Las Vegas Trip

Our trip out to Las Vegas started early Friday morning. We caught the first flight out of Dulles (as we always do) so that Audrey would be nice and sleepy for the ride. And as usual, my attempts to get her to sleep on the plane worked! We woke her up at 4am and kept her awake through our short flight to Cincinnati, but once we were on the long flight to Vegas, she fell right asleep and stayed asleep until we were about an hour away. So far every time we've flown, this has worked for us....until the flight home. Audrey was awful! She was wired and refused to sleep and was kicking us, kicking the seats in front of us, climbing all over us, hollering, whining, pushing, etc. I thought that flight home would never end, but it did and we made it home safely.

Our first day in Vegas was easy (the whole trip was, really). We checked into our hotel - the MGM Grand - and unpacked a bit and then hit the strip to meet Maria and Josh's aunt Gloria to get a bite to eat. The restaurant had a mechanical bull that people were riding and as we were leaving, the hostess asked if Audrey would like to get on it. Haha, um YES she would (YESI would like that photo op..). We put her up there and she was pretty proud of herself! It was so cute.

After that, Josh and I hopped in a cab and went down to the old part of Las Vegas to get our marriage license. We met another couple getting their license that was also from Northern Virginia. Its a small world! When we got back to our hotel room, we had a very sweet surprise waiting for us. My family had ordered us a bottle of champagne, some chocolate covered strawberries, a bottle of milk, and cookies! It was a very nice treat and Josh and I enjoyed the champagne on our wedding night. The rest of the day was spent at the hotel gambling and resting. Josh's dad and uncle and their wives arrived at the hotel late that afternoon, and then my mom got in that night. Josh and Audrey retired to bed early (we were all sooo tired after being up at 4 am, plus the time change), and I stayed in the casino with Maria and mom having some drinks and winning (mostly losing) some money. Maria was the lucky lady of the trip - she won thousands! She even was kind enough to share some winnings with me, which I promptly lost. When it was all said and done, I think Josh and I both won enough to make it even and call it a day. I really want to like gambling, but I don't. I can't stand to lose money. I guess I'm just too cheap to be a gambler.

We got up Saturday morning and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel next door to ours, New York New York. After breakfast, we went back to our hotel and showered and got ready for our wedding. The pre-wedding jitters never actually hit us until we were in the hotel, and I think that was more excitement that jitters or nerves. I got really giggly...

You've already read about the wedding, so I'll just say it was perfect and Josh and I were on top of the world afterwards! We headed back to the hotel, had lunch, and then everyone parted ways. Mom and Audrey took a nap, Josh and I walked the strip with his dad and step mom, and I think Maria went and won a bunch of money again (she was doing this the whole time, just picture her with cash flowing out of her ears). Josh and I had tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil show, KA, that night. I had seen one other Cirque du Soleil show before this - Mystere. I was really disappointed in the show this time. I had been telling Josh for weeks how awesome the Cirque du Soleil shows are and then this one turned out to be nothing like the first one. He still said he liked it, but I was mostly just irritated I spent that much money on a show that I didn't even like. After the show we hit the casino for a bit and Josh actually won some money! I think he won about $150, and then we went and got some pizza with his dad and Debbie to celebrate.

Most everyone left Vegas on Sunday, so Josh, Audrey, mom and I went to the MGM's breakfast buffet that morning. It was amazing. I normally don't like buffets because they are expensive and I don't eat my money's worth, but this one was actually reasonably priced ($20/pp) and I did go back for seconds and thirds. Mom and Audrey and I walked around between hotels for a while to tire Audrey out, and then went back to our room to put her down for a nap. Maria joined us that afternoon and we walked the strip and headed down to the Bellagio to watch the fountain show. It was very neat!

We had wanted to see some more hotel attractions but we needed to get back to our hotel to get ready for another show that night.  To make up for the disappointing Cirque du Soleil show the night before, Josh suggested we go see another one, so we picked the sexy and sensual show, Zumanity. Our friends saw this show a couple years ago and raved about it, and this one did not disappoint! It was much more entertaining and fun than the other one, and it was a great way to end our weekend in Vegas. We were exhausted afterwards and went straight back to our room and fell asleep immediately!

We got up very early Monday morning so we could get our rental car and drive out to the Grand Canyon (again, early in the morning so Audrey would sleep in the car). The drive was beautiful, but the farther we got from Vegas, the colder it grew. We stopped about an hour away from the Grand Canyon to stretch our legs and the wind was bitter cold! I'll write more about our Grand Canyon visit in another post, as I'm realizing this one is quite long and probably boring to everyone except me. :)