Viva Las Vegas!...

We made it!!  We're in Vegas!

I'll let the pictures tell most of the story of this very long day.

We were all up early so we could be on time for our flight!  Brian was very excited.  He loves the airport - and was thrilled to show Hope the planes on the tarmac from our secret, quiet perch that looks down on all the planes coming in and out.  As usual, Hope only had eyes for her big brother.

We had a little issue with our seats. They separated one of them, which would have meant that one of the kids would have had to sit alone.  We asked one woman who was sitting across from the two seats we had together if she would be willing to move to the other empty first class seat - and she said no.  In hindsight, I should have just set up Hope's car seat in the seat next to her.  JUST KIDDING!!!!  In the end, it all worked out.  A young businessman was happy to help us out - and we all stayed together.  There were no unaccompanied minors.

Ed sat with Brian...

...and I sat with Hope!

I never did make those little gift bags for all the people around us.  I just ran out of time (and I guess it wasn't that important to me, although it was a cute idea!)  As it turned out, I knew the guy sitting in front of us!  He is someone I used to work with and he was traveling to Vegas and staying at the same hotel as us!  Small world - and such a comfort to have kind and sympathetic people so close to me... because little Miss Hope pitched quite an uncharacteristic fit.  Oh boy - the most stressful 30 minutes ever.  It must have been her ears that were bothering her.  I nursed her often - but after a point she became disinterested.  Finally she fell asleep...

...but not for very long.  Luckily I was able to stand most of the flight (which is better for my arthritis anyway!) and she was happier.  

At one point she happily sat on my lap and played "Fluidity" on my iPad.  I was like, "Yeah... I found the ticket!"  And then she had a major poop that escaped onto my lap.  Yeah.  There was that.  

The good news is... we made it!

The bad news is - we have a return flight.  I can do it!  I can do it!!  That will be my mantra for the next few days.

Brian is having the time of his life already.  We hadn't even left the airport and he hit the vacation jackpot when he got to climb this turtle statue!

And he couldn't get over it when he saw that Daddy had arranged for a limo to take us to and from the hotel!

He cracked up that he could sit backward - and kept saying, "This is so fancy!"  (NOTE:  Don't worry!  He was sitting like this while the luggage was loaded in the trunk.  We had a booster for him that I hadn't installed yet.)

We made it to the Bellagio and have the most beautiful room overlooking the Bellagio lake... where the famous water shows happen every night.  Brian was mesmerized watching his first show.  There's a TV channel that plays the music that you hear outside on the strip so we can enjoy the shows from our window!  It was so fun for Ed and I to see him enjoy the show - and we all agreed that Gavin would have LOVED this so much.

But Gavin made his presence known!  We walked into the Bellagio gardens and one of the first things that caught our eye was a sea of blue hydrangeas.  We all said, "Hi, Gavin!"

The gardens are amazing and change every few months to a different theme.  This theme is all about gardening and nature - and it's a stunning and larger than life display!

This snail is made entirely of flowers!

Before we knew it, we realized it was bedtime at home.  We hustled to dinner and then headed up to get the kids to sleep.  We have a busy day tomorrow!

Our maid of honor got a jump on her beauty rest before we even got out of the restaurant.

Don't forget - the big Elvis vow renewal is taking place at 3pm, Las Vegas time.  (That will be 6pm on the East Coast).  I can't guarantee how it will go - I'm guessing Hope will cry through the entire thing if her baptism was any indication.  But whatever happens - we'll have fun.  Doing something this extravagant and outrageous is definitely a bucket list item!!

Head to "A Elvis Chapel" and click on "Live Web Cam" a little before 3pm tomorrow if you want to watch it live.  You will need "Windows Movie Player" to watch.  If you can't figure it out... don't want to download anything... or just plain miss it tomorrow... don't fret.  The chapel is going to put it on You Tube for us!  Ha!

See you at the altar!  I'll be the one wearing my original wedding tiara!!