We are home!

***Thankyou so much for following our journey.***

We survived our long journey back and are home with our wonderful wee family.

The tiredness caught up to us on the flight back from Auckland to CHCH. We both easily fell asleep. I am quite a light sleeper so was kind of half-concious. I thought it was night time and that we were back in the LA - AK plane, which therefore meant that the thing next to me was the planes wall. Naturally, I snuggled into it, trying to get comfy.

Ten minutes later, my eyes burst open as I realised...I was not on the LA- AK flight. \

I was sitting on the opposite side of the plane.

In the middle chair.

Chad was to my right.

And to my left was NOT a wall.

I subtly sneaked a look; yep there was my fellow passenger- an overweight teenager from America, whom I had mistaken for a wall and snuggled up against!!! He was looking rather uncomfortable and wouldn't meet my eye. Thankgod I was too tired to be embarassed. Chad found it hilarious of course ;-)

When we arrived to the bitter cold of CHCH, we excitedly looked for the girls as we exited. Through the second doorway, I spotted them straight away.

There was Baby Belle, wrapped up in a fluffy jacket, being held by Debs (who didn't look too worse for wear) and there was my angel Charli. When she saw us she yelled out "Yippee! Mum and Dad!" over and over, with her wee chubby arms held high in the air, jumping for joy. I tried taking a picture of it as it was so cute and I wanted to remember that moment forever, but instead I ditched the camera, and my bag, and raced up to scoop her in my arms.

Pure happiness :-)

Little Miss was a bit more hard to get. She smiled at Chad but wouldn't meet my eye. I held her and she still wouldn't look so I thought we'd just give her some more time. She went back to Debs and fell asleep. Wasn't til we got home and she had had a nap that she then started smiling at us both. I think she was too tired, because when she had slept she was super excited to see us! Every time I come in the room she flaps her arms in excitement xoxo

It was presents all round, then Chad and I caught a nap while Debs was still here. We checked in with the folks at PMH, and agreed I could be at home for this weekend, and now here we are, it's 7.40pm local time and I am ready for bed!!!

Next to me I hear the soft breaths of Baby Belle as she sleeps soundly in her cot, and down the hall I hear Charli-Rose's unlady like (but super cute) snores.

Heaven.

For my regular readers, I will see you back on http://myheavenandhell-myjourney.blogspot.com (send me a message if you are new)

Everyone else, thanks so much. I hope you have enjoyed seeing our pictures, reading out stories, and I really hope it inspires you to open your mind, hold onto your dreams and BELIEVE xoxo

Almost home!

Most of our journey home is over!

The flight from Las Vegas to LA went all to schedule, much to our relief. It was also a relief when we landed safely as it was the bumpiest, hardest plane flight I've ever had. The poor woman in front of me was afraid of flying. She held hands with her partner over the aisle (they were seated apart) for most of the trip- SO CUTE!!!

Me, I love turbulence. It's like a free disneyland ride.
All fun and games til you remember you are in a plane, thousands of feet in the air, and you can die. When the plane started making funny noises, then stopped suddenly, and the plane leaned forward then started dropping...eek haha!

Back in LA we had a 7 hour wait.
Because LAX is such a big, busy airport, there are different terminals and a handful of airlines share each one.
In my pre-travel wisdom, I had assumed a day at the airport would be wicked fun- I mean come on it's LAX!!! We ended up stuck in this shitty Air NZ terminal which had only a few shops, and old worn out chairs. It was overcrowded and very stuffy. Suddenly it seemed like a loooong 7 hours.

That's when being a parent helped. Parenting gives you the gift of patience. This whole trip, I have never felt that a wait has taken too long, even when we've had 3 hour delays. You just breathe through it.

Plus, since having kids, time spent on your own waiting for things doesn't become an annoyance, it becomes a gift. I used to get annoyed if the doc was running half an hour late. Now, as long as the kids aren't there, I tell them not to hurry- it's some special down time to hang out and catch up with old magazines!

