La Reve

My sister Cynthia and I decided that we would also see La Reve at the Wynn. Neither of us had known anyone who had seen the show but it was created by Dragone who did the Celine Las Vegas show (which was AMAZING) and so we decided to give it a chance. AND IT WAS AMAZING!! The theater is smaller than any of the Cirque shows so it provides a much more intimate atmosphere. I also loved that it was a theater in the round so that every seat was a good one.

The show was much more dancing based than any of the Cirques yet they still had some incredible feats of strength (like one guy supporting another guy upsidedown on his shoulders, neither of them holding on and walking around), acrobatics, and trapeze. The show had a stage that moved up and down in the water and so the dancers and synchronized swimmers would go under the water to enter and exit the staging arena. And how could I not think that the show is incredible with great decorations like this! This was for the finale (thus the only reason I could take photos since it was after the show) and it was just as beautiful as it looks from the photo.

I loved this show- the ballroom dancing was incredible, as well as the staging, lighting, and just the overall performance. My sister Cynthia went so far as to say that this is the BEST show she has seen in Vegas. I would say that it is definitely one of my favorites. One of my favorite things about Vegas is all of the great shows that you get to see.

Luv It Frozen Custard

My mom called us to let us known about this frozen custard place in Las Vegas that she had read about in the AAA magazine. It was called "Luv It Frozen Custard" and it turned out to be right down the street from our hotel. I got the vanilla custard and it was SO good. It reminded us of Nielsen's Frozen Custard in Salt Lake if any of you have been there. And it was pretty inexpensive as well. We tried to go again the next day but they don't open until 1 and we had to leave at 11 to drive back. Come on- I'm sure that LOTS of people want some custard before lunch at 11am- especially since it is still so hot in Vegas :-)

U2 360

UNREAL. Completely amazing. I am beyond words for just how good it was. U2 is ABSOLUTELY my favorite band of all time- they truly just keep out doing themselves. I went to their first concert back in high school for the PopMart Tour. It was seriously so awesome to see the band emerge out of a giant lemon. I then went to the Elevation Tour back in 2001 which was so great because they incorporated so many lights elements. I saw Vertigo tour twice- once in Boston and once in Salt Lake and loved the heart shaped catwalk and Bono with the bongo drums. Each concert has been more amazing than the last and just when I don't know how they will be able to top themselves, they do.

Cynthia and I drove to Vegas and picked up some Cafe Rio takeout before getting my friend Michelle from the airport. We had planned to eat before the concert but the traffic getting to the concert was HORRIBLE. It took us nearly an hour and a half to make a journey that normally would have taken 20 minutes. PAINFUL. At least we weren't in a taxi- I can not even imagine just how expensive that would have been. So, we ate our dinner while in the car which meant that of course, I spilled on my Vertigo shirt :-( At least I have long hair that covered it up. We only saw a few of the performances by the Black Eyed Peas which was fine because they were not very good live. When we drove up, we could hear them and just how flat they were. We were just thrilled that we didn't miss any of U2.

I was unable to buy our 3 tickets together but luckily, I was able to squeeze on the end of the bench with my friend Michelle- the people next to us were super nice to let me do that.

Michelle and I have a LONG history of loving U2 all the way back to our freshman year at BYU. She went to the concert back in Dublin Ireland this past summer (SO JEALOUS) and was thrilled to make arrangements to come at the last minute to see them again. Cynthia was just down the row from us but joined us for a photo after the concert.

The stage was HUGE with the "apparatus" or "spaceship" as it was called.

They had a circular stage with an additional catwalk going around it that was connected by these two movable bridges. There was a classic moment during the concert when the Edge was on one and Bono was on the other and they got close to each other and were reaching out in a manner like the Fall of Adam.

I also LOVED the big screens that they had which showed great artistic shots of the band, such as this one with Bono

and then Adam.

I also loved all of the different colors and lighting effects that they had

I think that the stage definitely looks like a spaceship with this lighting. For the song "Spanish Eyes" they had views of Earth from the Space Station as well as a special message from one of the astronauts.

I also loved the swinging microphone for Bono

It made the stage almost take off.

