Hey baby, let's go to Vegas!

To celebrate our 5th anniversary on May 31 and our 30th birthdays In November (3-me, 29-Chance), we planned a big trip to Vegas for several days of adults-only fun, relaxation, conversation and play. It was hard to leave our girl, but she had such a blast without us. We made lots of memories and really enjoyed our getaway. Here's a recap of each of our days.

Sunday:

WAITING--to take off and to check into our hotel. We flew out early on Sunday so we arrived around noon Vegas time, which enabled us to enjoy a whole day there. We thought Sunday would be a slow day, but this line just to check in says otherwise. There were two switchback lines of about 100 people! There were 20 desk clerks, but it still took a while. We stayed at the MGM Grand, one of the largest hotels in the world, with more than 5,000 rooms. It was huge and sprawling with tons of restaurants, room towers, casinos, theaters, a spa (more on that later!), pools and shops.

Our room was so nice! Chance tried the $20 trick, where he slipped a bill to the desk clerk and told him it was our anniversary and birthday trip. We ended up getting this suite on a higher floor than we'd booked, our $25/day resort fee waived and a bottle of champagne sent to our room, plus a mini fridge for free. I'll say that trick paid off! We had so much space, a nice view, a quiet floor and luxe accommodations. Sweet! We spent the afternoon exploring the hotel and getting ready for the evening.

That night, we went to the buffet at the Bellagio and saw the Cirque du Soleil show O. (We randomly met up with some friends from church, who happened to be vacationing and seeing the same show at the same time--what are the odds?) O was incredible, and just captivating every second. It's set primarily in water, so in addition to the standard Cirque acrobatics, it includes lots of diving and water tricks. I love love love Cirque shows, and Vegas does them the best! By the end of the night, it was 10 p.m., but felt like midnight to our bodies. We went to bed with the glory of not setting an alarm and utilizing the heavy blackout curtains. Amazing.

Monday:

This day was our "out and about" day, so we lounged around in the morning, then went to Caesar's Palace for brunch buffet. Caesar's has been voted the best buffet in Vegas, and Oh. My. Gosh. it was so so so yummy. I ate more than should be humanly possible (gotta get the most for your money!) and enjoyed every bite. Made-to-order omelette, mini red velvet pancakes, bacon, fruit and yogurt, made-to-order crepes, milk, juice. Oh, man. It was so delicious, but I also felt like I had a food baby when we were done. It was definitely the best buffet. We walked the strip for the rest of the morning and sweated our butts off. We would stop in different hotels to break up the heat and explore or play a few table games. I love that each hotel on the strip has a niche or a theme and takes it to the extreme. All the details and decorations are incredible, and it's fun to look at them all. After our big meal and our big walk, we needed naps in the afternoon. We relaxed and got ready for our big dinner that night.

This night was our big celebration dinner, and we went to Delmonico steakhouse in the Venetian. It's Emeril Lagasse's restaurant, and Chance had been there before. He said it was the best meal he'd ever had, and so I was eager to try it. The service is impeccable, and the food is even better. The two of us had three waiters so that we could be served simultaneously. And our glasses were never even 1/4 empty. We ate the best meal of our lives: halibut crostada starters (comped for our celebrations), homemade truffle oil & parmesan potato chips, lobster bisque (which giant chunks of lobster in it), ribeye steaks with compound butter and potatoes gratin, and 2 small sorbets with Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary written on them. We'd been looking forward to dessert for months, but we were so full we had to take it to go. Chance got a peanut butter and chocolate banana bread pudding, and I got banana cream pie that was 3 layers tall! Holy moly. Everything was just perfect, and my mouth is still watering just thinking about it. We ate like kings this day!

On the walk home, we caught the volcano show at the Mirage and the fountains at the Bellagio. It was nice to pause our leisurely stroll to see these famous sights. We just had to dodge all the Asian tourists on a guided group tour of the strip!

Tuesday:
This was our "don't leave the hotel" day. We slept in, got brunch at our hotel's buffet and played some games until I got a massage at the spa. It. Was. Glorious. I got a custom pressure massage, so I told her to go to town working out the kinks in my back and shoulders. From carrying a 20+-lb baby to the stress of life, I'd built up some tense muscles. She got after it, and worked on me for an hour. It was relaxing and painful at the same time, and I felt really lovely when I was done. I met Chance in the room and we got ready to go to the pool. The Vegas "pool scene" can be a little scary, but in the middle of a Tuesday, it wasn't bad. Our hotel had a lazy river, so we got a tube and just floated a few times around. We soaked up some sun in the chairs and then went back to clean up.

Dinner that night was in our hotel again, and then we both played some games together. We actually hit a streak of luck and won a little bit of money together! That was fun to have some excitement on our last night.

Wednesday:
We left on this day, but still got up for breakfast at our buffet and then got packed and ready to go. We wandered the hotel one last time, had lunch at a pizza place in our hotel and then took a cab to the airport.

It was such a lovely trip with just the two of us, and I'm so glad we decided to save up and do it well. We'd forgotten how nice it is to have grown-up conversation and just spend time together. We didn't have to listen for a monitor, keep track of the time schedule, change diapers or be rigid in our plans. (In fact, I had to literally tell myself a couple of times on Sunday and Monday that we didn't have to be anywhere by a certain time or do a certain thing. I live such a structured life at home that it was a good break from the normal.)

We were so excited to get home and see Cara, and we had a sweet reunion at the airport. She had to go to bed pretty soon after we got home, but the next morning was so much fun with our girl again!

Lots of kisses, lots of playing, lots of new tricks she'd learned. I'm so grateful to Mom and Dad for keeping her entertained, changing a LOT of dirty diapers (sweet CB decided this was the week to have a tummy bug!) and being so good to her. And Nana & Grandad watched her each morning while Mom went to work--they spoiled her rotten. One would hold her while the other fed her, naps on their chests, fun toys and activities, she lived the high life with them!

Mom and Dad took Cara to a nearby horse farm and she even got to sit on a mini horse! She doesn't look thrilled, but they assured me she had fun on it. Now if we could just find a way to pay for a pony and a place to keep it... :)

All in all, it was such a great week for everyone, and I'm so glad we had the opportunity. It's nice to be back in our normal groove, but we sure have sweet memories from vacation. I wonder what adventures next summer will hold???