I really enjoyed the 12 hour flight back to NZ, and even the wait at the airport. 7 hours to myself plus another 12 on the plane with my own wee TV screen? I can't remember the last time I got to watch one hour of uninterrupted TV or reading time, let alone 19!

While waiting there in the airport, I realised how different I felt than when we started our advneture. Back on the first plane trip, I said I hadn't realised how exhausted I was. I felt grey, with a bottomless pit of tiredness in me. Like I could sleep for 3 days and still be tired.

Now, I felt revitalised and relaxed.
Like...like sunshine.

Maybe I haven't fixed everything by going on this trip. Maybe things will still be hard. But I've got my shine back and that's worth everything :-)

* By the way, I totally get that this blog has been rather egocentric. Chad has had a great time too he's just not as hippie/emotional about it as I am ;-) And besides, he's a man of few words. His contribution;  "It was awesome."

Is it horrible to say that we didn't miss the children?

There have been pangs for them, especially when we see other little ones. But I think we hid the missing part away because we knew we couldn't see them (except on Skype).
Now that I know we are close, so close, to going home and seeing them, my mother instincts are going mad. I was *this close* to asking an Asian man sitting next to us if I could borrow his baby.

I have missed them, my two wee angels, but not the work that comes with them (if that makes sense?) But now I can't wait to have them in my arms. I'm counting down the hours...Mama is on the way my darlings!!! With a suitcase of presents and weeks worth of bear hugs and kisses for you!

As for everything else, where to from here...well I don't know. I'm totally freaking out. But I've just gotta take each day as it comes. Each HOUR really.
Am I going back to the hospital?
Am I gonna be able to cope if I don't?
How will I be different?
What will be the same?

It feels a bit like this...

But seeing my little girls faces makes it all OK :-)

A few more hours and we'll finally be home!!!

Day 10- Our last day!

Well here we are.
All packed up and ready to go home. It will be a long, long few days getting back. I'm sure the girls will be very happy to see us!

We spent the morning on a mission to get one last souvineer I wanted needed.

You spend a lot of time walking and travelling in Vegas. On the map, things don't look far away. "Oh look, it's only 4 casinos away". But what you forget is each casino takes up almost two blocks! Needless to say we've burned off the junk food we've been eating.

Aaahhh I can't wait to get home and have REAL FOOD again! A lil bit of meat with 3 veges for dinner, and a bowl of cereal and milk for lunch, mmmm. They are luxuries we haven't had while travelling.


Things we will miss about USA:

- Self flushing toilets (awesome, once you get used to them. The first time I experienced one I screamed and nearly jumped through the door!)

- Cheap booze

- The shopping; some stuff like make-up, shoes, designer brands etc are heaps cheaper here, even with the exchange rate

- The summer weather

- Spending time just the two of us, getting to sleep in, not having to wake up to baby through the night

- Their deep fried steak (think I might have to try find a recipe for it at home for Chad)

- Our hotel room. The place we are in now is bigger than our 2 bedroom flat at home!!!

- Just how big, huge and diverse it is. We've been here a week and a half and feel like, other than vegas, we could have easily spent another week in each city. There's so much to see and do!


Things we won't miss about the USA:

- 'Nice' people. If someone if being friendly to you, you can bet they are after your money

- The homeless people

- Tipping and prices at shops not including sales tax. Never go to a $5 lunch bar with only $5. You end up adding on the 12% tax or whatever it is, plus 15-20% for a tip, and $1 per drink from the bartender.

- Customer service, mostly it's been so bad!

- The freeways (Chad). Personally I liked them but Chad hated them!

- The money. $1 is a note, and they go right up to $100. All the notes are quite similar and easy to mix up. The coins are crazy; dimes, quarters, nickels, and 1c. They give you change in 1 cent coins- so annoying!

- Not having other people to talk to. I love Chad but being part of a couple can cut you off from getting to know other people. That, plus the 'anyone who's being nice is trying to sell you something' means the other travellers aren't very friendly or approachable.

- The junk/fast food culture. Bring on home made, healthy, REAL food!!!

