so, I will update the blog soon on other family happenings. If not, I have plenty more to show you! So post a comment and let me know what to do with my next post, which will hopefully be coming soon...

Vacation Pictures 2

The four of us on the Strip by the Venetian; the couples cuddling on the shuttle ride to the Strip

Sorry it has gotten to be so long again! We were visiting Andrew & Brea in Hudson last weekend so I didn't have time to update then. It seems that weekends during Jackson's naps are the only times I can do this anymore, otherwise he's right next to me trying to "help" me type and destroying the computer in the process. Anyway, here are more pictures from the trip.

There was some sort of old-people's group wearing old-fashioned outfits and driving around in these model cars at Red Rock Canyon. The ladies reminded me of my Grandma Beaudoin in their fancy get-ups; she would have thought that was classy. At one overlook they got out to use the bathroom and have coffee & donuts, but it was so windy that the donuts fell all over the ground - a tragedy!

This was where the tour bus stopped to pick up the people we had to wait for while they cruised - literally - around Lake Mead at the Hoover Dam. There is an actual marina there and people do lots of pleasure boating, water skiing, etc., in the summer.

Curt and Cody hiked way up into this hill behind the casino where we ate the cheapest (and by that I mean crappiest) buffet in all of Nevada.

This is a view of the pool at the Tahiti where we stayed. Makes me want to go back!

Top: Curt and I enjoying some hot sun for a change!
Bottom: The view of the pool from our balcony

On Wednesday night (I think) we went to my favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory, where Curt & I shared my favorite meal, their French bistro version of shrimp scampi (above). Scrumptious! Then we went to the Blue Man Group - a fun, neat show - and Curt and Cody screwed around in the lobby area afterwards.

Heff and Sara at the wax museum. Sara was hoping to get engaged to Cody in Vegas, but then she saw George Clooney and decided to settle for him.

Mandalay Bay at night. Curt and I walked a long way almost to the door one night just to decide we didn't feel like going in, and now I wish we would have. Cody & Sara said it was really pretty inside. But then again, we had been inside several really pretty hotels/casinos already...

Sara and I with Steve Wyrick, the cool magician we saw at Planet Hollywood. He's super hot! And look how he tried to get cheek-to-cheek with me! Hehe!

Curt & I met up with Jim & Jenny, our friends from Curt's work who were in Vegas for his computer training thing while we were there. We had dinner together one night, saw the magic show on the same night, and went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris together.

This is Curt having a hard time getting excited on the ride to the top. Good thing he was buzzed or it wouldn't have happened at all! He kept grabbing on to the back of my shirt and pulling on me when we got up there, like we were both going to go crashing down over the side of the 8-foot high guardrail. Needless to say, he didn't last very long.

The amazing view of the Strip and the Bellagio from the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris.

Vacation Pictures

Seriously, folks, that's about all I've got for funny stories. I have many, many pictures to share, so I think I will just tell a bit about each one and leave it at that. They do not go in any particular order, but I have tried to group events together at least. I hope you enjoyed the stories of days one and two, and I hope the pictures don't disappoint.

Curt and I on the plane. He only looks a little nervous.

Views from the plane. I love looking out the window and am always amazed at the view! Isn't that awesome?!Caesar's Palace, one of the most beautiful casino/hotels. Lots of construction there right now.

Pretty decor inside Caesar's

Buddhist worship nook outside Caesar's. For real!

We spent one of our days taking a coach bus to Hoover Dam for a guided tour that we got at a discount from the resort. We also stopped at Ethel M. Chocolate Factory on our way out. On this day we ate at our only buffet of the trip at some tiny casino several miles from the Dam, and it was no good. In the end, we wish we would have just rented a car and taken in Hoover Dam at our own pace. We ended up waiting around for much of the day as our group was split into different tours of different areas, and there was nothing at all going on at the chocolate factory. The dam itself was incredible - it's hard to fathom all the work that went into it, and it's so hard to believe that it's man-made when you look at it. The guided tour, though, was not very thrilling. I think we were expecting something grand and were disappointed.

The bridge they are constructing to bypass the dam (smart idea - the road down in there is very curvy and a slow drive); view of the Colorado River from the existing bridge - the white at the bottom of the rock shows how high the water was at its highest; one side of the wall that ends up being the dam.

