Vegas and so much more...

What happens in Vegas, stays with you forever. (I'll explain later.) 

Last weekend we surprised my bestie, Amanda with a mother/daughter trip to Las Vegas. It's become a tradition before one of us gets married to celebrate with a pre-bachelorette weekend with our Mothers. For those of you who are thinking a bachelorette including our Mom's sounds lame - clearly you've never hung out with our awesome Mama's! :) 

For a few months, we've all been planning behind Amanda's back to whisk her away for a girls weekend. I am terrible at keeping secrets and spent the entire week leading up to this trip avoiding as much contact with Amanda as possible. Part of me was worried I'd just scream out, "We're going to Vegas!" 

Thursday night we decided to meet Amanda and Kathy at the gate, hoping we'd throw off any speculation that we may be involved with this trip. As we sat, waiting for the two of them to arrive, I was so anxious. Finally I saw them turn the corner and we locked eyes. Her face dropped as she noticed the 4 of us at a table. She just stood there saying, "you guys!!" The surprise element was successful and thankfully over - let the party weekend begin!

We arrived pretty late Thursday night and with the time change, it seemed really late for us central time folks. After checking in and raiding the VIP lounge of all their cheetos and diet cokes (we did this everyday, sometimes multiple times), we wandered up to our room. 

The Shemon's let us use their timeshare at the Polo Towers (thanks again!) so the 6 of us were able to stay together in one little condo. It was the perfect space for all of us. We stayed up way too late, swapping stories, laughing until we cried and eating our junk food. The perfect beginning to a girls weekend. 

We woke up Friday and headed out on the strip with no real agenda except for finding a good spot for breakfast. Hash House A Go Go came highly recommended, so we walked down to The Linq on a mission. Clearly we weren't the only ones with this idea since the wait list was lengthy. We put our name in and headed downstairs to kill some time gambling. We played penny slots and got a few free drinks out of the deal before our table was ready.

Breakfast/Lunch was incredible. The meatloaf hash was insane and it came with a biscuit which made it that much better. As a table we shared the a snickers pancake, which was also pretty mind blowing. After rolling ourselves out of the booth, we all agreed some walking would do us some good. We popped in and out of shops and casinos as we made our way down the strip. Once our feet starting blistering, we decided it was best to head back and soak up some sun by the pool. 

That night we had dinner reservations at Lemongrass in Aria, followed by the Cirque du Soleil show Zarkana. The Thai inspired dinner was another hit - amazing food with giant portions. With stuffed bellies we had some time to kill before the show, so naturally we gambled a bit more. While we wasted some time, I won $40 on a $.25 machine and felt like I had hit the jackpot. (This shows you how big of a gambler I am!) 

It was finally show time, so we took the escalator up to the theater. We found our seats, which were smack dab in middle - giving us a great view of the stage. Before the show started, performers scattered around the theater interacting with the audience, speaking their own little language none of us understood. They reminded me of minions. The lights dimmed, and for the next 90 minutes we were in awe of their talents. Its amazing to me that any of that is humanly possible. Like most Cirque shows, I didn't understand the over "story" (I'm still convinced there isn't one), but I was highly entertained throughout the entire show. It was such a fun experience! 

Saturday we woke up with the same plan - no agenda. We got ready and decided to walk the strip the opposite way we had the day before. A lot of our day was spent playing penny slots. Each of us thrived off getting the bonuses. The free games brought excitement, even if it was just for 80 pennies. 

We had made plans to spend most of evening on Fremont Street. Thanks to The Bachelor, we were hoping to check out the Neon Museum and Container Park before having the usual Fremont experience. Thanks for Google Maps, we found out the Neon Museum was only a mile away. We opted to walk there, rather than cab it. As the sun went down, we started to re-guess our walk - but eventually we made it only to see a sign, "SOLD OUT." We all shot each other looks, and most of our faces screamed "you've got to be kidding me." After talking to the guy, we found they sell out every weekend and unfortunately there was no way to sneak 6 of us in. Fail. They were nice about it and called us a couple cabs. Next stop, Container Park.

The cab driver dropped us off at Container Park, which was this adorable little urban shopping area. Each shop is inside a shipping container and they're stacked 3 stories high. Outside the shops is a giant praying mantis made of scrap metal, which was pretty impressive. A Queen song started blaring and the giant insect started moving. A group of us stood around and watched, not knowing fire was about to shoot out of the antennas. We all screamed and jumped. Now I understand why the cab driver told us, "don't be scared of that thing."  

