My friend the photographer

OUR week in Vegas went by so fast.

It was so wonderful to catch up with one of my oldest and dearest friends Kirri, who came to meet us with her beautiful, supermdodel daughter, Violet.

Kirri is an amazing photographer and took heaps of great photos of Z.

Here are just but a few of my favourites:






There are also some other great ones on her site: http://oliverandviolet.blogspot.com/2007/09/vegas-part-3.html#links

Leaving Las Vegas

IN our 24+ hour journey home, Z got to ride in a car (her first stretch limo no less), a train, a bus - and two planes.

This was just the beginning of our trip:







At the airport, we encountered some monsters, also known as airport security:





Z says: The monsters go "RARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! You've got waaaay too much liquids to bring on board!"

White tigers and elephants - and pink flamingos

THEY say Vegas doesn't sleep but the White Tiger at the Mirage was operating in a different time zone.

So we had to find another way to entertain the kids.

Yes, shopping!

The next day, we kept up with the animal theme when we had a bye-bye brekkie at The Flamingo.

The Venetian

THE entourage headed to the Venetian for breakfast today.

En route, we had to do a quick pit stop at K's hotel as Violet had no hat, and according to a woman who accosted us the day before: Good mothers make sure their children wear hats.

Sigh. Americans.

Anyway, we waited at the casino area for Kirri and Violet, where Z got to indulge in her favourite Vegas past time: Trying to get past me to play the slots.

Here's some photos from our morning in Venice:

The Bridge of Sighs:


D making sure the kids don't jump while checking out the gondolas:


Venice is big! Time for a break:


Z with Kirri:


Sucker tourists - $15 bucks for 5 mins on a sampan (Oh and even worse, I bought a cardboard framed photo from them too!):


Lunch! Z's first taste of choc gelato, which as you can see put her in somewhat of a sugar stupor:


Lunctime entertainment:

Dinner at 808

MET up with Julia for dinner and after Z got over some major grumps, she was happy enought to allow some cuddles.

(Of course a new "toy" always helps to capture a kid's affections!)



Poor Z, for some reason she's developed a bit of a red, or rather, a bruised eye...

Girls' Day Out

THE poor kids didn't know what was in store for them when the four of us headed out.

It all started out rather fun - playing by the fountains.


But then The Fashion Show Mall, supposedly America's second largest mall, was just sucked in the two mothers and the girls had no choice but to follow.

We did however make it to Circus Circus for a little while in the late afternoon, when D kindly picked us up in the car.





Z was MOST impressed with this dude doing the Dance Dance Revolution. She tried to join in but I don't think the dude would have appreciated having a partner:

Miss Viv arrives

FINALLY Z gets to have some kiddie fun.

Violet is being a real big sis and Z is quick to follow her lead.

They are so different, like yin and yang, but yet so cute together.

Here's the funniest thing: The kids made more money at the casino than I have!

They hit the jackpot at the Newspaper dispensers, where after pressing all the change buttons, it spewed like five bucks (!) worth of change:



After a long day, we made the mistake of trying to get tired children to eat pasta properly at Rao's (which is a fine dining restaurant, I later found out!). V didn't want any of her penne and Z wasn't taking a bit of her gnocci. In the end both of them scoffed down D's spag bol:


In between, I was extremely impressed with Z when she very angelically consented to nap by the pool:


... And I spotted evidence of the desert's very harsh climate on my poor baby's milky skin (or maybe its been all the sun exposure!):


As Violet says: "Owie!"

Walking the Strip

WE decided to show Z the Vegas lightshow before bedtime.

Mistake.

Reason: Major over stimulation.

It was not a good night.

But kinda worth it coz she really enjoyed the sights.