Curt and I on the tour inside the dam; the five huge generators that run the place

Looking over the other side of the dam from the white rock picture above; Curt and I at the dam (He was scared to be up that high and he couldn't handle watching us look over the edge, so he had to go back inside. Poor thing! It was kinda funny, though - he'd pull on my shirt and exclaim about how high we were and the danger all around. Hehe!)

Posting pictures on this blog is a long, annoying process, so that's all for today! There are many more to come, so be sure to check back soon - I will try to get some more up this week.

Vegas, Day 2

After the chaos of night one, we decided it would be best to have a plan from now on in order to avoid more crazy-inducing hunger and other stressful situations. We met with the concierge (read: ass-kisser) from the resort who had talked to my mom earlier in the week and arranged some things for us. He knew a ton about Vegas: where to get good deals, how to find the best cheap food that only the locals know about, and which casinos had the hottest shows on the Strip. He talked a mile a minute about a million different things and left us feeling overwhelmed, but he did end up getting us some free show tickets and some reduced passes. From there we were able to figure out our itinerary for the rest of the week. We knew we were packing a lot in, but we didn't want to miss any of the things that one individual really wanted to do, and we made sure to leave some time at the end of the week for relaxing pool-side.

After meeting with him we actually got to walk outside in our shorts (fabulous!) to run some errands (sounds funny during vacation) so we could have some things on hand. For being a nice place, Tahiti has one of the sorriest continental breakfasts I've ever seen, so we wanted to make sure to have some eggs, bacon, and milk in our room. We ran to Walgreens for these and some necessities we had forgotten to pack before heading to the classiest liquor store ever. No joke. There was incense burning, everything on display was held in dark-stained wooden crates with raffia beneath it, and the smooth talker (and dresser) behind the counter kept calling us "his friends" and saying, "Of course, for you" with his Spanish accent - a classy older gentleman. He reminded me a little bit of Ricardo Montalban from "Fantasy Island" except more Spanish than Cuban or whatever that guy was. Although the liquor store was a long way to hoof it from the resort/Walgreens, a small part of me secretly hoped we'd run out of booze so we'd have to go back there for more! I have never experienced anything like it. And if you know me, you know that I am in liquor stores ALL. THE. TIME. This one was just an inch above Y Knot Liquors in good ol' Motley, MN. Right, boys? ;0

On the walk back we stopped at two quick restaurants that were new to me and are my new loves: Qdoba and Wingstop. (If you have either of these in your area and have not yet partaken, you seriously need to check them out. Delicious goodness. You will hear about each of them again, not to mention so many other wonderful eateries I savored.) That afternoon was the first time we headed to the Strip. We surely walked a few miles seeing the sights inside and out, and this was our first of many stops at my favorite casino, New York New York, among several others. There is so much to see and do there: a NY-esque city block of the best eats from the Big Apple, a bar that features dueling pianos we listened to for free from outside the bar itself, my favorite strawberry daiquiri mix in souvenir cups that cost less to refill (!) outside the Coyote Ugly club, and the arcade and - best part - rollercoaster that starts inside and goes outside and all around the building, complete with curves, twists, and a couple upside-down rolls.

There's a mini Lady Liberty, and the roller coaster curving off to our left

Night view of entrance from our shuttle pick-up spot

View of part of the Strip from one of the walkways above the street

Cody standing by the cooler outside the steakhouse in NY NY

Out by the sidewalk there is a big tribute to firefighters in honor of 9/11, including a row of several t-shirts from different departments across the country. Cody is passionate about firefighting and had been looking for a firefighting job since he graduated college with a fire science degree. He finally found one and was scheduled to begin at the relatively small fire department in Cloquet, MN, just after we got back. As we walked by them we joked that we'd see a Cloquet shirt in the group. Sure enough, towards the end, Sara spotted it - the real deal all the way down in Vegas! It was a neat surprise, and Cody was pretty excited.

