Vegas Girls Trip!! (22-25)

I was so lucky to leave early on Thursday morning. My legs felt well enough to head out around 10, St George time. We are lucky to have my parents around and Chayse didn't have to worry about finding a babysitter to help out with watching the kids while he went to work. And I could just leave whenever I was able to. The drive went well, I chatted with my friend Stacie Reeve and had a great time catching up. When I arrived my friends came back from exploring the strip and met me at the hotel before we went to check out Container Park. It was really neat to see a small shopping center with fun places to eat. Unfortunately we ate just before getting here, but if we would have known there was food we would have changed that. It had a really neat playground in the middle of place my kids would have loved.

We rode around on this driverless car and was very interesting. A few minutes after hopping on, we stopped at the donut store a short walk away from where we were. It was delicious. After we walked over to Fremont street that I had never visited when coming down the past 8 years. It was eclectic and entertaining! After all the walking around we headed back to the hotel for a rest which I was thankful for. Don't worry, the whole time I was rotating between tylenol and advil to make sure the aches stayed away. We had a show to catch at 7!





We bought tickets to see Piff the Magic Dragon. I had heard nothing of this guy from America's Got Talent. He was very entertaining. We had a lot of laughs and more nervous moments worried we would be called on stage. It was in the Flamingo hotel and an intimate room, maybe 100 in the crowd? It was a great time spent with friends.




On Friday we went to the Hoover Dam in the morning after getting breakfast. Ashley really wanted to check it out, and we were glad we went. My steps were up to 7 miles by the end of the day! We wore our #momsquad shirts and loved getting the exercise. Before making it back to the hotel we had to get a picture in front of the Vegas sign. Took a while before we got to the front of the line, but that was another first for me too!





That night we got cleaned up and headed to the Vegas temple. We enjoyed the peace it brings to us individually and how wonderful it was to be in there together. I loved it. And the pain in my legs just haven't been there. It's been absolutely wonderful.




I should add that I have been taking a hydrocodon and an ativan at night to make sure I slept through the night. The girls were generous and let me have my own bed because of my fidgeting during the night. But with the ativan, I have not been waking up. It's been a lot of fun to be silly and chat at night. We played "Heads Up" and had so many laughs before going to bed. Sometimes going back a few years and having some great laughs is good for the soul!

Saturday we had to roam the strip after hitting up the outlet mall. That was something I wanted to make time for and I'm thankful my friends decided they wanted to go to. This sounds a bit backward, but oh well. Then was lunchtime at Chili's that was spent laughing and enjoying the service and not taking care of the 19 (2 on the way) children between the 6 of us. Back to the hotel we went before we had to visit the Hershey's and M&M's stores. Important treats needed to be found for the little ones back home. We also went into NY NY and then realized we needed to hurry back to the hotel and get Brie and Ashley packed before going to Mystere at 7. (They had a red eye to catch as soon as Cirque was over.) We had heard of these new shakes. Huge, massive ones. Absolutely delicious. And worth all $15. 

I really wanted to walk around the Venetian where the cirque was being performed, but took a terrible wrong turn and was a lot later than the other car. Thankfully the girls that wanted to walk around the Venetian were in the other car! PHEW! And the cupshake place, Black Tap, was very close to the auditorium. We enjoyed our waiter and had even more laughs. It was wonderful. Laughing is very good for the soul. I can't believe it is all coming to an end...

Sunday we wrapped up at the hotel and headed for breakfast before going our seperate ways. The whole trip made me realize how much fun we can still have even after 10+ years of not seeing each other on a regular basis. We spent so much time together and got to know each other so well. We haven't changed too much, but have matured one heck of a lot. Our personalities were just as what they were in college and it was funny to see those traits come out as true adults. That was a wonderful part of the trip. Renewing our friendship. Spending time on ourselves. Focusing on not someone else. That was more fun that I could imagine. I am glad that Chayse and my parents thought this was just as good of an idea as I thought it was. I am thankful my body worked as well as it did for me to walk about 15 miles while with my roomies. I loved the days I spent with them and can't wait for our next reunion in 2 years. Looking forward to things has been so good for my soul and my healing. I am so thankful for everyone cheering me on, near and far. Friendships don't ever die. Fade? Sure. Life happens. But they are still there, even after all these years. I am the luckiest.