While lining up to board our plane, Amy and I experienced the grand daddy of all "this is a small world" moments. I was just standing there minding my own business when all of a sudden Amy whipped around and started frantically whispering, "Who is that in front of me?? Who is that??" I took a closer look at the hand-in-hand couple in front of us... and realized it was our friend's wife. With her new boyfriend. What a shock that was! It was obviously a VERY awkward encounter by all of us, so we pretended we didn't know each other. However, they sat right in front of us on the plane, and Amy couldn't help but take this snapshot (paparazzi style).
The lady sitting next to us leaned over and said, "Who are they?" I think she thought they were a famous, Hollywood couple. I told her, "It's a long story...."
After the shock wore off, we said goodbye to the Rocky Mountains out our window and dreamed of the fantastic, warm weather awaiting us.
We also read our matching books.... for book club, of course.
When we arrived, Amy's college friend Chris Perry (made famous in my blog post about the Iowa/Nebraska wedding last summer) picked us up and took us to the Flamingo, where we were staying. Here's our room:
And here's our view of Caesar's Palace across the street:
As well as the Bellagio:
After being cooped up indoors all winter, we were pretty excited about the pool. We headed straight there, and even though it was only 10:30am, it was completely packed!! We finally found a place to sit in the "beach" area.
Later in the afternoon, we were able to find some chairs by the pool.
These are the $19 rum and diet cokes we were suckered into buying.... at least I have the cup forever! 
After sitting at the pool for a good 5 hours, we headed to Margaritaville for our Volcano Nachos and bucket of Landshark.
Margaritaville is the one point of consistency in all of our Vegas trips. I've never stayed at the same hotel or gone to the same casinos, but Margaritaville is always a must! Please note the gigantic plate of nachos....
We also read our matching books.... for book club, of course.When we arrived, Amy's college friend Chris Perry (made famous in my blog post about the Iowa/Nebraska wedding last summer) picked us up and took us to the Flamingo, where we were staying. Here's our room:And here's our view of Caesar's Palace across the street:As well as the Bellagio:After being cooped up indoors all winter, we were pretty excited about the pool. We headed straight there, and even though it was only 10:30am, it was completely packed!! We finally found a place to sit in the "beach" area.Later in the afternoon, we were able to find some chairs by the pool.These are the $19 rum and diet cokes we were suckered into buying.... at least I have the cup forever! After sitting at the pool for a good 5 hours, we headed to Margaritaville for our Volcano Nachos and bucket of Landshark.Margaritaville is the one point of consistency in all of our Vegas trips. I've never stayed at the same hotel or gone to the same casinos, but Margaritaville is always a must! Please note the gigantic plate of nachos....... and how we annihilated them.
After eating our nachos, we still had 1 beer left. It all of a sudden occurred to us that you're allowed to drink in public in Vegas! Amy was so excited, she danced with her beer glass all the way back to our room. 
(Don't be confused into thinking Amy is the girl in purple posing right in the center of the picture. Amy's on the left with her cup... Although, that other girl looks like fun. Maybe we should have made friends.)
After a day in the sun, a mountain of nachos, a bucket of beer, and $19 rum & cokes, we were due for a nap. So we rested a few hours and then got ready to head out for the night. Perry came to pick us up, and we decided to go to the Rio Hotel & Casino, which I had never been to before. It was a fun place! Here's some pictures from the night.
While at the pool earlier in the day, Amy and I were approached by 2 Chippendale dancers who gave us coupons to their show. It's not unusual for this to happen -- every time we go to one of the casino pools, there are always club and show promoters who walk around looking for attractive girls (that's not conceited because it's true. haha.) to come to their shows/clubs. We didn't actually go to the Chippendale show, but since it happened to be at the Rio, we couldn't help but take a few pictures in front of their posters. 
After the Rio, we went to the MGM Grand Casino for a bit. And after that, we went to Toby Keith's bar at Harrah's. By that point in the night, I was awfully glad I had put flip flops in my purse. Even comfortable heels are too much to handle after a night in Vegas!
The next morning, we went to our favorite buffet - Le Village Buffet at the Paris Hotel and Casino. This guy got in the way of my picture. 
Last year, we had an unfortunate incident involving our orange juice and champaign. In an attempt to make mimosas, Amy poured orange juice into her champaign WAY too fast, creating an eruption of mimosa all over the table! Who knew the orange juice would cause many bubbles that the whole thing would overflow? She took precautions this year to slowly mix in the orange juice: 
In an uncharacteristic move by Amy and Lindsay, all we had for dessert were 2 creme brule's and a piece of apple cheesecake.
And yet, I still felt like this after my gigantic meal. 
The rest of the day was very lazy. Perry came to get us at the Flamingo, and we spent the rest of the day at his neighborhood pool. After my gluttony during the weekend, I was a bit self-conscious about my stomach flab... I look so rigid in this picture because I was concentrating on the direction Amy provided me, "Suck in.... move a bit to the left... suck in a bit more..."
