Posted by We take our kids everywhere. Germany, Japan, weekend trips all over the USA. Family travel is our thing, and I would not trade it.
But at the end of August, Devon and I did something we do not do nearly enough. We left the kids at home and took a weekend for ourselves.
Friday: pool day, then Papi Steakhouse
We eased into the weekend the right way. Friday afternoon was pool time at Resorts World, because it is Vegas in August and the alternative is melting.
Then we cleaned up for a real dinner. Papi Steakhouse. If you go, go hungry and thank me later.
Saturday: spa day, then the Sphere
Saturday was a full spa day at Awana, the spa at Resorts World. I am a convert. Every couples weekend should include one day where your only job is to be horizontal.
Then the main event. Backstreet Boys. At the Sphere. For the second time.
We first caught this show on Valentine’s Day weekend, and when the chance came to see it again, this time with friends, there was no real decision to make.
If you have not been inside the Sphere yet, nothing I write will quite prepare you. It is the best concert venue you can walk into, full stop. The building itself is half the show, a backdrop no stage on earth can compete with.
One of my favorite parts had nothing to do with the stage. Devon getting excited to dress up, head to toe in white, was its own event. The photos do not do her justice.
As for the show itself, there are too many great moments to pick just one. But the one that stopped me cold was the gospel stretch, the band going to church while an ocean rolled across those screens and a wave the size of a building curled over the crowd. Amazing does not cover it.
We are fortunate to be able to get to Vegas for weekends like this. It is a great time, every time.
Sunday: Stadium Swim, then Absinthe
Sunday we watched baseball at Stadium Swim. Baseball on a giant screen while you are in a pool is one of those ideas that sounds ridiculous until you try it, and then you wonder why every Sunday is not like this.
And we closed the weekend with Absinthe. Raunchy, hilarious, the perfect end to a grown-ups-only weekend.
The part that matters
Here is the thing I actually want to say. Parents pour everything into their kids’ trips, and they should. But you cannot pour from an empty cup, and a weekend that belongs to just the two of you is not selfish. It is maintenance.
We came home better. Better rested, better connected, better ready for the beautiful chaos of three kids and a school year.
So this is your permission slip. Plan the weekend. Book the show. Leave the kids with someone you trust and go be a couple for forty-eight hours.
You will not regret it.
