Weekend in Vegas!

    For my birthday Phil booked us a trip to Las Vegas and arranged for our kids to stay in Provo with his family. I thought October could not come fast enough. Thankfully we were very busy (at home and at the shop) during the month of September and before I knew it I was packing us all up. Phil took Wednesday afternoon off just so Brewer would take his nap in the car on the drive down. Brewer is very slowly getting better about car rides, but we'll take any freebies (sleeping) in the car. Wednesday evening Boyd was a little sad when he went to bed, which is funny because he's always asking us to leave him behind when we go back to Idaho. 

     Thursday morning we headed out about 9:30am and even though the car rides was a bit longer than I thought it would be, it was glorious not to have any kids. Phil listened to sports radio, I read my book club book, we talked, laughed and listened to music. It was unlike any car ride we had in a very long time. We checked into the Trump International in the afternoon and headed straight for the pool. The hotel was beautiful and the pool was quiet and hot. It felt so good to soak in the sun and warmth. I wish there was a way to store it for the winter. We didn't stay at the pool for too long because we were anxious to get out and start exploring. 

     Phil had our weekend planned out as far as food goes and pretty much everything else revolved around that. All his research and planning paid off, the places we ate at were amazing!! Because our first dinner was at Mandalay Bay, we went and checked out the Shark Reef Aquarium. It was more my sort of thing but it made it even better that we were together. While we were there I couldn't help but think how much Boyd would enjoy being there, which is why we took so many pictures. I even convinced Phil to be in a couple. And let the record stand that Phil took the picture of the Jellyfish...ahh, no thank you!!! The aquarium was really neat, with all sorts of different experiences and views and a little creepy too, like when you have to walk over a see-through bridge with a giant shark laying underneath. Okay the shark was probably fake, but it still creeped me out. 

     After the aquarium we explored a little more of Mandalay Bay and ended up at our dinner destination, Burger Bar. It was hard to decide what to get because everything looked so good. We both choose to make our own burgers and Phil notched his burger up with a little Wagyu beef. We also ordered two different kinds of fries, onion rings and milk shakes. Everything was so good which made it very hard not to overeat. 

    Our night continued with more exploring and we eventually ended up the strip at NewYork. We had originally thought about going on the roller coaster, but because we were so full we opted not to chance it. So we settled on the arcades. They proved to be quite entertaining. We played a little air hockey, shot baskets, and did some car racing. The thought passed through both our minds to play a little DDR and have a little friendly competition, but thank goodness we noticed the couple on the machine next to us before we put our money in. We would have been made fools. They were amazing in a very entertaining sort of way and watching them became the highlight of the arcade for sure. The rest of the night concluded with making our way back to our car, hotel and eventually our room with a view over the entire strip.

     Neither Phil or I could sleep in very late the next morning, even with the time change. So we decided to just get ready and head out to breakfast. Phil was very excited about the breakfast place he had decided on, Hash House A Go Go. It did not disappoint in the least. I ordered Sausage Gravy and Buttermilk Biscuits and Phil got the Sage Fried Chicken Benedict. I would say it was one of the best breakfast foods I have ever had, plus the presentation was just as good. We loved it there and I wished I could have eaten more! After breakfast we drove around Old Town Las Vegas which was fun to see some of the more historic hotels and streets. The next several hours were spent at the Premium Outlets where we did some much needed shopping for both ourselves and our kids. 

    Friday wasn't extremely warm and very windy so we only spent an hour or so at the pool before we headed back to the strip. We tied up our shopping at H&M in Caesar's Palace and grabbed a quick bite at The Cheesecake Factory (we were just barely starting to feel hungry and still thinking about how good breakfast was). We order the Corn Cakes and Avocado Egg Rolls, our favorite appetizers, and then headed over to the Sports Book to watch the BYU game. I forgot my ID and after a little while ended up getting kicked out. While it was a bit frustrating to have to go back to the hotel to get it we decided to go to the Wynn to finish watching them game. At half time we decided to head over to the Venetian and watched the game at the Sports Book there. It was so much nicer than the others and non-smoking which was a huge plus. Plus BYU won which also makes the night a little better. After the game we explored the Venetian and watched the gondolas go by. Phil did a little gambling at the cheap tables (they were a little hard to come by) and when we were up a little bit decided to head back to the hotel and not press our luck. Since we had an early dinner we order a little room service and wrapped up the night. 

