"What Happens in Vegas" Day 3

This day was probably my favorite day. We left our hotel around 9:45a (which was really 11:45 our time. I was lovin' this time change!) and headed to the Luxor for the Bodies Exhibit. This was so cool! I'm not just saying that because it was a medical lover's exhibit. I think the girl's enjoyed themselves almost as much as I did and they don't have any medical experience. I of course played the role of the information telephone. [You know, those phones you get when you go the aquarium that tell you about the selected fish when you punch in their special number]. It was good fun, and a wonderful way to start off the day. :)

We did a quick spin around Excalibur next. That's the hotel that looks like a castle with a medieval theme throughout. Next was New York, New York. I think this was the day that we learned we could cut through NY, NY much fast to get to MGM than going down the broken escalator, past Lady Liberty, and up another escalator. Hey, atleast we figured it out before we left.

We made our way to MGM to make reservations for the shuttle to the Fashion Outlet Mall the next day. The ticket guy was beyond strange. We walked away hoping that everything went according to schedule tomorrow. He seemed very shady. Oh well, he would not put a damper on my day!

Our plan for the day was to see the rest of the strip that we hadn't gotten to the day before. We had barely made it past MGM [and by past I mean directly next to] when we saw an Adidas store. You could almost hear angels singing and strumming harps. The girls feet were saved! We quickly dashed inside and made our way to the women's shoes section. The girls tried on shoes and both walked out wearing a brand spankin' new pair of tennies. Lisa's were grey [Just what she always wanted! Seriously... she said atleast 5 time "I've always wanted a pair of grey tennis shoes" ... Whatever floats your boat sis] and Holli's were white with three sporty black glittery stripes on the sides. Very chic, but strict orders were given to not include feet in the following photos. My feet were still quite adorable in my sandals, however, we were all overlooking the fact that my sandals were black and I was wearing a navy and creme dress that day. What can I say? The brown Old Navy Sandals just can't hack it in Vegas.

After Adidas we explored all four floors of the M&M Store. I never knew so much M&M items exhisted. I believe my most favorite item(s) were the baby onesies in different colors. Let's just say that you could have quints and all could have their own color. :) Adorable....
We also caught the 3D M&M movie "I Lost my 'M' in Vegas" Over all the movie was fine. I would suggest that if it is a short wait for the viewing your children might enjoy it, but otherwise it may not be worth it to you. However, the weird lady that played the "mad scientist" whoever-she-was role was rather interesting. She was talking to the movie and we could barely hear what she was saying. What you could hear was slurred. I was frankly quite frightened to be in a darkened room with her even though there were 20 other people around. We dashed out and away from her as soon as it was over.

We decided a pit stop to CVS was in order since the girls needed band aids and I was parched from the heat. We crossed the street twice only to see once we were on the other side that we were only one store away from a Walgreen's. That's just about right... We got our bandaids and a super sized bottle of water and went on our merry way. We ducked into the Shops @ Planet Hollywood for some much needed a/c time and rest. We found a bench, plopped down and ate our trail mix. We took a huge thing of trailmix and filled up baggies to take with us everyday. Best idea ever! It has protein, chocolate, and gives your growling stomach satisfaction in between meals. After all we were burning near 700 calories a day. ;)

We headed toward the Bellagio next. I'm not quite sure why we walked. I think the girls were feeling a new sense of empowerment (or numbness) from their new shoe purchase, but we walked through the scariest and dirtiest part of the strip to get there. Until that moment we had been spoiled by the Monorail that had dropped us off at Harrah's (past the construction zones). This god-forsaken zone was filled with less than clean people (you see how I tried to make that sound not so mean?), dirt galore, and card flickers [if you do not know to what I refer to, be greatful]. Once the wonderful Bellagio was in sight we crossed the street twice and made our way along the beautiful sidewalk. Just as we were walking up a round of fountain shows started. How lucky were we? I was so excited! We took a couple pictures and a little video and then went inside. I think the Bellagio was seriously my favorite place on the strip [The Venetian was a close second, but the fountains for sure pushed the Bellagio into first].

