Long Weekend in Vegas

We had a mini-reunion in Las Vegas last weekend with two other couples we met when we were stationed at Fort Gordon. Kimmi & Steve are back here in Sierra Vista now so we all drove together and met Rich & Charity, who were coming in from Monterey. We took off early Thursday morning, after picking up a rental minivan since neither of our cars would hold all 6 of us. Kimmi and I were pretty much the queens of bribery during the car rides and began the trip by bribing the kids with twizzlers.



The boys were actually very well behaved. They were mostly content to watch DVDs, look at books, play with any of the number of toys we had stuffed into the backseat with them, and eat copious amounts of snacks. Here they are burning off a little energy during our lunch stop at a McDonald's with a playplace.

Back to the car and mesmerized by a movie.

Seriously, what did parents do on road trips before DVD players? Drink? Ear plugs? There's only so many songs you can sing and games you can play.

We arrived at my parents' house Thursday around dinnertime to be greeted by my mother and a wonderful dinner of ribs, shrimp, and other assorted yummies. My father, unfortunately, spent some additional time in the hospital last week. He was admitted to the observation unit two days before we arrived after going in with abdominal pain that we initially assumed was a recurrence of his pancreatitis from January. We heard a couple of different stories (very frustrating) before the real diagnosis came out, and Dad had a couple of painful and nausea-filled days during that time, but ultimately he was told diverticulosis and superficial ulcers in the esophagus related to acid reflux. Thankfully not a recurrence or complications of the pancreatitis. He was in no shape for visitors (particularly Drew) when we arrived or for the first couple of days, so my mother kept the boys Thursday night while we headed out to the Palms and then Planet Hollywood.

Here are the boys chilling on Mom & Dad's pull out sofa ready for some TV and cuddling with my mom.

Kimmi & Jenn on the way to the Palms in our very hip white minivan.

Drew & Danny back to the couch for naptime late Friday morning

Down on the strip to meet up with Charity & Rich again, the boys check out the beautiful view of the Strip from their room.

The girls

After dropping the boys off with my mom again on Friday night, we hit up Old Vegas/Fremont Street.

Kimmi, Steve & Rich

Us on Fremont Street--definitely our preferred location for gambling. So laid back.

Saturday morning we picked up the boys early so my mom could go to the hospital again and we hit the streets to see some sights. Here's Drew pushing Danny in the stroller.

Family shot in the Bellagio Conservatory

Drew & Danny check out the ferris wheel in the conservatory

The boys were entertained by throwing money into the fountains for at least 10 minutes.

Outside Caesar's Palace

Planet Hollywood Saturday afternoon, Bill & Steve took naps with the boys in our rooms, while Kimmi, Charity, Rich and I hit the casino. Here Charity celebrates a $4.00 win (yes, $4.00, doesn't take much to make her happy) as we all look on.

Saturday night we went for dinner at P.F. Chang's and my mom called to inform me that my father's colonoscopy and endoscopy that they had been waiting all day long for were not scheduled until 11 pm that night (have I mentioned the frustration?). I decided I was going to go up and wait with her. Fortunately the results were good, showing nothing serious happening, and we were able to get Drew in for a visit to Grandpa before we had to get back on the road on Sunday morning.

Grandpa & Drew

Grandma & Drew

You'd think the kid was the one that got by on 5 hours of sleep or less for 3 straight nights!

We had a great time, which my parents were glad about. They kept apologizing for them not being able to watch the boys the whole time, which was the original plan, obviously before the hospitalization. So even though our kids-free couples weekend turned into more of a family affair, we really enjoyed ourselves and were grateful just to have my mom's help in the evenings. And fortunately, my dad was released on Sunday afternoon and is feeling much much better now.