- The 'dumb and dumber' culture. Which probably has to do with the "I'll sure your ass!" culture.


Favourite attractions of our holiday:

- Disneyland

- Alcatraz

- The Las Vegas Strip at nights

- The shopping

- Santa Monica

- The carousels and roller coasters

- The tour of San Francisco to the Golden Gate Bridge

- The Phantom show

We have so many good memories to take back with us.

As it is with travelling, we have loved some of the places we have been and would happily take some of the things home with us. However there's no place like home. Being away has shown us (again), how lucky we are to live in a country like New Zealand.

It's clean, it's green, with beautiful scenery. The people are friendly, and not so you will tip them. Our government provides things like the benefit- well to do people, bitch all you want about it, but it's this that keeps people off the street. Having a large homeless ppopulation doesn't just affect those who are homeless, but everyone in the community. The racism is nowhere near as bad as it is in America and the gap between rich and poor is less.

Feeling very blessed with the country we live in xoxo

I'm super nervous about going home again. We haven't really got any plans on what's gonna happen- actually that's not true. There is a plan but I'm not sure it's the right thing to do so we've got to decide what's gonna happen. I hate the deciding- it stresses me out- so I'm just trying to breathe, not let it get to me, and think 'Whatever will be, will be. We will sort it out when we are home.'

Another 30 hours and we should be back on home shores!!!

Day 9- Our last day!

Day 9- Las Vegas

Well that's it, our holiday is coming to an end!

Today was the last full day we have in vegas. Tomorrow is spent flying back to Los Angeles, hanging out in the airport for 8 odd hours, then boarding our plane and flying 12 hours back to Auckland NZ! Then we wait around another 4 or 5 hours to take our 1 and a bit hour flight back to chch, arriving back at 10.30am on what will be Friday in NZ. It's gonna be a loooooong day or two!

So today was another midday wake up. Seriously it's the best thing to do while in vegas, for a few reasons.
1) It's so damn hot that it makes sense to try skip the day and be up later at night when the sun is gone and it's a bit cooler.
2) It's Sin City, so all the cool stuff happens at night
3) The alcohol is really, really cheap (or free if you're gambling) so time to nurse any hangovers in quite a necessity.

This is the life!

I must say though, Vegas is very intense. It's an assault on the senses. You forget to eat, drink and sleep as you go GO GO. I can see why the Lonely Planet said not to even think about doing more than 3 nights! As a weekend destination, it's a fantasy land. Longer than that and it takes it out of you.

Not just the partying, but the weather. Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful it being warm but living here in it, having to work in it (and not sleep til midday) would get hard.

Our tour guide today was not having a good day. It was particularly hot and humid, and she had to wear a longsleeve shirt. She was quite unenthusiastic about it all, good on her. I was melting too!

I also wonder what happens to you when you get older. There are so many young, pretty girls working in this town. All dolled up in their costumes with masks of make-up on, having a good time. But what happens as you get older? There are a few more senior waitresses that we have seen but mostly they are wrinkle free and under 30.

Anyway, enough thinking for now; here's what we did today!

We started off eating our one meal of the day at Dennys. Chad was very keen to head there. Not so keen to try the bacon and maple syrup milkshake though. (Seriously who has bacon in their milkshakes?!?!?!)

The food was YUM and the milkshakes (w/out bacon) were super cute. Love how they give you the little bit extra that never fits in the glass.

Speaking of food- we went past a restaurant today called The Heart Attack Cafe. It has a 4000 calories burger. Their fries are deep fried in pure lard, milkshakes made with full cream and butter and they even pop an extra stick of butter in them as a garnish.They weigh you when you come in the door and if you weigh more than 350pounds then you eat for free. Crazy!!!

Another wacky place we saw today was here:

It's a medical centre for Brain Health; dementia, parkansins, altzeimers. And the building looks like that. Ironic much?!

We also drove past the famous wedding chapel and saw some people going in!

Spent some time at the Premium Outlet Stores and got some gorgeous outfits for the girls.

