Mama McG's World

GPOYW - this picture is of my maternal grandmother and myself. I think I might be around 2. We must have been at O’Hare Airport either coming or going from/to Dallas (where we lived at the time). 

My mom used to dress my sister and I up in the most girlie outfits and bonnets because our hair never wanted to grow and we were always being mistaken for boys. 

Trees all over the yard, another flagpole gone, no power, sirens going off. Time to grab the sleeping kids and dogs and head to the basement!

Two Thursdays ago we headed on our first trip away without kids since our son was born, 14 months ago, the occasion was my 30th birthday (woo hoo!). We were headed to Las Vegas, I basically picked this location specifically for the Beatles LOVE show. I have only been to Vegas one other time with all of my girls for my bachelorette party, (good times, right Giantsrainbowsanddaisies) but we did that trip on a budget and didn’t sit down to gamble at all (not that I play much) and my husband has been a bunch of times but only with his guy friends. This trip was going to be different, a couples trip where we relaxed, took in a great show, ate great food, and relaxed (did I mention that?). 

So Wednesday night, I packed myself for Vegas, the kids for Gramma and Grampa’s house, and the dogs for the Canine Club (boarding). Thursday morning I dropped the dogs off in a torrential downpour (the night we had the storms all night/morning), dropped the kiddos off and headed to the airport (surprisingly our flight was only running 20 minutes behind/turned out to be about an hour). We might have had a cocktail or 2 on the flight and then landed in Las Vegas. 

We were staying at the Mandalay Bay hotel, I choose hotels based on the pools, Mandalay Bay has 2 regular pools, a wave pool, and a lazy river (my favorite). As soon as we were checked in we threw our bathing suits on and went down to the pool. We didn’t stay too long as I was starving. Upstairs we freshened up and then headed downstairs to look for food. I had 2 different restaurants in the hotel on my radar, Fleur by Hubert Keller and RM by Rick Moonen, both names you might recognize from Top Chef popularity. We ended up eating at RM, a sustainable seafood restaurant and it was AMAZING! I had the Surf and Surf (lobster and crab with orzo pasta in butter sauce) and my husband had a few different sushi rolls (all amazing, also). Then we headed off to play a little blackjack, then to bed. 

Friday was my actual birthday. I slept in. My phone starting ringing/buzzing early with calls and texts, I sent them all to voicemail and kept sleeping, as I said before, this was my first time away since our son was born. I finally decided to wake up around 11 and we ordered room service breakfast then headed down the strip to pickup our Beatles LOVE show tickets and we took a little detour and explored the Venetian Hotel (beautiful). Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the show and dinner. 

It was definitely the right move planning a trip around this show. I don’t know for sure but I’m fairly sure I had a goofy smile on my face during the entire show, it was incredible. After the show we walked around the Mirage looking for dinner and ended up at Japonais. We had some great sushi rolls and steak on the hot rock. Then we walked down The Strip to see water show at the Bellagio. We then walked a bit more and through the new Cosmopolitan Hotel until we caught a cab back to our hotel. Then we played a bit more blackjack (well, I did, my hubby lost his alloted playing money earlier in the day, so he went to bed before me… I was winning). 

On Saturday, we slept in again, though not as late and headed down to the pool for brunch and hours of relaxing in the water. I have family out in Vegas so we were doing an early dinner with them that night. We went to the Green Valley Ranch Resort where I saw my aunt (mom’s sister) for the first time in about 12 years, my uncle (mom’s brother) for the first time since our wedding almost 5 years ago and my 2 cousins that I hadn’t seen since our wedding and since my sister’s wedding 2 years ago (respectively). We had a great meal catching up over my all you can eat crab legs (I’m obsessed with crab) and everyone else’s meals, I didn’t really catch what they were eating, I was too focused on my food. After dinner my aunt and uncle had to get going but my hubby and I played some of the tables with my cousins. A great time was had by all. 

Sunday we slept in again, then packed and checked out. We dropped our bags off with the bell desk and wandered around. We ended up having Mexican for lunch and seeing Pete Rose signing autographs (big surprise Pete Rose in Las Vegas). Then we headed to the airport, came home, where Gramma and Grampa had picked up the dogs and the kiddos were already in bed. 

All in all, a great trip. 

Funny thing, we just found out that we will be staying at and going to the Green Valley Ranch Resort for hubby’s friend’s wedding next June, my birthday weekend again. Maybe this will have to become a yearly trip to celebrate me. ;)

Sorry I haven’t been posting much this week, it’s been quite busy. I’m hoping, tonight after the little ones are in bed, to be able to do a recap of the first week of my 30s.

Wanting to wish my ‘little’ sister from another mother, GiantsRainbowsandDaisys, a very Happy 28th Birthday! I hope you have had a wonderful day and that dinner with your Hottie is great.

Youth is the gift of nature, but age is the work of art. -Garson Kanin