Music and Passion Are Always in Fashion

Rob and I just got back Sunday from out anniversary get-a-way to Las Vegas, which was a lot of fun.

We left Thursday at about 11:30 a.m., I dropped Jake off at mom and dad’s a little after 9:30, and Rob had a dentist appointment, so we left as soon as he got home. It’s a pretty long drive down there, but we were in Vegas by about 5:00, and got checked into the hotel. We stayed at the JW Marriott Resort which is a bit outside Vegas in Sumerlin, and it was very nice. All the rooms were really big, with a huge whirl pool bathtub, and a separate “raindrop” shower, which is about the coolest shower I’ve ever seen it has the normal showerhead, and then an additional huge raindrop showerhead straight above, so water is coming from all over. I seriously considered spending one whole day in the shower.

We got cleaned up from the drive and went down to “restaurant row”, we had scoped the resort out before we got there, and wanted to eat at both the Japanese restaurant, and the Italian restaurant at the hotel. We had to have reservations for the Italian so we had that on the schedule for Friday, so we did the Japanese restaurant Thursday when we got there. It was o.k., we really like Japanese food, and sushi, but there are some great places around us we are used to, and the restaurant, wasn’t as good as the cheaper ones we are used to in Utah. We then headed down to the casino, and played some penny slots for a couple hours. The penny slots were fun because you can play longer before you loose all your money, and we’re not big into gambling anyway, it’s just kind of fun to watch all the wheels spin. We then headed back up to our room, and watched “The Bucket List” which was a really cute movie, we liked it.

Despite our intentions to “sleep in everyday” we were up and dressed fairly early and headed down to the buffet for breakfast. Friday was our “relax and hang out day” so that is what we did all day long. I love having a get-a-way where you just don’t have a million things planned, and can just hang out someplace besides home (where you always feel like there is something you “should” be doing). We played the penny slots again and actually won some money (which we promptly lost on Saturday), Rob hit two $97.50 jackpots, and I hit a couple $37.50 ones (we only put in $40), which is pretty good for penny slots. We then headed up and got ready for our dinner reservation at the Italian restaurant. It is one of those “celebrity chef” signature restaurants (meaning the chef’s name is on there, but I don’t think he actually ever shows up at the restaurant) designed by Gustav Mahler, who is apparently one of the top 60 chefs in the US (not to be confused with Gustav Mahler the composer). This place definitely didn’t disappoint. We had appetizers of crab cakes, and bruschetta (although I have to say my tomato goat cheese bruschetta beat theirs by 100 miles), and then Rob had lobsters ravioli, and I had their Yukon gold gnocchi (gnocchi is one of my favorite things, but it’s hard to find really gnocchi). We then had an apple stratata and a “gelato tasting” for dessert. It was a great dinner, and a lot of fun. I think by Friday we finally relaxed enough that we enjoyed just the two of us (we feel a bit broken without Jakey around). We went back to our room and watched another movie, this time “American Ganster”.

Saturday we again got up, had breakfast, and as mentioned lost our winnings from Friday, hung out at the pool (they had a HUGE pool with waterfalls and everything), and then headed out to the strip for the night. We took the hotel shuttle to the strip which was free, and we didn’t have to drive down there, and find parking (which is a pain). We spent about 3 hours just walking around seeing the sights. It’s been awhile since I was in Vegas (about 8 years, right before Rob and I met) , so a lot has changed, it’s amazing how they just keep finding new things to build down there. Trump Towers had just opened on Monday, and we wandered around the Forum Shops and the Miracle Miles shops, and gazed at all the stuff we can only afford to buy when it’s closeout at Ross. We then caught the monorail (which was kind of fun, I had never ridden that before) to the Hilton for Barry Manilow. I think Rob went along with the Barry Manilow tickets for our big event in Vegas to humor me, and wasn’t quite prepared for what a great show Barry puts on. It was easily the best concert I’ve ever been to (which topped my previous favorite which was also Barry Manilow), he sang all the old classic Manilow hits, as well as a revue of songs from the ‘40’s (big band), 50’s, and 60’s. He ended with Copacabana, and did a big finale where he climbs up on a floating stage in the balcony right in front of us. As soon as we got our Rob said “that is the best show I’ve ever seen”. So Barry Manilow was a big hit. I of course had to go to the Manilow store afterwards to buy a CD, and “Manilow Water” (it’s amazing how they can merchandise someone, they had “Manilow Mints”, and even for those in the market bottle of “Manilow wine”).

