Vegas Baby!

Last weekend we made our second post-child trek to Las Vegas. We woke up early Saturday morning, packed the car, woke Natalie up and put her in the car seat and set out for Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We were making such good time we decided to stop for coffee – which was great because for some reason hot coffee made me think of the pack and play, which made me think, “did we pack that”. The answer was NO.

We turned around, drove home, got the pack and play and drove back to the ‘rents house. When we got there, Natalie had breakfast while everyone else packed the car. On the road by 9:30 am! Natalie played with toys for the first hour and then fell asleep until we reached Beaver. We had lunch and then set off for St. George.

We reached St. George in time to buy beer and water and drive the boys to the golf course. Grandma, Natalie and I went shopping – we needed a new swimming suit for Natalie, which we found at the local Wal-Mart. After shopping we decided we needed a treat, so we hit Iceberg drive-in for a root beer freeze. We hit Fabulous Freddy's for gas and a car wash and then drove to the golf course to pick up the boys.

We went back to the hotel to meet Philip and Laura, we had dinner and then unshaved legs and all, we went to the swimming pool. Even though the water was waaay too cold for the grown-ups, Natalie loved it! My mom got her kicking and splashing in the water and she didn’t want to get out. She was the best dressed baby in the pool and all the mom’s commented on how cute she was. Her bum looked a little big, but that is only because the swimmer diapers were too big, so she had to wear a regular diaper covered by a swimmer diaper and we couldn’t find a 3-6 month swimming suit, so she had to wear a 12 month suit, but it was still fun!

We woke up Sunday morning and drove to Vegas, checked into our hotel and proceeded to walk up and down the strip. Note to self: Las Vegas is warmer than Salt Lake, pack shorts and sandals because jeans, socks and nice shoes aren’t made for LV!

Second Note to self: Casino’s don’t always have changing stations for babies:

We didn’t have room for the stroller, so Natalie spent the time being passed from Grandpa to Grandma, back to dad and then to mom. She was in heaven! There were so many people who stopped us to tell us how cute Natalie was. There was even one woman who tried to touch (hold) her as she was walking by!

We were able to see Uncle Philip’s band, Rattle and Hum, do their sound check.

Then Sunday night we put Natalie in her green shirt, put tissue in her ears and walked to the New York, New York hotel to hear the band. They played on the Brooklyn Bridge, which is outside, so Natalie was able to join us for the concert. Grandma spent most of the time holding Natalie and standing pretty far away from the stage so she wasn’t overwhelmed by the noise.

Phil and I wanted to stay at the concert a little longer than Grandma and Grandpa so they took Natalie back to their room and played with her until I decided I’d had enough fun and wanted to go to bed! Natalie and I crashed around 12:30 and Phil joined us around 3:30 after winning around $50 at the tables. Monday morning, a semi-coherent Phil and Grandpa went golfing and to see the Hoover Dam. Grandma, Natalie and I went to lunch with Philip and Laura, wandered around the hotel and then decided we deserved a nap.

Phil, Natalie and I went to the airport around 5:30 pm to catch our 7:15 flight. The flight was quick and Natalie seemed to enjoy herself. We had an entire row to ourselves, which was nice because Natalie was able to have her own seat. She seems to like flying, so hopefully we will take a few more trips before she turns 2 and we have to start paying for her.

We arrived home safe and sound around 10:15 Monday night and we were all fast asleep by 12:30 – and still asleep when the alarm went off the next morning.

Welcome back to real life.