After eating our nachos, we still had 1 beer left. It all of a sudden occurred to us that you're allowed to drink in public in Vegas! Amy was so excited, she danced with her beer glass all the way back to our room. (Don't be confused into thinking Amy is the girl in purple posing right in the center of the picture. Amy's on the left with her cup... Although, that other girl looks like fun. Maybe we should have made friends.)After a day in the sun, a mountain of nachos, a bucket of beer, and $19 rum & cokes, we were due for a nap. So we rested a few hours and then got ready to head out for the night. Perry came to pick us up, and we decided to go to the Rio Hotel & Casino, which I had never been to before. It was a fun place! Here's some pictures from the night.
While at the pool earlier in the day, Amy and I were approached by 2 Chippendale dancers who gave us coupons to their show. It's not unusual for this to happen -- every time we go to one of the casino pools, there are always club and show promoters who walk around looking for attractive girls (that's not conceited because it's true. haha.) to come to their shows/clubs. We didn't actually go to the Chippendale show, but since it happened to be at the Rio, we couldn't help but take a few pictures in front of their posters. After the Rio, we went to the MGM Grand Casino for a bit. And after that, we went to Toby Keith's bar at Harrah's. By that point in the night, I was awfully glad I had put flip flops in my purse. Even comfortable heels are too much to handle after a night in Vegas!The next morning, we went to our favorite buffet - Le Village Buffet at the Paris Hotel and Casino. This guy got in the way of my picture. Last year, we had an unfortunate incident involving our orange juice and champaign. In an attempt to make mimosas, Amy poured orange juice into her champaign WAY too fast, creating an eruption of mimosa all over the table! Who knew the orange juice would cause many bubbles that the whole thing would overflow? She took precautions this year to slowly mix in the orange juice: In an uncharacteristic move by Amy and Lindsay, all we had for dessert were 2 creme brule's and a piece of apple cheesecake. And yet, I still felt like this after my gigantic meal. 
The rest of the day was very lazy. Perry came to get us at the Flamingo, and we spent the rest of the day at his neighborhood pool. After my gluttony during the weekend, I was a bit self-conscious about my stomach flab... I look so rigid in this picture because I was concentrating on the direction Amy provided me, "Suck in.... move a bit to the left... suck in a bit more..."
And here she is looking much more relaxed than myself.
And so ended another trip to Vegas!
And so ended another trip to Vegas!
..... and headed back into Rocky Mountain National Park for one last hurrah. We drove up to Bear Lake, but much to our surprise it was all frozen and covered with snow! I should have known, but it didn't occur to me that it would still be snowy back there.
We went a bit further down the mountain where it was snow-free and walked along a pretty creek:
We stopped to have lunch, and it was such a nice day that we sat outside. Since it was Boulder, an obligatory hippie serenaded us with his guitar, recorder (yes! like the recorders we played in 1st grade!), and singing. Funny enough, Jameson LOVED the singing, and it was the first time he sat nicely at a meal all weekend! After he was done eating, we let him stand and watch.
On our way back to the car, Jen took this picture. Later when we looked at the picture, she said, "Oh my gosh! This looks like an US Weekly shot!" And it does. So funny!
Once we were back in Denver, Jameson was acting a bit antsy... so we took him down the street to City Park. I've only been there to go jogging, so I only have negative connotations when it comes to City Park. But it was so much more fun with Jen and Jameson! 
Sadly, the Ramirezes left for home on Tuesday. I'm so happy they came to see me, and I hope they had as much fun as I did!
After making it safely down, us girls decided to walk into Estes Park (just a couple blocks away) to do some shopping. After buying a tshirt and some salt water taffy, we tried to decide if we were hungry enough for lunch. We really weren't too hungry.... but the margaritas at the Mexican restaurant down the street were calling our name.
Amy's glass on the right absolutely cracked us up. And she kept getting her nose wet when she took a drink from it!!
After our drinks, we went back to the cabin to pick up James and Jameson and headed off to the Rocky Mountain National Park. We saw SO many Elk and the park was really gorgeous.
We all laughed pretty hard at this picture:
It was a pretty exciting day because it was the first time Jameson had ever seen snow. We were obviously more exited about it than him, but he seemed to like the snowballs we made.
What a beautiful day!
The next morning, Jen cooked ME breakfast - what a great guest! Jameson posed a bit while she cooked.
He didn't feel like eating, but he did enjoy playing with my utinsels...
The burgeoning friendship between Jameson and Magnolia continued throughout the morning...
After getting ready for the day, we headed toward Golden for the Coors Brewery tour. Never one to pass up 3 free drinks, Amy and her phantom baby met us there. 
Jameson made friends while we waited in line...
I slept in the loft overlooking the living room. Here we are looking out of our little loft...
