Viva, Las Vegas!

My birthday was last Wednesday. April 7th. It also happened to be the first day of my girls weekend in Las Vegas. Perfect timing. I actually arrived 24 hours prior to the girls, so I had the entire room to myself.

We stayed at "The Gateway" which is a little resort south of the strip. Far enough away that without a car, I was left to provide my own entertainment. Which proved to be not any kind of an issue. I found the little poolside grill and ordered a burger, took it to my room, and lounged in bed with the TV on. It was only 5:30. I was completely ready for bed by 6 (it was 8 Missouri time). I managed to keep my eyes open until 8 Vegas time, and then I was out like a light. 4 am was when my eyes sprang open. (6 Missouri time). Habit. I watched TV for an hour until I was able to fall back to sleep for another hour or so. Something I always long to do, but am never given the opportunity. Fabulous. At 7 I ventured out and down to the workout room where I sweat away on the elliptical machine because all the treadmills were full. I would have gone running outside, but I just didn't want to. And this 24 hours for me was all about the don't want to's.

After my run I was debating laying by the pool. It was still pretty early for laying out. And there was a slight breeze outside. Would I be warm enough? Seem over anxious to be poolside that early? I figured I didn't care what others thought, but the lazy in me had me laying back in bed. I finally ventured out again around 10. Poolside, with a book. And nobody to whine about being to hot or cold. No floaties. No swim diapers. And no "watch me Mom" kids around. Well, there were some. But they weren't calling me mom. Which made my time that much sweeter. At noon I got hungry so grabbed some food at the same little grill from the night before and ate it poolside. Around 1 I decided maybe I was starting to burn so headed back to the room to take a shower and wait for my girls to arrive.

While staying alone in a place for 24 hours, I learned a few things about myself that I haven't ever known. (Probably because I don't know that I've ever in my entire life spent time alone in a room like that.) I'm not a clean freak by nature. I had clothes and papers strung from the front door clear back to the bedroom. Interesting. In real life I have to have everything in its place or I go batty. Maybe if I lived alone in my own house I would be a candidate for "messiest house"? I also learned that being naked all the time doesn't bother me. At all. Clothes became optional. As it neared time for Jessica and Natalie to arrive, however, I cleaned the place up and put some clothes on. My alone time was nearing an end. Which was okay. But only because I love the girls that I was expecting!

Jessica and Natalie. They arrived around 5. We headed to the strip, deciding that shopping and food would be on the agenda. We parked in some parking lot and headed into a shopping center that also had a cheesecake factory. What could be more perfect than that?

After we ate, we shopped a bit. Then decided to venture down the strip. I had never been to Vegas. I was up for anything. The Bellagio water show was amazing. We watched two. One on the way down the strip, and one on the way back.

The next morning we decided to shop. And shop we did. I don't think I've been in so many Gap stores in such a short time period. Perfect. And every shopping center had it's own unique style. In Fashion Show Mall we actually saw a fashion show. (I'm officially a true tourist).

All our shopping made us thirsty. And since Serendipity 3 was right there. How could we resist splitting one of these babies?

And since that just quenched our thirst, we needed to try out this place to stave off any hunger pangs:

It was midnight by the time we finished our burgers. Crazy. For the mother of 5 anyway. We headed back to our hotel and talked for another few hours before actually falling asleep. Saturday was a mild one. We found the LDS Temple and went inside for a bit. Then found a place for lunch that was perfect. Italian. And on the agenda for that evening?

I'd never seen Phantom of the Opera before. Neither had Jess. Natalie had seen it twice, but the guy selling tickets convinced her this theater was bigger, better, and she needed to see it. After we found our seats (which were amazing) we decided it would be okay to take photos since the show hadn't actually started.

Wrong. That is the only one we got before the little legged girl passing out programs sprinted up a flight of stairs and got all up in our faces. She meant business. No photography. So we had our own little photo session after the fact. In front of all the big signs. Just like tourists do.

What would be a show without dessert following? Ghiradelli's was just around 3 corners.

What this blog does not depict, nor can it truly depict, was how much fun was actually had by us 3 mothers. How late into the night (early morning really) we stayed up talking. How great the conversation was. What a fool I must have looked like flipping myself over in the pool lounge chair and then just laughing at myself. How many times Natalie put something on hold at one Gap to just try it on at another. How many fabulous restaurants we encountered and enjoyed. What great girls Natalie and Jessica are. True friends. Of the truest kind. And how glad I was that Shawn (and all our husbands) were willing to take on our duties at home so we could get together away from it all. Thanks girls. For letting me be a part of your lives. I'm one lucky girl to have friends like you two.