wow, what a whirlwind weekend! i don't know that i've ever consumed so much food in so little time, except maybe at thanksgiving (but that's only a one-day event, not a weekend-long extravaganza). so, vegas: there were thirty family people there in total, including three generations of cousins, aunts, and uncles, ranging in age from 18 to 90. the 90-year-old was of course my great-aunt miriam, for whom this trip was organized in the first place. about a third were east coasters, and the rest west coasters. most of the west coasters i see somewhat regularly and know pretty well, so it was good to see them. it was also really interesting to meet/re-meet east coasters that i hadn't seen in years and years. some of the east coasters come out west, so i've seen them more recently, but several i haven't seen since i was nine or ten years old.

so anyway, most of us stayed at the paris, which was pretty nice. it wasn't there the last time i was in vegas (nor were the venetian or aladdin, and mandalay bay was the newest casino), but it's set up like a street walk in paris... or so i presume, since i've never actually been to paris. more and more of the hotels are designed that way, it seems (new york new york, venetian, caesar's palace), although i like that better than just the posh casino/hotel atmosphere. places like the bellagio are nice, but that's just a huge hotel with a bunch of places for you to lose your money. the shops are far to expensive for my pocketbook, but it's fun to look and walk and eat.

..blue man group.. well. hmm. i'm not really sure what to say about this. it was certainly an experience. it wasn't what i anticipated... it had some elements of the musical exploration that i expected, but there was also comedy and audience participation and some weird trippy stuff that i'm not sure i liked. i'm glad i wasn't paying the bill for it, but i don't think i'd go again. i'm kind of spoiled by all of the theater stuff that i get to go to, and i have to say that i enjoyed productions like stomp and blast a lot more than i enjoyed blue man. oh well. we took pictures with one of the blue men after the show, and man, are they weird. the blue paint is pretty weird, too... it stays wet the whole time, which i suppose makes sense because then the blue men's facial pores wouldn't be able to breathe!

next family reunion, new york city 2005! :)

i also got to hang out with my cousins in ontario yesterday before flying home (the cousins that didn't go to vegas with us). i'm glad i'm so close to my cousins, i always love hanging out with them even when we're just hanging out.