When I thought about what Hubby would love most for the big 4-0 birthday, I knew it had to be time to do what he wanted to do. And to have that when you work full time and have 4 children, you've got to get out of town. My parents watched our children and friends agreed to make the time easier on Grandma and Grandpa, so we flew our way to Vegas during the week so at least the older 3 would be at school all day.
Traveling during the week in January means there aren't a lot of shows available, so we picked the Luxor to stay in for when we had Blue Man Group tickets later. I was surprised at how quiet the rooms were -- a nice change from the last time we went out of town 3 years ago and stayed at a Universal Studios hotel. That place was loud!
One reason we chose to visit Las Vegas is because Hubby has family in the area. We got to eat lunch at a yummy Mediterranean place with his brother's family and dinner at Maggiano's with his Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. We loved seeing them after so long and were sad some other family member were sick and couldn't join us. I highly recommend Maggiano's for any large group/special occasion. They did a magnificent job and were very family friendly and didn't even charge extra for my dietary needs.
Side note: that afternoon we spent way too much time at Hershey's Chocolate World and M&M World trying to pick out souvenirs to bring home to our children. lol. But in the morning we scored Hubby a new suit and other nice clothes to wear to work at the outlet mall. Time much better spent but not as amusing.
The next day Hubby got to race an Audi R8 and enjoyed passing me on the race track in my Porsche Cayman. It was so fun to be at the Las Vegas Speedway and have professional race car drivers from Europe teach you how to make turns. There was no end to those gas pedals!!! A nice perk was seeing lots of Air Force jets go by since we were so close to the base. Made the entire building rumble as they went by.
After racing we accidentally picked out a really nice place to eat lunch. Bonefish Grill might just be my new favorite restaurant! I know for sure I have a new favorite smoothie place we found inside Excalibur's food court named Tropical Smoothie Shop. We went there 4 or 5 times in the 3 days we were there -- every breakfast and bedtime snack and one dinner too, since they had yummy Jamaican Jerk.
That afternoon we kept with the car theme and went and test drove and Audi S3 (you should be proud of Hubby for not buying it on the spot), visited a classic car sales place, and test drove a new Honda Odyssey. I had to laugh that I really was more excited to drive the mini van than the dream car earlier that day. What is the point of owning a race car when you're just going to be stuck in traffic at home? Turns out it is way more fun to go car shopping while you're out of town because when you don't want to buy the car you simply explain you're flying home the next day.
That night we were highly entertained by the utter silliness of the Blue Man Group. Since they were only about half full, everyone got to move up in seats so we ended up in front row seats and were lucky enough to be part of a gag where we were given a prop to pretend it was our own. Big laughs.
Our last day in Vegas we had fun picking out a new wedding band since Hubby had lost his weeks (or months?) ago. Turns out the one we brought home was very different than what he originally had but works much better with his computer job. Oh! Speaking of his work, when we got home he was told he had been promoted! Happy Birthday, indeed! I am so proud of him.
The last thing we did before making our way back home was to hike around Red Rock Canyon, as his Aunt had suggested. The pictures just don't do it justice. We walked almost 7 miles that day and it was a great way to end a short but memory filled few days to celebrate my eternal companion. I'm so glad he was born and that I get to share my life with him. Happy 40th Birthday, Handsome Man! Your 40s are going to be great!
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