Cinema Treasures: The Tower Theatre

Hannah convinced me to take in a movie from the Ukraine called Zelary with her and her parents at the old Tower Theater. It was such a singular experience that I wrote about it on the Movie Blog:

DougandHannah's Movie Reviews: Cinema Treasures: The Tower Theatre

No Good Deed Goes Unrewarded

Hannah and Jen woke up at the crack of 4:30am to run to the airport and capture some video of thier departing cousin Alex who will be in Canada for the next two years.

The early rise made them weary, but not sluggish as Jen's quick thinking and Hannah's quick fingers won them a prize and 15 seconds of fame on a local FM station. Click the link below to hear Hannah live on the radio.

The Great Ingram Adventure: The Fertile Valley - Day 4

We're back home after a day of travel and meetings. Emma and I rousted ourselves from bed and packed the bags just in time to grab a bite downstairs and meet mom at the door to catch a shuttle for our flight. We were dissapointed that Bell Transportation did not show up for our scheduled pick up and we ended up taking a cab. It was remarkably affordable though, in fact, it worked out - per person - to be identical in cost to the shuttle service! Of course if our hotel had been farther from the airport that wouldn't have been the case. Hannah and I ended up sitting apart becasue of an extreamly full flight, but it ended up being easy to deal with as Emma slept with mom the whole way.

Woo Hoo! Doug becomes a high rolling slot player at Mandalay Bay.

Aah! It's the hammer head!

Hannah got to bring home a ray for herself. Here she demonstrates how to pet a ray: "With one finger."

Whoa, freaky! This was so extreamly cool. We had a great time walking around the aquarium all evening. The grand finale was this huge tank with a half dozen types of Shark.	This shark is the only hammer head in captivity in North America.
It's just more than a baby at 7 feet.	A sawfish is actually a shark. A remarkable annimal. You can see in the photo that it's long nose resembles hedge trimmers.
Wow! These guys swim by a mere two feet from my lense. It's a chilling and simultaneously exhilerating experience.	Here's a shot of those famous fangs.

Mom and Emma pose in an underwater tunnel at the Shark Reef aquarium at Mandalay Bay.

We're on the train to the Mandaly Bay Resort. We were told to please hold the handrail. Emma was happy to oblige.

Here's a picture from the Casino inside Excalibur. Looks like these knights are Jedi Knights.

Dad poses for a geocaching photo in front of the MGM Grand. Behind the camera is the famous Tropicana Hotel.

Dad sought out a webcam cache on the corner opposite from our hotel in front of the MGM Grand. Here's Doug using a laptop and cellular card to capture a picture of himself through that webcam.

Here's the webcam we used. Wanna see what it sees? http://www.earthcam.com/usa/nevada/lasvegas/

Emma waits for dad to get his act together and get out of the hotel while mom is in meetings.

The Great Ingram Adventure: The Fertile Valley - Day 3

Mom's in meetings today so Dad and Emma are going to take it easy. We'll check out the pool, go across the street to the New York, New York to have a Nathans Hot Dog, and maybe even walk around some of the other hotels like the Luxor or Mandalay Bay. There's also alot of radio traffic from nearby McCarann Int'l. We'll keep you posted.

Mom and Emma in front of the Bellagio while awaiting the fountain show.	Dad and Emma also await the fountains.
Emma loves the fountains, set to music and illuminated by powerful lights.

Our view at night is quite colorful.

Ahh Le Arch de Triumph, Viva Le France! We love our yellow bellied neigbors across the pond. Well, we love thier architecture anyway. Especially when you only have to go as far as Vegas to see it.

I looked out my window and what did I see? The Empire State Building! Whaaa?!

When we awoke this morning, this is the view that greeted us.

The Great Ingram Adventure: The Fertile Valley - Day 2

We've had a free day before mom tackles meetings this week so we set out to have some fun. We started by having lunch at In-N-Out Burger. I've never had one of these infamous sandwiches and rather enjoyed them. They're not fancy or particularly specail, but the price is great and a whole slice of onion is soooo good.

Emma discovered dad's hat...	and decided to try it on.
But before she knew it...	she had herself caught.

We put Emma down for a nap before running to the airport. Looks like she needed one.