During that afternoon I had the most embarrassing moment of the trip, and there were plenty of witnesses. I don't remember exactly where on the Strip we were, but us girls were looking at the shuttle schedule and figured we had about five minutes to get from where we were to our pick-up spot on the side of one of the casinos, in order to get to the next place we were supposed to be going. We didn't know that's where the spot was, however; we figured it was in the front, just beyond the entrance, like it had been at other casinos. Anyway, we figured we had better book it, so I, being the fastest walker of the group, started picking up the pace. I looked behind me several times to make sure my posse was in tow and kept on haulin'. Well, I must've started to worry, because I started thinking that five minutes would not be enough time. We had just rounded the corner by the pick-up casino when I saw the gold shuttle pulling up towards the front. But there was a problem: the driver was not going slow enough. He kept on going. And going. And going. I panicked. "Oh, shit, there he goes! Let's go, you guys!" I shouted, hoping they'd both seen the shuttle and heard my desperate cry to hustle up.

So I book it, I mean really book it: I started running. No, not just light, quick running, but seriously hauling ass. Probably faster than I've ever run in my life. And again, if you know me you know I run ALL. THE. TIME. And thinking that the stop was in front of the casino when it was actually on the side, I figured the driver had left without us. So what did I do to make matters worse? I stuck out my arm. That's right, folks, as if I didn't look retarded enough already, running to beat hell while the rest of my group was most likely blinded by my dust, I began extending my arm in the hopes that, I don't know, I would somehow be able to touch the damn bus? Are you picturing it yet? Wait. That was clearly not good enough, and not going to work, so I began to wave. Oh yes, frantically wave. I believe I may have shouted "Stop!" or "Wait!" once or twice during this time as well. Yeah, I know. But apparently my running/arm-extending/waving/shouting worked, because I followed that damn thing around the corner, still hauling ass, when I realized it was beginning to slow down and come to a stop. At its destination. The side of the casino. No thanks to my desperate attempts.

Huffing and puffing while looking for the others - who were way out of sight by now - I approached the door only to find that the bus was absolutely packed and heads were turned my way. Dammit. So I kind of waited around for the others so as not to board the bus alone. I knew they'd be laughing at me, but I could pretend to be laughing with them (while struggling for breath) as we got on, in an attempt to look a smidge less challenged in front of a big group of total strangers. It worked reasonably well as most of the bus was also laughing with us (but really at me). I was remembered by some fellow Tahitians the rest of the week as the girl who ran after the bus - they smiled every time they saw me.

After all that excitement, the rest of the night found us running around the strip, the boys trying to get drunk but only able to get a buzz since there was so much walking going on. I was relieved. And Sara's no lightweight, either! Needless to say, I was the weak drinker of the group, even going one night without any alcohol. Gasp! We ate somewhere delicious, but I forget where at the moment. It was really fun to just take our time and stop wherever we felt like stopping that night. We had designated some nights as Strip nights (tee hee!) in between activities, so we didn't rush ourselves. Everywhere we went was crazy packed, but people were really good about keeping in motion, which was unexpected and pleasant. There was a certain sense of security in numbers, too. I was still being belittled about the whole crazy-lady-running-with-her-arms-in-the-air-in-public thing from earlier in the day (not sure why), but I had a good sense of humor about it as I knew it was sure to be just one of many quirky memories from the trip.

Vegas, Day 1

It already seems like such a long time ago that we were in Vegas, but it's been just over a week! It was sad to return to the snowy cold and to work, but the weather has been getting better and it was nice to have just two days of children and the rest conferences. It was a lot of prep but it went well and I managed to leave work about an hour early yesterday. Enough of that boring stuff, though: here's more about our Vegas vacation. *Pictures coming soon*

We left early last Friday morning to bring Jackson to my parents' house and drop Sadie off at Curt's parents' house. Sounds like my parents got the better end of the deal, but both sets shared Jackson, so don't worry. Leaving him behind was easier than I thought it would be and I was surprised by the unexpected amount of self-control I demonstrated while trying not to bawl my way to the airport. I kept saying, "Curt, aren't you proud of me?! I'm doing really well!!!"

We proceeded to Andrew's place of work to meet Cody & Sara and be driven to the airport. While it was great to see them again, I found myself thinking, I hope this trip goes well. One week together is a long time to spend with another couple... let alone with my husband without our daily 8+ hour break from one another... In my excitement the thought soon faded. I was so much looking forward to flying again and being on vacation that I didn't even get airport tummy (the name I've given for the nervous condition and upset stomach I normally experience while waiting for a flight). After eyeing a heavy-set man in a bright white suit with the biggest and strangest helmet-looking white wig I've ever seen (I've seen many), we checked our gate, found that our flight was scheduled to be on-time, and mosied around the airport. Turns out Mr. Weird Wig was waiting there when we got back. We knew from the moment we first spotted him at check-in and exclaimed over his oddness that he must be headed for fabulous Las Vegas.

