Even though it wasn’t cold enough for us to get some fresh snow in Vegas (or thereabouts) on Christmas day, the snow report of two feet plus powder was enough to convince Todd to make the drive up to Mt. Charleston. Well, at least we had some fun sinking our shoes into some deceptively shallow-looking snowbanks and getting in a couple of photos:

Seems like we made it there and out in good time, too: On our way down the mountain, we spotted a good 300+ vehicles waiting in line to be allowed up past the volunteer parking patrol. Yikes.

At least one thing worked out for Christmas. One thing that didn’t: Christmas dinner buffet. I warned Mom that it’d be a problem, but nobody ever believes that anything could possibly as bad as I make it out to be. Until Christmas 2009, when, at 3:30 p.m., the line for the Carnival Buffet at the Rio was craaaaaaaaazy – as in, no way was my grandfather going to wait in that line. And for the price we paid for dinner at the All-American Bar & Grille, we may as well have had reservations at Bobby Flay’s at Caesar’s Palace. But hey . . . At least we had Christmas dinner at all, I guess:

After we dropped the rest of the family back off downtown, Todd and I headed for the Strip to check things out at the Bellagio. Even though the Bellagio is far from being the newest hotel on the Strip, it’s still one of the most glamorous, and their botanical gardens never cease to amaze me:

Cool rocking horse in the botanical gardens.

Polar bears made out of flowers!

Reindeer, probably also made of flowers.

Humongous Christmas tree.

This snowman, made of flowers, is kinda cute, except that he looks like he wants to eat you.

And, of course, the Fountains of Bellagio were awesome, as usual:

One of the best sets this holiday season was Johnny Mathis’ version of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Great song choice, fabulous water choreography. You can only appreciate this thing more after seeing the special about it on the Travel Channel, by the way, so catch that if you can.