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| First day seeing the fam |
After a couple of crazy weeks leading up to our trip to the States, we were finally off! We left London on the morning of Tuesday, October 25th and proceeded to have the longest travel day of our lives! Our flight from London to New York went by quickly and smoothly as there were some great movies for us to watch and the food was delicious. Yes, I am a little weird as I actually enjoy in-flight meals :-)
Once we touched down in New York, we had our first taste of being back in the States. Some things we immediately noticed:
- The American accent was everywhere and really stuck out to us
- People were so incredibly friendly and helpful in the airport
- Walking into the news store and seeing all the familiar snacks, newspapers, magazines, etc. Noticing and missing things you didn’t think twice about while living in the States
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| Having a good time at Old Downtown |
John and I couldn’t help but walk around the airport and take note of all the little things that we hadn’t seen in over a year. And as our layover (and enjoyment of seeing American things) finished up in New York, we started the next leg of our journey to Las Vegas in celebration of Mary’s 21st birthday. We couldn’t help but smile as we looked out the window and saw the defining bright lights of Vegas. After a long day, we finally made it. Since we were absolutely exhausted, we went directly to our hotel a block off the strip and proceeded to fall asleep and get a great night of much-needed rest.
As we were meeting my siblings Thursday morning, Wednesday was spent trying to get on American time and get some loose ends wrapped up. As we didn’t have a car, we decided to walk to the nearest Target and pick up a couple of things before the real Vegas experience began. As we walked up to the Target doors, we couldn’t help but be excited. As corny as this sounds, Target is the store I hands down miss the most being in England. So getting to go to Target the first day back in the States was actually a pretty fun experience! 
Once Wednesday night rolled around, we kept things low-key by heading to a movie theatre and seeing the movie Moneyball. To be honest, a huge reason we went to a movie was for the pop and popcorn. Every time we go to a movie in England, we talk about how the popcorn just doesn’t compare to the amazing stuff in the States. So we definitely enjoyed a night of pop, popcorn and a really great movie.
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| Getting ready for our first night out |
Once Thursday rolled around, John and I were beyond excited to finally meet up with my family! We ended up all seeing each other for the first time in the lobby of our hotel and it was such a surreal moment. To be seeing all my siblings in person and in Vegas was just unbelievable! I couldn’t have been happier.
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| All dressed up for "O" |
As you can probably guess, we all (Adam, Kevin, Mary, her boyfriend Bryan, myself and John) spent the majority of the day just hanging out and catching up. Even though it had been over a year in seeing everyone, things immediately felt normal and like we were never really gone. There was such comfort in seeing my family and really having time to be together. The only downside was that Adam and Kevin’s wives weren’t able to join in the fun. Maybe next time!
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| Superheroes! |
We all spent the next three days together in Vegas having a blast and just taking it all in. We saw the fascinating Cirque du Soleil show “O”, visited the Old Downtown, did some gambling, spent an afternoon by the pool, walked the Strip, dressed up for Halloween, enjoyed the Wynn buffet, did some dancing and so much more. It really was a perfect weekend spent with some amazing people. Let’s just say that it was bittersweet leaving Sunday morning. I was sad such a fun weekend with my siblings was over but beyond excited to get to Wisconsin to see more friends and family.
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