Viva Las Vegas!

Let me start by saying I have the greatest husband! About a month ago Kelly came home and suggested that I plan a little get-away. That was about all he had to say for the wheels to get turning in my head. For a few hours on Wednesday I thought it might not happen because of an emergency dealing with Kelly's work in California. I was pretty proud of myself for not freaking out and it eventually worked itself out so that Kelly could still stay with our kids. Thanks so much, Babe! So, the end result was that on Thursday I left to meet my sister, Melanie and my mom in Las Vegas for a long weekend. This is what we accomplished:

• two breakfasts at Denny's (gotta love the French Toast Slam!)
• one mani/pedi
• lots of shopping (I'm down a pant size! yeah for me!)
• two good dinners (one at Outback and one at Hugo's Cellar)
• one session at the Las Vegas Temple (where I met a brother of a friend of Kelly's family, small world!)
• three thrill rides (two on the Stratosphere which were CRAZY! And the roller coaster around New York, New York)
• watched one movie ("Dan, in Real Life" which was good,but painful to watch the awkwardness of the situation. Sort of reminiscent of watching "Meet the Parents" for the first time, which is now one of my favorite movies.)
• lots of laughing and making of jokes!
• one and one-half books read (finished "Love, Ruby Lavender" by Deborah Wiles, who wrote one of my favorite books called "Each Little Bird that Sings" I highly recommend both of these, they can be found in the children/young adult section. I started this month's book for my book group called "The Hiding Place" about WWII Holland and a family helping refugee Jews, also very good!)
• three hours laying by the pool (it was 85 degrees down there!)
• lots of driving around, looking for the movie theater (for all the lights and advertising that goes on in Vegas, I'll give you a dollar if you can find a sign for a movie theater without trying REAL hard!)
• lots of phone calls home to make sure everything was going okay (and because I REALLY started missing everybody!)
• lots of pictures taken (because of my blog. I know my mom and Melanie were probably so sick of me bringing it up!)
• hugs goodbye (and me,secretly planning for next year)
• lots of waiting in lines (for the rides, but the worst was the airport on Sunday! If you're "Leaving Las Vegas" give yourself a LOT of time. I got there almost two hours early and the people were telling me, "oh you might make your flight." I made my flight.)

I had such a fun time but I'm so glad to be home! When Kelly and the kids picked me up from the airport everyone was happy to see me. Everyone, that is, but Bronson! I think he was punishing me for leaving or something. He didn't want anything to do with me for the first few hours, he only wanted his daddy. I walked in to our house and everything was so nice and clean! Kelly even cleaned the bathrooms and mopped the kitchen floor. Like I said, I have the greatest husband! Thanks Mel and Mom for a fun weekend and thanks again, Kelly,for letting me go and taking care of everything else!