They are gonna look adorable!

On the way home we said goodbye to our tour guides and went inside 'Slots a Fun' casino to escape the heat. OK maybe also because they have low limit, simulation games with super cheap drinks.

Our favourite game is BlackJack, which also happens to be the casino game where you have the most chance of winning. And win we did!!! Except we then put the money back in lol.

I brought a few drinks and was given a free one too. Seems we couldn't drink of the bus, clever little me thought I better drink them fast and it didn't end up so well for me.

(Me looking pretty pleased with myself before the alcohol hit!)

Our plans for the rest of the night were postponed as we took the nearest cab home. The cab driver was really lovely- the first friendly one we've had, which was so great cuz I've been hanging out to talk to a 'local'. However I was rather preoccupied with not throwing up in her cab ;-) She did say I sounded British which is kinda cool. Never stopped to think what our accent sounds like to Americans.

After a swim and some water, we skyped the girls again and told them we would see them very soon.
My little baby, who has only slept through the night once without needing re-settling, has been an angel for her Nana, sleeping 12 hours overnight.

Til last night that is.

Of course- Debbie you know our Little Princess wasn't gonna let you get off that easily!

Poor thing was up every hour in lots of pain and Debs is very tired today. She took Belle to the doctor and she's got an ear infection- argh bad timing eh? I think Debs will be VERY glad to see us on Friday to hand the ropes back over to us!

I'm quite nervous about going home.
I know it took a lot to come on this trip and there were times when everyone around us thought it wasn't the best thing to be doing.
But I held on to the 'bigger picture' and decided that long term, it was what was best for myself, my girls, my friends, my family...

There was a bit of pressure I put on myself for this trip to be the magic cure for what we are going through at home. I don't feel like I've changed at all and I was feeling quite guilty about it, but Chad says I might still be different, just not til I get home.

Even if that's not the case, we have still done it. We held on to our dream and DID IT in spite of everything! That means a lot. Not just to us. I can look my daughters in the eye and tell them they CAN do anything. I have showed that to them, walked the walk not just talked the talk.

I did get sent a very special message from my friend while I was away- Learne, I know you're reading this (got no money to txt back haha) and I just wanna say Baby girl, you are amazing and I hope this shows you that you can do anything! Becoming a mother when you're young doesn't mean your life is over. It changes, sometimes in ways we can't predict (like my PND), but you hold on to what you believe in and your dreams will come true xoxo

Well next time I update this I will probably be sitting at the airport back in Los Angeles, waiting for our flight!

Hmmm I hope we can fit all our stuff back in the suitcases. It seems to have grown...

Viva Las Vegas!

Day 8 (...I think)

We both woke up this morning utterly shattered. The adrenaline that fuelled the first part of our trip has well and truly worn off, so much so that...and I never thought I'd be saying this...but we decided to skip the Grand Canyon!

Argh I know! I was so excited and determined to go there. But flexibility is a must when you are traipsing round the other side of the world, and so we rolled with it. Prioritized RELAXING, and getting enough to eat and drink, as I know once we are home life will return to it's .
chaotic, stressful self before we know it.

Taking the morning easy again (a must do for vegas), we headed in and after waiting about an hour, caught a tour like the one we went on in San Fran. It was good but totally regret forking out the money for a 48 hour pass- we have barely used it!

By the Welcome to Las Vegas sign (that small thing in the background!)

The thing with TIME here in Vegas is that it goes so fast. None of the casinos have clocks in them and once you are in, it's like a maze. There are no exit signs either. They like to keep ya in, that's for sure! Blink and an hour goes by in the air conditioned rooms with sparkly lights and noises everywhere. I'm still chuffed every time someone brings me a free drink while I'm gambling...which we finally did some of today!

First of all though was our stop in at the Atomic Testing Museum. The nuclear bombs were tested out here near Las Vegas so this museum is great. It was missing quite a few things though- the effect of nuclear bombs on people and the environment, and the utter destruction the bombs caused in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There was one sole picture; a before and after of the city of Hiroshima.
In the former, it's a bustling city. In the later, it's bare land. Like it magically disappeared.

