Nov 7, 2018: Sarah with the present she gave herself on her birthday,
October 27th, while on vacation in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This year, Sarah's birthday fell on the final full day of our Las Vegas vacation: Saturday, October 27th. We made sure the day she turned 29 didn't get lost in the vacation shuffle, planning a special dinner and cake for that evening. We all wished her happy birthday when we got up that morning, and even Jacob remembered to call her from Mesa first thing. (He had started a new job on Monday, at the start of our vacation week, so he wasn't able to join us this year.) Still, it was not a typical Carter birthday celebration by any means.
My big regret was that, exhausted from a full week of busy vacation fun, I forgot to take birthday photos. We were on the go-go-go and I missed taking pictures of the special dinner Chris had planned and prepared for Sarah (shepherds pie, which was yummy). I missed the annual shot of Sarah posing with her birthday cake, a three-flavor ice cream cake she'd chosen from the Las Vegas Walmart. And, sadly, there were no gifts for her to open on her big day. (I'd offered to buy a souvenir of her choice, but she's not that into souvenirs.)
I like to sit on the side of the pool, put my feet in the water, and take pictures.
Taken on our last night in Ls Vegas, October 27, 2018.
Still, the day was memorable in other ways, though it started off slow. We spent most of the day relaxing around the condo after our week of tourist madness, watching a DVD of The Greatest Showman, making a final Walmart shopping trip, and enjoying the dinner Chris made for us. Sarah's wish for after dinner was to go swimming at the resort's pools and float down the lazy river. We'd been so busy all week, the kids had only gone swimming one night previous to her birthday. So we all trooped down to the pool and everyone had a great time for two full hours. All of my children, and their dad, love to swim.
October 27, 2018: Jake, Dylan, Chris, Justice, Mark, and Sarah in the pool.
One person in our family who didn't love to swim was Jake. Due to a near-drowning experience in his childhood, we'd never been able to coax him near a pool. He always stayed on the sidelines, feeling a little dejected, when everyone else was in the water, whether in a pool or at the beach. I couldn't even convince him to sit on the side with me, our feet paddling in the water. Then, during our Las Vegas trip, a small miracle occurred. On the first family swim night, he decided to give it a try. He found the pool a little intimidating, yet also kind of wonderful.
Jake floats along the lazy river, shepherded by Chris and Dylan.
On the night of Sarah's birthday, Jake unexpectedly stepped it up. He decided to join everyone in the lazy river, which has a pretty strong, rapid current. He began by riding a float, but after it dumped him off a couple of times, he realized the water no longer held terror for him. In the end, he was the last one out of the pool, reluctant to leave.
My family on the lazy river: Dylan, Jake, Justice, Chris, Sarah, and Mark.
A beautiful fountain between the resort's two big pools.
After everyone had showered and changed, we headed over to the Fremont Street Experience. It's always been one of our family's favorite events during our Vegas vacations, but this time the fun family flavor we'd so enjoyed there in the past was largely missing. It was late when we arrived, around 10:45, plus it was the weekend before Halloween, so I'm sure that explains some of the change. But certainly not all.
Even the new Fremont Street Experience sign is a bit racier than before.
It seemed that nearly everyone there was in costume, which might have made it more fun, except at least half the people were drunk and about a quarter of the costumes were vulgar and/or obscene. We witnessed many strippers, male and female, plying their trade on the sidewalk. We also passed several young women who wore nothing more than nipple tassels above the waist. The crowds were so heavy that at times we couldn't even move forward.
It used to be that we could bring our young children here without fear of such sights, even late at night. We could enjoy the Viva Vision and music on the display above our heads and explore the many street performers and artists and vendor carts all along the street. This time, there were were hardly any artists or carts to be found, and the few remaining performers were mostly crude, not to mention less than impressive.
The overhead Viva Vision was still there, although louder than I remembered!
Nonetheless, we made the best of the situation. We searched for the "Hand of Faith" in the Golden Nugget Casino, a 61-lb gold nugget found in Australia, as well as the largest gold nugget in existence. (There was once one that was larger, but it had been sold and broken up.) That search was particularly fun when we met a security guard who took an interest in us and personally escorted us to the nugget's display, cracking jokes and calling me "Boss" the whole way. Then we went into Binion's Casino to see their display of one million dollars, in hundred-dollar bills, in a secured case. And we did come upon one talented street artist, whom we stood and watched as he painted three amazing paintings in less than thirty minutes.
The Hand of Faith nugget on display at the Golden Nugget Casino.
In fact, this artist's work was so stunning that Sarah decided to purchase one of the paintings we'd watched him produce, all in black and white and shades of gray. It stood out because his other paintings had all been quite colorful. I teased her that she ended up getting herself a birthday present! The paintings each sold for only forty dollars, plus she bought a frame to go with it.
A closer look at Sarah's new painting.
One thing we'd have all liked to do while on Fremont Street (except Chris, who doesn't like to be scared) was a new attraction, the Fear the Walking Dead: Survival haunted tour. It looked frightfully fun (Sarah and I are huge Walking Dead fans), but the cost was $28 per person, and our funds were dwindling by the end of our week-long vacation. In fact, our original plan had been to vacation in Branson, Missouri, but we switched it to Vegas when we realized money was going to be unusually tight for all of us this year.
A Jeep parked near the Fear the Walking Dead: Survival haunted tour.
We were on Fremont Street for almost an hour and a half, with most of that time spent watching the artist and fighting through the crowds, and by then we'd had enough. We battled our way through the press to the parking garage and headed back to the resort. Along our way, we made one final stop at the Las Vegas sign, this time to say goodbye, since we'd be leaving the next day.
One last stop at the Las Vegas sign, this time at night.
It was almost 1:30 a.m. when we got back to our condo. We sang Happy Birthday in hushed voices, due to the lateness of the hour, and then we ate the entire ice cream cake. Sarah opened her one birthday card (from me), and at 2:00 we all crawled into our beds. In the morning we'd have to be up, packed up, and loaded up by our noon checkout time.
A view of residential lights in Vegas beyond the resort on our final night,
as seen from the breezeway outside the front door of our third-floor condo.
Once we were all back home, last week, Mark and the guys went shopping for Sarah's cards and gifts from them. They presented their gifts to her at our Sunday family dinner, eight days after her actual birthday. Mark gave her the little two-bears-in-a-canoe sculpture. Dylan and Jake gave her the Harry Potter History of Magic book. She loves them both! As for me, I'll be giving her a rather hard-to-obtain DoTerra essential oil that isn't currently available, but I hope to have it for her before Christmas.
Nov 4, 2018: Sarah with two of her late gifts, eight days after her birthday.
No, not a typical Carter birthday at all, but one I hope will always be memorable for my sweet Sarah!
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