Vamonos to Vegas

The day my husband turned 30 was the day he lost his mind. In a good way. He was posted up on the couch Sunday night doing his usual channel surfing while I was trying to block out the fact that I really wanted to steal the remote and settle on the Real Housewives of something...anything...besides channel surfing. Anywho, out of the blue he suggested we "go somewhere for the weekend to celebrate." Where? Oh, maybe Tulsa for the weekend. Or how bout Dallas? Or maybe VEGAS? Wait, what? Out of curiosity we did some price checking and decided it was going to be more than what we wanted to pay for a last minute weekend trip. Let's not forget the fact that we don't do spontaneous. The following day he found out at work that a group of our friends were headed to the desert that weekend....they had found an amazing deal through Allegiant Airlines out of Wichita. I did some more perusing for flights and hotels on Monday and by Tuesday he finally gave me the go ahead and we booked the trip. The three days leading up our trip were near brutal....late, late nights of work and more stress than I cared to carry. I'm talkin' 8:00 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. here people. Brutal. So I was feeling some of the stress disappear as we drove out of town Friday morning. Nanny and Papa were very gracious and kept the Halster all weekend for us. It was strange how everything just fell in to place....I didn't realize how badly we needed a getaway until we were in the car on our way to the airport. The drive to Wichita flew by and we even had time to have some lunch before going to the airport. We met up with our travel mates/gang/crew/posse before we flew out. The Mills, Starbucks, Storms, Fords and Fannings were ready for some F.U.N.

We arrived mid-afternoon, convinced the guys that we needed to grab a limo, sent them in a towncar (so sorry boys!) and we were on our way to the hotels.....

Since Riley and I were staying at a different hotel than the rest of the group he hopped in with us girls for the ride....

We checked in, changed clothes and just like that we were ready for a night of fun! NO time to waste!

We met up at Margaritaville for dinner before the show that night. Derek was clearly ready to party....

So was this pretty girl....

We had a delicious dinner (lobster mac and cheese....YUMMMM) and even better company. Ahhhh, finally relaxation after a day of traveling....

After dinner we had to book it down the strip to make the show we had tickets to. When I say book it, I really mean book it!!!! Poor Kristen was dying in her heels. But not too dead to stop for a photo op with Elmo....

We walked.....and walked....and ran....and jogged....and looked stupid....probably.....and walked some more....and climbed stairs.....and ran.....and by some small miracle made it to the show room five minutes before it started. But one glance at the box office line had us feeling defeated. Us girls sat on a much-appreciated bench and took a breather while the guys somehow wheezled their way to the front of the line. Score!!!! We filed in and took our seats at 8:00 On. The. Dot. Sigh.

Carrot Top from the second row was phenomenal. Too funny for words. Gut busting, side-splitting, non-stop laughter is the only way to put it. Who knew such a scary-looking crude man could be so darn hilarious!? I already can't wait to go back and see him on our next trip! We got a sufficient leg workout during our trek down the strip which was followed by an ab workout at the show.....so it was only natural that we would all want to ride the New York New York rollercoaster for a total body workout! We hurried like excited little kids to the hotel and hopped on the terrifyingly-thrilling ride. Well, not all of us hopped on....Riley Fanning sat it out. Big shocker. Even after being razzed by the guys he still wouldn't get on. Which was fine by me....I really didn't like the possibility of being thrown up on. ;) Lindsay nearly died....of fear. Kourtnei held her hands up with a smile on her face the whole time while I screamed bloody murder. I was a lot younger when I rode that monster for the first time and let me tell ya, it ain't gettin' any easier. But of course I would've hopped right back on....if it didn't cost another $14. Ha. After spending some time in NYNY debating about what we were going to do we eventually decided to head back to our hotels and called it a night. I had what appeared to be a migraine and needed sleep pretty badly at that point and that's just what we did. I woke up with a full night's rest under my belt, got my workout clothes on and headed down to the gym with good intentions...only to find that I'd left without money, ID and my room card back in the room. It's sort of hard to pass the entrance desk to the gym area without any of those things. ;)- Riley was up and around by the time I got back to the room and mentioned breakfast. So instead of a good sweat we ate a ginormously delicious breakfast at The Hash House instead. The entire group met up and dined on ginormous pancakes, larger than life sized waffles, hefty meatloaf sandwiches, piles of fried chicken and potatoes....and that was just my meal. Ok, I may be kidding. But you can bet your fanny I taste tested everyone's meal around me. ;)

I'd like to direct your attention to the pancake on the bottom right of this picture below a very full Derek. It was the size of that entire plate....

After we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant we found an 8-player game where Andrew and Derek gave us all the low down on how to play craps. I think it was this day when Andrew began lovingly referring to Steve and Erica as "coach" and "mom."

The rest of the morning/afternoon was spent up and down the strip and off the strip to see the shop where Pawn Stars is filmed.....

Glad I was able to catch this romantic moment when Riley proposed to his new work wife Kristen....

