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Scenes from a Vegas Hotel Room March 1, 2013

Filed under: Las Vegas — Kelocity @ 4:34 am

Last weekend when we were in Vegas, we stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Suites.

We love off-strip hotels because they usually don’t have smoky casinos attached, the rooms are bigger, the parking is better and the prices are lower. This one did not disappoint.

It was a one-bedroom suite, which was perfect for a family of three! We slept in the comfy bed in the master bedroom, and Adele slept in a pack n’ play in the living room. The pack n’ play was rented from the hotel for free (we brought our own sheet). She slept 12 hours straight through the night! She loves having her own dark, quiet space. We also brought her lovie and pacifier to replicate our routine at home and it worked like a charm.
Sorry, Adele. This big comfy bed is not for you this time!

The second night we were there, my sister Laurie slept in the pull-out couch in the living room, so we moved Adele into the bathroom. Poor kid, I know. haha But you do what you gotta do, right? After our crazy nights in Zion last month, we learned our lesson.

And now… our traditional hotel room photoshoot!

Love.

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Cavalia’s OdysseO February 27, 2013

Filed under: Los Angeles,Theater — Kelocity @ 11:14 pm
Tags: Burbank, Cirque, horses, LA, Theater

You pronounce it “Oh-Dis-Eh-Oh” and it’s pretty spectacular. It’s a traveling Cirque du Soleil type show that is now playing in Burbank, CA. If you’re in the area, it’s worth going. I took my sister and my eight-month old baby and all of us enjoyed it.

The pop-up theater is inside a big-top tent that is the size of a 10-story building and can hold an audience of 2,000. Odysseo redefines the circus.

I wasn’t sure what to expect out of Adele. But of course, she was great. She LOVED the show. She sat quiet during the entire show, completely mesmerized by the performance.

We had awesome seats, really up close and she took in the sights and sounds and enjoyed herself. Proof that Odysseo is fun for all ages!

I am truthfully not much of a horse person (I’m terrified of them actually), but I couldn’t deny the beauty and talent of these gorgeous animals in the show. I was impressed.

In all, there are 67 horses in the show (belonging to 11 different breeds). Some of them jumped, some of them ‘danced’… and all of them wowed the audience again and again.

The performers were great as well. It was high-energy and exciting to watch. The lighting and stage was also impressive. The video backdrop is the size of three IMAX screens. And during the finale, the stage becomes an 80,000 gallon water tank and the performance continues in and around it.

This was Adele’s first live theater event and it is safe to say she loved it!

I love her squinty-eye face! We were looking straight into the sun!

If you live in LA, I highly recommend Odysseo. Tickets are on sale through March 24 and can be purchased online at www.cavalia.net.

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Viva Las Baby February 25, 2013

Filed under: Baby,Las Vegas,Theater,Travel — Kelocity @ 2:33 pm
Tags: Baby, Cirque, Las Vegas, Mystere, Travel, Vegas

My sister, Laurie, was in Las Vegas with friends this week and she wanted to extend her trip to visit us in LA too! We looked into flights from Vegas to LA, but in the end, we decided it was a better idea to just go there, spend the weekend and drive her back with us.

Best idea ever. I miss this girl.

We had a blast hanging out. Since it was a last minute trip for us, we didn’t have a set agenda so it was nice to roll with the punches.

On Saturday, we met up with Laurie at the Excalibur pool. What a lucky girl.

We people watched and lounged poolside and then one of us took a nap.

Irving, Adele and I spent the rest of the day doing some outlet shopping while the cool kids hit the clubs. After shopping, we grabbed dinner at Ping Pang Pong at the Gold Coast casino. And by “we” I mean Irving. I got TGIFridays to go. haha (Irving’s Side Note: Ping Pang Pong was recently rated one of the countries best Chinese food in the country by Travel + Leisure Magazine. Apparently I’m missing out.)

Sunday morning, we picked up Laurie and Jim and headed off the strip. Way off. All the way to the mountains to check out Red Rock Canyon. We loved it when we were there a couple of years ago and were excited to go back. Plus since Laurie and Jim live in Chicago, they don’t see mountains much.

We didn’t get a chance to do much hiking, but the views were still stellar.

