what happened in vegas...

Well, here it is - the Vegas roomie trip recap.

aka Mamas Gone Wild*.

(Just kidding!  Hereafter in this post the term 'wild' is referring to a wildness relative to a group of parents of babies and toddlers who are now pretty responsible Christian adults.  Which is not to say 'tame' but rather a muted thirty-something 'wildness' that basically involves drinking and not being used to such drinking combined with being overly tired from not getting full nights of sleep for the past two years due to babies and being in a subsequent haze for several days.)

Anyway, I told you about my cool former roommates in this post, 

and our Vegas trip came and went and it was so, so fun.

I know that 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas' 

but I thought a trip recap might be fun - 

from my perspective.

This was my first time in Vegas with friends 'for fun.' 

It is definitely easy, a la The Hangover, to lose track of an entire day/night.

If you are traveling from the eastern US the time change is pretty rough.

In the spirit of our former college craziness, being in Vegas, and just being kinda psyched to be free of all parental responsibilities for several days, the first day was rather wild*.

Since only one couple actually had a room when we arrived (Beth and her husband arrived the night before) we congregated in their room to 'party.'

Beth is a graphic designer so first thing she hands us all is one of these travel mugs to commemorate our 'Roommate Reunion' weekend.

Rather than coffee they were filled with tiny alcohol bottles, 

reminiscent of former flight attendant Kristina's 'treats' she would 'borrow' and bring home to share with us.

Very crafty, Beth!

You can't go wrong with a craft filled with alcohol, I say!

Anyway, we had fun with the shots and mixing a few other drinks, 

while the guys got to know each other and the girls did some catching up.

Then it was pool time so we got on our bikinis

(yes, this is worth mention since we all worked very hard on our post-partum bodies, probably in part for this trip!  Half marathons for all three ladies!)

Sorry, no bikini pics.

Not sure why but I think we were afraid to bring any expensive devices like cameras and phones and such to the pool.   

After several hours lounging in the lazy river, drinking beers, and just hanging out we headed back in the hotel to check things out check in to our rooms and get all gussied up for our first night out in Vegas.  We had no big plans for the first night.  We bought our show tickets, ate some pizza to try to absorb some of the alcohol we had been drinking, and then got dressed up and drank some delicious wine from a box back at Beth's room (the mecca for pre-drinking.)  

Here we are in our dresses and paper cups of wine...

In case you were wondering, our husbands were with us this entire night...they just hardly made it into any photographs.  Sorry guys!  Next trip we need to take a million group photos.

But here they are that night, at the craps table.

They didn't win any money - I don't think.

At least mine didn't.

This photo had to be included.  My husband miiiiight be the best dancer ever.  Don't be jealous.

After eating some Mexican food at this restaurant/bar/club which conveniently was in our hotel

and then briefly showing off our amazing dance skills when no one else would come out on the dance floor, the group disbanded.  

(Points to Beth's husband for staying out the latest.)

The next morning after our wild* first day in Vegas.  For some reason I went to bed around midnight and still woke up at 3:30am (the time my inner clock in set to - 6:30am EST)  So I took a sleep aid and thankfully got a couple more hours of sleep.  Then I got a text at 7am from a very chipper Kristina asking if I wanted to walk down the strip to the Stratosphere!  (ie a long way away) Why, um, huh?  SURE!  Knowing we had limited time together I dragged my tired butt out of bed and met them at the coffee shop downstairs.  They both looked radiant and I looked a hot mess, but we managed to have an enjoyable walk with Kristina's hubby Mike down the strip.  

Mike was awesome to take some pics of us -  but again, being a guy, he didn't make it in any.  

Us and a giant lizard.  Beth is really into lizards.

I made them pose with these odd versions of Elmo and Cookie Monster with me.

(Hey, I posed with the lizard so I don't feel too bad!)

We ran out of time/energy and never made it to the Stratosphere.

Next we met the other two husbands at Cosmopolitan and ate at a buffet called The Wicked Spoon.

There was a pretty amazing selection of food, okay quality, and terrible coffee.

I still contend the best hangover food is a giant Chipotle burrito.

Then it was nap time, clearly.

After a nap and a clothing change (and makeup!) so I could feel somewhat like a human again

we headed down to watch the Kentucky Derby!  

The guys had bet some money so we got a few "free" drinks out of the deal.

We watched the short race, cheered, sighed when all our guys lost, 

then got to hear the cheers as some other guy won $11,000.

