#Kims40thBash

Happy 40th birthday, Kim! 

Last weekend I headed to Las Vegas to celebrate my older sister's 40th birthday. Ryan took off work on Friday to watch the kids, and I was off first thing in the morning.

I bought Kim a "40" tiara and an "It's my 40th birthday" sash to wear to the concert. She looked stunning!

For the first time in my entire life (at 35yo), I drove by myself to the airport and put the car in long-term parking. I caught the shuttle, went through TSA alone and found my gate. I also sat in the center seat on the plane (I always make Ryan do it when we are together). It was a weekend of firsts!

When I arrived, my parents picked me up at the airport, and we headed to our hotel. We parked the car but left our bags inside (it was hours before check-in). We ate lunch at Senor Frog's and wandered around the Venetian.

We stayed at Treasure Island. The rooms were clean and great, but the casino was dark and smoky (like all casinos, I guess).

I think gondolas are so picturesque.

Then we headed back to the hotel, checked in and got settled in our rooms.

From my "room with a view." Good morning, Mr Trump!

Again for the first time in my life, I had my own hotel room all alone. Though I missed Ryan, it was totally awesome. So QUIET. That doesn't EVER happen!

When Kim & Rich arrived, we grabbed a cab and headed to see Blue Man Group at the Luxor. Such a fun show! It was pretty expensive, but it was awesome. They moved our seat to the 7th row when we arrived and gave us some neon crepe paper to "decorate ourselves." My dad tied it around his head with a bow on his forehead. (You can see my "headband" in the pic above.) It was awesome. We were all under black lights too, so everyone was glowing.

When I got back home, I searched YouTube for some of my favorite parts to show the boys, and they are all there. We saw the "Rice Krispie Symphony," "Twinkie Feast," "Drumbone," "Pipesharing," and "Paintballs & Marshmallows Toss." Google them when you are bored. So fun!

Towards the end, all these crepe paper rolls were lowered down around the auditorium (think toilet paper dispensers), and we all passed paper over our heads. It's hard to explain, but we basically toilet-papered the whole place. It got a little claustrophobic when mounds of crepe paper were tossed on my head, but it was so fun.  A total party. I highly recommend going if you ever have the chance. Fun stuff.

That night we got fancy treats (chocolate mousse cheesecake for me) and ate in the Venetian food court. Rachel (Kim's friend from high school in Ohio) and her husband Gonzalo joined us there.

By the next morning, Jared & Charlotte had arrived from San Diego. After I hit the gym (I love hotel gyms), we had breakfast altogether and then headed to the Bellagio. We saw the water show,

America the Beautiful & Char's fave Andre Botticelli song

the lobby blown glass,

All the women

and the conservatory.

 The Bellagio Conservatory was all decked out for China's Year of the Rooster

I really wanted to go to the art museum too, so we split up at this point. Half of the group got gelato, while the rest of us went to the museum. It was an exhibit focusing on artists contemporary to each other, but whose perspectives varied because some were urban and others were rural. I love this kind of stuff, so it was great.

I love this lithograph. The caption was in French, but the old, hardworking lady is saying, "Do you want me to sweep you too?" It is a social statement about her dress's complete impracticability. 

After my own gelato, we split the group again. Some of us (me) wanted to walk the rest of the Strip, and others wanted to return to the hotel to rest. Those of us who continued on got to see the MGM Grand and New York, New York. We also took a tram between the Aria and the Bellagio. We saw lots of street performers and lots of strangers' skin. ;-( We also got to see a second Bellagio water show (it started with fog that covered all of us, and we couldn't see the show, oops) of Celine's "My Heart Will Go On." The perfect prep for the night!

The "walkers" were running really late at this point, so we raced back to the hotel and changed for the Big Night.

Kim and I in her princess attire
I also bought our whole group "Happy 40th Birthday" Mardis Gras-like necklaces. You can kinda see mine in this pic.

We all met up together again, and we walked to the Forum Shoppes at Caesar's Palace. Char had made reservations at Trevi, which was a delicious Italian restaurant with both indoor and "outdoor" seating (it was inside the fake-sky area). There was a giant, Romanesque waterfall sculpture behind us. Nice place. Good food.

You can actually kinda tell we are all related in this picture: me, my sister and my mom.

All nine of us at dinner
From the left: my dad, my mom, me, Gonz, Rach (at the head), Rich, Kim, Charlotte & Jared

After some shopping (who knew how cheap H&M was?), we headed to see Celine Dion. Wow, she can put on a show! We saw her 1,022nd show (since she started performing in the Coliseum in March 2003). The theatrics and lighting, the costumes and orchestra, the backup singers and the pianist... It was awesome. So much fun! She actually is really spunky and fiesty, and she was really very entertaining... And it goes without saying that her vocals were stunning.

Me, my dad and my mom
We were up in the 2nd balcony, and my dad was a real trooper. He is TERRIFIED of heights, so it was a real challenge for him, but he did great.

After some more shopping, we headed back to the Venetian for crepes in their Food Court. Unfortunately, at about this point, I got a text from Ryan. He had just gotten back home from a dinner at the Bishop's house for members of our ward council, and he had learned that the very next day would be our last Sunday in our current ward. Apparently, the day before each family in our neighborhood had received a letter letting us know (how's that for 2 days notice?!) from the stake presidency, but we don't check our mail too often, so we hadn't seen it yet. Anyway, I was pretty upset (3 wards in 3 different stakes in less than 18 months... And we haven't even moved houses!). I headed back to my room about midnight and cried more than I slept that night. I don't do change well...

But morning came early, and the party had to come to an end. We met for breakfast at 8am, and then my mom and dad dropped me back at the airport. By myself again, I found security and my gate. I sat in the middle seat, found the shuttle back to long-term parking, found the car right where I left it (ha ha), and drove the hour home again. Go me! (Psst - I got married young, and we've always done everything together and/or have always been too broke to do anything just for fun.)

All in all, it was an absolutely awesome weekend! Happy 40th birthday, Kim! Hope it was the weekend you have always dreamed of. Thanks for letting me come party with you!