Showing posts with label Laura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laura. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Celine!

Celine Dion

You may remember when I wrote that post about not wanting to go to see Celine because of the price. Well, that didn't mean that I didn't really want to see her show and that did made me a little sad. Well, my sweetheart gave me a ticket for my birthday! And he did not go with me so that made it 50% off, right? The even better part was Laura went with me when we were in Las Vegas!

We just had one full day in Las Vegas which was more than enough for most of us. Having lived there for three years in the early 70s I can tell you it is definitely not my cup of tea. Too many people, too much noise, too many weirdos. It is dirty, hot and unsavory for the most part.

But if you know where to go it is not so bad. We parked at the Flamingo Hotel where we stayed right across the street from Caesar's Palace and Laura and I just stayed in that area so it was much better. We went to the Bellagio to see the Venetian Glass ceiling which I love and got a gelato after the show and watched the dancing waters.

The Ceiling
if you have never seen the gorgeous
large flowers made of blown glass.

flickr

Gelato, not really gelato...ice cream.
They just make it look like Gelato.

You are not surprised are you?
Not much is what it seems here!

This water show is pretty spectacular.

We spent the rest of the time in Caesar's Palace and the mall and the Colosseum for the show. We enjoyed the day shopping like only she and I can do. We are always reaching for the same things and it is not uncommon for us to buy the same bracelet or ring since we live on opposite coasts...who cares? Truth is we did it when she lived on the west coast too. I always think of her and our fun escapades when I wear our twin new bangles.

Neither one of us are favoring the photos here
of us but it was all we had sooo.... here they are.
Here is Auntie Lou Lou wearing the ring
Julia gave me!
She wanted to make sure it
made it to the fancy concert!

This is a simulated outdoor cafe
in the
mall at Caesar's Palace.

It is quite fun and does seem like you are outside in a place with reasonable weather. This restaurant prepares Celine's dinner every night before the show. We ate dinner here and ate in a different cafe for lunch. We were getting pretty excited about the show at this point. It was the first concert I had been to since 2004. That one was Michael Ball (be still my beating heart) in Salt Lake City. You can read about him at the bottom of the page if you are so inclined.

Caesar's at 10:30 pm 99 degrees!

We could not believe how hot it felt when we walked outside after the show. It brought back a lot of memories from our time living here. Give me CA any day! I do not like to fry eggs on the sidewalk at midnight and you actually can do that in LV on these hot summer nights.

The Flamingo where we stayed for two nights.

Our room had floor to ceiling windows
for the whole outside wall.
This was the view from our bed.

This is Las Vegas in a nutshell.

This is supposed to be representative of Trevi Fountain in Rome. The funny part is it is just crammed with statues that are not even in the Fountain in Rome. It is so over done, so Las Vegas.

Laura and I sat on a bench in front of this and just looked around as we waited for the shops to open in the morning. We really cracked up when we saw the replica of the roof of the Vatican where they have these huge statues of various popes in Vatican City. But the one in Las Vegas had them separated by naked men. Your eye scans the roof and sees a couple of popes and then a naked man, a couple more popes, another naked man. We had a great laugh over that one.

You have to dream up ways to amuse yourself when you do not drink or gamble and you are in LV. We never have a problem with doing that!


For as tacky and goofy as LV can be, the show was nothing but classy from beginning to end. People were dressed nicely and it was a great audience. By dressed nicely I mean they were not half-naked which cannot be said for outside that show room. Celine is the quintessential entertainer. She was everything and more than I thought she would be. The new show showcases her beautiful voice and her incredible range of musical taste and ability. There is no dancing in her show, she was just very demure and elegant; a real lady. She is clearly so talented and a nice person. She is that kind of nice that cannot be faked. The show has some amazing visuals and it is very good. It comes highly recommended by Laura and by me. Especially if someone special gives it to you as a gift!

All in all, we had a great time. The picture of Celine at the top was sent to me with a video recording of her thanking Laura and me personally for attending the show. The photos were included as a gift. Seriously, is that not great marketing, especially since the ones in her shop are mega expensive and we didn't get any? It was an event not soon to be forgotten!

Coming Home to Cali!


Home did look and feel good after our long absence.

No place like home, your own bed and
emptying that suitcase. Yay!


Wow, what a packed couple of weeks. To say we were exhausted after the family reunion would be an understatement. Our day and two nights in Las Vegas were hot and fun and we were ready to come down from it all, as we drove home the next morning. It was hard to imagine how many different things we had done during these past two weeks. It was hard to believe it was nearly July.

The last five days Laura and Robert and the boys were here we did a bit of traveling around the Bay Area. Of course we took them to the City, The Temple, and the guys went to Point Reyes on a day trip hike, we had a BBQ at Jim's mom's and a birthday celebration for Ross and me and we played in our yard.

The boys were dying to drive and ride on Grampa's tractor and they did just that the first day. We had a day or so of just hanging around. We went to our local Farmers' market one evening and also went to the one in SF. Love love love taking pictures at a Farmer's Market. That was great. The boys enjoyed playing tether ball and basketball in the backyard and reliving the singing frogs around the pond at night. Of course there was a bonfire and s'mores. Laura and I also got a day for girl stuff while the guys hiked. That was the best, so relaxing.

Treasure Island

SF Market


Jim loves this part.

I love this part

And this part.

My all time favorites!

Spicy and crunchy and great!

Visiting Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Reading about the Fort

Windy, Misty Fun!

These two are so cute together.
Makes our hearts sing!

As does this!

Our little tree hugger, Ross! Aquatic Park!

These guys have no shame.
Just plopped right down for a nap!
Ross and I watched out for them
while they slept!
Wait a minute...there are five pairs of legs there!
I guess it was just me watching out for all of them
at this point!

Sunday before church we went over
to the Temple Grounds
and watched the Joseph Smith film.
It was so inspiring as always!

Point Reyes Beach ~ the reward for the two mile hike in!

I do so love this photo of Robert and his little men.

Home town Market night!


A little big for this now but what the heck?
One last try at it! Right guys?

Locally grown healthy stuff! Yay!

Spencer replacing the string net with a chain.
These guys are good players!

Girls day, shopping (check out this fun ring!),
beautiful hair cut for Laura, fancy lunch at home
and a matinee showing
of Eat Pray Love on the big screen,
a foot massage...pure heaven.

Happy #9 to my birthday twin...Rossie!
Have I ever told you he is named after my Dad?


Laura made us a great Birthday dinner!
Thanks Honey!