Monday, Feb. 27, 2006 | 7:37 a.m.
Talk about a fertile environment.
On Sunday morning fraternal quadruplets Allison, Monique, Jacques and Danielle Levesque of Santa Rosa, Calif., celebrated their 21st birthday with customized blackjack-styled cakes (each suit represented) and flutes of champagne at the Imperial Palace's "Dealertainer" gambling pit.
How this came to be is a story for the books - medical books.
The quadruplets' mother, Lynn Levesque, had already given birth to the oldest sibling (Damien, now 30) and fraternal twin brothers (Justin and Sean, now 26) when she learned she was carrying what appeared to be another set of twins. A subsequent ultrasound exam showed what appeared to be triplets, then - days later - the unmistakable image of a fourth tiny person emerged.
"They waited a couple of days before telling me I was carrying quadruplets," Lynn, a skin-care specialist who is a young-looking 51, said Sunday between sips of champagne. "I did not respond well when they told me I had triplets."
The "quads" were delivered via cesarean section and became instant celebrities as the first set of quadruplets ever born in Northern California's Sonoma County (to that point Santa Rosa was known primarily as the home of "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz and has since gained fame as the home of Mark Felt, aka Watergate's "Deep Throat" informant).
How Lynn came to conceive a set of twins and quadruplets defies explanation - even from her.
"I don't know exactly why. I did not take any fertility drugs," she said, then embarked on a description of her menstrual cycle that's better suited for some other column ... any other column. But Lynn's cousin also had twins, so you could say multiple infants run in the family.
Lynn also raised the family herself - the father has been "out of the picture," she said since the quadruplets turned nine.
As for the party, Imperial Palace officials on Friday morning were notified by a friend of the Levesque family in Santa Rosa (who used to be a reporter and is now a respiratory therapist who assisted in the birth) that they had booked three rooms at the IP. Word was hastily sent out to hotel employees, and the Levesque crew - 11 family members, including Lynn and all of her kids - took in the "Legends" show on Saturday night.
Sunday was the party, during which the "Dealertainer" crew sang "Happy Birthday to You" to the foursome, and dozens of onlookers applauded and gawked and inquired about the family's unique history.
"We've had a lot of birthday parties - we spend all of them together - but this one is really awesome," said Allison, the oldest (by 60 seconds) of the four. "It's at the top of our scale."
NoteMart
"It was crazy. I was in this show, underage, and nobody in my school knew about it. Nobody in my family about knew it, either," Negron said following Thursday's third-anniversary show at the Mandalay Bay Theatre.
"Those high-heeled boots we wear in the finale? I was wearing those when I was 15, back in the day." ...
For you hobbyists: Gilley's at the Frontier is looking for bikini bull riders and mud wrestlers for its regular Thursday, Friday and Saturday events.
At least that's the request posted on the Frontier marquee facing Industrial Road; inquire within ...
Where Cirque meets public radio: Nevada Public Radio listeners and members have a chance to see "Ka" at the MGM Grand and give money to NPR in the process. Cirque du Soleil and the MGM Grand have reserved 400 of the best seats on Wednesday and Thursday for KNPR 88.9-FM and KCNV 89.7 listeners.
Tickets are $130 for members, $150 for nonmembers (a total value of $120,000 to NPR) and are available at www.knpr.org or at 258-0505. After each show members will be allowed to take part in a Q&A session with the "Ka" cast and crew ...
Table this idea: Funny note from Ricardo Baca of the Denver Post, who penned a Bon Jovi primer last week in conjunction with the upcoming 20th anniversary of the band's "Slippery When Wet" album.
In listing the band's top 10 songs, Baca tabs "Livin' on a Prayer" as No. 2 and describes a recent 4 a.m. breakfast at the Peppermill when one diner started in on the song's chorus, "We gotta hold on to what we've got ..." and the rest of the table joined in, to the horror of the packed restaurant ...
Mookie? That you? Didn't get a good look at the driver, but I did spot a gold Hyundai SUV with plates reading: 86 METS.
Fabulous Las Vegas runs Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. John Katsilometes can be reached at 259-2327 or 812-9812, or at [email protected].
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