Semper Gumby Adventures: Vegas!

Last week Greg's unit had its make-up Birthday Ball in Las Vegas. As some of you may know, the USMC Birthday is a HUGE deal in the Marine Corps, and every year there is a big ball to celebrate it. The 234th Birthday was November 10, 2009, and while the Marines celebrated it in Afghanistan (they make sure that even the most remote places receive some form of "fancy food" to celebrate), the actual ball never happened. Because of this, 3/4 decided to create a "make-up ball" - bigger and better - in Las Vegas upon the unit's return. And boy, was it fun!

Let me start by saying that I am not really a Vegas person. I'm not a huge partier, I don't gamble (except for a few $20s every once in awhile in a slot machine, but only when I got o Vegas), and I don't really like to stay out late. Plus, I think the tackiness of the place is bizarre, and have long been a believer that pretty much any town in the Mojave Desert could become the next Las Vegas if a bunch of fancy hotels, casinos, and restaurants decided to plop down. But there was something about this trip that made all of my negative thoughts about Vegas go out the window. Greg and I think it was a combination of being baby-free (THANK YOU Auntie Katherine and Uncle Jake for babysitting Caroline!!), being there with a bunch of friends, and just doing things on the spur of the moment. It was really fun.

I don't want to make this post too long, but a short list of what we did included the Ball (dinner/dancing/ceremony), going to the nightclubs at the Palms Casino, Cirque du Soleil, seeing the Bellagio water show, window shopping at Caesar's Forum, going to an Irish Pub with an Irish band (as in, actually from Ireland) and an Irish dancer, eating excellent sushi, and eating warm homemade cookies at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant at 3:30 AM on our last night. All things we don't normally do and would never be able to do with Caroline with us, so it was great to really let loose for a few nights. Don't get me wrong - it was SO great to get back home and we both missed Caroline and Rocky like crazy, but it was fun nonetheless.

So that was our weekend! Now we are trying to rest up before another big trip this weekend, to Virginia Beach for Catherine Brown and Nate McFarland's wedding. More updates on that later. For now, enjoy the pics!