Back from Sin City with great memories and a good visit with Jennifer and Samantha. Jennifer has woken up and smelled the coffee and realizes that she cannot leave Samantha and has to work out her debt issues the old fashioned way, with hard work and perseverance. Our trip was great and the venue at Circus Circus was perfect for Miss Samantha as we got to enjoy the circus acts, midway and games. It is far enough from the busy section of the strip to actually feel like you are at a resort rather than just another notch along Las Vegas Boulevard. the weather was HOT (it is the desert after all), but there was some wind and even overcast on Saturday as a small band of monsoonal moisture moved over the Vegas area.
Our trip started out early on Friday morning as we were up at 3:45 for the drive to the airport and our 6 AM flight. Even leaving that early it was almost too late as we got stuck in the luggage line, the shuttle line and then the security line. we finally made it through about 5;45 and were running to catch our plane. We got the absolute back seats in the plane and were surrounded by 30 something revellers who were hooting and hollering at 6 AM. They started drinking Jack Daniels and soon their language devolved into cursing and the guy in front of me kept going into the back kitchen area and stealing bottles of wine. The flight attendants were all busy and he kept getting up and putting the little wine bottles into his hat and bringing them back to this gang. He thought he was quite the Man and at one point, one of his friends leaned over and apologized to Darla and I as we were trying to sleep. The thug leaned over and yelled, "You don't apologize for partying, dude!! Vegas, Vegas, Vegas!" All very immature and a little embarrassing. His wife was turning 30 and he was emotionally turning 14 apparently.
We got into Vegas at 7:30 and Jennifer was just getting off her graveyard shift at work. She laid down to sleep and Darla and I got the rental car and headed to breakfast. We went to he Black Bear Diner and then out to buy groceries for the room (fruit, water, chips and snacks). We then drove back to the strip and parked in the garage and took a nap, waking up drenched in sweat and running the a/c. We finally checked into the hotel at noon and then headed over to see Jennifer and Samantha. Jennifer was having her truck worked on by a friend and would join us for dinner, and we packed up Sam and headed over to the Circus Circus and we went to the pool. Jennifer continued with her car problems and had to cancel dinner with us. They finally got the car running and she went in to work. We went to the pizzeria at Circus Circus with Samantha and then went up to see some circus acts. We ended the night with some ice cream and Sam was all smiles. We told her that she could have ice cream if she ate all of her pizza and she hugged us both.
Jennifer came over to the Circus Circus about 1:00PM on Saturday and we spent the afternoon together. We took Samantha out to breakfast and then went shopping for a new dress and shoes for her. We bought her the blue dress with the blue hair band.
Saturday afternoon we also met Linda, Jennifer's next door neighbor and her daughter, Ashley. Jennifer is getting out of her apartment and they are moving in together into a three bedroom apartment. Sam and Ashley will share the master bedroom and Linda and Jennifer will each have their own room. Ashley is 13 and loves Samantha. Linda is 52, a former fitness instructor who is now disabled because of back and neck injuries. Linda is willing to watch Samantha for Jennifer and save her over $350 a month in child care. They will also save $175 each on rent and share expenses.
Linda and Ashley came over and we all relaxed by the pool before heading to dinner at the Rock and Rita's cafe in the Circus Circus. That is a picture of Samantha and Jennifer on the commode at the entrance to the restaurant. We went up to see some circus acts after dinner and Jennifer treated Sam to some midway games. Jennifer tried to pop a balloon with a dart and when she couldn't, Sam tried and popped the balloon to win a Shrek stuffed animal! They tried skee ball and those blasted rings that you try to throw onto a Coke bottle that never works. We were leaving and there was a game that had rubber chickens that you had to launch from a catapult into pots turning on a stage. We all tried and failed and then Ashley won Samantha a little stuffed animal that was her favorite. She kept showing us and telling us that "Ashley won this for me!" At one point Jennifer called the guy over and said she was missing one of the chickens, it was three tries for a dollar. It turns out Sam grabbed it and though it was her prize.
Jennifer had to go into work again and she was back by about 5:30 Sunday morning. We all got up and headed to breakfast and then to church. Jennifer went to the church on Easter and Linda wants them all to start going on a regular basis. We went back to her apartment afterward where we planned to spend the day relaxing by the pool before going to dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy on the strip. Jennifer got called into work and we had left her truck at the casino garage. I ended up driving her to North Las Vegas where she had to pick up a "sniffer" (a sensor for gasses). I then drove her to her office where she picked up a truck and then headed over to her warehouse to get 2 blowers for use clearing out a vault where communication lines are installed. I headed back to the apartment about three and Jennifer was back by 4:30. Jennifer thought she would have to work Sunday night, but the job got called off, so she was able to hang with us after dinner.
Monday, we were driving to breakfast with Jennifer and Sam following us and Jennifer's car started acting up again. She wanted to take it to a mechanic a friend of her knew, but I told her to take it to Firestone. They found a loose ignition wore and tested the electrical to find a bad fuel pump. I had them replace it with a new one and paid the bill for her. She promised to pay me back, but I will stand in line behind her other creditors. we dropped the car and I took them to lunch at Marie Callendar's. We ate lunch and then had them bring Jennifer a cupcake with a candle in it and sang Happy Birthday. We went to the pool for about an hour and then went back to the apartment to watch a movie (Tangled) with Samantha. We then had to head to the airport for our flight back.
It was a good trip. Sam is doing well. Jennifer is struggling financially as most single Mom's do, but her work has two new contracts that should keep them busy through the Winter. She has started night school and is back on days at work with weekends off as the fiber side of the shop has a new big contract and that is Jennifer's specialty. We are praying that the relationship with Linda and her daughter will be a good one for Jennifer and Sam and she will be able to dig out of the hole she is in. Jennifer and Sam head to Los Angeles this weekend and w=Jennifer will run with her Mom in a half marathon and Samantha will go to Disneyland for the first time and have lunch at the castle on Saturday with Tinkerbell (or some other character). It should be fun for her.
Well, it is late on Wednesday night. Darla is due back from a party soon and I worked on the lawn, pool and garden this evening and haven't even eaten dinner. I should have something light before bed. I hope you are all well. We miss you. By the way, did you see that I hit 10,000 visits on the blog? Pretty amazing over the last 10 years. My first blog post was December 16, 2002. Ciao.
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