That's the feeling of the whole museum to do with that- *blink*, it's gone, out of sight, out of mind. That in itself was quite interesting to see. Also, right at the end they threw in a bit on 9/11...you know, just in case you were in any doubt about the validity of nuclear testing...(weapons of mass destruction anyone???)

We got an awesome souvenir though; a handbook copied from the cold war period on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack, which was really given out to families. It's pure propaganda which makes it all the more interesting. Got to be up there with the tin cup we got from Alcatraz just like the prisoners had.

My favourite bit was reading about the mannequins they used in the testing. They had a book with the recordings scientists had made about how the dolls fared in the blasts, hoping to see which type of housing, clothes, shelter etc protected them the most. One or two weren't badly damaged but a fair few simply disintegrated. Others it was noted had damage to only one side of the clothes and very minor burns. Oh, but it was also torn apart at the waist...yea somehow I don't think you'd be worried how your clothes fared if you were torn apart at the waist!

They also had a bunker thing where you could go and 'experience' a nuclear blast. Wow oh wow oh wow. Chad still has the nail marks in his leg! It was freaky as. Amazing, but freaky!

Then it was back on the bus and on with the rest of the tour, most of which was just driving past hotels. At one bit we had to stop to transfer so we went into the cool of the casino for a bit. There I discovered black jack which is officially my new favourite game. We only played the virtual one though...way too scared to play with actual people (yet!)

Instead of heading back and getting all dressed up for the evening that night, we decided to skip the long wait and hot ride to stay on The Strip instead. "What are we gonna do with 5 hours?" I asked doubtfully. Silly, silly thing to say in Vegas!

First up was the sharf reef at Mandalay Bay.

It's like Kelly Tarltons but better. Saw lots of sharks, jellyfish, an octopus, and a golden crocodile!

The golden crocodile, pressed right up by the window. I could have watched him all day!

There were also some really sinister looking fellas from the amazon. You tell in one look that they meant business! They jump outta the water and can snatch their prey from trees.

There was also a tank where you can touch some sting rays. I picked one to pat hello to and right as I almost touched him, he moved and I screamed! Both a couple by us, and the sting ray himself found this hilarious. Swear to god he was f**king with me- every time I put my hand in, he swung around. I was scared of the stinger bit on his tail that he kept showing off. Finally I just sucked it up, stuck my hand right the way in the water, and then squeled when I touched him- he felt so gooey! Like jelly. But really smelly.

This guy had a smile for us...think he was deciding who looked the tastiest!

Many a 'Jaws' joke was made during the production of these photos

After buying another bag of gifts for our family at home, we headed off to the Excalibar for a buffet dinner. The food was a dissapointment but the experience was great. So many kids almost bursting with excitement over the opportunity to have as much ice cream and pizza as you could eat!

Then it was off to New York, New York Hotel. They put a LOT of work into this one, with a statue of liberty, a new york skyline making up the buildings, and themed eateries throughout.

Yep- that's a whole WALL of M & Ms!!! Needless to say, Chad found another slice of heaven today :-) And we brought Charli-Rose her pink and purple M & Ms which she has been asking for for as long as we've been talking about the trip (easy to bribe a nearly-4 year old!)

We also went on the rollar coaster at NY NY.
Scariest. Ride. Ever!
It took us high up and then straight down, zero gravity, about 5 times, looped us upside down at high speed, and then did this awful cork screw turn. During the ride, I wanted it to be over. As we stepped out, I asked Chad if he wanted to go again and he almost yelled out NOOOOO in horror. But a few hours later? The nausea and unpleasantness had worn off, leaving pure excitement. Totally wanting to go on it again ;-)

We didn't that night though as we were heading off to something even more exciting:
The Las Vegas production of Phantom of the Opera.

It was INCREDIBLE!!! 