While we were waiting for the flight I swore to Curt that I saw someone from Princeton. He glanced over and didn't believe me, but we kept looking. Pretty soon I realized that it was a friend of Curt's brother Matt (he had changed quite a bit), and I knew for sure when I saw his sister, who is a friend of Curt's sister Sheila. They, too, were headed for Vegas! Small world. Curt went over and chatted them up while we heard that our flight would be delayed slightly due to... a mechanical error. Oh, great. Just what we wanted to hear. We realized that they tell people so that everyone doesn't go up and ask, but Sara and I could have done without the info. The rest of the time - until we were walking down the hallway to board - Cody thought it'd be funny to tease us about the broken airplane we were about to risk our lives on. Ha ha. Thankfully they had fixed the problem and we were on our way. Curt was nervous, but he wouldn't admit it. He wasn't worried about the plane, but he doesn't like heights, so flying is not exciting and fun for him like it is for me. He didn't want me to call attention to that fact, either, but to try to distract him with games and regular conversation instead. It helped that Cody & Sara were seated right behind us - they even shared their deck of cards as we had forgotten to bring one. Once we took off (Weeee! for me, stressful for Curt) and were high above the clouds, he was able to relax a bit. I had a window seat and I think he liked it that way (although he kept pushing me back from it when he did feel like taking a peek).

We landed in Vegas 3.5 hours later and ended up experiencing the worst night of the whole trip. Landing was fun (especially for the Chatty Cathys who drank the whole way there) and we made it to Tahiti (the timeshare) just fine. Once we checked in, the girls were ready to take in the views, explore the room, and get settled, while the guys were ready to hit the streets and get drunk. We reminded the boys that coming up with a plan might be best as we were hungry and wanted to make the most of our night. By this point I had not eaten since our early lunch, which was 7.5 hours before, and a hungry Ashley is not a happy Ashley. While we debated about what to do, I started throwing out food options that were nearby so we wouldn't have to wait (Curt hadn't eaten, either, but Cody & Sara bought snacks on the plane). No one was able to agree on a decision. This stressed me out, and I was starting to get pretty upset. The boys had a let's-play-it-by-ear mentality, which was driving me crazy in my food-deprived state. I tried my best to grin and bear it as we decided to head to Fremont Street ("Old Vegas") and find something to eat down there. (Fremont is known as the site of some of the original casinos in the '50s. You can also get cheap gifts and choose from lots of bars. The main attraction is an overhead light canopy and sound system which encourages visitors to sing, dance, and be merry in the street. There is plenty of booze down there to help do just that!) We went outside to wait for the 6 p.m. shuttle bus. We waited 15 minutes which made the bus 5 minutes late. I was crabby, unhappy, and let them know it. We waited 10 more minutes. We checked in with the front desk who reported having heard nothing from the driver. I suggested walking around the corner to some of the fast-food places just to hold us over until we finally made it to dinner, because with the bus running so late, who knew when that would be? No one said anything. I was starving and getting downright pissed. I moaned and groaned and continued to throw out the fast-food snack idea until I remembered that I had put some trail mix in my carry-on bag, so I ran up to the room to snack on it and get a drink of water. Cody followed me up there to settle me down. He made me laugh and realize that I was being a spaz. He assured me that I was not going to starve to death so I munched my snack, went back outside, and apologized for being a freak. The shuttle finally arrived AT SEVEN O'CLOCK and we were finally off.

It was fun to see the Strip at night again and to re-orient myself to what was where as I tried to remember some of the favorite places I wanted to make sure we'd get to see during the week. (Brea, Curt, and I went with my parents over Christmas when we were 20. In the end we regretted not being at home for the holidays. It was still a fun trip, but not as exciting as this trip was sure to be.) The shuttle bus did not drive all the way downtown, so we had to get off at the last stop near the Stratosphere, cross the street, run to the bus station, and buy passes for The Deuce, the city bus. It was rather confusing as none of us had done this before and we didn't really have a clue what we were doing. The shuttle driver had a schedule to keep and could only say so much before closing the door and leaving us on our own to figure things out. We sat up top on the double-decker bus, Curt and I looking for familiar lights and landmarks so we'd know when to get off. This was not the way we'd arrived at Fremont Street six years before. We thought we saw something familiar and decided to get off with a slew of other people. We wandered around taking in the sights.