Love this candid shot. haha

We did the 13 mile drivable loop and saw the whole valley. They got out and took fun pictures on the cliffs, but it was wayyyy too windy for Adele. I tried once and poor girl nearly blew away.

After that, we drove back to the strip for some more sight seeing. First stop was the Stratosphere. Come to think about it, that was my first time there! Then we jumped over to the Mirage.

We were actually looking for the lions, didnt they used to have a free exhibit? Am I making this up? Was that years ago? I thought there were free lions or tigers or something somewhere in vegas. Oh well.

After that, we were all tired and headed back to our hotel for some much needed rest.

And then Irving and I were excited to take advantage of our free babysitters for the evening and we headed out to see Mystere!

Bye Adele. Bye Laurie. Um, good luck with that. hahahaha

Just kidding, I heard the night went well. Lots of playing, lots of cuddles and Adele was in bed by 8pm. Wheeee! What a good Aunty.

We loved Mystere. Not the best Cirque show in Vegas, but I heard it was the first one which in itself makes it special. You can see how the troupes have evolved over the years. This one was a little circus-y but the stage and lighting were great. And the acts were excellent too. (My #1 Cirque show is KA. But then again, I have yet to see O.

We’re currently en route back to Los Angeles. Irving’s driving, Adele’s sleeping and Laurie and I are chatting (while blogging). Excited for a few days of adventures with her this week! I’ve got a lot of fun things with Adele planned too. Can’t wait!

And PS… just for fun… this photo was from the last time we were in Vegas! A lot changes in 10 Months! I was bummed she was asleep in the car when we took our iconic vegas sign pictures this weekend. Next time!

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She Laughs, She Cries February 23, 2013

Filed under: Baby — Kelocity @ 3:44 am
Tags: Babies

Adele’s in that stage now where object permanance is very important. She gets mad when you take things away from her now. It’s both funny and sad at the same time.

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Outside the Box February 21, 2013

Filed under: Baby,Los Angeles — Kelocity @ 4:10 am
Tags: Los Angeles, Outside the Box, Playgroup

We took Adele to a class at Outside The Box on Monday. It’s a playgroup inside a mall near us that offers unique educational classes for babies. From their website:

“Outside the Box is an educational and developmental program consisting of facilitated classes which focus on brain development for infants, toddlers, and young children through multi-sensory stimulation and specialized learning techniques. Focus is placed on cognitive development and reached through playful and fun activities which foster attachment and bonding and create neural synapse activity the brain. We play with a purpose!”

I signed us up for the ‘Older Baby’ class, which is for babies who are crawling but not yet walking. There were about five babies in the class that day and it was SO much fun. Adele seemed shy at first, but she totally opened up by the end.

We started the class by singing songs and doing motions with our hands. But instead of typical baby songs, we sang new songs… in Spanish! It was very fun.

I get to do songs in my mommy-and-me classes, but it was new for Irving so I enjoyed watching the two of them participate together too.

Then our sensory play began! We listened to tribal-type music and played with silk scarves for a few minutes. The parents threw them in the air and the babies touched and grabbed them. Lots of pretty colors were flying around.

And then we moved on to Magic Carpet rides! All the babies were placed on a pillow on top of a blanket and the parents dragged it around the room in circles. Surprisingly, the babies didn’t fall off. It’s a great exercise for their balance and coordination. Adele was giggling out loud. She was LOVING this.

Sure, Adele didn’t fall off, but somehow her right sock did in the middle of the ride. haha

After this, they brought out a kiddie pool filled with biodegradable packing peanuts for the kids to play in. Adele was hesitant at first, but then warmed up to the idea.

They said we could put them in their diaper so they can feel the textures on their skin. It must have been a neat experience for a little baby.

And as if that was enough stimulation… they threw in some Mardi Gras beads too! It was like Christmas in there!

After this, we did a drum circle and the kids had a blast banging on big loud drums and swinging tambourines. And we ended with a laser light show and light up super balls. Picture fifty oversized balls all blinking and glowing in the dark — all at once. It was cool even for the parents!

We all had SO much fun at this place. We will be back! I hear they have Pasta Parties once a month too. They fill the kiddie pool with cookied pasta (coated in olive oil) and they let the kids play inside of it! They also have Jello Parties where they get to swim in Jello!!!! Seriously, think about that. How awesome would that be? These kids are so lucky!

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