Vegas, Baby!

Last Thursday, Claire and her boys had a layover in LAX, so Michael, Naomi and I drove over to see them for a little while. It was so wonderful to get hugs from them all and to sit and chat. The kids all ignored each other until I said the magic L-word, Lego, which broke the ice. Theo and Luc showed Michael the Lego sets they got for the trip and the other stuff they brought for the plane.

After we got home from the airport, I took a nap because I had a six hour drive ahead of me Thursday evening. Heather turns 16 in just over two weeks and so she and I took off as soon as school was out. My sister Sara took Summer to NYC for her sixteenth birthday and Rachel to San Fransisco for hers, but now she has a husband and other vacation plans (one of which includes coming to see us this summer - yay, we can't wait!) so I told Heather I would take her on a road trip.

Heather is interested in aerial circus performances, so she chose going to a Cirque du Soliel show in Las Vegas. We headed up to Southern Utah first to see Grandma Spencer, the Craigs and the Bangs. Heather, Cynthia, Mother and I went shopping on Friday, I took nap and helped make dinner. Then, the surprise for Heather showed up! Summer, Rachel, and their boyfriendscame down from Provo. It was so great to see them, even for a little while. We had dinner, cake and ice cream for Heather and watched Frozen Friday night.

Saturday morning, Cynthia, Nikki and Jake made us a big, delicious breakfast and then we used some of the calories up hiking to look at some petroglyphs not far from their house. Here are Cynthia and I chatting away in the sunshine.

Will and Jake checking out the goat family.

Heather and Tristan with the Craig's adorable little dog Ryah (total guess on the spelling).

Saturday after lunch, Heather and I reluctantly left our loved ones behind and headed to Vegas, slowly getting excited as the time passed for our big night out. After agonizing way too long over the price, we finally decided to bite the bullet and eat at the buffet the hotel clerk recommended. Even though it was expensive, for a once in a lifetime trip, it was totally worth it. Almost all the food was delicious and it was so much fun being able to eat so many different things!

Here is my (first) plate - 

1. California roll
2. spring roll
3. cocktail sauce
4. fried calamari
5. crab legs (I went back for seconds!)
6. steamed clams (my favorite food as a kid - I ate at least a dozen)
7. heart of palm (I had never had this before - delicious!)
8. crayfish
9. Brussels sprout (trying to eat my vegetables)
10. mussels
11. fresh pineapple (with an antennae)
12. clarified butter
13. sweet potato casserole
14. white truffle cheesy potatoes (amazing)
15. lamb with mint jelly (Heather thought that was gross, but I told her that is how we always had it when I was a kid)
16. lemons (obviously)
17. oyster on the half shell (I kept the shell for a souvenir)

Whew! Do you know when the next Shellfish Anonymous meeting is?

Here is my beautiful, fascinating almost 16 year old date for dinner in her new birthday shirt :)

We stuffed ourselves and then went to the dessert bar. Big mistake. We should have saved more room. That didn't stop us from choosing, yes, fifteen desserts between the two of us. It is a good thing the portions were tiny. Smart buffet people! We tasted each others' stuff and reluctantly, didn't finish every last bite, but oh my, they were good. My favorites were the sorbets and souffle. Mmmmmmm!

Here's the lineup - 

1. hazelnut chocolate cup
2. cheesecake
3. canolis
4. coconut macaroon
5. meringues
6. cookie dough gelato
7. raspberry sorbet
8. mango sorbet
9. coconut sorbet
10. bread pudding
11. chocolate souffle
12. chocolate marshmallow bark
13. flan
14. raspberry pistachio cup
15. mint chocolate chip gelato

We wobbled out of there and booked it over to our show. We saw Mystere. It was supposed to be the most family friendly Cirque show, and it pretty much was, except for when the clown gave the ringmaster the bird. Oh well.

The performers were absolutely amazing! There were balancing acts, trapeze artists, a woman on aerial silks that took my breath away, these two incredibly strong men that contorted and balanced on each other, people climbing up poles (one guy did it with just his hands touching the pole and his body held out away from it) and sliding down headfirst, then stopping just in time, flipping, dancing, twisting, and flying everywhere! It was so fun!

We collapsed in our hotel room, slept a while, then woke up this morning, ate a quick breakfast, stopped by at a nearby sacrament meeting and headed home. 

It was a wonderful trip and I am so glad I could spend time with Heather. Happy early birthday, Darling!