First Day in Vegas Entry
05-30-2003, 11:40 p.m.

I can't believe that just one week ago, it was our first day in Vegas. Man, how time flies sometimes. We really had such a great time while we were gone, but it did go by much too quickly.

Thursday (last week) was a pain in the ass day. My mom was pretty upset over some work/family stuff, and she even threatened not to go, so that was pretty stressful, and by the time she got home that night (I had spent the night), I was pretty upset over the whole thing, but things worked out, even though we had to stay up late packing her and my dad up. Then my dad lost some money, and so we spent the rest of the night looking for that. We finally found it around 3:30 in the morning.. only to have to get up at 4:15 to get ready to go. You would think that we would have been so tired, and you were right, hehe. It wasn't too bad though, cause we were more excited than anything else. My mom had arranged for a limo to pick us up and take us to the airport, and that was really exciting and fun, hehe. We had a silver stretch limo, and we enjoyed it very much. We got to the airport and had some breakfast and coffee and waited for our flight. The flight went well, and we had a short layover in Denver. Just long enough to run and get a couple of souveniers. I got something for Stephen, and my mom and I both got something for Tonya and for each other. That was fun, giggle. We made it back to our terminal in time for final call for boarding, hehe. The flight from Denver to Vegas, wasn't too long, but it was beautiful going over the snow-capped mountains. I was just so excited to get there though.

The airport was way crowded, but we found Tonya without any problems. I was so excited to see her that I started crying a little. She had brought lei's for us from Hawaii and they were just so beautiful. Real flowers for my mom and I, and nuts for my dad. My parents were so touched, and they just love Tonny. It was a nice start. My mom and dad went to check us into our room (they have airport check-in for most of the hotels now) while Tonny and I waited for our luggage, and soon we were off to catch the shuttle to the hotel. We went right to our room, and it was just so beautiful. The whole hotel was beautiful, and I would stay at there again (We stayed at the New York, New York, and for those of you who haven't seen it, it is shaped just like the New York Skyline, very neat). After we checked in, un-packed and changed into shorts, we headed down to grab something to eat, and to look for my uncle who left a message saying that he was waiting for us in the casino. We didn't have to look long, because believe it or not, he was just getting something to eat at the same place we were.. talk about timing. We hung out for a bit with him, and then my mom, Tonya and I headed over to the Bellagio to pick up our tickets for O that night. The Bellagio is totally beautiful, and we ended up hanging out there for a little while (and I won 100 bucks, hehe).. before we walked back to the NYNY and found my dad and uncle again. We played there for a while, and then headed to our room to get ready to go see O.

"O"-Cirque du Soleil is an aquaticy, ballet type of show, and it is a very popular one in Vegas. The tickets are often hard to get, but my mom, using a contact at work, was able to get us VIP tickets, and we were all very excited about getting to go. We headed over to the Bellagio, and looked around for a while as we waited to get in line. The show was absolutely stunning, and I know this will sound kooky, but it almost was very dream-like, and I often times found myself in a trance-like state. It was spectacular!! I was sorry to see it end, and I couldn't thank my parents enough for treating us to this. It was an awesome way to start our trip. We all loved it very much.

After the show, we walked back to the NYNY, and looked at all the sights. We got to watch the Bellagio fountains from this bridge, and that was beautiful, and we were all excited by all the lights and sounds. This was Tonya's first time seeing it all, and my parents hadn't been there in almost 20 years, so for all intents and purposes, it was their first time too. As we walked back, we stopped at a drugstore to pick up a couple of things (I got my period that night, yuck, so I needed some stuff, what timing David (what Sherry and I called our periods when we were teenagers) has). When we got back to the hotel, we decided to grab a late dinner, and ate at an amazing restaraunt in the Hotel, called America. On the ceiling, there is a HUGE map of the USA with each state outlined, and inside each state are things that the state is popular for. It was neat, and the food was awesome too. My mom was practically falling asleep at the table (no wonder, as we barely slept the night before), so finally my dad took her up to the room, and Tonya and I followed shortly after. The beds were so comfortable, and I think we were all asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows... but not for long, hehe, as we got up pretty early the next morning, to get dressed and head down to the casino to play...

What a great first day it was...