Vegas, Baby!

Brian and I had our 5th anniversary on Wednesday Oct. 12th. We've made it to the first milestone, happily and well. So, we decided to go to Vegas. Brian's parents and sister came down on Thursday evening. We left Derek and Cristina with the boys until they got here and took off at about 4ish. We checked into our room at Palace Station hotel, got our free dinner buffet that came with our package and then headed down to Las Vegas Blvd. We loved the Venetian (where we found that big, beautiful waterfall) and spent a lot of time in there just looking at all the amazing stuff, eating gelato, watching people get gondola rides and enjoying the beauty of their work. Then we headed on down the street, stopped at the Sugar Factory where we wished we could see the boys' faces of sheer joy, wandered through more amazing hotels, and watched the beautiful Bellagio fountains. At about 11 (we know, when the rest of the party was just getting started) we were tired of walking and headed back to our hotel room. We watched the movie "The Help" and then went peacefully to bed knowing that no one would be waking us up in the middle of the night. In the morning, we slept in (so nice), checked out, went to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory, and then to old Vegas on Freemont Street. I wish we could have been there at night! It would have been so fun with all the old signs, like the classic cowboy, all lit up. Not to mention the fact that they closed the street off, paved it, and covered it with a light canopy! Next time I guess. Then we quickly went to the other side of the Blvd which we didn't get to the first night to go to M&M World and the Coke Store. We paid a measly 7 dollars for all of those Coke products from around the world. Majority of them weren't very good (those all ended up on the tray in front of me), but a few were quite yummy. We then booked it home because we had told Grandma and Grandpa to keep the boys up so we could see them before they went to bed. We made it back about 9. The boys were excited to see us and to tell us all about the 1 1/2 day party they had been having themselves. They had gone to Menchie's, McDonald's, story time at the library with Angela, Costco where they got berry smoothies, Cafe' Rio, the park, and had just generally been given whatever they wanted. Which, afterall, is the grandparents' job! They behaved well and still traded their tokens for chocolate milk and shows though, so it was a perfectly fun and acceptable party time for them, too! When we finally got them to settle down and go to bed it was about 10:30. Then they konked out fast, though. It was a fun time for all involved!!