On the morning of Colin's birthday, we all piled in my parents van and headed off to the airport. I tried stalling as long as possible, so I could spend the last few moments I would have in four days with my babies. And, I won't lie when I say there were some tears as I walked away from them, through the security checkpoint. But, after arriving in sunny and warm Las Vegas, I was able to focus on the task at hand; fun, relaxation, and F-U-N!
After getting checked into our resort (gorgeous, gorgeous!), we headed out to Colin's birthday dinner at ESPN Zone. After some delicious food (and drink, of course!) we headed down the strip to check things out. We were almost immediately solicited to do a timeshare presentation for the new Planet Hollywood resort. After we were offered tickets to Blue Man Group for only $30 (total!) we put aside our skepticism and signed up for the noon presentation the following day. After some more drinks, we headed back to our resort for the night.
The next day brought some sightseeing, lunch at In 'N' Out (YUM!) and those coveted Blue Man Group tickets. We also had some nice quiet, relaxation time in the hot tub, before heading out for the late Blue Man show. The show was amazing, spectacular and SO much fun! After the show, the guys come out to sign autographs and pose for pictures. There was a huge crush pf people, but I still managed to push Colin through to get a picture and autograph. ;0) We managed to find a restaurant still open after midnight (we though in VEGAS there would be lots of stuff open late night, but nope) and had a yummy, late dinner.
Saturday we headed over to MGM for lunch at Rainforest Cafe, (such a fun atmosphere!) then to check out those lions. We did some more gambling, drinking and checking out the sites. Dinner was at the amazing Hash House A Go Go, where the portions were huge and the food was fresh and inventive. After dinner we headed over to check out the fountains at Bellagio, which are just so amazing, no matter how many times you see them. It was such a beautiful night, we decided to head over to the Stratosphere and go up to the observation deck. The views were breathtaking from up there, and Vegas looked like a lit-up Christmas tree. We also enjoyed watching some thrill-seekers ride three of the rides that are on top of the building. Either we've gotten old, or those rides were really crazy, because even we were shaking our heads in disbelief that anyone would willingly get on any of these! It was a great end to the evening, and our last official night in Vegas.
On our last day, we decided to try a buffet (hey, when in Vegas...) and upon recommendation, went to the Rio. They had an amazing spread of food of all types, and a spectacular dessert buffet (there was even a bar IN the buffet). After we stuffed ourselves, we decided to check out Circus Circus, since Colin had never been.
We then headed to the airport, checked in the rental car and leisurely got our boarding passes. That's where our fun ended though. We found out that our already delayed flight had been canceled, and the passengers put on other flights. Apparently we were the last to check in, so got the last two seats and also discovered that our flight would arrive in LAX just 20 min before our connecting flight was scheduled to depart to PDX. The ticket agent nicely says, “When you miss that flight, just check in with the agent who will get you a hotel and flight out at 6AM the next morning.” Umm, what...? You mean, if, right?? So, after calls to my parents (who would be bringing the kids to the airport to pick us up) and my brother (who was supposed to meet us at LAX, with his girlfriend during our original layover) to tell them we were either getting to PDX late or staying in LA overnight (missing our flight meant not seeing the kids, but getting extra time with my bro and his girlfriend). Ugh! So, after a short flight to LAX, we started hustling to find our gate, but ended up in the baggage claim area (signs LAX...is it too much to ask for SIGNS??). So, back the way we came and directions from someone to get on the waiting shuttle (which we sat on for about 10 minutes before ONE other person got on) which took us back the way the plane had just brought us. And, then we were there?? Nope, onto another shuttle that took us down the runway where, at four minutes until our flight was scheduled to depart, we had to yield to an airplane. Yup, we sat there in our tiny shuttle, while a huge jet plane goes in front of us. Finally we arrived...somewhere...where a flight of stairs dubiously leads us somewhere (as another passenger put it, “Are we even supposed to be here??”) else. As we run up to the gate, they make last call for our flight. Sheesh! But, we were rewarded when we got home by a sleepy Miss Avalee, who was so happy to see me and Colin. When I picked her up, she grabbed on and held on tightly. Colin captured the moment with some really great photos of A looking very relieved and happy. On the way home, Z woke up and smiled sleepily when we told him we were back. :)
So, it was a great trip and we accomplished our mission of having fun, fun, fun! Although the trip back was a little more stressful than we would have liked, it was soon forgotten once we were reunited with our babes!
MGM Grand lions
Fountains at Bellagio
Rainforest Cafe
Colin with a Blue Man
View from the top of Stratosphere
The only pic of the two of us together, and it's blurry
And, we're home!
I don't think I'll ever get tired of looking at that last photo.
ReplyDeleteThe kids seemed fine the entire time you were gone. They didn't seem to miss you too much. Then you get home and A could not stop looking from mom to dad. Then she jumped out of my arms into mommy's and that smile tells it all!!! They just put up with Grandma and Grandpa until mom and dad came home. But it was great to have them for a few days!
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