Day Three - Lion's, Tigers & Dolphins

Our third day started out great - we woke up and went out to the living room to get our day started and someone had decorated the condo for Cindy's birthday!  There were balloons, signs and streamers.  Guess Cindy isn't the only one who can cook up a suprise for Sister-Friend Week.  It was so sweet of Rene and Chris to do that! 

We then discussed what would be on our agenda for the day and decided that we would go over to the MGM Grand and see the Lions first.  What a nice display they had, we got to see the lions walk overhead and play with a toy on the glass walkway.  They had a cub that someone had paid $200 to hold for five minutes and we were able to watch them pet and love on it.  As we were leaving the MGM, a girl asked us if we wanted to go watch a t.v. pilot and give our opinion and that maybe we could win a prize.  Sounded like something fun (and free!) to do so we went.  It was a pilot for a show about two sisters who own a cupcake shop, kinda like a version of Ace of Cakes.  At the end, you give them your opinion and demographics.  Turns out Rene and Cindy were in the right demographic group and we were told if we wanted to come back and do a panel discussion they would pay us $80 each.  We went to sign up for that and there was only one spot left.  We had already been to Hard Rock and priced the jacket and shirt Rene wanted to buy for Marissa and guess what, it was almost $80.  So the decision was made for us and Rene signed up to go back the next day.  What an unexpected blessing!
After that we walked down to the Mirage and went and saw the dolphin and tiger display they have there.  It was fun to watch the dolphins swimming around and doing their thing with the trainers.  Most of the tigers were napping but we got to see them, even if they were mostly laying down.  It's always neat to see the beautiful animals Heavenly Father created and the many varieties they come in!  Of course the whole time, we were hugging Chris and trying to make every moment count because after that, it was time for him to go to the airport.  We went back to our condo and spent another hour just visiting before his shuttle came.
Then it was time to get ready for the first show we saw, Lion King, at Mandalay Bay.
All I can say about that show is "AMAZING!"  The talent of the performers to do the puppetry and their songs, etc. is beyond anything I could ever hope to do in all my days of high school musicals.  The sets and costumes and orchestra were top notch!  I am so thankful that we were able to see that show - thanks Terry for the birthday present of two tickets, it was just what a drama geek loves!
After the show we went to eat at the House of Blues.  The music was very good.  Again, the talent people have is so inspiring.  They played a lot of good songs from groups we all know and love and it was enjoyable to sit and listen to a live band playing.  The food was o.k. but not anything to write about.

Then the excitment really rose a notch as we opted to splurge for a taxi ride back to Summer Bay.  We knew right away that our taxi driver was going the wrong way but he wouldn't believe us and even got beligerant about it.  He was so offended (and probably embarassed that we were right) that he started driving like a mad man and swerving across the highway and roads.  The icing on the cake was when he missed the turn into the resort and Cindy politely (well, not really politely) pointed that out.  That sent him over the edge and he became outright rude.  In all, we were charged almost $5 more because of his mistake and so when the total was $17.30, Cindy asked him for change from the $20.  Let's just say, taxi drivers don't appreciate not getting a tip and will actually crumble up bills and throw them at their customers! 

Don't worry though, it was all good in the end because we changed into our suits and headed for the hot tub to soak and laugh away all the stress of the episode now known as "The Taxi Ride from Hell".

Day Two - Family BBQ

Day two started with a trip to the grocery store, courtesy of the timeshare shuttle.  We decided to take advantage of the beautiful outdoor cabana with BBQ grills and got hamburgers, hot dogs and all the fixings.  We also bought some stuff to help us keep to our budget and eat at our condo and save our pennies for the really nice meals.  We really appreciated all the wonderful services and ammenities that they had at Summer Bay.  After unpacking the groceries we called Aunt Michelle (our mom's baby sister) and she came in from Pahrump to spend the day with us.  It was so wonderful to sit in the cabana and let Chris do the grilling.  We got to visit a lot and just had a great time catching up on everyone's lives.  One of the places we really wanted to see was Freemont Street so we decided that we would go down there.  I had read about a show called "Marriage Can be Murder" that was playing at a hotel down there, so we decided to get tickets for the show that night.  Michelle was kind enough to be our taxi and stayed and joined us for the show.  It was so funny and you had to pay attention to see who was the murderer.  They really included the audience as much as possible and everyone felt like they had a "role" to play.  Before the show Michelle and Rene played a few slots, Cindy played some Blackjack and Chris played some poker.  None of us are usually gamblers but we had fun for the few minutes we did and I think we all lost a few dollars.  Goes to show that one should never try to bet any money they can't afford to lose.  After the show we walked around Freemont Street, watched some of the light shows on the giant overhead screen and did some shopping for gifts and souveniors.  Then it was time for Michelle to drive home and so she dropped us off at on the strip and we went to watch the Mirage Volcano.  They have really done a good job rennovating it!  What a fun thing to watch.  We then caught the shuttle back to our place and spent more time visiting and joking around.  It sure was nice to have Chris with us, he was so funny telling us that he was there to take care of his two dowager sisters!  Soon that will be the truth, I just hope he is as happy to do it when we need it.  LOL

Day two ended the same as Day One - sitting in the hot tub and soaking away all our troubles.

Day One & Our Suprise Guest!

The Fabulous Cushing Sisters have two Fabulous Cushing Brothers.  Our youngest, Chris, lives in Phoenix with his family and it's hard for him to see Rene and Don since they live in Kansas with their families.  In fact, it had been over three years since Rene had seen Chris.  Unknown to Rene, Chris and I cooked up a suprise for her at the Vegas airport.  Chris was able to fly in right before our planes and we met Rene at the baggage claim.  She was expecting to see me, but was completely suprised to see her baby brother.  Once she recovered from the shock, we got in a taxi and went to our timeshare condo.  The place we stayed at was called Summer Bay Resort and it was great!  We had a beautiful one-bedroom apartment/condo with all the ammenities and transportation to the Strip.  We quickly unpacked and took the shuttle to the Strip.  We walked the entire north end of the Strip and had a wonderful dinner at Ceasar's Palace's Buffet.  Who can complain about eating prime rib, crab legs and shrimp cocktail??  Everything we tried was yummy and we loved the dessert bar with it's mini desserts.  They even had some sugar free desserts so Chris was able to enjoy them too!  After dinner we walked to the Bellagio and watched their beautiful fountain shows and then went inside to their Hanging Gardens.  All I can say is "WOW!" what a beautiful place and I am in awe of the talent it takes to make such a wonderful spring display.  One our walk back down the Strip we saw the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile cruising the strip.  Of course, we had to take pictures of that too!  We also started our picture collection titled "People of Vegas".  Watch for it in the sidebar, once I get Rene's pictures from her camera.

Day One ended with a good hot tub soaking and lots of laughter and joy at being together!