But, as much as we all wanted to be transported to a different place after the concert, it wasn't possible for awhile due to the massive traffic jam. SO WORTH IT.

Cynthia enjoyed having some "free" popcorn

And here are several clips from a few of my favorite songs that they performed. To my delight, the last song they played was "With or Without You" and of course I taped the whole song. I wish that I would have taped Bono singing "Viva Las Vegas"- he totally sounded like Elivs!

Get on Your Boots

Magnificent

With or Without You

(I tried like 5 different times for several hours at a time to upload this video but it just won't work. At least I can still listen to it :-)

And you can also watch the entire concert from LA on YouTube- I've watched the first half again and it gives you a completely different perspective of the concert.

I will get to see this great concert AGAIN next June when they come to Oakland!! I have to sit by myself but it will be SO WORTH it to get on my boots again with Bono and the band :-)

CSI: The Experience

I am a big fan of the CSI shows and so when I saw that there was a special "CSI experience" at the MGM Grand, I knew that I had to try it.

Here I am about to enter with my "thinking face" (and I have NO IDEA what that white spot is on my pants)

Basically, you become an investigator for one of three cases. We chose the one with the waitress found in the back of an alley. They give you a form where you draw the crime scene and then it asks you questions that you then answer at several different lab stations. One station had you match fingerprints, another matched genetics, another tire tracks, an autopsy station, etc.

They even had a replica of Grissom's office

The main problem that we had was that the questions were very "leading", so much so that you could guess where the case was going. We had wanted to literally be CSI's and do some of the hard stuff, so that disappointed us. BUT, the worst part was that it was NOT worth the price- $30 for one case!! Maybe if we could have done EACH of the three cases then it would have been better or if it was like $15 max we might have had a better feel. Don't waste your time with this "experience"- you learn more watching the shows.

M&M World

Cynthia and I had a great time at M&M World. Cynth with the "Viva Las Vegas" M&M

Cynth with her new favorite show- "The Candy of the Opera"

And I am so impressed that this is made out of WRAPPERS. Some people just have unique skills to think that something that would normally be thrown away could be assembled into a cute purse.

We managed to escape the store without buying any candy since we were still super full from lunch, which is a miracle knowing how much our family loves sweets!

Stratosphere

We stayed at the Stratosphere as it was the nicest option for the best price and we really enjoyed it. We were able to go to the top for free and look at all of the people freaking out on the rides with great names like "Insanity."

We also had lunch at the Top of the World restaurant just a few floors down from the top. Cynthia and I had the delicious burgers that William got last time and Michelle got the French Toast. They were all super good :-) And another benefit of staying at this hotel was that I ran into an old friend of mine from BYU- Cami who was one of my fellow Biology TA's with Dr. Booth. She and her husband also went to the U2 concert and loved it. Just another story of how a great band puts people together.

Halloween California Adventure

We also headed over to California Adventure to check out the Halloween Time decorations over there.

Candy corn was the predominate theme- mmm, candy corn.

Only at Disneyland does Candy Corn grow on trees and bushes

Even the beverage cups here are cute with Mickey at a non scary looking Haunted House.

We went on the Tower of Terror as well as California Screamin' twice.

We also went on the new Toy Story ride. I thought that it was super fun since it incorporated several different kinds shooting games. I also liked the talking Mr. Potato Head while waiting for the ride.

We also went to these two experiences for the first time- the Mission Tortilla Factory and the Boudin Bakery.

It was incredible to see this huge tortilla press that would smush the balls into perfect round tortillas.

And the best part is that we got a FREE warm tortilla that we just watched being made. We also got free samples of sourdough bread before the Boudin tour. They had this great film about the process featuring Rosie O'Donnell. I learned more at this tour than visiting the original factory here in San Francisco. It takes 72 hours to produce one loaf of bread!!! WOW. And the same starter is still being used from the company's founding back in 1849. This cuts the dough into individual loaves- see that HUGE ball of dough at the top of the funnel.

And staying true to Disney style, the resting bread gets their own little ride around the bakery- this group was over our head.

And they even produce cute Mickey loaves.