June 26, 2020: The Next Generation

Yes, after my wifey officially became my wifey, we didn’t wait long to start on the next generation; my son was born almost exactly a year after we got married. And of course, with the history… his great grandparents living there, his dad’s Vegas trips, his mom’s Vegas trips, his parents multiple Vegas trips, his grandfather living out there currently, you know how this is going to go. Yeah, our 8 year old already loves Vegas.

Of course I’m planning on taking him there when he turns 21, like my dad did with me. But I think he was less than a year old when he made his first visit to Lost Wages. Yeah, the whole flying is free for kids under two thing… we took full advantage of that. California, Vegas, New York… we hit them all up before having to fork over some dough for his seat. Just as it seems like a can’t miss that he’ll be tall like my wife and I, it seems like a can’t miss that he will love to travel, will love to have fun, and will love Vegas. I’ll chaperone any trip he wants to take there… with or without my wife… haha.

The trips with my young family are a lot different than my typical Vegas trips. No more late night gambling; heck, no more bankroll to do it with. When I get down to the casino after he is sleeping and my wife is chilling, I think: what am I going to do with this $100??? Haha… putting it on black and letting it rip just doesn’t seem appealing any more. Now if I had a few drinks and was up a little money… Yeah, so I’ll always play in one hold’em tourney. I did split one back in the day; it was like $900 bucks…. took my wife out to a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant in the Venetian. But after that tourney, I’m pretty much done. I’ll have to be up early in the AM and prepare to spend the day at the pool with the family. It’s still fun don’t get me wrong, and yeah, I’ll still swig down a few beers, my wife will run off to hit a slot or the Forum shops… Vegas is still awesome. It’s just different; damn am I getting old.

Of course the main reason we head out there nowadays is to see his grandfather. He’ll hang out with us by the pool most of the day; we’ll grab some lunch, dinner. I enjoy seeing my son spend quality time with all of his grandparents, especially his grandfather that he doesn’t get to see that often. Watching them walk through the Planet Hollywood shopping area, holding hands; that’s pretty cool. Of course, once the night hits, the party doesn’t stop. Sure, we didn’t take him to his first show immediately, but we got there eventually. We went to see a Magic Show at the Tropicana; he loved it. We then took him to his first “concert”; Gwen Stefani at Planet Hollywood; hey, I like Gwen Stefani too OK. It was a bit rough carrying him all the way back to the room at the Flamingo at about 11pm, but we made it. We aim to be back at the room before then; don’t understand the people pushing their kids around in strollers at 2am on the strip…

Yeah, which brings us back to current day; when will we return? Will I be able to convince my wife to go this year? Should I? Who knows with this COVID shit. If her dad weren’t out there, it wouldn’t be that serious of a question. But he is, and it is. Stay tuned.