Vegas, Baby!

This past weekend, Steve and I made the jump and left the babe overnight for the first time. You see, my brother Jimmy is turning 30 in a few weeks (how old does that make me?), and he wanted to celebrate this milestone in Vegas. Somehow, he roped Steve and I in. I was a bit hesitant, because let's face it, Jimmy and I run in very different crowds. I was nervous about leaving my girl, and unsure if I'd have fun with a bunch of my brother's rowdy friends.

But I was wrong. Vegas was great. My brother was gracious, generous, and gentlemanly (at least the part that I was awake for...he stayed out MUCH later than Steve and I). Jimmy's friends were friendly and polite. Our hotel room (Jimmy's gift to us) was amazing and looked out over the fountains in front of the Bellagio. It was a short trip, but so so worth it. We gambled a bit on the penny and nickel slot machines, and Steve won over $50. Woo hoo! Jimmy wanted me to play black jack with him, and he let me gamble away his hard earned cash. I did get a free deck of cards for getting a black jack, but I'm pretty sure the house won on that one.

The best surprise, however, was this:

I have been saying for YEARS (literally years) that I have wanted to see the Lion King. Beautiful, singing animals? Of the feline species, nonetheless? Sign me up. Steve got us amazing tickets, and pulled off the whole surprise flawlessly. The show was indescribably good; I cried within seconds of the first song. All the animals, singing and rallying around the birth of a baby cub...be still my heart!

Thank you, Jimmy, for giving me the opportunity to relax a bit and remember that I'm not just a mom. Thank you, Stevie, for spoiling me more than I deserve. Thank you, Doug and Marsha, for taking good care of my bug when we were gone. And thank you, Delaney, for making me a Mama. It's a pretty great gig.