Grandma Joanie Visits Vegas!

My mom has come to visit us twice since we moved to Las vegas-- first when we had just moved here from Philly to help us unpack, and then at Thanksgiving with my Dad and brother Taylor. So this time, the-third-time's-a-charm, it was time to PLAY. And play we did!!

Monday morning I made her run some of the "usual" errands with me, so we stopped by the public library for some new books. Then we got lunch at this really awesome Greek cafe in Summerlin. That night we left Jon with the kids and did some window shopping.



Tuesday morning Lucy's preschool class got cancelled, so we decided to take a picnic out to Red Rock. You'll be happy to know that March Picnic #2 was MUCH more successful than March Picnic (Disaster) #1! The weather was gorgeous, the food tasty, we actually got OUT of the car, and we even hiked a little trail with the kiddos.

We also stopped by my favorite frozen yogurt joint (U-Swirl) on the way home, which gave the overall picnic score about a gazillion bonus points.:)

Wednesday morning I convinced my mom we had to check out this new buffet called the "Wicked Spoon" at the Cosmopolitan which came highly recommended by my brother Devin and his wife Sarah, so I (somewhat guiltily) dropped my kids off at a babysitter's and we got to enjoy the amazing brunch kid-free.


The food was...wow. I can't even think of how to describe it. Super creative, really tasty, and really modern and classy. Red velvet pancakes with cream cheese syrup, individual eggs benedict with braised pork shoulder, bagels and smoked salmon, huevos rancheros, french pastries galore, crepes with date compote, honey yogurt parfaits with fresh berries, applewood smoked bacon and sausage, I could go on and on, but I digress.

It was gooood. And possibly the best part about it was I consumed my entire days' worth of calories in that one morning, because I literally had nothing else to eat the rest of the day I was so full. Gross.

Anyway, my Dad flew in that same afternoon so since he and I suffer from the same sick disease (we both sorta kinda like the Strip-- certainly not everything, but there's lots to do and see), we headed down to the Strip for round #2. We mostly walked around the new City Center area (where the Cosmopolitan is) and the Bellagio, which is my favorite hotel because of the gardens.

They were decked out for spring with flower butterflies and fountains and even a ferris wheel. So much fun! Once we'd had our fill (and ridden the tram in honor of Zachy's train obsession) we headed back home with Grandpa Tom-Tom and prepared for our trip to Disneyland the next morning!