Vegas Baby!!

I'm back in Phoenix after an incredible weekend in Vegas. We flew in on Friday morning and checked into our hotel- the Flamingo- while waiting for Daniel's parents, brother, and his girlfriend Kristy to drive up from Phoenix. Around noon they arrived and we all went down to the lobby to get some lunch. They had flamingos in a little garden outside! It was so pretty. We also couldn't resist peeking in the wedding chapel. Don't worry though- we didn't elope! After lunch we began walking up the strip. I was appalled by the hoards of hispanic people standing on the street handing out cards with pictures of naked girls on them. We stopped in the Venetian, the Wynn, pretty much every hotel in that direction. The Venetian was my favorite. It reminded me of Venice, only more Disneylandy. Everything was beautifully decorated for Christmas. We window shopped and took pictures. We stopped in one of the hotels to play a little video poker. Robert taught us how to play. It was just a penny machine, but I did end up breaking even. The girls had tickets to Chippendales that night, but the guys didn't so they stopped at a half price ticket booth to see what they could get. They ended up with tickets to Cirque du Soleil! We were so jealous. It was called Zumanity, and it's supposed to be the sexy, sensual cirque du soleil. The acrobats were almost all naked! But we knew that we would have fun too. We all got up very early that morning so we headed back to the hotel about 4pm to rest until our show that evening.

The girls got all dressed up and we went to the Rio for our show. Kristy wasn't 21, so they wouldn't let us in early. Before the show, it's just a bar. So we went to a nearby bar on the casino floor, and again they turned Kristy away. So Julie and Kristy went to window show in a nearby store while Nicole and I got some drinks. The bartender tossed the bottle around and did all kinds of crazy moves to make our drink. It was so cool! Finally, it was time to go into the theater. It was a small theater set up kind of like a club with tables and chairs around them. There were about 10 guys in the show. It was very different than what I thought. I did not realize how pornographic it was! I thought it would just be guys dancing around on stage. But they like acted out sex scenes! Nicole ended up in the front row which put her in the fortunate position to be taken up on stage! I was screaming the whole time. She was wearing a cocktail dress with a little jacket over it and the guy pushed her up against a wall and untied her jacket. Then he led her to the center of the stage and sat her down and all the guys danced around her. At one point, one of the guys actually dragged his finger from her ankle up her leg and lifted up her skirt an inch! It was crazy. Throughout the show, they also came down and danced with all the girls in the audience. One of them came up to me and danced with me. He asked where we were from, and I said Phoenix. Then he asked how I like it there, and all I could think to say was "It's really hot" lol! I guess we know where my mind was.... One of them also kissed Julie on the cheek. We all had a fabulous time. At the very end, you could pay $20 to get a picture with all the guys. One of the ushers told Kristy that she could get one for free! He led her up on stage so she cut everyone in line and got a picture with the whole cast for free. We have no idea why. The guys really enjoyed their show too, though they couldn't get us to stop talking about ours all night! It was great.

We walked back towards our hotel and stopped at the Bellagio to see the beautiful fountain show. Later that night, me and Daniel sat down at a Blackjack table with Robert. The lowest minimum they had was $10, so Robert gave us some money to gamble with. The 3 of us started with $100 and on the second hand, Robert won $125! He bet $1 on the lucky lady which means if he gets 2 queen of hearts, he wins 125 to 1. It was so crazy! But within an hour we lost all $125 and our original $100. It was fun anyways. And let me tell you, free drinks is awesome! That is the best part about Vegas.

The next day we slept in and walked the other way on the strip. We also stopped at the M&M store which was really fun. We saw the huge lion cage in MGM and they even had two cubs there! We went in Mandalay Bay which I only wanted to see because of the amazing race. We also went in Excalibur, Caesar's palace, the Luxor, and New York New York. We found a $5 blackjack table this time and Daniel and I played with $50 for a long time. Nicole played with $35 and we all did really well. We got a 3 foot drink to share and that got us all pretty wasted. Evan and Daniel actually took a shot of 151! Then they got a Jagerbomb (not sure about the spelling). So they were all pretty drunk. We played at the slots just long enough to get more free drinks. It was a great night. Eventually we headed back to the Flamingo and I got an hour nap in before dinner. Then we found out that our show was cancelled on us. How disappointing. We had tickets to a magic show that night but they just cancelled it. We went to this incredible sushi and seafood buffet at Planet Hollywood for dinner. I am really beginning to love sushi. It was delicious! I ate so much of it too. Then the kids split off from the parents and we went to the Bellagio. They had an incredible Christmas display inside. There were polar bears made out of flowers and reindeer made out of pecans! We played quarter video poker and I lost $4. I spent surprisingly little. I think it was under $100 for the whole weekend on gambling and drinks. Daniel's parents were so generous. They paid for everything else, and even some drinks too! We actually went to bed pretty early that night. We were exhausted. The strip is so overstimulating, I was so tired at the end of the day.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and drove back to Phoenix. We stopped at the Hoover Dam and took the tour there. It was pretty interesting. I had no idea how important it is to deliver our electricity and water. I am so glad that I went to Vegas. I think it's a great place to go right after you turn 21. There was so much to see and do. I loved it!