It had a whole theatre made just for this show. The music was amazing, of course, but they also went over the top with costumes, sets, and even had fireworks and a chandelair which looked like it fell right down onto the crowd bellow us! Even though we were in the cheapest seats, the view wasn't too bad.

It was a magical night. I even got teared up in parts! Was so easy to get immersed in the story. We came away singing. There's really nothing like it!

Custom theatre. Couldn't get a good shot but it was amazing, the attention to detail second to none. Those red boxes you can see are actually part of the set, filled with dressed up mannequins looking like they are watching the show with us. 

The Chandeleir started off in 3 different bits, then got pulled together during one of the scenes. It had a guy swinging off it, waaaaaay up high, and then near the end it dropped on the audience below us, the lights blacking out just as it would have hit them on the head. So cool!

Then it was taxi time back to the hotel where we spent a few hours lounging by the pool, off to bed about 3am again. Aaahhh this is the life...

***

All in all, it was a very eventful day. So not feeling too bad about having missed the Grand Canyon.

We only have one more day left here as we are spending the last two days in at the airport then on our flight. I think we've done pretty well squeezing as much as we have into our trip, without totally exhausting ourselves. 

And we're only bringing home about 1 1/2 extra suitcases of stuff, mostly for the girls- who have been doing very well with Nana Debs. 

We have talked to them every night but one. The first night was hard as Charli-Rose was crying, Lilabelle had been upset all day, and Debbie looked totally overwhelmed and exhausted. Thankfully it got a lot better and now we see 3 smiling faces every time we Skype them :-)

I look forward to telling Charli tomorrow night that we will be seeing her real soon!!!

***

Favourite picture of today:

Dear Rachael,

Well babe, it's not quite the New York that you and I dreamed about, but it's pretty close. I did it! I really, really did it. I know I made your memory smile today. Love to all the way to heaven and back,

Your Mealz

xoxo

RIP

Happy Birthday to Me!

Starting my birthday on the Eiffel Tower was pretty good ;-)

Then it was on back to the hotel where we took a midnight swim (at 2am!)

I was up til well after 5am and thanks to the HUGE gallon of strawberry daquiri I had, I slept pretty damn well...til 12pm!!! While Chad enjoyed a nice morning to himself. I don't remember anything til lunch, except telling Chad he had to say Happy Birthday and then telling him 'Just 5 more minutes' a few times til he got the hint and left me to it.

Ambling back into the strip about 1pm, we managed to get show tickets for that night. We also went shopping- seems it was my birthday I brought a whole lot of gifts for my loved ones at home :-)

We went home and dressed up to the nines before heading back in for the show. It was sooo good to be dressed up (we hadn't been the night before because our suitcase had been left on San Fran!) To be honest? No-one looked at us twice when we were dressed up either...even with my Cinderella shoes on. Oh well, I know we looked good hehe

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

The show was 'V for Variety'. It had 6 different acts; from topless trapeze guys, a showgirl swinging a bunch of hulahoops, a magician and some amazing guys on rollar skates doing tricks so intense they were scary. I really liked that it was a bit of a 'B' show- things weren't perfect or polished but that was kinda the beauty of it. The trapeze guys almost really *did* knock into the roof, and you could see it on their faces. And somehow knowing they could fall and break their necks any moment made the whole thing more heart stopping.

After the show we did the dinner thing. We had only eaten a tiny amount all day- that's one thing about vegas, you kinda get too busy to eat or drink but it's really important cuz you're in the desert and it's hot as hell.

Chad was in heaven when he got delivered a deep fried steak.

Aaahhh the calories...

The whole thing was gone in 5 minutes flat and then he insisted on buying one of the HUGE sundaes. It cost about $20 NZ so we knew to expect something huge. When they brought it out, we were speechless! It had 5 huge scoop of ice-cream, two chocolate brownies, 5 piles of whipped cream and a whole lotta sauce!

He gave it a good go and went til he was sick. I think we maybe got half way through which is a pretty good effort!

Ice-cream + chocolate brownie + chocolate sauce = one VERY happy Chad xo

We found the M & M shop on the way back but were too tired so flagged it for another day. (Don't worry Charli-Rose, we will get you your promised pink and purple chocolates!)