We stumbled upon the cutest little antique store called Swag Antiques. I didn't want to leave. And I suddenly wanted to redecorate my entire house.....

After our off the strip excursion it was obvious that the day was getting away from us and time was flying by. On our bus ride back to the hotel to get showered and dressed for dinner I made reservations for us at a newer place downtown called The Park. The best thing about Vegas hands down is the food so I was delighted to try this new place that appeared to be fun and unique based on reviews we had heard. Hubs and I got ready and grabbed a cab to downtown. We got sidetracked and started walking the wrong direction when we saw the Heart Attack Grill (which we'd heard about several times on tv). They boast that people over 350 pounds can eat free. So looky here, they have a huge scale outside for folks to step on just to make sure they are telling the truth. Embarrassing much? Poor Ry didn't make the 350 cut. Sorry babe....

By the time we got to the restaurant it was well past our reservation time but luckily they hadn't gotten too busy yet and still had our table waiting in the most gorgeous, quaint little outdoor area. The rest of the group had taken the bus and hadn't arrived yet so we held down the fort and ordered apps and drinks while we waited. When I try to describe this place I have a hard time doing so....it was just....just....perfect. We sat on stools at high wooden tables that looked like picnic table tops. They served their drinks out of mason jars and white lights lazily hung from the greenery and trees inside the outdoor dining area. The rest of the area had tiny little antique tables and chair for couples and don't even get me started on my food. My favorite meal of the trip....and the ironic part is that it was only chicken bites and fries. Not just any chicken though...mouth-watering, delectable chicken....and the most delicious drinks with cucumber slices in them. Ok, I'm done with my description of The Park. Here's some beautiful faces to look at.....

Kourtnei and Barrett

Lindsay and Andrew

Erica and Steve (aka "Tom"....or "coach")

Derek and Kristen

The rest of the night can be summed up with one word: VEGAS!

Another day of sleeping in, another day of renewed sanity. Sigh.......

We met the crew for a champagne brunch and hashed out our plans about what show we would all go to that night. Us gals took full advantage of the free champagne and Kristen and I were pretty pumped about the dessert buffet.....

That afternoon we did some shopping to find Hallie the gift she had requested: an M&M tshirt. That gal sure is a high roller. ;)- We finally decided on a show for the evening and bought our tickets for Rock of Ages. Half of the group was going to see One (the Michael Jackson show). Riley gave that one a big fat negative before I could even state my case for why we should go..."not for the person but for the music." Lol! My rock music-lovin' guy isn't even the slightest fan of the king of pop. We had our tickets and dinner reservations for the evening so it was time to kill some time with some down time. Ah time, such a lovely thing.

It wouldn't be a Vegas trip without some pool fun. We mozied on down mid-afternoon and were surprised to see that it wasn't awfully busy and there was a great DJ playing. Although Bally's isn't our top choice of hotels, it served us well for our last minute trip this time. The water felt fantastic and the sun was shining in that bright Vegas way......

Time got away from us lazy pool-goers and we had to hurry back up to the room to get ready for an early dinner. We met up with the group across the street at the Bellagio for our dinner reservation at Olives. I was ecstatic about eating on the balcony overlooking the water and watching THE FOUNTAIN SHOW all the while we ate!!! The other girls were looking B-E-A-Utiful that night!

I was impressed with the drink menu in iPad form....

I love this shot I snapped of the guys looking stressed out by the dinner prices and Erica daydreaming.....

I guess I should mention that my husband was looking quite handsome that night....

Pretty sisters....

Picky eater.....

Fun group of girls....

Always-smiling Erica....

We were treated by the fountain show three times while we ate.....

Just perfect....

Linsday, Andrew, Steve, Erica, Riley and I walked down to The Venetian where our show was playing while the Storms and Mills did some gambling before their late show started. Singing, dancing and laughing to the 80's best rock music was what the rest of the night consisted of.....

A night in heels had left me with some aching feet and a couple of bad blisters. The guys thought this "emergency footwear" machine that shot out $20 flats for foot emergencies was hilarious....as did the girls...considering I'd just given up and bought a rather expensive pair of flip flops at the store around the corner....

The poor guys....first shoes and next came purse shopping.....but Andrew made the best of it....

I think this is the appropriate time to mention just how entertaining and hilarious this adorable couple is. Nonstop banter, mocking in the most loving way possible and clearly eligible for their very own reality tv show.....

Meet Lindsay and Andrew

We made one last stroll down the strip to our hotel that night wishing all the while that we didn't have to leave in the morning. It was a fantastic spontaneous anniversabirthary group trip!!!!!!! We couldn't have asked for more fun and better company! Until next time.....

I don't have many pics from Hal's time back in Woodward but I do know that she had a full slate of fun with Nanny.....movies, McDonald's playplace, the park, the train, the waterpark, church....and she slept like a champ too! Here's my happy Hal after trying on her goodies from our trip.....