What happens in Vegas...

Barton and I have been debating for quite some time on where we wanted to get away to this summer. Barton's parents are coming to visit and while we usually don't wanna leave when company is only here for 10 days or so, they're coming for a month, so we decided it was finally time to take off together, which has only happened once since we moved away.

We weighed so many different options; overseas, national, down south - it was all very hard and very tempting! We came to the decision that for just a week, it would be easier to keep the travel and time change fairly minimal (which from Newfoundland is still always very long anyway!) and that with the dollar being so good maybe we'd look to the States. I of course would be in New York in a heart beat or Chicago where I've never been. I love the idea of walking and looking at buildings and eating good food! Barton strays more towards the whitewater-rafting-in-the-Yukon type holiday. Now, I am not at all opposed to doing that sort of thing, but for some reason, that was not in my mind as the holiday I wanted for our 10th anni/graduation trip. I vito-ed the Yukon trip very quickly which I think made Barton reconsider all the reasons he married me in the first place!

Then we heavily leaned on New Orleans which we thought would be really fun. The flights were very cheap, time change reasonable and they have cute B&Bs and obviously an abundance of excellent food. It was also one of those places you don't think to take kids, which was our other problem, every time I thought of a great place, it was also somewhere I wanted to take the kids.

So, we finally came to a conclusion. One day Barton called and said he wanted to go to Utah! I was like, "Utah?!" I know that Salt Lake City is supposed to be really nice, and I knew that he would like to go biking around in Moab but when you think holiday, does Utah spring to mind?! Anyway, I started looking into it and feeling the guilt that I was ixnaying all his exciting ideas (after forcing him into an all inclusive! :. I discovered that Utah is quite close to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. So... I emailed our travel agent, the wonderful Lois Barbour, and she gave us a ridiculous package deal. For all the wonders of the Internet, there still isn't anything that replaces a travel agent. Sure, it's quick and easy to book your flights online and it's great for that, but when you want more, they KNOW stuff - they have insider tricks.

Our package includes the flights on West Jet with surprisingly only one stop, three nights at the MGM Grand, a car rental and 2 Cirque Du Soleil tickets. When she offered me this, I looked up the MGM Grand and discovered that that is, of course, where they hold some pretty major events. Thinking I might find some Holyfield fight or something (not that I'm a fan, but hey, just to say you did it?) I found... drum roll please... Aerosmith. Playing, in our hotel, right when we want to go. Is that fate? Yes it is. For those of you who have not known me long, I'll tell you that this is now my fourth attempt (but fourth is a charm right?) at seeing Aerosmith. They have a tendency to cancel Canadian shows or playing in Moncton when I'm too pregnant to fly. So, I figure they'll never cancel Vegas and as long as I don't get knocked up (insert nervous laugh here) it'll be fine! Any-who... this is our trip:

We leave on Friday July 24th and that night we see the Cirque show "Ka". On Saturday is the Concert and Sunday I made reservations at Emeril's restaurant which was recommended to me by a friend. We're not gamblers, so while in Vegas we will walk and look at all the hotels, shop a lot at the outlets and go hiking if it's not 41 degrees. On Monday morning we will drive out to the Grand Canyon via the Hoover Dam. We'll spend the day there and then move on to Moab either that night or Tuesday morning. We'll spend some time there and then be back in Vegas by Wednesday evening. We head out Thursday afternoon but unfortunately we have an overnight in Toronto so hopefully we'll be able to see some friends. We arrive back Friday morning. I'm hoping it all goes well, the older kids will be fine but I'm not sure about Mattea! The Thiessens will have been here a week by the time we go so hopefully she feels like she knows them by then.

So, how's that for a super long post about nothing? No, I don't give refunds on those 5 minutes of your life...