That's what you get for Wakin' up in Vegas!

So, for the three day President's Day weekend, I tagged along to Vegas with a bunch of Club Style peeps. I agreed to go about three days before. I wasn't going to go, but boy am I glad I did. It was SUCH a fun weekend and we had so many things go our way (except for the speeding ticket I got on the way down... that was a definite bummer on my birthday). But once we got to Vegas all negativity was forgotten and it was fun fun fun. Friday night we got there and pulled into our hotel, The Americana 5. WAY sketch. So we started searching for something else. Col helped out a lot by calling around to the hotels. We made stops at the New York, New York, The Luxor, and the Mandalay Bay to try to find the best deal. We lucked out when we got a suite at the Mandalay Bay for $510 for the whole weekend. We fit 23 people in there so we only had to pay $28 EACH for the WHOLE weekend! Best deal ever right?! Our suite was on the 21st floor and looked right out onto the strip. It rocked. The best part? We could see the Americana across the freeway in the ghetto from our room. ha! We all laughed about that. Hard.

So Friday by the time we got settled in, it was about 1:30. We wandered over the concourse from our hotel to the Luxor and some people got food and then we had a dance party in our suite while the over 21s went clubbing. We like to party. :)

The next morning six of us got up and headed over to the discount ticket place to see what tickets we could get for a good deal. We ended up getting tickets to Cirque du Soleil's Kà (which I'll talk about later). After we got our tickets for 45% off, we went and got our seat assignments at the MGM theater, made dinner reservations at Rainforest Cafe, and wandered some stores that were right there. Then we went back to the hotel, dance partied a little more, got ready for dinner and headed out. Rainforest Cafe was delicious. After dinner the 6 of us with tickets went to our show. And oh. my. gosh. BEST. SHOW. EVER.!!!! Seriously, words can not describe how amazing it was. They thought of everything, from hand shadow puppets to a vertical battle of good vs. evil. Everything about it was incredible. The costumes, the music, the lighting, the stage that was all hydrolics so it could go any direction they so darn pleased... Amazing. Even the trailer for it here doesn't do it justice. But click on the link and watch it anyway. Maybe you'll feel motivated to go see it. It's my new goal in life to see every Cirque du Soleil. haha. Here are some clips of it I found on YouTube if you want to watch them. Just know, in person was SO much cooler!!! haha

This was one of the scenes of the bad dudes attacking the good kids. Everytime you see or hear an arrow being shot, a stick-pole-like thing would suddenly appear out of the stage, then they started swinging on them. SO cool!

This scene was the final battle between good vs. evil. It was so insane it didn't look real. It looked like a video game or something. haha. SO awesome!

Then after the show we met up with some more people and started a few dance parties along the strip, saw some of the Bellagio fountain show, and chilled by the water for a while. Way fun night.

Sunday morning we got up, packed up, and found a church to go to Sacrament meeting. After sacrament, we found a nearby buffet, ate our faces off on delicious food, then headed home. Once we got back to Provo at about 11, we didn't want to all depart yet, so we made a music video in the parking lot of the Provo Towne Center. And then we went to IHOP, where there were some good laughs had. If I can get my video to work down below, then you could see at least some of the hilarities that occurred, but it's not working at the moment. so check back later. :)

It was an amazing weekend with some amazing people. We had so much fun. I'm so glad I decided to go. And it was a great birthday weekend too!

Fun times can be had with the people of Club Style. :)

Pictures! (and some words about-) Part 3 of 3: Atlanta/Hilton Head Island

So after an amazing day at the Cliffs of Moher and a night in Trim, we had to fly home. Only I didn't have to go all the way home just yet. Back in like April, Kaycie said I should come visit her this summer in her hometown of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Kind of jokingly I said okay yeah. (because I didn't really think it a real possibility at the time). Later that week I was looking at our flights from Ireland and noticed we had a layover in Atlanta. What? Atlanta is only five hours away from Hilton Head Island! I told Kaycie and she told me she could come pick me up in Atlanta and we could play for a few days! Brilliant idea. And it was like it was meant to be. Perfect. So, after the 8.5 hour flight from Dublin (which really wasn't bad at all considering dad and I got bumped up to Business class - sa-weet!), and after going through all the customs and yum stuff like that, I walked out towards the baggage claim and saw my dear friend Kaycie waiting for me! (sorry for the wait Kaycie dear... :) So we hopped in the car and drove straight to the Braves game. After Kaycie decked me out in some of her Braves-wear, we entered Turner Field. There is something about baseball fields that makes me very happy. And Turner Field was no exception. I love baseball! And the game was so fun. After wandering around, eating some hot dogs, and buying some souvenirs, we took our seats for a fabulous game (except for the fact that the Braves lost, but other than that it was a fabulous time!). Then after the game we made a stop at Steak and Shake (right Kayc???) for some midnight food and shakes, which were amazing. Then we stayed the night at Kaycie's friend Ashley's house who lives just outside Atlanta. In the morning we headed into town, stopped by the Atlanta temple to take some pics, and then made our way to the World of Coca-Cola, which was WAY cool by the way. There we learned quite a bit about the history of Coca-Cola, saw a funny animated "documentary" about what "really" goes on in a Coca-Cola vending machine, met the Coca-Cola Polar Bear, and tasted almost sixty-something different flavors of coke products from all over the world. Way cool. Then we began our drive to Hilton Head. Once we made it there we boarded "The Holiday" for a dolphin watch sunset cruise! It was awesome. It rained a little bit, but it made for an amazing rainbow and there was a beautiful sunset. We partied hard on that boat. We then ate a delicious meal at a delicious seafood joint. The next morning we went to church. I loved going to church there! Everyone was so friendly and I loved it. And then, as Kaycie would say, "We spent some time enjoying Heavenly Father's creations" and played at the beach for a bit. :) That night we went to a potluck at a member's house and played Apples to Apples. Funnest game of my LIFE! I love that game. The next morning we got up and went kayaking. It was such a perfect morning and we had so fun just chillaxing in our kayaks out on the creek. Good idea Kayc. Then we went to the beach for a while, then Harbourtown, then I ate some Rita's italian ice, which changed my life, and then I had to pack up my things and we made the 45 minute drive to the Savannah airport. We said our goodbyes (or what we thought were our goodbyes...) and Kaycie headed home while I waited at the airport to fly back home to SLC. Only I ended up waiting for a while, because it started raining. And not just raining, it was raining. I hadn't ever seen a rainstorm like that, because I'm from Utah. But anyway, no planes could land so I would miss my connection in Atlanta. At this point, I had two options: spend the night in the Savannah airport and fly home in the morning, or wait for my delayed plane to come back to Savannah and fly to Atlanta and spend the night there in the airport and fly home the next morning. I wasn't liking either of these options (and dad DEFINITELY wasn't either). So I told Kaycie what was going on and, bless her dear little heart, she offered to drive all the way back to Savannah to pick me up so I didn't have to stay the night in an airport. My hero. So she did and it was great. While I was waiting for her to make the drive back, I enjoyed a ten minute massage for $2 in one of those massage chairs and played in the arcade. Good times. But anyway, she came and rescued me and we watched Bedtime Stories (love that movie!) and then she took me back, once again, to the Savannah airport where I caught my flight to come home. It was such an amazing weekend and an awesome way to finish off the trip to Ireland and Scotland. All those places combined definitely made this trip the best trip I have yet ever been on. Thanks for such a great and WAY fun few days Kayc face! Can't wait to see you on Thursday! (maybe Friday???) You da you da best. You da you da best. (it's a song for those of you who don't know...) Love you muchly!