We started walking back to the Fashion Show Mall to get the shuttle back to the hotel but halfway down the strip decided we really didn’t want to wait an hour (which was when the shuttle left) so we splurged on a cab. He was a great cabby, that got us out of the city in record time (I’m pretty sure from the amount of honking he was cutting a few corners quite literally), so we gave him a big tip. It was a great night, and end to our trip.

Sunday morning we got up early, had a nice long breakfast, and headed back home. We were more than ready, Las Vegas is fun, but all the shiny stuff gets old pretty quick. Plus we really missed out Jakey, this is the longest we’ve ever been away from him, so I couldn’t wait to get home to see my little red head. We had such a nice time just being together, it’s amazing how with the day to day grind we “forget” to have those nice long talks about everything that we used to have when we were dating. It’s like you spend all your time doing the “business” of life, and it’s good to have some time together to remember how much you enjoy each other again, on a level you just don’t on a daily basis with everything going on. It’s so nice to just be husband and wife for awhile instead of mom and dad. Rob even put up with me making him listen to Barry Manilow all day again on the drive home.

Jake of course had a total blast at grandma’s, as I mentioned in my previous entry he had 5 shots on Monday, so he was feeling a little sluggish with his immune system under assault from all the vaccines. He spent the day Thursday at Jen and Jer’s with the girls, and Nikki and Clint and their boys, and was totally wiped out by 6:00. Poor Grandpa had to go sit with him and make him talk to keep him awake for another hour (if he goes to bed at 6:30, he’s awake at 4:30). Friday Mom & Dad, and Nikki and Clint took the 4 wheelers up to the knolls to have a picnic and go 4 wheeling. I called Friday to check-in just in time to find that Clint and Nikki’s new truck had a flat, and the lug nuts were stuck, so poor Clint had to stay outside Tooele to wait for a tow, and then Dad and Clint headed back on Saturday to get it fixed. Saturday Jake played with Neely and Kayla, and then Nikki came and got him for a bit, and back to Mom and Dad’s as Richelle brought over the boys over (to decorate Jeff’s car as is their tradition) while Dad and the big boys were at the Priesthood meeting. Jake got to hang out with all his uncles Saturday night, which he thought was pretty cool although he told me “I don’t like to watch basketball on T.V. like Uncle Ryan” (he was though pretty impressed Uncle Ryan knew so much about action figures and transformers). Sunday was the big conference breakfast at mom and dad’s (which we really missed), and according to mom Jake spent 6 hours straight jumping on the trampoline, and was sound asleep when we got home at 6:00. We woke him up (because I needed a hug from my little man), and then we visited with mom and dad for a bit and then headed home. Mom said he was a little more quiet than usual this weekend, but he must have been saving up everything to tell me when I got home, because he was talking 100 miles when we got home, until suddenly I didn’t hear anything and found him crashed on the chair mid-sentence, sleeping with his new Thor action figure that we brought him. I think he got a lot more homesick that he wanted to let on. It was a fun trip, but it’s good to be home, and back together as a family.

We have a mellow week planned to try to get back into the swing of things, as it’s been a pretty big few weeks for us with Disneyland, Easter, and Anniversary Get-a-way.

I plan to spend the week jetting about in my yellow car, drinking some Manilow water, listening to Barry Manilow and singing along at top volume.