TDY With Daddy!

A couple of weeks ago, Danny approached me with an idea.  How would I feel about spending a week in Vegas?  Seems like a silly question, right?  But here's the thing.  I hate Vegas.  I hate the sin that is dripping from every billboard and building.  I hate the idea that people go there with the express intent to sin without inhibition.  And I REALLY hate those nasty card-flippers that hang out on the strip.

But Danny had a business trip to Vegas for a week, and we had the opportunity to go.  And really, the trip would be paid for.  Who can argue with that?  My other choice was to stay home alone with the kids for that week, and then send Danny off to Georgia for the following week.  Two weeks home alone with the kiddos?  Yeah, I think not. :)

So, we had a week or so to be ready to go, and most of that readying we procrastinated until the day before...as usual. :)  We pooped the kids out on Saturday with all the shopping.

We were fortunate (for many reasons) to have Stake Conference on Sunday.  After church we got on the road, and after a mostly uneventful drive (Sophie got carsick for the first time), we made it to Vegas at about 7:30 pm.  Danny had made our reservations at the Grand Chateau Marriott, located about a block off the strip, and I had some serious hesitation about staying so close to all the debauchery I loathe.  But it really was the most convenient for Danny (as far as work was concerned), and he assured me the room would be worth it.  And boy was he right!

The room we stayed in was a villa, and it was about 830 square feet.  That's only a little smaller than our apartment was that we lived in for almost three years!  The kids had plenty of room to play, and I had a full kitchen with all the needed appliances and cookware.  We were going to be right at home.

Only, there were a few things that were even better than home.  Like the entire bedroom/bathroom area!

Danny and I had a king size bed, complete with memory foam mattress.  Ahhh...sweet, sleeping bliss!  And probably my second most favorite feature, second only to the amazingly comfortable bed (seriously, we felt like angel babies sleeping in a cocoon of cloud candy) was the incredible garden tub LOCATED IN THE BEDROOM!  You can take a bath and watch TV at the same time.  Just kill me now.

Ah, but don't forget the vanity...

Then there was a separate bathroom, with another sink.  And this beauty:

Doth mine eyes deceive me?!  You can blink all you want, but it's true.  That is a double-headed shower.  Amazing!  The room was beyond perfect, and I was pretty confident the kids and I would be very comfortable there for a week.  As far as the girls were concerned, they would just take a bath every day and be happy as clams!  They got right in just as soon as we let them...

After the girls got nice and wrinkly, we made some dinner and sent our crazy, excited kids to bed.  After all, we had an entire week of fun ahead of us!

We all slept great that night, and Monday morning dawned bright and beautiful.  We sent Daddy off to work, which was a total downer, and then enjoyed some cartoons and sugary breakfast foods.  Gotta love vacation!  But as fun as the room was, Sophie was just dying to go outside.  She literally sat in front of the window all morning.

I was able to distract Sophie long enough to get Johnny a nap and get them all some lunch before we headed to the roof-top pool.  I was a little nervous taking all three kids swimming by myself.  But what's a Mom to do?  The girls each had life jackets, and Johnny had an awesome floaty, so what's the worse that could happen?  Oh, and the pool was only 3 1/2 feet deep at its deepest. :)  So I faced my fears and took the kids swimming.  

We had a blast!  The weather was perfect, and the pool was warm.  And can I just tell you how out of place we were?  I'm pretty sure every wrinkly, over-tanned, definitely hung-over retiree's head turned as I walked in with my three kids and got in the pool.  But there were a couple of ladies that just thought our kids were too cute, and so helped me with the girls while I swam with Johnny.  I was grateful for their help!  

After swimming, we went back to our room and had quiet time until Danny got home from work.  Then we went and got some groceries and got the kid's their beloved Happy Meals that have become expected when we travel. :)  And that was Monday.

Tuesday was an adventure of a different sort.  I was feeling courageous after taking the kids swimming by myself, so I decided that we would try an adventure out on the strip.  I figured we would be okay in broad daylight, and I knew the girls would love the Bellagio, which was relatively close to where we were staying.  As we were getting ready to go, Claire was so excited to have her hair done at the vanity.  She felt like such a big girl!  

Anyway, I was nervous to take the kids out alone, but I got the kids in the stroller and Claire in her backpack and off we went.  Just like at the pool the day before, or perhaps even more so, we turned just about every head.  We were WAY out of place on the strip!  But we pushed on true toward the Bellagio, and only had to back track a few times to find the handicap ramps I needed to maneuver the stroller.  Eventually, we made it there and waited for what I thought was an almost imminent water show.  Johnny was stoked!

But I was wrong.  The water show didn't start for another hour, so instead of waiting out in the 85 degree heat, we headed inside the casino.  It was awesome!  The kids loved all the amazing flowers at the Conservatory!  Claire and Sophie called it "Fairyland", and thought maybe we were at Disneyland again. :)

Apparently, they change the theme in the Conservatory relatively frequently.  I don't know if the butterflies are a permanent fixture, but they were pretty cool!  There was even a little glass house you could walk into, and within the walls was a butterfly habitat.  There were all kinds of big, beautiful butterflies flying from flower to flower.  It was amazing.  I had never seen real, live butterflies like that.

Then there was this really cool piece of art.  It was a landscape painted with flowers!  What a cool idea...

And, of course, the Chihuly ceiling in the lobby.  What an incredible sight!  The girls couldn't close their mouths as they looked up.

And with that, we headed home for quiet time until Danny came home.  I decided to wait on the water show until we could watch it with Daddy since he was missing all the fun. :)  Once Danny returned, we had a scrumptious meal of Rootbeer Pulled Pork which I had waiting for us in the crock-pot, and then headed off for our next adventure.  We were about to check off another goal on our 30 Before 30 list...

Stay tuned!