    We managed to sleep a little later in the morning, but still headed out to breakfast a little earlier than we originally planned. This time Phil's food research lead us to Baby Stacks. We ordered Red Velvet Pancakes, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pancakes, Nutella Crepes and Kalua Pig Benedict. Again, everything was so good and again we had way more food than we could eat. But if we were only going to be there once, might as well try a few different things, right?! On our way to the Tiger and Dolphin Habitat we stopped by a few shops before dropping our things and car off at the hotel. Phil's Aunt Jen got us complimentary ticket s to the habitat at the Mirage which was so nice! It would have been a little pricey to get in and then we would have felt like we needed to spend a lot of time there. We watched all the dolphins swim and play, which was my favorite part. We even watched a little boy paint with the dolphins. I told Phil that the next vacation we would go on I was going to save my money so I could play and swim with dolphins. The tigers were pretty neat too and again we took a bunch of pictures so we could show our kids. 

    We spent our last afternoon hours at the pool, trying to soak up and store all the sun and warmth we could. It was so nice and the thought of the fun events planned for the evening made us (or maybe just me) a little giddy. Phil had planned a wonderful date for us. Dinner at Prime (the nicest restaurant I've ever been to) and a show. We dressed up a bit and made our way to the Bellagio. We had never been in there before and it was fun to explore the hotel a bit. We walked through the conservatory, which was beautifully decorated for the fall. On our way to the restaurant we played a little Deal or No Deal and failed pretty miserably. But it was still fun. 

     Dinner was amazing and beautiful. It's an experience that I will not forget any time soon. I did wish a little that I would have brushed up on my manners and found myself trying to sit a little more straight. It was easy to decide what to order and each item was better than the last. We were served Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp, Baby Iceberg Lettuce, 28 oz Bone-In Rib Eye, mac & cheese, Brussels Sprouts and Truffle Mashed Potatoes. We took pictures of each plate as it was served. We will back able to look back on those pictures and remember how amazing it all was. If this wasn't enough the restaurant was gorgeous and we were sat at a window overlooking the Bellagio fountains. Within minutes of sitting down the fountains erupted and performed. 3 or 4 times during dinner did we get to have a private viewing of the water work show. More than anything else I loved being able to share the experience with Phil! 

     After dinner we had just the right amount of time to walk up to the Mirage for the The Beatles Love Cirque de Soleil show.  Neither Phil or I had ever been to a Cirque show and we were very excited. Again, Phil's Aunt helped us with tickets and we had great seats. The show was amazing and we were both in awe at all the different acrobatic tricks and stunts. Not to mention the engineering of the stage. It was definitely a highlight and a very fun show! We can't wait to experience another Cirque show. 

     The night continued (in different shoes) by watching the Bellagio fountains from outside and then meeting up with Kelly Hendricks, one of Phil's mission companions who happened to be in Vegas too. We did plenty of walking that night, seeing some of the different hotels we hadn't been in yet and finally ended up at Monte Carlo where we played a little roulette. We figured out a little system that seemed to work well and when we were up a bit decided again not to press our luck and cashed out. It may have put a dent in dinner.  When we got back to our hotel we packed up most of our things because we knew we would have to leave early. While we had an incredible last day and night it was a bit sad that the trip was over. While it had gone by quick, it was perfect and so rejuvenating. It was very nice for to be able to spend so much time with Phil and not have to worry about kids for a few day.

     We were so grateful for Phil parents and family for keeping our kids. It was very generous of them to be willing to get up at very early morning hours and endure the whining that sometimes happens with little ones. We knew that our boys were in the best hands, hands that loved them like we do. Knowing they were being so well taken care of made our trip together even more enjoyable. We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful family.