What happens in Vegas...

Stays in Vegas.
Or ends up on my blog...

So about 4 or 5 months ago we started talking about what we wanted to do for our big 10 year anniversary. We started out with big ideas, but then it just kept getting closer and closer and we kept putting off planning anything. We'd asked Lars' parents back in November I think if they would be willing to watch the boys for a few days while we went somewhere. They of course said yes and Aunt Shelley offered to help out as well. Well as it got closer Gunnar just seemed to be getting more and more attached to me, so we just kept trying to decide if we should even go anywhere. We really just wanted to go somewhere warmer than here (not hard, I know) and finally decided that we'd rather be within a fairly short driving distance than have flown somewhere, just in case we needed to get back... so we decided on Vegas. After the 3 hour drive to Price, it was just about 6 hours to Vegas. So we left on Sunday to go to Price.

(entertaining the boys on the way...)...then we stayed 2 nights there with the boys, then Lars and I drove to Vegas on Tuesday. It was so hard to leave. Gunnar cried and screamed reaching for me and screaming "MOMMY!" as we walked out. I couldn't help but cry with him. I felt so bad! I knew he would be fine in a little while, but it was so hard to walk away from him like that. Ashton gave us a hug and kiss and said bye without a second look.

I think we called to check in on them about 5 times every day! Gunnar mostly just had a hard time in the morning and a little at night, but was fine during the day when he was entertained. They said in the mornings he would say

"I WANT MY MOMMY RIGHT NOW!" Poor little guy :(

I sure missed this little face... I'm glad he missed me too :)

Anyway we had a fun trip.

We stayed at Bally's which is just about in the middle of the strip (right across the street from Bellagio).

Tuesday when we got there, we checked in, then walked down the strip and found this italian restaurant called Maggiano's that Lars had heard good things about. It was yummy!

Then we caught the Treasure Island show on our way walking back to our hotel. That night I went to bed early while Lars played poker at our casino. One of the things I was most excited about on this trip was sleeping, so I had to take advantage of that!

Wednesday we got up late and found our way to this restaurant called... Lars saw it on Food Network and really wanted to check it out.

Look at his meal! It was huge!

After we ate we walked around a little more, then actually went back to our room and had a nap because we knew we'd be up late that night. We had tickets to the 10:00 pm showing of "O" at Bellagio. It's one of the Cirque Du Soleil shows. Check out the little video here.

My friend Annilee (who I've known for about 14 years, but just recently in the past year or so got back in touch with through blogging & facebook!) lives in Vegas and hooked us up with tickets. She and a friend met us for dinner that night, then we all went to the show. It was amazing! Really unbelievable what the acrobats can do. It made me want to come home and stretch! Thanks again Annilee...it was SO fun to see you after all these years :)

I only wish I hadn't chosen to wear my heels that night. We walked so much and my poor feet were killing me. Enough so that I took my shoes off and walked barefoot on the disgusting Vegas sidewalks most of the way back to our hotel!! Gross I know, but I had to choose between gross and pain.

Thursday we had a really fun day...We just ate in one of the restaurants at our hotel for breakfast, then Lars played in a poker tournament and won! It got down to the final two (out of 23) so he and the other guy decided to chop the pot and each won $375!

Way to go hun!

After that we went to the Price is Right show that was at our hotel. It was pretty fun actually. We didn't get called up or I guess I should say down, but it was fun to watch. Anyone remember this guy from that old gameshow "Supermarket Sweep"? His name is David Ruprecht ...I actually do remember him...anyway he was our host. Kind of funny! Here's the cheesey picture they took of us on our way in!

After that we went and ate at PF Changs down the street, then got ready to go to another show. That night we went and saw Terry Fator at the Mirage. He's the singing ventriloquist that won America's Got Talent in 2007. I remember seeing him on there and also on Oprah. Anyway he was awesome! I really would tell anyone going to Vegas to definitely go see him. We laughed the entire time! So funny and entertaining! We even got to meet him afterwards...it was a fun night!

Friday was our anniversary and our last day there. We didn't have a whole lot planned, so we just went to a late breakfast again, then drove over to the outlet stores and shopped for awhile, then came back to our hotel and hung out. Then walked down the strip for awhile and went to M&M's World......the MGM and went and watched the "Dueling Pianos" at NewYork NewYork. We had been hearing about it and it was fun to watch. Two guys playing pianos and singing in a little bar...taking requests and pretty much being able to play anything anyone requested.
Then after walking clear back to our hotel (we did A LOT of walking!). We got ready for dinner and not feeling like walking anymore we ate at another one of the restaurants in our hotel and it was actually really good.

We had yummy fish tacos!

Oh I forgot to mention that it was Nascar weekend in Vegas so on Thursday and Friday it got really packed everywhere. We got to see the Nascar semis parade down the strip. It's amazing how big of a deal Nascar is! One of the drivers...Kurt Busch (no clue who he is) was signing autographs in our hotel. The line was forever long.

Anyway after dinner we hung out in our casino for awhile and I put $20 in a 25 cent slot machine and after about 5 minutes I won $28! Lars was laughing so hard at how fast I pushed the CASH OUT button! Hey I wanted to go home and say I won something!

So after walking away from that, he sat down and played poker for a few hours, so I sat and watched and made friends with some people at the table. It was a fun night. I finally talked Lars into leaving so we could get some sleep before we had to drive back to Price on Saturday.

So we had a really fun 10th anniversary trip.

It was definitely bittersweet though...kind of hard to celebrate knowing what my sister is going through right now. I thought about you and prayed for you a lot Kelli. Looking forward to seeing you soon :)

As for the boys...they had fun with everyone in Price, but they sure were happy to see us when we got back. I could hardly wait to grab them and hug them! Fun to have a break, but so hard to be away from them.

Anyway thank you Nana, Papa, Shelley, Mat, Ali and Hunter for everything! We really appreciate you :)