What Happens in Vegas....

I think I failed to mention that my brother got married in Vegas. I should also mention that we drove down for the wedding. It was great. Well, at least parts of it were great. Here are the highlights:

Zoe only slept for about 30 minutes of the 6-hour drive down there, but we got to eat at the only In-N-Out in Utah. My parents got us a room at Bally's and since we were only there for one night and that one night was a weekday, they bumped us up to a suite for free. It was awesome - and more spacious than our last apartment. Thursday night we had the pre-wedding dinner with our family and some of Garrett's friends that came out as well. It was a buffet so it would have been a nightmare with Zoe under normal circumstances. So adding her lack of a nap during the day, and the fact that we woke her up from an evening "nap" - that probably would have lasted through the night - to go to dinner, we really had our hands full. Her dinner consisted of a plate of shredded cheese and 2 ice cream cones - courtesy of Grandma. We had a bunch of people and they crammed us into a tiny room so we were constantly climbing over each other to get in and out.

On the brighter side of things, after 4 years of marriage, James (and Zoe for that matter) finally got to meet my other brother Grady, and along with him, his long-time girlfriend Cindy, whom I had yet to meet. Also at the dinner was one of my two cousins close to my age and a few of Garrett's high school friends I hadn't seen, well, since high school. After dinner we - us, my parents, my two oldest brothers, and their significant others - hung out in front of the Bellagio fountain passing the time between shows.

Back at our sweet suite, we put Zoe to bed then crashed on the king-sized bed. The morning, which Zoe decided began at 6 am, was uneventful. We ate - James and Zoe got kicked out of the "gaming area" while they were waiting for the rest of us to finish our meals - walked around, repacked all our stuff and moved it 2 doors down to my parents' room so we could check out of our room. After Zoe screamed herself to sleep for her nap, I met up with one of my buddies from high school to reminisce.

Soon enough it was time to get ready for the wedding. As we left my parents' room I had the sick realization that I had no idea where Zoe's pacifier was. Needless to say, James spent the ceremony wandering the 14th floor of the Paris Hotel with her - they got kicked off the floor with the wedding chapels because she was that much of a nuisance. I found the pacifier in the stroller at the reception, so things got much better after that.

The reception was simple - sandwiches and cake in my brother's suite. By the time dinner rolled around, the majority of my family planned to hit some fancy-pants sushi joint. James and I decided that for everyone's sake it would be better if we excused ourselves. That night we drove an hour to Mesquite to stay with my aunt and uncle. We had pizza and James and my uncle talked about golf. A pretty natural topic since they actually LIVE on a golf course. It was probably the most relaxing time of the entire weekend. The next morning my parents stopped in and then we were off again. Another stop at In-N-Out and then we were home. Zoe slept the whole way back, but I think her recent sleeping schedule of 10 pm - 6am with no good naps might have had a hand in that.

Despite all the not-so-good stuff I really had a great time hanging out with all my big brothers. And speaking of marriage and all that, Happy 48th Anniversary to my folks!