Adventures in May--Vegas! Osmonds! Copperfield!

Wow, it has been a while since I've written on any of my blogs!  Best to get back to it before I lose my blogging mojo.

In May we had our "big trip for the year."  Back in February, while watching an Osmond Family reunion DVD we bought in Vegas in 2011, my husband and I go the idea to look on the family site and see their tour dates.  As it turned out, the brothers were going to be performing for 3 nights in May.  We looked at each other with that glint in our eyes and spent the rest of the day planning a trip.

By the time we were done, it consisted of a 5 day/4night stay, with tickets to see Donny & Marie one night, a matinee of David Copperfield the next day, and the Osmond Brothers (Merrill, Jay, Jimmy) on the final night.

Things started off bumpy!  I was wearing a skirt with several buttons and it set off all sorts of alarms at the Portland airport.  I've flown through that airport more times than I can count, but this time I was led to a private room and patted down.  Fun!

When we arrived at the Flamingo Hotel, our home for 3 nights, I discovered that my conditioner bottle had leaked in my suitcase.  Grr.  Fortunately, and miraculously, it didn't get on any clothes!

But the part that really got our trip off on a sore note was discovering that Donny & Marie had cancelled their performances up until the day after we were leaving.  We don't know why and we received no notification. We tried to roll with it and figure out what to do.  That evening we had an awesome sushi dinner at Bally's, then took a cab to this tiny casino called Ellis Island that we heard had great karaoke.  I was under an a/c vent the whole time, which just wiped out my voice (not to mention smokers everywhere.)  But Eric did great and had the whole place mesmerized with a BJ Thomas song and then an Elvis song.

We spent the next day walking around the Forum Shops, but as the day progressed we still didn't have plans for the evening.  I had the idea that we get tickets for the Osmond Brothers for that night.  So what if we saw them twice?  We knew their show would be good, clean, and 1/3 of the price of Donny & Marie.

Jay, Merrill, and Jimmy--3 nights of superb entertainment!

It turned out to be a SUPER idea!  The brothers' show was great!  They were playing at The Orleans, off the Strip, and we were so impressed.  No glitz, just the 3 brothers and 4 musicians.  Both Eric and I have a great respect for pure talent, and these guys have it.  Superb harmonies and a very personal show.  We were so glad we were going to see them again!




The next day we went to the Venetian and visited Madame Tussaud's wax museum (cool, but overpriced) and walked around the Canal Shops there.

The King at Madame Tussaud's

In the afternoon it was time to head over to the MGM Grand for our David Copperfield show.  I was pretty excited because I'd been watching his specials since I was a kid.  Eric had hardly heard of him, but I knew the show would be great.  We had a very enthusiastic cab driver who took us to the MGM, assuring us that "not in 2,000 years, since time of Jesus Christ, does a man do this kind of stuff!"

You must see his live show.  Incredible!

The show was AMAZING.  The cab driver was right!  Even sitting in one of the closest seats revealed nothing.  He made an audience member fly!  He turned an origami butterfly into a real one.  He walked through a giant fan.  He read minds.  He made a group of 10 people disappear, and many more incredible illusions.  If you ever get a chance to see Copperfield in person--do it.

But it was a matinee, so we were done around 5:30pm....what to do?  If you know my hubby you know he is a huge Osmond Fan, so yes, we went and saw the brothers again.  Amazingly, we had the best seats of all 3 nights when buying our tickets only an hour before the show. 4th row center.  And we think that night's show was the best of the three.

Enjoying the gardens at the Flamingo Hotel

Flamingos at the Flamingo!

The next day we moved from the Flamingo to the Orleans.  It was a very relaxing day.  I hung out at the pool and then got a massage at their spa. (I must've been really relaxed, because at one point I remember snoring myself awake!) Being off the Strip, there was less of a party atmosphere and more of a family atmosphere.  Both of us agreed we would definitely stay there again. The pool area was great--I spent hours there reading on my Kindle. And the breakfast buffet?  $5.95/person!

I will admit that by the 3rd Osmond concert, it felt like a little much.  But I'm still glad we did it.  Eric enjoyed every moment and seeing him so relaxed and happy brings me great joy.  He really earned that vacation.   And we had SO much fun!  I just love those kinds of experiences with my hubby.  I'm not really a Vegas person at all (he loves it,) but it is a lot of fun with him.

Our "Osmond Wall" got 2 new additions after this trip!

We came home on a high note, rested and thrilled with the way our trip all turned out!