The Great Ingram Adventure: The Fertile Valley - Day 1

Well our day was delayed a little as we were bumped from an earlier flight. It worked in our favor as we slept in a little and got to ride on a 767 giving plenty of room for us and baby. We grabbed our rental car and buzzed down Las Vegas Boulevard to our room at the Excalibur Hotel. We wasted no time diving into the buffet downstairs and feasting on prime rib and B-B-Q Pork. What a life. I couldn't help but think of all the times we hit Las Vegas Buffets with my family. We went to the Tropicana and the Stardust to name a couple, but we always seemedto visit Circus Circus at least once each tirp. We thought Terry and Judy might like this buffet. In fact, I had a rush of de ja vous as I approached "The Round Table Buffet". I realized that my brother Rob and I had eaten at this buffet back in '94 while we entertained ourselves cursing the strip. What a life. Pictures to come soon, and I made an audio post at the buffet, hopefully that will arise soon too.

Las Vegas: The Fertile Valley

After years of ignorance I went searching the web for a translation of "Las Vegas." Thinking it probably translated as "The Sinful Place" or "Evil Lair" or something like that I was suprised to learn that in english, "Las Vegas" means "The Fertile Valley." Fascinating isn't it?

Mom's little elf peeks from behind her elf hat to smile for the camera. Complete with Reindeer and holiday cheer, Emma is ready for christmas.

We're warming up for the season around our house. Emma has donned her costume and is ready for that christmas sprit.

♫ In The Air There's A Feeling Of Christmas ♪

The Salt Lake City street lights blinked a bright red and green for us as we set out to start our holidays with a walk around downtown. We met mom at her office after work and following dinner, we set about strolling through "Temple Square". The headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the heart of Salt Lake City and each year The Church spends weeks draping every limb and bush with holiday lights. It's a Christmas tradition for many to walk the grounds each year. We don't necessarily observe such a tradition but couldn't help but hope that Emma, this being her first Christmas and her 11th month anniversary, would be fascinated by the dazzling array of lights. Emma certainly enjoyed herself all bundled up in her penguin suit. We had a great time ourselves walking though the brisk air and taking in a bit of Christmas cheer. So from all of us to all of you, here's a hearty Merry Christmas and Welcome To The Season.

Eye On Emma: Issue FourGa Ga Goo Goo To You Too

Emma passes her 11th month anniversary today and comes one step from being a one year old. The family's all a fluster with things to get Emma for Christmas as she nears the one year milestone. We're also going through our first round of anxiety as we struggle to decide what gifts will be given at Christmas and which will be saved for her birthday a week later. The hardest part for her dad is to remember that there is more than one celebration to observe while he shops.

Emma keeps learning new tricks as she ages gracefully into a toddler. She has taken to stringing words together a-la baby talk and it's hilarious to listen too. It's easy to carry on a conversation with her as you can hear her struggle to mimic the words we use and talk back. Her favorite phrases are "Oooh", "Wow" and "Uh-oh". Along with the baby talk she's started a plethora of new sounds, the most prominent of which is an ethereal grunt from the back of her throat. We were sure she was choking to death the first time we heard it, only to watch her turn it on and off as we reacted. It still jars us from our seats if were not ready for it.

Emma spent a few days without mom and dad as they traveled to New Jersey and Manhattan for an awards dinner with Grandpa Ingram. She stayed outside her own home without her parents for the first time enjoyig the hospitality of her Aunt Polly and Aunt Carrie. She seemed to have such a good time that when we returned to Zack and Carries house a week later, she immediatly went into her play routines from her last visit.

Emma enjoyed her first snowfall of her young life, at least the first we think she recognizes. While there was plenty of snow on the ground following her January birth we doubt she could see any of it, especially considering we wouldn't let her out of the house without several blankets covering her carrier. We made use of a sled we had purchased just a week earlier and buzzed around the backyard as the family looked on. We also gave Emma her first view of Christmas Lights as we spent ther 11th month anniversary strolling through Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City.

Emma is mastering new physical feats too. She has learned the almost fool proof method of lowering herself from an elevated surface by turning around and sliding on her tummy. She has also discovered the fascinating practice of feeding other people. She grinned and giggled hysterically when she first fed Mom her bread stick. I expect the practice to loose favor when she realizes that her portions disappear more quickly that way.