Happy Anniversary!!

Poy and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary on Thursday. We had some last minute school/vacation shopping to do, then we celebrated with a Red Robin Mud Pie with the kids. We took an evening flight to Las Vegas for our first child free vacation.  We rented a car when we got there and although mapquest suggested taking the freeway to our hotel (at the far end of the strip), my dear husband thought driving the strip would be fun.  Well, driving the strip at night is not so fun... lots of stop and go traffic.  So, by the time we were in our hotel we didn't feel like driving anymore.  So, we decided to walk... this would be mistake #2.  Walking from our hotel was not a short walk and we were tired and hungry.  It turned out fine, but we decided we would not be walking again.  Oh, did I mention that at 10pm it was 85+ degrees!?! 

Friday we drove to Hoover Dam and did the tour.  It is quite a remarkable place and aside from the heat (105) we had a good time. In the evening we went to The Venetian for dinner and New York New York for Cirque Du Soleil's Zumanity.  Zumanity was a great show and we enjoyed it very much.  We made it back to our hotel after midnight and crashed.

Poy in front of Lake Mead

Me in front of Hoover Dam

Poy with his friend the Travelocity Roaming Gnome

Saturday we did some shopping for the kids.  We enjoyed the M&M store and bought some things that we would normally scoff at... but we were on vacation.  After our shopping experience we drove to Red Rock Canyon which is beautiful.  If it wasn't hot and we were hikers it would have been even better.  It has a 13 mile one way loop you can drive and stop at a bunch of spots along the way for photos or hikes. When we finished the drive we went to the Red Rock Casino which is a fabulous place.  We ate and then we watched The Dark Knight at The Red Rock Cinemas.  I know... why would we watch a movie on vacation?  Well, we don't get many opportunities to watch movies unless they involve cartoon characters, and we hadn't seen The Dark Knight yet.

My new Green friend

Our first stop at Red Rock Canyon

Poy in Red Rock

Our one and only picture together in Vegas

Poy with The Hulk -- Check out how big Hulk is!!

Sunday morning we checked out of our hotel and drove to the Ethel M chocolate factory.  We wanted to see the tour, but we didn't think about the fact that they may not work on Sundays. That was disappointing but we did buy a lovely box of chocolates.  We then spent some time at The Mirage, but by this time I was missing my kids like crazy and really just wanted to go home.  We flew out of LV at 4:30 and had a good reunion with the kids when we got home. They had a great time with my parents though, so after their hugs, kisses and gifts all was back to normal and they treated us like we were never gone.  It is amazing how you miss them so much when you are gone and once you see them, you'd like to be on vacation again :)

Poy at a Cactus Garden

Me at the Cactus Garden

Making friends at the Airport

Poy with the scorpion 

So, for those of you wondering if we hit it big in Vegas... the answer would be a big NO.  We actually did not insert one dollar (or quarter, dime, nickel or penny) into a machine.  We just aren't gamblers... we like to spend our money elsewhere. 

I had planned on getting my cleaning started again today, but it just ain't gonna happen today. Tomorrow school starts and I will start my program again on day 1.  I figure if I skipped so many days in a row, it doesn't really count as 21 days in a row.  Today we visited a preschool and signed Sophie up, so she'll be in school on Mondays & Wednesdays from 12-3.  So, not only does my first born start his first day of first grade tomorrow, but my baby starts preschool as well.  I hope I don't burst into tears!