After several days of vacation, and a few days of recuperation, I finally feel like we're on the path back to normalcy.  There's nothing like two kids to drop kick you back to reality after a relaxing vacation.

Marty and I had a great time in Las Vegas.  We stayed at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay.  We had a super deluxe room with a view of the Luxor.


For the first few days, we didn't even leave the hotel.  We ordered room service, watched movies, took naps, hung out at the pool and gambled a little.  We also spent some time at the Spa Mandalay getting deep tissue massages, a facial for me, sitting in the steam room, soaking in the cool/warm/hot tubs, and basically lounging around in robes.  Sevda, you would have been so proud - I stayed in there for hours to take full advantage of all of the spa/leisure facilities.

One night, we actually forced ourselves to make it out for dinner, although we did choose one that was in the hotel.

In my mind's eye, my hair looked a lot more glamorous than it appears to in this picture.  Before I left the hotel room, I swear I had volume to rival the good old days in high school.  And don't worry, I didn't clutch my purse like a small-town hick in the big city for the whole dinner... just long enough to tuck my camera back into the bag, I assure you.


After several days of feeling a little guilty about not really leaving our hotel, we decided to go out for a walk.  We walked from Mandalay Bay to Caesar's Palace which is quite a hike when it's around lunchtime and 105 degrees.  We returned from our walk around 5PM and Marty decided to head for the pool.  I was too hot and decided to lay down for a little nap.  Marty woke me up SIX HOURS LATER.  Who takes a six hour nap?  A woman who knows that it's the last day of vacation and that she may not get another nap for a long time.

Sunday morning we went to the airport, got on the plane, then got off the plane due to engine trouble.  I suppose I should have been glad that we weren't in the air with engine trouble, but mostly at the time I was bummed that we weren't going to get home to the kids and that now we had to figure out new kid logistics.  I really missed the kids, and felt bad about inconveniencing our families.  Luckily, after a lot of phone calls and running around at the airport, we were settled into a hotel and the kids had places to stay.  The chaos continued here at home due to key trouble at the house.  Eric found additional keys for the house, while Steve and Louise gave my mom a gin and tonic and Sophie a tub for her bath.  It's awfully nice to live close to family, especially when things get chaotic.

So, vacation over and back to the grind.