Kim and Ken's visit

Ken had a work conference earlier this month at the RIO downtown and decided to bring Kim along for fun! We were so excited to have her here. Mom and Dad came down and Kandra came over for a few days with her family to join in the fun. Our most favorite day with them was when we went to the Venetian canal shops, had lunch, and went on a gondola ride together.
We discovered Peter Lik landscape photography. He has a gallery in the Venetian. I was so intrigued with his use of color and the outdoors. AMAZING!!

The fall decor in the Venetian that we all enjoyed taking pictures of



Roberto our gondolier was amazing! We heard a few others during our ride and decided he was really the best. He was singing Andrea Bocelli and many other italian solo numbers that sounded familiar....(I guess I need to brush up on my italian opera trivia or learn it at all). I started joking with him and singing to Turkey, stuffing, sweet potato pie, pancakes piled up till they reach the sky....to which he responded with an amazing rendition of the real song in the most beautiful italian tenor I had ever experienced first hand. What a ride. We were laughing about how we felt like we were really in Italy except for one minor thing: the bridges and water were way too clean!
Ken was nice enough to stay behind and take a million photos like the papparazzi. After our ride we had worked up quite an appetite and headed for a fancy Italian meal at Canalettos in the Market Square. It was yummy!
Other highlights of the trip here included all the girls sneaking away for pedicures, sharing Cole's first birthday together, cousins playing nonstop, and a trip to my favorite fabric store where Kim helped me decide what sewing machine to buy. I finally got a BERNINA (insert loud cheerleader style hoorays here). Kim helped me pick it out and Dad helped me pay for it. I'm a spoiled, lucky girl!