3-Day weekends. I live for those. In fact, I like to add on a vacation day from work to make it a long 4-day weekend. That’s just what I did for Labor Day. I got back Thursday night from Boston, slept in until 8:30 on Friday morning, and then took the wife and kids to the mountains to visit my family for the weekend.

Two things made the 4-day weekend especially manly: speed and technology.

Speed – my brothers brought their Yamaha Rhinos (and one Polaris Ranger) to the mountains. On Saturday a group of guys (and my sister) went for a long ride to the top of a nearby mountain. The ride wasn’t dangerous or tough, but the roads allowed us to get the Rhinos going a pretty good speed. It was fun. I took my DSLR along for the ride and got some good shots. The photo above is my brother and dad speeding ahead in the Ranger.

Technology – My wife literally witnessed this scene when she walked into the kitchen: I was playing craps on my iPhone 3G, one brother was playing craps on his iPhone 3GS, my other brother was playing Plants vs. Zombies on his iPad, and my dad was listening to music on his Motorola Droid. No talking. Just four guys with their eyes focused on tiny monitors in their hands. Nerdy? Sure, I’ll admit it was. Manly? Very.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, the wife and I enjoyed a few days alone in Vegas. We did the fancy dinner and stayed at a fancy hotel. The last piece of the puzzle: a Vegas show with the wife.

Before I booked tickets, we got advice from our friends and family about what shows to see. It came down to three choices: Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, or the Phantom. We’ve already seen the Blue Man Group, so they were eliminated from contention. That left Cirque and Phantom. After watching the trailers for the many Cirque shows and checking ticket prices, we decided on the Phantom.

Phantom was the manly choice. The Vegas version is condensed into 95 minutes: long enough to appease the wife and short enough for my manly attention span. It had the cool special effects (the chandelier particularly) and all the recognizable hit songs. Plus, the Phantom does some cool stunts and he kills somebody.

My wife loved the whole experience. She got to dress up in her nice black dress, wear some new jewelry, and enjoy a nice dinner after the show. I tried to impress her by putting on a nice pair of slacks with my best dress shirt and shoes. (I may not have been the best looking/dressed guy there, but at least I outclassed the jack-hole in front of us that was wearing jeans and a Red Sox hat.)

In then end my wife has thrilled and I was more than satisfied with the show. It was the perfect cornerstone to the Manly Dad (and wife) Vegas trip.

Image source: phantomelasvegas.com

My wife needed a break from the kids. Ever since our first boy was born 4.5 years ago, we haven’t had a single day alone. Thanks to some scheduling for work, I planned a quick getaway to Las Vegas. We dropped our boys off with my parents and headed for Vegas.

Since it would probably be a few years before we can do this again, I knew I had to make the most of it. So I booked two nights at the newest resort & casino: The Aria. It did not disappoint.

The casino had a different feel than the others in Vegas. Something was noticeably missing: a theme. My wife and I joked that its theme is that it has no theme. There were no pirates, pyramids, Romans, or knights. There were no fake volcanoes, towers, or canals. The Aria was just dark contemporary casino. Very sleek. Very modern. We loved it, but probably because we don’t like the noise and gaudiness of the other casinos.

The hotel room was great. The entire room was controlled by a single touchscreen remote control. Need to open the drapes to see the Vegas strip? There’s a button for that. Need to dim the lights by the bed? There’s a button for that. Want to order a pay-per-movie? There’s a button for that, but don’t touch it because the movies cost $12.99.

The bathroom was amazing. Honestly, this is why I chose The Aria. It had a huge walk-in shower and a huge soaker tub. No need to say more about that…it wouldn’t be manly.

If we go to Vegas again (and we probably will at some point), we would consider going back to The Aria.

Yep. You read that right. $13.50 for 7Up. I was ripped off. Here’s how it happened:

The wife and I enjoyed a few days alone in Las Vegas las week. We stayed at the Aria, the newest resort/casino. Wanting to impress my wife with a fancy dinner, I made reservations at Jean-Georges Steakhouse. It did not disappoint. I had a killer filet mignon and my wife enjoyed perfect soup and salad (she’s not much of a meat eater). Since I don’t drink, I ordered a 7Up. It came in a small glass that was 3/4 full of ice. It still tasted good, and I quickly downed it. The server offered me another and I finished that during my meal. I had one final glass of 7Up after the I finished my steak. In total, I had 3 glasses of 7Up (and my wife had one).

Then the bill came. Four glasses of 7Up at $4.50 each. I drank $13.50 of 7Up. Apparently, free refills on soda is only for high end establishments like McDonalds, Subway, and Applebees.

At least the steak was worth the $38 price tag.

I’m taking all of next week off of work, and the family and I are headed to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving.  It’s a long drive…too long for two small kids in our small car.  So, we rented a bigger car for the week.  Tonight we picked up that rental car: a Dodge Grand Caravan.

Yep.  A minivan.

The minivan has one feature that totally blows the mind of my four year old: automatic sliding doors.  I told him the door are magic and they will open when you say “abracadabra.”  He tried it out, and the magic worked perfectly.

We start out on our long journey tomorrow.