Vegas! (with pictures)

My trip to Vegas...or a s-ton of pictures...

Pre-trip, I meet up with the Simon family of Westin, FL in Chicago for a wedding. I got to meet Ethan Simon for the very first time! What a delightul family. We walked through the LP Zoo, enjoying the beautiful summer weather. It was really great to see Danny and Honit. (Also in this picture, the next addition to the Simon family...guess where...)

We begin at Midway airport in Chicago. My travel looks like this...My dreams-come-true look like this... (I found a DVD of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, one of the best movies of all time, at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. It promptly became my personal in-flight movie) Oh yeah, I also got bumped up to first class from MN to LV. Oh man...real glass for my water!On the phone with my dad from MN:

me: I'm in Minneapolis.

dad: Cool. The ol' Minneapolis-St. Paul huh...they should have a baseball team and call them...the Cities.

In Vegas, I get introduced to my parents' lovely new home. All their houses, no matter where they move, tend to look the same. I always feel like a kid again when I'm staying with them, and for those few days I forget what it's like to pay bills and live in a studio. So thanks, mom and dad! Also...let's play this game. My family is SO Catholic... How Catholic are they?

They're SO Catholic that walking through their house is like playing "Where's Jesus?" Only Jesus doesn't wear a striped scarf. Actually, as Catholics, it's a bit more like playing "Where's Mary" or "Name that Saint." And there's a cross over every door, like a Catholic version of the mezuzah (Jew friends shout out!).

Stratosphere! 108 stories up...of course I will ride this thing that hangs over the side of the building. And I'm afraid to fly...

Yep. Just keep walking straight....
Yay! Second City Vegas!! Thanks, Robyn, for getting us tickets. My family now really believes that I "know people." Me, realizing what a jerk I am for not taking an actual picture with Robyn or Michael. I'm a terrible Chicago-Vegas ambassador.
At mom's work. My dad and mom each doing what they do best. Drinking coffee and taking pictures, respectively.My reaction to my entire immediate family being in one room for the first time in YEARS...Sisters! Amy and I are each the embodiment of either side of our family. I'm a black-German Sullivan and she's an Irish Randell. It makes sense.
The occasion for the trip...Kyle! I haven't seen my nephew in 5 years and look at him. All grown-up. It's like watching a soap opera and there's a little kid in it and then they write him out for a while "away at a boarding school" or whatnot, and then a year or two later that bring on some Tiger Beat actor to play the cute, new teen on the show and you're expected to believe this kid has really aged that much in the last couple years. It's just like that. Except Kyle really has aged 5 years. I digress. It was great to see him again. He's pretty awesome, and I'm not just saying that because I'm his aunt.

I even made it back in time for the Taste of Chicago and the 4th of July! I'm tired.