Skyy's 9th Bday in Style

August 30, 2012

Skyy's 9th Bday in Style

   Now that my daughter Skyy Amerie is getting older, I want her to start traveling too. This is something that I never had the opportunity while I was growing up. So this year, I decided to start a new tradition for Skyy's bdays. Instead of having the elaborate birthday parties that she usually has, I decided that she can pick any where in the world to go on vacation. Even though the options were infinite, she decided on Las Vegas for her 9th Bday. I'm sure the fact that she always hears me and my sisters talking about Las Vegas, was the reason for her choice.
   The day before we left to Las Vegas, we still had a small and intimite bday party with Skyy's closests friends and family. The theme was "Viva Las Vegas". I decorated our place with deck cards, dollar bills, and dice to make it look like Las Vegas. Skyy received $580.00 in her "Las Vegas jar" that day, aside from her bday gifts. So this made it more exciting for her because she had plenty of money to buy whatever she chose to.
   As part of her bday gift, I decided that Skyy was allowed to invite 1-guest to go to Las Vegas with us. Skyy chose her favorite cousin Yaretize. This made it more exciting because this was both Skyy and Yaretzie's first time on an airplane. Plus I always enjoy having Yaretzie around, she always makes me laugh and she's 15, so she helps me out a lot.
   The girls really loved their time in Las Vegas. We stayed at The Excalibur because this hotel really caters to kids, plus it looks like a castle. On our first day in Las Vegas we did a lot of shopping and walking around the strip. I wanted the girls to explore the casinos nearby, we went to MGM, New York New York, Luxor, and of course our hotel. On our first day both girls agreed that their favorite part of Las Vegas was going to the M&M world. This is a must for all kids that go to Las Vegas! It is a 4-story store that sells anything that you can imagine with the M&M symbol. They also have a 3-D theater. The movie was only 30-minutes long but it was entertaining. And the best part is that you can personalize your own M&Ms. So we each personalize a bag full of M&Ms with our names.
   On our second day in Las Vegas, we spend most of at the day, hanging out at our pool. Afterwards we headed to New York New York to have some delicious hot dogs at Nathan's Hot Dogs. Then we tried riding the Manhattan Express but we were denied because Skyy was 2-inches too short to ride it. Even though the girls were a bit disappointed, they ended up having a great time playing at The Roller Coaster arcades. We ended our night by meeting up with some friends for dinner at PF Changs in Planet Hollywood. Even though we've been to PF Changs many times, it was a different experience because we had an amazing view of the strip while we were enjoying our dinner and the company of great friends.
   Our third day was all about hanging out by the pool and hanging out at The Dungeon. The Dungeon is the basement of the Excalibur and it's similar to a mini Dave & Busters. The girls had so much fun there and they both decided that this was their second favorite part of Las Vegas. So needless to say, we didn't leave the Excalibur on our third day, except we decided to go check out the Sugar Factory. The Sugar Factory is a restaurant/store that is located in the Paris Hotel. This is a must for every female that goes to Las Vegas. They sell the best and fanciest-looking treats imaginable. We were in there for hours deciding what to buy. We were amazed by all the cool stuff they sold. We bought so many cupcakes and took them back to our room to eat that night. The girls decided that this was their third-favorite part of Las Vegas and this was my favorite part of our Las Vegas trip ;)
   On our last day in Las Vegas, we were all sad to go back home because we were all having so much fun together. Both the girls decided that they had to make one last stop at the M&M world and then we headed to the Regal Movie Theater to go watch the movie "The Hunger Games". After the movie, we went straight to the airport (yes we had our luggages at the movie theater) and barely made our flight on time. I've never realized that Las Vegas could be so much fun with kids. Needless to say, this was my first time in Las Vegas where I actually got to rest and went to bed before midnight. I never realized that there is so much kids can do in Las Vegas and staying at The Excalibur was a fantastic choice.
   Skyy is still deciding if she wants to go to Cancun or Hawaii for her 10th bday. But thanks to my persuasion, it looks like we'll be going to Cancun. I keep hearing how beautiful it is plus it's in Mexico and I want us to explore our culture a bit more. Skyy already decided that she wants to go to the Dominican Republic for her 11th bday, so she can spend time with her other family. This will be the time that I get to bring a guest to keep me entertained while she visits her family. I'm so glad that my daughter is getting older and that we have a great relationship. We actually have so much fun together and I do look forward to our yearly trips together. The question now is, who will be the lucky guest that will get to go on our next trip.....