What a fantastic, full week it's been! It all started off with Mother's Day on May 11 which was my last post. Then I went to the Cancer Centre for my 6 month check up. Great news!!! I've graduated to check ups once a year now. That was on May 14. The next day, my husband took me on a holiday to Las Vegas to celebrate my 50th birthday! I am not bothered by the number at all. I am so happy that I've reached this age. That I survived! That I can continue to live life to the absolute fullest! So off to Vegas we flew. Now you must know by now from following my blog that I am at peace and feel as one with nature when I am surrounded by the soothing quiet of birds, water and nature. My husband planned this trip along with our friends from around the corner. Her birthday is five days before mine. We celebrated our milestone birthdays together in Las Vegas. We met up with them there. In my mind, I was celebrating my continued good health as well as my birthday.
We arrived Thursday and got settled in. We stayed at the Flamingo Hotel. That night we went on the newest attraction in Las Vegas which is a huge ferris wheel called The High Roller. Instead of seats, it has pods that are enclosed in Plexiglas and can hold up to 40 people. The pods move very slowly. From the ground when you look up at the top of The High Roller it looks like it isn't even moving. But when you look at the pods closest to the ground, you can see them moving slowly. Anyway, what a view of the Las Vegas strip!!! From the top, you could see all the hotels and all the lights of the strip. It was breath taking!! On Friday, we met our friends for breakfast at the restaurant in the Flamingo. This would become our habit as the food was very good and satisfying. We had a quiet afternoon wandering the strip and playing some slots. Then off we went to get ready for our birthday dinner at the Homestead Steakhouse in Caesar's Palace. I normally wear jeans or pants but for this celebration I had decided back at home that I was going to get "dressed up". So I wore a long skirt (that can handle the wrinkles from packing and not show them) along with a short sleeved jacket over a tank top. I felt wonderful!! The dinner was fantastic! After our dinner, we made our way to Fremont Street. The last time I was there, it was overly crowded and I had a bad experience. I'm sure I blogged about it in August of 2012. Anyway, on Friday night it was a much different experience and I fully enjoyed it. There were buskers and outdoor band concerts. My husband bought me and my friend gold bottles full of an alcoholic slushy. It was very good on a warm night. We thought it was fitting that the gold bottle fit our 50th birthday celebration. I think I made it back to my hotel room at 1 a.m. where I fell into bed exhausted. Only to be suddenly wakened by a loud fire alarm! What a rude awakening!! Thank goodness it was a false alarm. Saturday was spent wandering the strip as we went in and out of the various hotels and shops. Saturday night, we went to see Rod Stewart at The Colliseum in Caesar's Palace. What a great show he put on! We were pleasantly surprised considering he is 69 years young.
Sunday (the 18th) we went on a bus tour to the Hoover Dam and the south rim of The Grand Canyon. For me this was a highlight of the trip! My husband and I decided to take the option of being dropped off at Mather's Point and we walked the 1 1/2 hour trip to Bright Angle Lodge where we met the bus to come back to Vegas. I took tons of pictures in an effort to capture the magnificence of the view. I never felt so close to God! I will always cherish these memories of my visit to The Grand Canyon. It was a long day as the shuttle to the bus picked us up at our hotel at 6:30 a.m. and then we were dropped off at 9:45 p.m. I must say it was fantastic to see The Hoover Dam all lit up at night as we returned to Las Vegas.
On Monday, we visited The Bellagio Hotel and saw an amazing conservatory within the hotel that was full of flowers, ponds, and birds. There was also a chocolate shop with a huge chocolate fountain that was at least 2 stories tall. Monday night, we went for dinner at the Las Vegas Hotel (LVH) for dinner at Benihana and then we went to a musical called "Raiding The Rock Vault". It was again a wonderful evening of food, entertainment and friendship as we shared this event with our friends. We all really enjoyed the dinner and show at a very affordable $90 which included the dinner and show.
Our friends left on Tuesday. My husband and I wandered The Miracle Mile Shops associate with Bally's Hotel. Amazingly, with visiting and looking at all the stores, I didn't buy anything! I was looking for some jewelry but nothing jumped out at me. Tuesday evening, we went to Harrah's for dinner at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar. After dinner we went to the show at Harrah's called "Defending The Caveman". This was a hilarious one-man comedic play. If ever you get to Las Vegas, you need to see this reasonably priced show. It talks about and explains the differences between men and women and why we aren't the same. My husband and I laughed quite hard.
We came home on Wednesday (21st). Our children met us to take us home from Toronto and when they saw me, they ran and gave me a huge hug at the same time. I felt so cherished and loved especially because our children are teenagers and young adults. It really warmed my heart. Our celebrations were not finished. My husband surprised me with a dinner out with the family on Saturday night at one of my favourite restaurants. It was an evening full of laughter and good food.
As I transition into being a parent of adults, I had my first instance of a shared story from my children that I knew nothing about. Apparently when they were much younger, my son had some fun with his little sister by convincing her that there were fresh water sharks in the lake near our home. This now explains why she was afraid to go swimming! We all roared with laughter.
So life is great and full of blessings which are reasons to celebrate. Bring on life to the fullest!
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