Viva Las Vegas!

I know, I should be able to come up with a more original title than that. Sue me.

UPDATE: Leigh told me about a new slide show program that doesn't make your photo's grainy! Here's a new slide show at the bottom of this post.

First of all - Ashley rocks! She kept the kids while we were gone and she was wonderful. The kids love her and she loves them. When we got home last night the kids were happy to see us - but it wasn't like they were traumatized with us being gone. That to me says that she did a great job.

I'll go ahead and give a summary of our trip so sit back and relax because you're going to be here for a while...

Thursday: Landed in Vegas at 3:15 and we were walking into our rooms at 4! We got a great room upgrade to the Hilton's "Resort Club" level for only $100 for the entire stay. It included free morning breakfast and snacks and drinks (alcohol also) all day long, and a much larger room on the top floor. We had a great strip view and David and Gayle had a golf course view. We went down and gambled for a bit, then decided to go and get dinner. David told me that I was their designated guide and to just tell them where to go and what to do. They hadn't been to Vegas since the late 80's!! So we headed over to the Venetian and ate at my favorite little Mexican place (we went to Italy for Mexican food!) and had a wonderful dinner watching the gondolas go by. They were blown away by the Venetian and it was really fun to see Vegas through their eyes. Came back and gambled until around 1:30 in the morning. Scott was up about $200.

Friday: Woke up after an amazing sleep. They have the best beds and their hotel rooms are dead quiet. Ahhh!! Ate breakfast and gambled some more. Then we decided to head over to Bellagio so that we could check out their atrium decorations. Again, they were blown away. Then we watched the fountains and I got all choked up listening to Andrea Bocelli (of course). Off to Paris for their buffet (yummy!) and a little window shopping. Back to the Hilton for more gambling and later, an afternoon snack. Scott was up to $500. We split up Friday evening and Scott and I headed over to the Palms for a very fancy dinner at Alize. We had a half hour to kill before dinner so he sat down and won another $100 and cashed out. Dinner was spectacular! Beautiful view, wonderful food, amazing service - and a $78 half bottle of Riesling. Good lord. Came back to the Hilton and Scott headed to the tables and I went back to my lucky slot machine where I had won $340 earlier that day. Gayle was sitting at her favorite machine, which was right next to mine. I told her all about our spectacular dinner and she told me all about their crappy one. Don't ever do the Hilton buffet. I gave up and went to bed around 2. Scott came up around 4:30 with $800 in chips. I returned with nothing. Slot machine wasn't so lucky second time around.

Saturday: Dum dum da duummmmm! Wedding day! We got all dressed up and the chapel sent over their limo to take us to the court house. I think that it was a prerequisite for all of the women obtaining their licenses to be wearing ill-fitting jean shorts, a belly shirt and be covered in tattoos. Classy! Gayle not included, of course! Then we were whisked off to the chapel and the ceremony was done. It was actually a nice ceremony, the big black dude giving it was a really good speaker and he had some really nice things to say. Gayle got all teary eyed, so cute. Back to hotel to get changed and had a quick lunch. More gambling. Then we got back into our dressy outfits for our big night out. We had front row center tickets to see Danny Gans. We got over to the Mirage right on time only to be greeted by a sign that said, "Due to circumstances beyond our control, tonight's performance has been canceled.". WHAT?! So we tried to rebook to another show, but everything was all sold out. Bummer. Now I have to walk around all night in these shoes??? We had drinks at a little lounge (wine for me, STRONG kamakaze's for the guys, STRONG margarita for Gayle) and decided to head to old town and have dinner at the Binions steakhouse. Scott ended up finishing David's drink because it was too strong for him, so Scott didn't exactly have his "inside voice" going on during dinner. So funny. We had about an hour before our reservation, so we gambled. Binions didn't like Scott much and he lost a quick $200. Down to $600. Had a great dinner and headed back to the hotel around midnight. Too tired to gamble so we went to bed.

Sunday: Cashed in $600 in chips! Headed to the airport at 7:15. Sped through security and had breakfast at an airport Chili's. Flew home and walked into the house at 4:00.

We had a fantastic time. They thanked us over and over for showing them such a nice time, for coming along, for everything.

Now: Destin is in TWO WEEKS!!! It's all I can think about. I love my family and I can't wait to spend an entire week with all of their crazy selfs.

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