And now for pictures of our weekend:

Turner Field

Our "cheese" faces. Cute right??? I don't know if Provo can handle this much crazy... they're just going to have to. :)

Uh, uh, apple. (haha Tam, you'll get it.)

Braves vs. Dodgers. A shot of Manny Ramirez for brother.

Atlanta Temple! It was closed, but we had to get some pics.

Inside the world of Coke.

Kaycie volunteered for a little game. She had to guess which item in this case was the oldest product in there. After about 4 guessed (the first of which she guessed a can from the 2008 Beijing Olympics...) she got it right! AND she got a sticker AND she got to model the item. Lucky.

We loved this Polar Bear! He was WAY cute and WAY funny.

The start of the beautfiul sunset cruise.

Roomies! p.s. don't mind my hair...it can't handle humidity really.

We're so attractive Kaycie.

Pretty!

SO pretty!

Beautiful right???

Oh, how I love this "cheese" face. hahaha. Oh and the hair. Gotta love the hair. :)

Our kayaking trip. Kaycie had never been! Fricka-wha???

I heart South Carolina.

Yes, that is in fact a dolphin jumping out of the water behind that boat. Thank you for asking. WAY cool!

Thanks again lovely! It was an AMAZING weekend! Love you!

Pictures! Part 2 of 3: Scotland

As promised, here is part 2.

SCOTLAND

Oh, how I miss this place.

And you can always refer back to my previous blogs for more details on the pictures. I talk about every place. I'm pretty sure...

STIRLING:

The Wallace Monument as seen from Stirling Castle. It's on the left side of that hill!

The Great Hall of Stirling Castle

In the gardens at Stirling Castle

This was the second time I had ever seen a Lotus in person...cool.

The Wallace Monument!

William Wallace

His sword! 5 1/2 feet long!

Where the Scots beat the English for the first time

It was windy. Hence, the hair got a little messed up... haha

The Scottish highlands.

The Burial place of Rob Roy.

Dad's hero.

One of the few pictures he would pose for :)

Callandar

Where we stayed in Stirling. The Argyll House. Very lovely.

The Wallace Monument from our B&B window.

Having some fun at the Bannockburn visitors' center...

Robert the Bruce

Say cheese dad.

EDINBURGH:

Dad infront of Edinburgh castle

Some Highlanders.

Looking down the Royal Mile from the Castle Esplanade.

The way cool Parliament building.

The clan village at the Gathering.

One of the many pipe bands we saw.

Some Lonach Highlanders. From Clan Forbes and Clan MacGregor.

Homecoming Scotland!

Prince Charles' entry. He's behind Camilla who is in the white coat.

Prince Charles giving a speech to open the events. He's in the green kilt.

The next king of England!

The Lonach pipe band.

The Highland games

The stone put.

A cool old tollgate that I loved.

Dad in his Scottish wear. :)

Cheeeese

Some wannabe Scots!

The Clans coming together for the parade.

Me and some fellow Forbes

Holyrood Palace.

Some Forbes clan dude.

Marching up the Royal Mile.

The streets were packed!

And still marching...

Some fellow members of clan Forbes

Us with Malcolm Forbes, whose father is Lord Forbes, head of the Forbes clan. He lives in Forbes castle in Aberdeen. Cool right???

The Castle before the pageant.

The pipe band that came out of the castle gates.

Rosslyn Chapel. So cool!

lunch on the Royal Mile

The Caber Toss

Pounds are cool.

Robert the Bruce walking to his castle on the hill. Hahaha! Kidding.

We climbed this hill... way cool.

Yet another pipe band.

The World Champion Highlander.

Climbing the hill.

The city of Edinburgh.

Again, it was windy.

Where the Gathering was held.

The hill we climbed.

Pictures from my adventures in GA/SC still to come! :)