Hey, Baby, Let's Go to Vegas

  Weeks go by so quickly these days.  The newness of spring, the busyness of life, and the overwhelming desire to just sit and relax have kept me from my computer, my blog, and my desire to blog.  I have thought about it a thousand times, but then I always find something else to do.  

   Over Spring Break, Nathan and I went on a little journey to Las Vegas.  We wanted to do something big for our 15th anniversary.  We debated and deliberated over several options, but when you marry in March a lot of places are still too cold.  We are headed to a beach this summer, so we didn't want to go that route.  To the desert it is!  It was our first trip to that part of the world - and our first time to fly together.  I was very anxious about that last part.  I have flown and he has but never together.  I could not quit thinking about orphaning my children.  Thank the Lord we did not.

   We opted to stay on the Strip since this was our first visit.  And we went with one of the big hotels so we could get the "true" Vegas experience.  We arrived late on Friday so we didn't see any view upon arrival (besides the lights).  I looked out the window Saturday morning and this is what I saw...

And this was our room.  It was very nice - made us feel more special than we really are ;).

 We walked - a lot.  Our hotel was in the middle of the Strip, so one day we walked in one direction and the next day we walked in the other direction.   This is a view from the Stratosphere.   It is basically a tall, skinny tower of a building that has a panoramic view of the city.

 Nathan in the lobby of the Venetian.  It was opulent.  I have been to Venice and they did a fabulous job recreating the look of the original.

That night we had dinner with Nathan's college roommate.  He and his wife live there and it was wonderful to visit them while we were there.

 The Eiffel Tower replica.  It isn't as big as the real one, but it is cool.  Nathan laughed at my picture taking, but I did this on purpose.  I like it.

 At the Aria Hotel they have a wall of cascading water with chairs that look like birds - that is the theme of their decor.   We sat for a little while and took it all in.

That night we went to the Michael Jackson One Cirque du Soleil show.  That was definitely a highlight of the trip.  We love his music and the whole show was set to it plus several of the numbers were inspired by his videos.

 On Tuesday we rented a car and drove out to Hoover Dam.  It was fun to get out of town and drive through the desert.  This is the first day I really missed my kids.  I think it was because this was something we could have done with them and there were lots of families there.  It was a neat thing to see.

 And then we took a gondola ride to cap off our trip.  It was nice (and cleaner than the real deal). Well, that wasn't quite the capping off - there is Carlo's Bakery at the Venetian, so we indulged in some sweets to end our little 15 year honeymoon.

We had a very good time.  The hotels are beyond words.  The money that has been spent on these buildings is unfathomable.  It was good to get away and forget real life for a little bit.  There were definitely things we saw and heard that were too much for this sheltered, goody-two-shoes, but I was able to enjoy myself in spite of that.

And now to begin thinking about 20 years - I am thinking somewhere on a different continent...