To me, turning 30 is a big deal. I wanted to make sure Jon's 30th wasn't treated like every other birthday. I had been planning this trip for about a year. My original plan was for it to be a complete surprise, but I ended up telling him when he guessed it about a week before we left. Las Vegas is not really our scene, but I feel like it's one of those places you should see at least once in a lifetime. Jon had never been and he'd mentioned several times that he'd kind of like to go. I knew he'd never take the plunge and actually do it, so I figured it would be the perfect place for ringing in the big 3-0. We left around noon on Thursday, and because of the time change, we got to Vegas around 4:00.
I had to get a picture with the horned frog in the airport. :)
We stayed at the Bellagio and this was the view from our room.
After we got checked in, we went across the street to a fun little Mexican food place. I thought this drink was too funny not to get a picture.
After dinner, we walked around a bit and checked out a few of the other hotels. This is us at Caesar's Palace.
We were tired, so we went back to the room fairly early and watched a few of the water shows from our room. They were absolutely amazing and I think I could have sat and watched every single one and been just as fascinated every time. They were synched to music you could listen to on your tv in your room.
Friday morning we gorged ourselves on the big hotel breakfast buffet, then walked around to a few more hotels/casinos to check out the sights. All the hotels on the strip have some sort of theme and the insides are decorated to go along with that theme. They are all so huge and elaborate. You could walk around all day just looking at everything.
Bellagio has a conservatory inside that they change out 5 times a year. They have two greenhouses on site where they grow all their plants and flowers. The theme of this display is Spring. I thought it was just beautiful!
This is a copy of a Monet made all out of live plants! The Bellagio also has an art gallery displaying lots of Monet's original pieces, but we didn't pay extra to see them. :)
The Bellagio also houses the world's largest chocolate fountain. If only I could have eaten some of it!
We walked probably 3-4 miles that morning checking out the other hotels/casinos and various shops. Lots of these popular characters are walking around so we took a few pictures with them to send to Adeline. Every time you get close to them they say, "I work for tips" so these pictures cost us a few dollars..haha!
This is what I would look like with a mustache. :)
After we got so hot we couldn't stand it, we went back to our hotel and hung out by the pool for the afternoon. That night I took Jon to a five-star sushi restaurant in our hotel. He loves sushi and hasn't had any in about 3 years.
He ate a lot, but this was his favorite..a sashimi "pizza."
We had tickets for the Cirque Du Soleil show "O" after dinner, but still a few minutes to kill beforehand, so we played a little black jack & some slots. We didn't win much. Like less than $10.
Before going in to see "O." It was AMAZING! We had seen one other Cirque Du Soleil show when we lived in Dallas and had been wanting to see another ever since then. It was worth the whole trip!
After the show, we went across the street from our hotel to a big restaurant called The Sugar Factory and we got to partake in our first ever chocolate fondue. Yummy!
Saturday was Jon's actual birthday. That morning we had a couple's massage at the spa in the Bellagio. I've had a few massages in my lifetime, but never at an actual spa. It was so wonderful. Since we'd booked the massages, we had access to the spa for the day. We got there early and were split up into the women's and men's sides. I got to soak in a hot tub and lounge in a steam room before meeting back up with Jon for our massages. I told the masseuse that I'd been either pregnant or breast feeding for 3 years straight. She said that explained the knots in my upper back. I felt so relaxed when she was done, but I was sore for the next couple days. After our massages, I went back to my side of the spa and took a shower and fixed my hair. I think I stayed in the shower for 30 minutes. They supplied all the essentials, plus more and it had a shower-head in the ceiling so it was like a rainfall coming down on you. I was in heaven!
Afterwards, we set out on our tour of the Hoover Dam. I wished I'd just stayed in the spa the whole day. I got carsick and it was so hot..100 degrees that day..in April! I'm glad I got to see the dam, though because it was really neat. I was just feeling like poo. I'm not cut out for hot weather and I think sitting in the hot tub and steam room that morning didn't help. I was probably slightly dehydrated.
This is a bridge they built in 2010. I was kind of more impressed with it than the dam.
Can you imagine building this block by block with manpower? Amazing!
The dam gift-shop had these sunglasses, so I made Jon put them on for a birthday picture. :)
Saturday night we went out for a steak dinner, then Jon did a bit more black jack playing while I went to bed early. I know I'm a party pooper, but we had an early flight the next day. We traveled all day Sunday and finally made it home to our girls around 6:30. We had such a great time in Vegas, but we were so glad to be home with our babies again. This was the first time Jon and I had been on a trip with just the two of us since our honeymoon. It's nice to get away, but it's even better to be home afterwards.