After our shopping experience we decided to head to the flashiness of old "downtown." I love the vibe of Fremont, it's low key and you truly never know what you're going to see. We laughed so hard watching a group of people dance. There was one guy who was trying to drag one of us out there with him, but we kindly declined. We would much rather watch him. It was hysterical and I'm pretty convinced we could have stayed there for hours. Sadly, the DJ's time was over and a new band was coming on. The crowd dispersed, so we continued on. 

We found our "free games" penny slots again in one of the casinos and the 6 of us all grabbed a machine. I'm pretty sure we stayed there for hours, drinking, laughing and winning pennies. It was amazing. 

For what seems like years now, Amanda and I have been talking about getting a tattoo together. We knew we wanted the same thing, something symbolizing our friendship. You know, something cheesy and girlie. :) All weekend we talked about doing on this trip, thinking it would make a fun story. After asking a casino employee if there were any shops he'd recommend, we left with an artist name and place in mind. We found the entrance and walked up the stairs saying, "are we really doing this?" We talked to the gal sharing our ideas and working out details. Amanda and I looked at each other and said - "lets do it!" (circle back to, "what happens in Vegas, stays with you forever.)

The artist quickly drew up the two crossed arrows (which symbolizes friendship) and before we knew it the stencils were ready. Each of us decided to get them on our right side, on our ribs. They estimated it would take 20 minutes or so for each of us. Amanda went first then I took my turn in the chair. We left with a permanent symbol of our forever friendship - mission accomplished! The night grew late and we ended up back to our room a little after 3am. The last night of our trip was certainly a memorable one.

We didn't have much time Sunday to do anything, so we packed up and a wandered around to kill some time. It was such a fun weekend with these wonderful women. Strong bonds and friendships like these between Mothers and Daughters is something special, and I'm glad I got to share another wonderful trip with all of them! So long, Vegas! 

PS. Thanks Mitchell for handling daddy-daycare all weekend with two sick kiddos. You're the best!

Besides Vegas, here are some other things we've been up to.

Before we left, we celebrated Mitch and Jennie's 32nd birthday. Harper was insistent we throw Mitch a birthday party. She demanded there be party hats, balloons and it needed to be a sports theme. I did my best to find sports themed party hats, but settled on something a little more basic - which she ultimately approved of.

The balloons were a hit, and I'm pretty sure they lingered around the house at Bob and Deb's for days (this was a direct request from Harper). We stuffed our faces with carrot cake and sang the twinsies a very happy birthday! 

Jennie and I took Harper to Zootopia for her first movie theater experience. The previews looked too cute to pass up! We arrived at Rogers Theater and set her up with popcorn, gummy bears and a lemonade. She sat content in her seat chomping away at her goodies. Halfway through the movie, she leaned over and said "Mom, my popcorn is gone and my belly is still hungry." I used my best quiet theater voice and explained we could go get some lunch after it's over. She pressed on for more popcorn and after making it clear we weren't getting more - she said, "okay, then I'm ready to go." I then had to explain we couldn't leave until the movie was over. Jennie leaned over telling Harper she had some jelly beans she could have. That seemed to satisfy her, because she grabbed the bag and plopped back on her chair and watched the rest of the movie without hesitation. Auntie Jennie to the rescue! 

The movie was just as adorable as I had imagined and the overall message was even better. I quizzed Harper afterwards to see if she got the message. This was her direct response, "I learned you can be whatever you want to be. I think I'll be a dancer!" Dream big, sweet girl! :)  

Harper also dazzled us all with her mid-season dance performance of "Mr. Sun." She was adorable to watch and it made me even more excited for her actual recital this May! 

Emmett continues to be a sweet, mischievous boy. He loves riling up his sister, but the next minute he's giving her giant hugs. He's already becoming the master button pusher, exactly what a little brother should do. :) He would wrestle all day and is newly obsessed with the movie The Good Dinosaur. He walks around saying, "ARLO! ARLO!" It's pretty adorable. 

His new go-to face is the nose wrinkle. He uses it for all emotions. Happy - nose wrinkle. Sad - nose wrinkle. Mad - nose wrinkle. Hungry - nose wrinkle. It's my favorite and still makes me laugh every time I see it. He's always keep us on our toes, and we love him for it! 

Whew, that was lot for one post. Hopefully as things start settling down I will get back to my normal routine. Spring is right around the corner and we can't wait for warmer weather, park trips and bike rides (with Harper's new bike!). 

Until next time…

The Helleens