Blessings in Sin City

A few months ago, my college friend, Jane, invited me and Chase to meet her and her family in Las Vegas for a week while her husband attended a work conference.  After thinking about it, I decided I would drive over and rent a timeshare week.

So, I packed way too many bags of stuff, got my new car all loaded up and prayed my way through the California desert.  Chase HATES riding in the car for even 15 minutes.  But the Lord was so gracious, and she was absolutely pleasant the entire way!  We listened to music the first 100 miles, then we stopped at In-n-Out Burger in Victorville for lunch, and then turned on the dvd movies for the last 200 miles.  We made 2 more very short bathroom and gas stops.  And we arrived in 4 1/2 hours!!!  No tears, not even once!  When I made that turn on the 15 and caught a glimpse of the bright lights, big city, I breathed a sigh of relief!!  We drove straight to Jane's hotel, picked her and Ella up and went to our timeshare.  That worked out perfectly as Jane was able to watch the girls while I made 10 trips back and forth unpacking, and even helped put everything away!  It worked out perfectly.

We had a nice dinner together with her husband, GK, that night.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory and in front of the restaurant at Caesar's Palace, was the biggest aquarium you've ever seen.  You can imagine what 2 2 year old's would think!  It was awesome and kept their attention for quite a while.  Chase is still talking about the fish with the long funny nose.

Tuesday we went to the Strip and walked around a couple of casinos with the girls.  We are amazed at how friendly folks have been to us.  There have been several times when Chase has gone tearing through the casino 50 feet in front of me, people having to dodge her, but they just smile at her.  I would have thought we'd have gotten a couple of dirty looks or obscenities, but not yet!  Jane figured it is a lot of grandparents admiring the 2 cute little girls, or parents who've left their kids behind and are glad they aren't dealing with little ones.  In the afternoon, Jane and Ella came out to go swimming in our pool and then I fixed dinner for us.  The girls just love the hot pool (aka the hot tub).  You'd think being in the 90's the cool pool would feel good...

Mandalay Bay beach area

Wednesday we got special admittance into the Mandalay Bay pool area from a friend of Jane's.  What a treat that was.  There is a huge wave pool, a kiddie pool area, a big sandy area to play in, a lazy river.  We stayed there a good 3 hours and the girls had a blast.  There was a small loss there,  Chase accidently got Elle's croc sucked into the pool drain.  We asked if that recycled somewhere and they pretty much said we could kiss that good-bye!  Sorry Ella.  Thankfully they live in a cold climate through the winter and they were getting a little snug.  And they were thrifted!!  After naptime we met up again and went to Maggiano's for dinner.  The girls did great, minus a little booth bouncing and peering over the ledge at the next table.  Since they'd napped so well, we decided to take the girls down to the Fremont Street Experience in the old part of Vegas.  It's supposed to be like a giant light show on the ceiling.  But before that even started, there were all sorts of sights to behold.  Like, a person sized Elmo (of course this was Chase's favorite!), several Elvis impersonators, a Bret Michael's impersonator, and Ella's favorite, the pink lady showgirls!  Jane was nice enough to have a couple of balloon flowers made for the girls.  I decided we needed to leave when Chase's eyes were so swollen from all the smoke!  I was getting slightly panicked.

Thursday we went to see the MGM lions.  Those were cool.  They would throw meat onto the glass wall and they would come right up and lick it centimeters from your face!  Chase loved seeing those.  Then we went to the M & M World.  That is just a 4 story building ploy to get you to buy M & M paraphanalia.  I got sucked in and bought Chase pink, purple and teal M & M's.  She had pretty good self control since the last time she had chocolate.  After naps, Jane and Ella came back out to swim some more.  Then the most exciting part of the trip: our drive to pick up daddy at the airport!  It was great to see John.

The closest we're getting to NYC anytime soon!

Friday morning we went to the pool.  While Chase napped I got to sneak away and get a massage.  It was one of the best that I've had.  It really helped my back pain.  Our pastor and his wife used to do youth ministry here in Vegas, so before we left I'd asked Priscilla if she knew any trustworthy girls/women that could babysit for us.  And she did!  Through several emails, a connection was made.  So, we found a senior named Gracie that was willing to watch Ella and Chase at her house, with her parents being home.  We were so excited for the chance to go our for an adult dinner.  We dropped the girls off and they acclimated really quickly.  They took right to Gracie.  Then we went and got GK and parked on the Strip and began our walk around.  We ended up going for drinks and appetizers at Koi Lounge in the Planet Hollywood Casino.  Then we went to dinner and dessert at Wolfgang Puck's Cucina.  We even got a text of 2 happy little girls during dinner.  Bonus points for Gracie!!  It was fun to walk around and feel foot loose and fancy free!  When we were calculating how much to pay Gracie, we said how we'd been out for 5 hours, and John just couldn't believe that time had gone that quickly.  He kept saying, there is no way we've been gone 5 hours.  Why is it that time goes by so quickly when you have a little time to yourself?  It was a perfect night out.  Nothing wild and crazy!

Saturday we (Jane, Ella, Hatchers) got up and headed out to Red Rocks National Park, just outside the city limits.  It was a pretty hot day.  We San Diegans are so spoiled by nice weather we don't know what hot feels like.  It was a pretty scenic drive through all different rock types.  Many of them being bright red.  Then we went to lunch.  There has been a lot of eating out with Ella and Chase and overall, they have been so well behaved.  More swimming in the pool after naptime.  Then a quiet dinner at home.  We didn't see the Strip at all today.

There are 2 rules that Jane and I decided are absolutes with 2 year olds.  1.  Always take a stroller with you.  Don't question if they will sit in it.  2.  If questioning whether to walk through the casino to get from point A to point B or walk on the street, always walk on the street.

Chase's favorite sights in Vegas have been: the giant 3 story Hard Rock Cafe guitar.  Every time we drive by she points it out with much joy.  Also, she sees the signs for the Blue Man Group all over and one of the posters has one of the guys eating a bird, she goes on and on about how silly that is.  And of course she is mesmerized by all of the giant tv's.