Next we went to ride the roller coaster at New York, New York.

So fun!  I closed my eyes for most of it because I thought for some reason we were on top of a giant building.  Then I opened them and realized that nope, we were not.

Phew.  Enjoyed the rest of the ride without fearing for my life.

(Yes, I go on roller coasters even though I am scared of them.)

post-coaster ride at new york, new york

Then it was time for our "big night out."

We had planned for forever to all wear sequined dresses, go to a show and a fancy dinner.

Check, check, and check.

We donned our fabulous sequined frocks and were ready for a wild* night.

We found a fun lighted backdrop to show off our 'sparkle.'

Then it was showtime!   We wanted to see a Cirque show and settled on Zumanity.  It was pretty racy, but to be honest I was a little buzzed and remember nothing specific...except a 'little person' who kept flying above the crowd and was pretty amazing, and the woman in front of Beth and I getting mad at us for talking and laughing too much. 

After the show we were pretty hungry, so we tried to find a nice restaurant.  For some reason most places were already closed (???) I guess the show ran later than we expected.  However, we found a place (again, in our hotel) that just barely kept the kitchen open for us.  It was pretty swanky - very cool vibe. We ordered wine, drank water to attempt to rehydrate, ate a ton of bread, had our dinners, and then got the bill.  Eep!  $40 for the water.  That is all I will say.

That was enough to make the guys call it a night.  (or at least mine did.)

However, we ladies were still ready to party!

We had been talking about going to an ice bar for months, and conveniently there was one (of course) in our hotel.  So we paid our cash to enter, were each given a huge coat, faux Ugg boots and mittens, and went back to a room with ice walls, seating, bar, glasses - you name it.  It was cool, er, awesome!  We drank yummy iced coffee drinks (with alcohol, yes) and then the photographer came over to us and had us pose, some with our giant coats, and then some without, in our lovely sequined dresses.

Oh, and with a random girl from a different group.  No idea why she wanted to be in our pics.  We referred to her as 'the fourth roommate' and "Agnes' stand-in" (We briefly did have a fourth roomie named Agnes.)

Clearly we had a good time!  We left the ice bar and went off to see what other kinds of "trouble" we could get into.  Wandered through the casino getting some interesting looks - I think we were quite a sight with all those sequins!  Photo-bombed some other people's photos.  Had some wine at one of the bars there and met some European guys who were like 21 and made me feel I was at least fifty.  Kristina played some video poker (I think the only one of us girls who gambled at all) and won ten bucks.  Then we really wanted to go back to this bar we saw earlier with all these amazing crystals hanging everywhere - like the entire room was a chandelier.  

So we walked down the strip, had some laughs, feet started hurting,

never found that bar, headed back, paid ten bucks to get into the same dance club/bar we went to the first night, stayed a grand total of ten minutes, realized we were too tired/old to be out dancing at a club that late (it had to be nearly 2am by that point - 5am EST - eek!) 

So we abandoned the 'clubbin' idea and hobbled over to NY, NY again and ate pizza.

I was so hungry I finished my pizza before I even paid for it.

Sad, I know.

We took off our high heels sat a bit, then walked back to our rooms and called it a night.  

Well, it was morning by then, but you know what I mean.

Early the next morning Kristina and Mike flew out,

the official end of our reunion weekend.

Beth and Ben and Paul and I walked around 10am to have brunch at a little place off the strip, which had great food.  Plus, the walk felt good. (Not in heels.)

Back at the hotel we took one last dip in the pool, and then it was farewell to Ben and Beth.

Left to our own devices Hubby and I spent the Sunday doing what we would typically do on a vacation:

loooong nap in the hotel, went to see a movie (yes, we love going to movies),  took a leisurely walk down to see the Bellagio fountains,  grabbed some food and headed back to our room where we laid in bed, watched a silly movie, and probably fell asleep at 7pm.

It was awesome.  No really - finally got some rest after all that partying.*

love this guy - my most compatible travel partner (we are lazy!)

So that was our trip!

It was crazy and a lot of fun - will remember it (sort of) always!

I would say that babies have done us nothing but good!  :)  But seriously, these girls have worked super hard post-pregnancy and look really, really amazing.  This photo does no justice to how tiny they both are and how good they look in bikinis!

Plus, I think we are all happier, calmer, more motivated women as mothers.  

Cheers to growing up!   Cheers to Vegas!

And here's hoping we don't wait four more years for another Roommate Reunion,

Love you ladies!

my fave pic of the trip