Found a beautiful piano on the way back! Bugger it won't fit in the case...

It was an awesome birthday. Can't believe we spent it here on the other side of the world!!!

Tomorrow we are swapping the bright lights for the Grand Canyon- yea baby!

Day 6- Viva Las Vegas!

Day 6 Off to Las Vegas

We were very glad to leave our hotel today. It served it's purpose- a bed to sleep- but it's been interesting! Chad went to leave this morning and was met by a old, dirty man wearing nothing but a trench coat. He's a regular here.

Gotta love the public transport here. Apart from the cable cars, there's buses and trains. A lot of people don't own cars in SF. We took the BART to the airport and just made it in time.

The BART

There were lots of homeless people hanging round again. You do get kind of used to it but it is really sad. It's weird here in America- you've kinda gotta be wary of people being nice. As a tourist anyway.
 If they are being nice to you, it generally ends with something wanting moeny or another price/catch at the end of it.

The flight to Vegas was very full so Chad and I had to sit apart. We had a bit of turbulence as there was a bit of cloud about- yay free rollar coaster! Going through the cloud was so cool, they looked like mushrooms you could reach out and touch.

One of the first things that stood out when we landed was the slot machienes...right there in the airport!

It was also really, really hot! About 37 degrees. Most of the buildings have air con which is a necessity out here and feel soooo good when you've been walking around outside.

By the time we arrived at our hotel it was already 5pm. Felt like the whole day had been spent just getting here! And the airport had left one of our bags in San Fran so all we had were our clothes- no shoes, make-up, chargers etc. Seeing our room revitalized us.

We are using a condo at a resort thing that's owned by one of Chad's old work mates. She very kindly offered it to us after hearing we were making the trip over here (thanks Karina!) and OMG it's the best room ever!

Or should I say rooms?! It's more like a holiday house than a hotel! It's got a kitchen with a huge fridge, and all the equipment you'd need to make dinners, a lounge with a full size table, a washing machine (thankgod! We've been running low on essentials!), two TVs, and a HUGE bed!

The place is a bit far away to walk but they have a courtesy shuttle which is awesome. We caught it into The Strip, the main, mad part of Vegas where all the huge casino resorts are.

The Strip is MAD. So many bright lights, people everywhere. Free drinks while you are gambling! Too many shops to ever get through. And each of the casinos have different themes and attractions. I had read up a lot about them but being here and seeing them...it's like nothing you've ever seen before.

We spent time in Caesar's palace where the waitresses were all dressed in togas and the games were Cleopatra themed. The attached mall is one of the most popular here. It has a trippy roof where it looks like the outside sky!

The Bellagio, one of the most luxurious casinos, has an amazing waterfall show each night.

Paris, Las Vegas, is another of our favourties. The outside is beautiful and the inside has gorgeous wee cafes, huge drinks, and dancing girls.

Note the ridiculously large drink I'm holding! There was so much alcohol in it, about 1/4 of a Litre bottle of Vodka and Rum. Needless to say I didn't quite finish it!

Beautiful desserts

They had a replica Eiffel Tower with a lift that goes to the top. Super romantic, and offers some of the best views of The Vegas Strip.

It was a truly fantastic, crazy night. I finished my drink (wahoo!) with some help from Chad and a thirsty looking pot plant, and being drunk made the strip even more mad. As it was Saturday it was super busy.

While being in the States, we've played the games 'Pregnant or Fat' and 'Real or Fake' and we got to add 'Mutton or Lamb?'- everyone wears something with sequins on it, some people wearing almost nothing at all. Some of those people should NOT wear next to nothing either lol, I''ve never seen so many old people dressed as teenagers!

Time seemed to not have meaning. The casinos don't have clocks and make their exits impossible to find. Before we knew it, it was well after midnight and we had to race to catch the last shuttle back!

Being after midnight it was also officially the 26th of August...Happy Birthday to Me :-)