Viva Las Vegas

I've been meaning to write this one for a little bit now, but keep getting distracted and busy. But I'm so excited...on Feb. 5, Ryan and I are taking a vacation in Las Vegas, and Austin is taking a vacation at Grandma and Granddad's.

We're staying for three nights and four days (we fly home on the red eye on Feb. 8) at a smaller hotel at the centre of the Strip. (Imperial Palace) . And we intend to do and see as much as possible in that short time. We both like to gamble, so you know we'll be parking ourselves at a Blackjack table for a time, but we also want to be a tourist. Vegas, to me, has always sounded like this completely surreal and almost cheesy place, and I want to be the cheesy tourist. We're going to go up the Eiffel Tower at Paris, take a gondola ride at the Venician, ride the roller coaster at Excalibur (or is it Circus Circus, I can't remember) travel by monorail -- just because we can. It's going to be a hoot.

We waffled for quite awhile on whether or not to go -- in other words, on whether or not to leave Austin for four days. We know he's in good hands, but it's a big deal (to us anyway) to leave your child at home while you skip out of the country for a few days. Austin has gone for sleepovers at my parents' house on two occassions, but both times it was only for one night while we were at a function. But this will be for four full days and four full nights. That's feels like a really long time.

But now that we've made the decision and booked the flight and hotel, we're excited, and don't, at least I don't, feel as apprehensive about leaving Austin. We'll miss him, I'm sure. But a trip like this is good for everyone's mental health. It will give Austin some time with his grandparents, and it will give Ryan and I some time to remember what it's like to be an adult.