I was looking for somewhere decent to eat; Cody was salivating over his first chance to have an open container in the street. We tease him about having ADD (he's got to be at least borderline), and it was really kicking in down there. He was so busy trying to take it all in that he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going and we were soon across the street at Fremont Street West District: seedy, icky Vegas. We passed several rough-looking dudes, a few panhandlers, and a super drunk guy who called me "Princess" before us girls decided it was time to turn around and get back to the more civilized side of Fremont, if you can call it that. Cody was bummed that we didn't continue on to eat at the dive bar with glitzy lights across the street (he is a huge fan of dive bars, seriously), but we were more than happy to stop at a pub called Hennessey's, ready to order some grub! We weren't sure what to expect but knew it had to be better than some of our other options down there. It was more expensive than the trashy dive would have been, but it was worth it for the best club sandwich I've ever had. It probably tasted better because I was starved, but damn, was that good! They also had awesome potato wedges topped with cheese sauce and bacon... Oh my goodness...

After we ate and I was happy again - it had been 11 hours since my last meal! Imagine how you'd feel! - we walked around some more and they found some cheap drinks at kiosks and inside some of the gift shops (Yes, they sell reasonably priced alcohol inside of gift shops in Vegas so people can drink on the streets. I guess the law is that you have to be 100 feet from the storefront or something. ) and we took in two light shows: tributes to Queen and KISS. They were pretty cool and played some good music. Cody and Curt were pretty buzzed by the time we headed back to the bus stop at 12:30. We were tired after a long day of traveling and a rough start to our night, so we were really looking forward to a quick, easy ride back to the shuttle, then back to the Tahiti. But that was not meant to be.

We waited in the back of a long, growing line of tired drunks with empty collectible cups in their hands. It was so crowded that we had to wait for two buses to fill before we were able to hop on. We found some seats up on top and said how relieved we were that the night was nearly over. We weren't sure how long it would take The Deuce to get us near to the casino where the shuttle would pick us up, but we figured we had plenty of time, and we did. We got off the bus after a short while and walked a little ways to the pick-up point, where we waited for 10-15 minutes. The white shuttle bus got there and we climbed aboard thinking about how much closer we were to the pillows in our room. As we talked and laughed about the misadventures of our night, we looked out the window to see that this was not the same route we had come downtown on, and that it was taking considerably longer than we thought it would. Oh well, we thought, they probably don't take the same route both ways. It's our first night; we're just not used to this yet. We let it go and continued riding quietly, becoming more and more tired. Pretty soon the driver came to a stop at an unfamiliar resort with an unfamiliar name and called its passengers to get off. Every single person on that shuttle left but for us four young kids in the back. We looked at each other in confusion. We spoke up and the driver crankily clued us in to an important piece of information we did not forget the rest of the trip: we were on a white shuttle to Club de Soleil. We were staying at Tahiti, which uses only gold shuttles. He radioed a gold driver who told us to get off and wait there for him to arrive. It seemed at that point that the night wore on and on. It was a long, miserable (at times) day, and by now I had pretty much had it. Our shining gold shuttle arrived after what seemed like forever, and we rode back in silence to grumpily hit our pillows, ONE AND ONE-HALF HOURS LATER than when we lined up for the bus. I could not rip my clothes off and get into bed soon enough after all the ridiculousness. It was wonderful that the shuttle was free, convenient, and supposedly easy to uset, but what a pain in the ass the whole thing turned out to be on day one!!!

Home Sweet Home

Greetings, loyal readers! We had an excellent Vegas vacation and landed at MSP Friday evening. From there we stayed at Wojos' house so we could get some rest and visit with family. Reuniting with Jackson was once again the best part of the trip! He recognized both of us immediately and wouldn't stop grinning, hugging, and kissing us! It was the best. :) I celebrated my birthday today by returning home, and it feels wonderful to be back!

I will be spending this week at work and home preparing for conferences, so please check back after next weekend to see lots of fun pictures and read about our adventures in Vegas! Until then, take care and have a great week!