Pseudo Date Night

I say pseudo because our ideal date night would be a dinner out where I can drink, followed by a concert of some sort. Tim and I are also strategic about when to use our Moms [and sis-in-law Amy] for Nora and don’t want to abuse the advantage to having both parents close. So when a good friend’s 40th birthday party was being held at Horseshoe Casino, I could have probably stayed home and have Tim support Team Kron, but Mama doesn’t get out much and I wanted to see friends. We would never go to a casino if it wasn’t someone else’s event. 

We were also missing our annual Loveland Rat Race 5K which we were actually bummed about - it’s our favorite 5K with a great atmosphere and after party. I’m really building up our night, huh? 

We picked up two other Dad friends who didn’t have a babysitter set and my lady counterparts stayed home. Not many of us are gamblers, so I think their choices were solid. This just goes to show how much I enjoy and love Rick to go out 19 weeks pregnant and not gamble to show my love for him on his 40th : ) 

We walked across the over-stimulating floor where I spied my youngest sister, Katherine, dealing Black Jack and gave an apologetic wave. I don’t get to see her often based on our schedules, and it’s probably not a good idea to plop down at her table and start a conversation. She was off at 8pm before we were out from dinner and she’s not allowed on the floor after a shift - yowsers. 

The nicest part of dinner at Margaritaville in the casino was the camaraderie. The service wasn’t great, the average food was overpriced, and a “carnivale” girl on stilts hovered over our table way too long making balloon hats that no one wanted to wear nor keep hearing every 5 minutes pop in our ears. 

We moved to the Diamond Lounge around 8:45pm. A friend of a friend is a Diamond Player [not sure how much that costs!] so we used that card to hide away in a calmer, darker place with lots of chairs and cheap drinks. It was nice and we could visit and still no one made a move to gamble until about 11pm, when I left with Tim and the two other men. None of them minded at all. 

I was asleep by midnight which I haven’t seen since 2013. And of course, like Murphy’s Law, though presented with the opportunity to sleep in, I totally could not. Awake by 7am - Doh! 

Tim and I picked up some bagels and donuts for the Kieffers for taking such great care of Nora. It’s such an uplifting coming to pick up your child and the delight in their face to see you! Nora had a great time and she slept until 7am for them! Thanks again to them for allowing Tim and I to have our pseudo date.