Vegas and the Toilet

Last weekend my little sister Val turned 30 (which seems impossible since I am only 29). To celebrate she requested a girls' weekend trip to Las Vegas. Have I told you about my sister Val? Smart, beautiful and has been watching my kids for a couple of hours every week for FREE pretty much since Arden was born so that I can go into the office once a week. So her wish is pretty much my command. As you know I am a total wussie about leaving my kids overnight, but since Preston is a boy and therefore automatically not included in girls' weekend, I felt pretty comfortable with the available babysitter and agreed to go. The "girls" of girls weekend ended up including me, my two sisters and my mom.

I will admit I shed a tear or two on the way out the door as Dax was at the front window crying for me not to go...but then I remembered that he screams louder than that pretty much every time Grandpa leaves our house. I wiped my eyes, put my chin up, threw my bag in the car and we were on our way!

We were trying to conserve money, so we decided to drive. I was taking my turn at the wheel when Preston called me and told me that he had decided to start potty training Dax while I was gone. Yay! (Potty training is not my favorite thing. Or my second favorite. It is pretty far down on the list...just above cleaning up barf in the middle of the night. Dax didn't seem interested in using the toilet and I was dreading the whole process, so between Dax and me we could have gone on forever just ignoring the fact that he was now over 3 years old and not yet potty trained.) More on this later...

The ride down didn't seem very long and before we knew it we were on the Strip. It had been probably ten years since I had been to Vegas, and there were a few new hotels. They were very shiny and modern, but none of them seemed as interesting as the ones that they built back in the old days, like the Venetian or the Bellagio...all the new ones are pretty much big glass rectangles that (except for the casinos inside) could be hotels in pretty much any city. In my opinion, if you are going to build a hotel in Vegas, you might as well build something with a little personality. The other change I noticed is that Vegas is in NO WAY pretending to be a family destination like they used to. I had to learn to walk down the street without ever looking down at the ground and there were even "dancers" on top of the blackjack tables in full view of the whole casino (I said a little prayer that Cora's love of dancing on top of our table doesn't lead to a similar career). Also, slot machines no longer spit out coins...just receipts. BOR-ING.

We had a fun trip! Some highlights include:

• Cirque Du Soleil - Viva Elvis show;


• Relaxing by the pool (no pictures were allowed);


• Eating, eating, and more eating;


• The Fremont Street Experience - it was 80's night (or month, or something) and there were three live bands playing 80's faves:in addition to the light shows on the ceiling. It was a party down there and no one tried to hand me porn! Loved it; and


• Just spending time with the girls!

My sister Amanda was in charge of pictures, so I don't have any good ones, sorry. We had a great time and stayed up way to late and slept in (something I looooove but hardly ever get to do). I checked in on Preston and the kids a few times a day and he did a fabulous job while I was gone (THANKS PRESTON!!!) The kids had so much fun and ate so many treats that they probably can't wait for me to leave again.

The ride home seemed a LOT longer than the ride there, but we made it safe and sound. It was a short trip, but I couldn't wait to get home and see the little (and big) faces I was missing. And Dax is actually doing pretty good with the potty training, but we still have some work to do. Wish me luck!