We walked through the Bellagio to to get our tickets for "O" [the Cirque de Soleil show we were seeing that night]. They had very pretty hot air balloons suspended from the ceiling amidst the shops, but we didn't get any pictures of them. Think Palazzo umbrellas, but instead they were small hot air balloons. I played the slots for the first time, because seriously, you can't not play atleast one while you're in Vegas. Sadly I lost my money. :( What could I expect though? I only played for 5 minutes. We went and got some gelato from the downstairs lobby and headed outside to see if we could catch another fountain show. We didn't end up sticking around long enough to see the show because they run on hour rotations during the day.

We headed across the bridge that connects to the other side of the street and made our way to Paris. Basically the only thing I found enjoyable was the picture I got of the mock Eiffel Tower. Otherwise the inside is boring and you have to pay to go up to the top. No thank you. Next please!

We headed over to the Flamingo to see the "Live Chilean Flamingos" that lady on the overhead speaker of the monorail had been telling us we just had to see. I'm here to tell you-- they are just flamingos. They don't do any chilean dances [is there such a thing] or act out shakespeare. They are simply a flamingo. Most of them were sleeping when we went through so the pictures were quick and then followed by "Can we go now?".

We were on a mission for lunch next. I had wanted to try Chipotle because I had heard it was good and there just so happened to be one nearby. Well, the Chipotle stand-alone restaraunts may be good, but our experience was not a great one. Chipotle was smashed in a tiny building with two other restaraunt places, and the patio was littered with birds waiting for a handout. If you know anything about us 3 girls you know we do not. do. birds. We jetted out of there and had to decide where we were going to go next. Hey, why not hop on our trusty Monorail and head back to MGM and eat at the Rainforest Cafe? Fabulous idea, and that is what we did. [Have I mentioned the $28 we spent for our Monorail passes was worth every penny, because it was. I love you Monorail.]

So we trekked through MGM yet again. We got right in and were seated near the kitchen [apparently our non-preference of choice. That's where we were seated at in the Cheesecake Factory too]. Our waiter Dustin far outweighed our bossy waiter from the CF. He was nice, a little bit of a talker, but very prompt with his service. He earned every penny of his tip. Lisa and I both got the Nachos and Holli got some grilled something or other I don't remember. I almost (for 2 seconds) wished Will had been there to warn me just how big the Nachos appetizer was. Lisa and I definitely could have shared that time. Darn you Will! Making me think I knew what was what and how much I could eat. :/ They were scrumptious, and even though I barely made a dent I would for sure recommend them and will most likely get them the next time I visit a Rainforest Cafe.

We decided to head back to the Bellagio so we wouldn't be late for "O". Back on the Monorail we went...

Ok, so to be honest I had my reservations about "O". Circus type acts, scary makeup (have I told you I don't like clowns? I think the movie 'It' scarred me for life), I was less than thrilled with Holli's choice for the night. I hereby rescind any bad thing I ever said about it. It was still disturbing but it was also thrilling, and amazing, and even the tiniest bit terrifying. I was enthralled with it from the first moment, even though I was clueless as to what the story was. The gymnastics were amazing, and the water was the coolest thing ever how the stage sunk down so low that they could do high dives, and yet rise up to where there was no water at all. A-maz-ing!

After the show we headed outside and people were crowded around the railings. We quickly grabbed a spot anticipating another fountain show. At night the shows come in 15 minute intervals and they are so much cooler at night with the lights. I honestly think I could have stood there all day and night and watched those fountain shows while I snacked on my trail mix and gelato.

After that satisfying and moving [I always tear up during that song] show we headed off toward our hotel. This was the night my dream was realized. Krispy Kreme doughnuts! We ran walked really fast through Excalibur to the Krispy Kreme and jetted out toward the tram. We didn't want to miss it like we did the first night. Lisa's feet were forever haunted by that long jaunt back to the hotel the first night. Once we reached our hotel we grabbed a Starbucks (my night was complete!) and headed up to our room. There is seriously nothing much better than an ice cold caramel lite frappuccino and a KK doughnut with chocolate icing and sprinkles. A little slice of heaven right there.

Until.................................