Let’s Get Away

Mike and I hadn’t been away without the kids since March of 2012. We definitely needed it – with our kids and our schedules, we often feel like ships passing in the night. I was obviously excited about seeing Britney, but I was most excited about spending extended kid-free time with Mike.

Annabel did fine when we told her we were leaving for the weekend. It helped that we a) hyped up her time with her grandparents and aunt, b) really emphasized her helper status in regard to James and c) I left a bunch of dollar store treats that my mom could give to the kids if they were good. We also told Annie she could call or FaceTime us anytime she wanted. She only called us once, about 20 minutes after we left. The rest of the time, we had to call her.

Hugging goodbye.

The drive to Las Vegas should only take about four-and-a-half hours, but took us over six because there was a big car transporter fire. Because we were in the middle of nowhere when we hit all the traffic (no reception, no radio), we had no idea what was going on and we started to go a little insane.

Mike also started to go insane from the lack of Diet Coke, and when we eventually reached Baker, CA (about 90 miles outside of Vegas), we were both thrilled to stretch our legs and get some treats in the shadow of the World’s Largest Thermometer.

Rootbeer float in 108 degree weather!

After what felt like 1,000 years, we arrived at our hotel and checked in. When we walked into our room, we were hit with the overpowering smell of marijuana. We laughed it off, because when we’d checked in a few minutes earlier the woman at registration said, “Do you want a low room or a high room?” I’d picked a high room but that wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind! We figured the people in the room before us had a party and the smell was lingering. We quickly changed and went out for dinner. We were seated at a two-person table and Mike joked, “Oh no, where will they put the high chair?” We had a great dinner and managed to not talk about the kids the entire time.

When we got back to our room after eating, the pot smell in our room was stronger, as if someone had walked through the room and blew smoke onto every surface. It was so overpowering I called the front desk. They sent up someone from housekeeping with an air freshener, which made me laugh because oh honey, no. The guy from housekeeping was like, “WHOA! You gotta change rooms!” That’s how strong the smell was. But when he called down, he was told the hotel was booked up and there were no rooms available. That was bad, bad news because it turns out our room was surrounded by a large group of people smoking pot…on the non-smoking floor…and they even smoked out in the hallway right outside our door. I called the front desk several times to nicely but firmly express my dismay. The windows in those hotels don’t open so the smell was pretty oppressive. They changed our room the next day but it felt like the smell followed us everywhere…probably because it was worked into our clothes, suitcase, etc.

Even with all the smoke drama Mike and I were both asleep by 10:30 pm. Did that make us the lamest people in Las Vegas? Yes! But also the most rested, because we had over ten glorious hours of uninterrupted sleep.

My cousin Leah and her fiancé Ted were also in Vegas, so we met up with them on Saturday. We went to the Bellagio hotel for their decadent breakfast buffet. I don’t usually feel like I get my money’s worth out of buffets but I definitely did at this one. The food was amazing, and Mike went back like five times for more food.

We filled the rest of the day with a little shopping, some swimming, and then a nice dinner with Leah and Ted. I was obsessed with the decor of the restaurant we ate at (Javier’s in the Aria).

Thanks to those of you who complimented my concert hair! I had a bit of a vision of what I wanted my hair to look like, but had no idea how I was going to do it. I just started hair spraying and braiding and pinning and was happy with how it turned out, even if my arms were absolutely exhausted!

Should I do a tutorial?

After the Britney concert, we decided we were exhausted. A quick look at my FitBit explained why:

So much walking!…also possibly some dancing was involved.

We had another night of glorious uninterrupted sleep and then we had to head back home. On the drive we talked about how nice it was to not have to worry about the kids for 48 hours. We knew they were safe and entertained with my family, which allowed us to just relax and have fun and enjoy each other’s company. We also started planning our next weekend trip…this time with the kids.