MIA'S MERMAIDS:

Today started off as most Saturdays do. We try to sleep in, only to be forced out of bed by the very vocal 9-month old in the room across the way. A cup of coffee follows a bottle of formula (MY coffee, HIS formula), then we sit out in the back porch and enjoy the morning air. My dad gets up soon afterwards, and we take a walk (the three of us) to the corner 7-11 to get dad a newspaper. Jacob and I are doing our part to help my dad build up his strength again after being hospitalized last month.

This morning my dad was to be reunited with his brother who is driving down here to see him. I drove dad to his sister's house a few miles from us and left him there to spend the day with his siblings.

Now it was time to get geared up for Mia's first soccer game!! Her team, The Mermaids, is outfitted with royal purple jersey's, matching socks, and black shorts. They are: Abbey, Annika, Emily, Gillian, Hayley, and Mia. Today's game was against a team who called themselves The Tootsie Rolls... dun dun DUNNNN!!! The soccer league is comprised of all 4-year olds (11 teams) who play a 4 vs. 4 format with an open goal. They play 4 x 7-minute quarters, and the coaches are also the referees. The game opened with a quick goal by the Mermaids that was soon followed by 2 unanswered goals by the "rolls". At the half, the Mermaids trailed 2 goals to 1. When the second half started, the Mermaids pushed forward on the opening kick-off and scored the tying goal! Then in the 4th quarter, they scored once more to finish off the Tootsie Rolls... leaving nothing but the wrappers behind. And while Mia did not score this game, she was an integral part of the team, giving chase to the opposing team and kicking the ball away from them with ease. The girls played well as a team, and we're looking forward to next week's game! ;) Great job Mia... your mom and I are so proud of you!!

WEEKEND RECAP:

Thursday:
Checked into the Alexis Resort Hotel in Las Vegas this afternoon. The drive there wasn't too bad - just a quick 4-1/2 hour drive. But we didn't run into any traffic on this long weekend (the benefits of leaving a day before everyone else). Jacob slept most of the way, while Mia watched a couple movies on her DVD player. Once we arrived, I took the kids to the swimming pool to cool off and give my dad a chance to relax a bit before heading out for dinner. I think we were all pretty tired from the drive, so we just took advantage of the room service menu.

The kids were out by 9pm and dad offered to stay with them while HieRan and I went out for drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe across the street. We stayed out for a couple of hours... it was nice to be able to have some "alone time" without worrying about the kids. Thanks dad...

Friday:
We had planned on meeting with my dad's sister over at a local's casino, Texas Station, but decided to go sight-seeing on the strip. My dad told me that even though he's been to Las Vegas, he's never been inside any of the new hotel resorts. We took him to the Venetian where there's plenty to see and do. We hopped onto the gondola ride (Mia loves this) and took a nice leisurely ride down their indoor river. For lunch we sat and ate at the Venetian's Asian Noodle bar located on the casino floor. It was right by the sports betting area, so dad and I could watch the USA Basketball team get upset by the Greek Team as we ate... *grrrr*.

With our bellies full, we decided to drive down to see New York New York - another casino that my dad had never seen the inside of. We actually wanted to walk outside and see the Statue of Liberty and stuff... and when we did, the wind was kind enough to blow the water from the fountain all over us!! Even Jacob got soaked!! *lol... sorry buddy*. As hot as it was out there, it was still pretty refreshing. After the shower, we decided to head back to the hotel and relax a bit before dinner. HieRan and I spotted a Pho Hoa restaurant right across the street from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near us... that was dinner!!

Me and Dad at New York New York

My brother and his family were coming to join us tonight, so I called them during dinner to see where they were on their road trip. They were also having dinner and would be checking in later that night... much later, in fact (like around 2am).

Saturday:
So this morning we decided to meet with my dad's sister over at the Texas Station Casino - about 15 minutes drive from where we were... and also off the strip. Joined by my brother, Paul, his wife, Maria, and two boys (Mia's best buddies), Kyle and Tim, we headed out to the TSC. We enjoyed their buffet while discussing what the day's activities would bring us. After brunch, we found the casino's gaming area... for the kids, that is, while my dad and his sister enjoyed some penny slots! It was fun watching Mia, Kyle, and Tim play and win tickets for prizes afterwards. Everyone walked away a winner!

We said our good-byes to my dad's sister and decided to go back to New York New York later that evening for dinner. First we thought it'd be good to head back to the hotel and relax by the pool a bit. We ordered drinks and had the kids swim around... Mia actually swam without holding onto me!! Of course she had her life jacket on, but still... it was exciting for her!! All the kids had fun (including Paul, Maria, HieRan and ME)!! We drove out to NYNY again, this time hoping to hit the ESPN Zone for dinner. As we approached, we saw hoards of people around there - all watching the college football games of that evening... especially the USC game. There was a pretty long wait, so we found another restaurant there that wasn't crowded at all... a place called Americas. We were pretty happy with the service and the food - I was stuffed afterwards. But there was still more fun to be had that night. We headed up to the kids' gaming area and we let the kids loose once again. Paul found a video game that is actually an electronic drum machine... so he rocked out to some 80's Van Halen while I took out 3 opponents in the virtual boxing arena before getting KO'd. The kids earned enough tickets to get a couple toys... one game that was pretty fun too.

We finally made it back to the hotel after several hours. The kids stayed up a bit to play together before heading to bed. I can't believe how awake they still were after such an active day... but they just never seem to run out of energy. It was nice that they we able to all play together again after a long time away from one another.

Sunday:
We checked out and headed for home around 10am today and got home in time to join Mia's soccer team (The Mermaids) at the park for a BBQ and practice. There'll be more stuff to post once she starts playing (this coming weekend).