We’ve got a big milestone coming up in our household.  Any guesses?  Nope…not potty training (unfortunately).  You probably won’t guess, so I’ll just tell you – my first overnighter away from Cragbaby!  For the past 2 years and almost 8 months I’ve woken up every morning in the same house as C (and for a good bit of that time, in the same bed!)  And except for the occasional date night for New Year’s Eve and extended family vacations where C’s grandparents give us a night off from the bedtime routine, I’ve been there to give a good night kiss every night as well.  So the next few days will be monumental not only for C, but for the entire family! 

Why Vegas, you might ask?  Good question.  We are creatures of opportunity, and have established somewhat of a loose tradition of playing for real money in the USA (if doing something one other time counts as a tradition…).  Every year the hubster gets to go geek out at the annual Microsoft Sharepoint Conference – last year it was in Anaheim (which meant that while I was playing the role of single mom for a week, Steve was riding Space Mountain), and the time before that was in Seattle.  But more often than not, it’s in Vegas, which is where the loosely established tradition comes into play.  The last time the conference was in Vegas I was 17 weeks preggers with C.  I had some vacation days to kill, and we figured what better place for a baby-moon than Vegas?!?   So I flew out to meet Steve after his conference was over, and we enjoyed a long weekend of desert sandstone in the land of excess.  We had a blast out there (trip report here), so when we found out the conference would be in Vegas again this fall, I got right on the phone with my mom (aka Gaga), to see if she’d be willing to watch C for a few days.  Thankfully, she said yes, and we went out and booked flights that night.  

Us in Calico Tanks back in 2009 – with my 4 month baby bump just starting to come into view 😉

Fast forward to today – Steve has been gone all week (at the conference), and I’ve had a lot of Mommy/Son time.  Plenty of time to get excited beyond belief about the idea of a weekend with just me and the hubs…and plenty of time to delight in my little guy and realize just how much I’m going to miss him.  It’ll be tough to leave him for sure, but I think this will be a good experience for everyone involved.  C is really excited about staying with Gaga and Paw Paw for the weekend – to be honest, it’ll probably be harder on me than it will be on him! 

 I leave tomorrow!  And our travel agenda will consist of 1 night in the Mandalay Bay (courtesy of the company tab), 2 nights in the Fiesta Rancho (sounds ghetto, but it’s a great  casino option that’s a lot closer to Red Rock Canyon than anything on the strip and there was a strange-looking guy letting people learn how to become a bookie here), and 3 days of climbing (yay, multi-pitch!!!!!).  We’re both taking red-eye flights back on Sunday night, banking on the fact that seeing C in the morning will be worth the few extra hours of sleep lost.  

For those of you that have gone down this road before – any words of wisdom?  How old was your little one when you took the plunge, and how did it go (if it was a positive experience, please leave a detailed comment now…if it was horrible, maybe wait until next week when I get back. Just kidding.  Kind of  😉 )