Aaron Turned 30

July 24th Aaron turned 30 and to him it was, "The surrendering of his youth".  I noticed some very negative thinking about this event in his life and I thought about the fact that I've had those moments that seem a little silly to others but on a personal level they shook me so I decided to help him remember he has many more youthful years ahead of him.  I want to add that one of the contributing factors to this feeling for him has been his knee injury.  If his body were 20 it's very likely he wouldn't be having trouble, but ironically we didn't have time for marathon training in our 20s.  I'm pleased to share that for the last 3 weeks Aaron has completed double digit runs without any knee pain. He's not going for any PRs this summer, but he will likely be running his marathons without a problem in a few weeks.

For a month I planned, lied, deceived and was sneaky in an attempt to surprise Aaron with a trip to Las Vegas on his birthday.  The trickiest part for me was leaving less than 48 hours after getting home from girls camp.  As I tried to secretly pack and keep up the regular day-to-day I had to decide between being inexplicably rude to Aaron or surprising him a little earlier than I planned.  I decided that the latter was a the better choice.

In a card that had a joke about ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, LIZARD, SPOCK (a game we play often) he found this
We're leaving for here tomorrow

 

 and seeing this: 

 His reaction:

 

 The surprise stressed Aaron out a bit... not really, he was just sincerely surprised.  After he was filled in he was more than happy to work with me to get everything prepared for the trip.

 A 7 hour road trip without the kids was still long but so nice.  We kept the conversation light and just joked around the whole time.  At one point I said to Aaron, "Should we be taking advantage of this time to talk about serious things?" our decision... NOPE!

 We took a lunch break at Dairy Queen in St. George.  Aaron's first job was working at this restaurant.

 Creepy confession:  I was just staring and admiring this super cute older couple who were having lunch the same time as us.  I watched them and thought, "That's going to be us one day.  Awesome!"  While I don't want to rush through anything in our marriage it will be pretty fun to retire with Aaron. 

Back on the road. 

 

We checked in a started looking for a restaurant Bellagio-lake-side for dinner.

 We stepped out for just a few minutes and came back with our room set up for a more cozy enviroment...nice!

 Dinner before the show at a scrumptious Italian restaurant. 

 Dancing fountains while we waited for our food.

 Aaron's birthday truffles

 After dinner we headed down the strip to the show.

 We got this picture before being scolded because they charge for pictures that have to be taken by a professional... haha we win!  If you look close you can see the massive chandelier behind us.

The one thing I just couldn't pass up was the Monet exhibit.  Aaron was a great sport and agreed to go with me.  Once we got in he was listening to every segment about each piece.  When I told him we could rush he told me, "When I do something I do it."  I love this man, he ended up enjoying it.  Maybe I'll have a new art gallery buddy for life.  I discovered a favorite Monet painting I'll need a print of in our home one day.  

 Largest Chocolate Fountain in the World... I just want to stand in there!

 

Gardens at the Bellagio. The frame I'm in from of is a plant representation of one of Monet's pieces...amazing! 

 Mesmerising

 We had a nice swim in this pool :)  The hotel had lots of little pools so we had it to ourselves for an hour. 

 Yes one of the most important things in my mind for a good vacation is the food!  Pizza Factory on the way back in St. George.

 We were in a storm for an hour of the trip, but it was worth it for the double bow rainbow! 

We had an amazing time, but coming home was great as well! 

 Aaron's sister Karli made this little 30th celebration possible.  She also captured the moment I haven't been able to: an unprompted hug from our children.  So grateful for loving family who care for our children in our absence.

Thanks for a great time Aaron ;)