There are several perks to being the military--the opportunity to travel the world, job security (well . . . kinda), decent pay, and the feeling of making a real difference in your job. But, there are also a LOT of pit-falls, which I could go on and on about but won't. I'll save that for another post. ;) Anyways, since having Matty, Jonathan and I have discovered another pitfall to military life: you are miles away from family members who would gladly watch the little bundle of joy for a night so you and your husband can take a much-needed break to realize that you are still a real person (not just a mommy/daddy) and the outside world hasn't stopped revolving just because you had a baby. But, I guess another perk of military life is that it makes you appreciate visiting family SO MUCH MORE. And with Jonathan's parents in town, we were not going to pass up this opportunity to take a much-needed night out.
Las Vegas was not somewhere I ever even wanted to visit, let alone live. But I firmly believe in the old adage "bloom where you're planted," so I figured we might as well make the most of the time we have here. We've been here since July, and I still had not been down to the Strip. Not kidding. But give me a break--I was 8 months pregnant when we got here, we were homeless, and it was 110 degrees. And then, less than a month later, Matthew was here. So the sum of my Las Vegas Strip experience was this:
Yep, that's the view of the city from our house. That's as close as I've been. Anyways, we decided if we were going to do the Strip, we were going to do it right. We booked tickets to a show (50% off military discount--another perk!), left Matty with the grandparents, and headed out.
Hello, Mandalay Bay! You are a very welcome sight!
I was totally surprised that Jonathan agreed to watch 'The Lion King' with me. I was fully prepared to fight for it, but it wasn't necessary. Since it was pretty much our last chance to see it (the show is leaving Vegas at the end of the year and Jonathan will be leaving for training soon), this was it. Enough said; tickets booked!
We had awesome seats (only 4 rows back) but, unfortunately, photography is prohibited during the show. I was only able to take a picture of the stage while the curtain was down. Just trust me when I say that it is an AMAZING show. Jonathan and I were seriously speechless after the opening number, and it only got better from there.
After the show, it was time for a little gambling in the casino. I'd never gambled before, and I had NO IDEA what I was doing, but I wanted to try it. I mean, come on--its Vegas! Jonathan tried to teach me how to play roulette, but I let him do all the betting because I didn't want to be responsible for losing our money. We bet $60, lost it, gained it all back, and then lost it again. Maybe one day we'll learn to quit while we're ahead. After that, all I wanted to do was play a slot machine like one of the hundreds of little old ladies I was seeing. I lost $8. Stupid slots.
You know what one of the most awesome things about being in Vegas is? Not being pregnant and being in Vegas. I throughly enjoyed my cocktail. :)
After losing all our money in the casino, we headed out for a walk down the Strip. Yes, it was glitzy and gaudy and crawling with sin. . . but it was still incredible to see.
We stopped at the Bellagio to see the famous water show. A different song plays for every show. How fitting that for my first one, it chose Frank Sinatra.
After a little more strolling along the Strip, we headed back to our quiet house, our newborn son, and our normal life. . . but with a smile on our faces. Nights out may be few and far between for new parents, but I don't think you could ask for a better place to have them than Las Vegas. Living here might not be too bad after all.
Now who wants to come out and baby-sit?
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