Second Honeymoon

Not many get the chance to visit their honeymoon site on their two month anniversary. I was fortunate enough to get the chance. Ryan was sent to a computer geek convention to run a booth for his company, and I decided to join him for the weekend.

It was the first trip we took without any children in three and a half years. It was well worth the wait. I truly thought the weekend would be filled with gambling, drinking and . . . you know, but let me tell you what we did instead.

Rode the New York, New York rollercoaster - Ryan had never ridden it before. It isn't a long ride, but it is longer than you might expect looking at it from the strip. It is simply one of those things you have to be able to say you have done.

Went to the top of the Stratosphere - It is an amazing view. I suggest going right before sunset since the view is stunning in both the daylight and at night.

Played Forty dollars in the crane/claw machines - It sounds ridiculous, but hear me out. My sister and I are suckers for the crane machines. I have turned Ryan into an addict as well. I only wanted a squishy ball, but all we had was a twenty. After winning two squishy balls in three tries, we moved on to the stuffed animals. We were hooked! When our quarters were gone, and we walked away with 13 items, Ryan looked at me and said, "That was more fun than slot machines!" It totally was. I know, we are major geeks. We had so much fun, we blew another twenty the next day. We ended up winning 20 items. After subtracting the money we blew on the giant crane game (yeah, two bucks a shot and it sucked) and the quarters wasted trying to get me a bear with a charm bracelet (it wasn't budging) we figured we won one out of three tries. Not too shabby!

Watched two fountain shows, the pirate ship sink, and the volcano erupt on the strip - My favorite is the fountain.

Walked the entire length of the strip twice - my legs weren't happy with me, but it was fun. Don't look at the people clicking the business cards. They aren't family friendly pictures.

Went to see Ka - AMAZING! Ryan completely surprised me with tickets. I love that man.

Played about a half hour of black jack at Hooters - walked up to the table with a c-note and walked away with a black chip. Even ain't so bad. Our dealer was gorgeous. They had to be fake.

Won a twenty-three dollar jackpot on a nickel slot - Ryan gave me four bucks to blow while he was picking up our show tickets. Three pulls later I hit it. He called me a lucky brat and immediately lost it on a dollar slot machine.

Ate at the Harley Davidson restaurant - yummy.

Played a Star Wars slot machine in the airport - couldn't resist. I told you I was a geek.

Slept in - way in! And no children crawled into it in the middle of the night. It was WONDERFUL!

Found the nightmare hallway that never ends - It is in the MGM's West Wing. Seriously. It is so long you can barely see the end of it, but when you finally reach the end, you find it changes from yellows and golds to blues and greys and it goes on MORE! It was freaky.

Drank my margarita in a blue 18 inch cup - I never got it on the wedding trip. It was heavier than I thought it would be. Strawberrylicious.

I think that covers it. It was the perfect lenghth for my first trip away from my babies. Two and a half days and no tears. It was so weird to be able to walk down a street without strollers to push or babies to sling or little hands to hold. It was so nice to get a table at a restaurant without shifting the condiments out of reach or repositioning everything to make room for high chairs. We were able to walk through stores without having to say - don't touch that - no you can't have that - can you hold it - settle down.

We have vowed to get away at least once a year. As a married mom with four kids, two of which came into the relationship with me, I began to wonder if we would be great together even long after the kids were grown and gone. This trip reminded me how compatible we truly are. I love him. He is a blast.

And finally, I survived the first plane ride since February. I love you Dad.

- Sara