It's not every day that dreams come true. But today is one of those days. It's also a day that, contrary to dreams coming true, a little bit of reality sets in - we're all getting older. And that's certainly what Stace felt today when she woke up; she was no longer in her 20s, but had instead replaced that 2 with a 3. All the taunts from my brother about her being old were coming true. But so were her dreams, of waking up in Las Vegas on her 30th birthday, and of celebrating like she was still in her 20s. And besides, regardless of her age she is still beautiful, and I was thrilled to be here celebrating with her. Senior citizen or not. The day began exactly as Stace would've wanted, with a sleep in. We weren't having her waking up grumpy on her birthday morning. Well no more grumpy than she may have been given she was now 30. We were also pretty late back to the room last night, and with a big night tonight planned, it was probably wise to take our time getting up. Hell, we're on holiday (vacation if you're in the States, they think a holiday is a day to celebrate something, most likely to worship their military), so I don't need to justify at all why we slept in. We just did. By the time we did get up it was already mid-morning. I opened up the curtains in the room to let a flood of light in to motivate us, and we were greeted with a spectacular view of Vegas and beyond. We couldn't see the strip as it was on the other side of the hotel, but it was still pretty amazing. We could see Vegas give way to barren desert and, further beyond, dramatic mountains rose up so high that there was actually snow on top of one still. That in itself was amazing because as I said, we were in the desert. All those stories you hear about Vegas literally being in the middle of a desert are true. It just pops up out of the red rocky dirt. And it was really hot too; without a cloud in the sky and the sun beaming through the window you could already feel it. But that could've been the hotel room too; they pump the air con so much we were freezing last night so turned it off, and promptly woke up in a pool of sweat from the warmth without it. Eww. Stace was pretty keen to go to the day spa at some point, so as soon as she woke up she called to enquire about treatments and booking in. Luckily for her, they had an opening at 11am. Unluckily for her, that was only 20 minutes away. Luckily for me, when Stace is on limited time, she really does wake up quickly; she pinged out of bed in a way that belies her age. Luckily for you, you're reading this blog (I felt like I needed to share the love). After she had the quickest shower in her life, Stace headed to the day spa. I went too, unshowered, because Stace isn't good with any directions and if I didn't go, not only would she not have made her appointment, but I probably wouldn't have seen her again this holiday, and she would've been stuck roaming Vegas for the rest of her life. I didn't want that, because I love her and would miss her, so I was happy to accompany her, unshowered and all. Once I dropped her off, I went for a quick walk around the casino floor and surrounds. I don't think I'm a **** boyfriend (on the contrary I've heard I'd be pretty satisfying), but I hadn't gotten her anything for her birthday. That was the agreement we had together for each other's birthdays because we were obviously travelling halfway around the world together. And Stace pretty much kept that promise (though she did make me a cute little book in which she declared she loved public displays of affection (PDA) with me), so I was going to as well. But when the day came, I felt so bad that I didn't, so when I finally had a moment without her by my side (which was killing me), I went seeking. I didn't have long, and owing to that, I didn't find anything. Except Vaseline. You might laugh, but we walked a long way around Disneyland yesterday, and when a girl chafes because of it, Vaseline is a godsend! Winning!! As always. By the time Stace got back, she was relaxed, and I was showered. Being close to lunchtime, we were both hungry, so we went and found the hotel food court for some breakfast. Stace doesn't do lunch before she's done breakfast, even if it is dinner time. So breakfast cuisine is a must. I'm not sure that Starbucks is that, but that's what we had. Happy birthday Stace! We found they did some breakfast type muffins, as we as 'lattes', so settled on that. I say 'lattes' in inverted commas because they were, without a doubt, the worst coffees in living memory. I've heard coffee in America is bad, but never did I imagine this. After breakfast (finally we're getting on with the actual day that happened), we caught a taxi to the Rio Hotel and Casino. They've got 2 towers, and in between them there's a zipline called the Voodoo Zipline, which shoots you about 30 storeys above the ground between both buildings and then back again. Stace had seen a zipline attraction that flies over the strip when we were having a look at things to do in Vegas online, and was pretty keen to do it, so we thought it would be a good start to her 30th. Once we got to the Rio, we were greeted by a friendly staff member of the hotel, who wanted to give us a gift, and took us to the concierge. Her 'gift' was the concierge trying to sell us show tickets, and we quickly walked off. I might need to give that woman an English lesson on the definition of 'gift', but that's for another time. We moved on, found the ticket office for the zipline, got our tickets and headed up the lift to the roof. The view from the top was amazing, and gave us an even better appreciation of the surrounding desert landscape than our hotel window did. Vegas really is a so-called oasis from the desert and the mountains beyond that encircle basically the whole city. If it wasn't for its fame being full of casinos, the scenery alone would be able to sell this place. Before heading to the zipline, we got a few photos around the rooftop. We met a couple of lesbian Americans on the roof as well, who took a photo of Stace and I, and we returned the favour and took one for them. Because they weren't good looking at all, and they were nervous about the zipline, I decided not to broach the subject of a foursome later on. But Stace and I weren't nervous, and headed off to the zipline to get strapped in. In no time at all we were clipped in, looking all cute in a double seat, and stranded on the edge of the building 30 storeys up, with just a little gate left to be opened before we were shot off. Unlike roller coasters, these types of rides pump my adrenalin in a good way, and I was nervously excited. I grabbed Stace's hand, really tightly it turns out, we smiled at the camera, really nervously it turns out, and we were pushed off. The edge of the building slipped away and all of a sudden it was just us, a little trolley we were sitting on, and the wire holding us, 30 storeys above the ground. The trolley wasn't propelled all that hard, but in next to no time we'd crossed the few hundred metre chasm between the buildings, were pulled to a stop, and flung back in the direction we'd came, this time going backwards. We let out some screams and some whoo hoos, and flapped our arms like birds (looking ridiculous I reckon), and before we knew it we were back at the starting platform, gate closed and safe. Phew. The whole thing lasted probably less time than it took you to read, which says that I obviously wrote a lot, but also that it didn't last very long - less than a minute I think. While it was fun, and a little bit exhilarating, it wasn't all that extreme or massively nerve wracking, and really the appreciation of the good view from the ride, rather than the ride itself, was the highlight of it. But even that wasn't a view over the strip; that's actually hard when the hotel is situated a couple of blocks from it! Either way, we did have fun! Afterwards we had a look at the pictures they took of us, and decided to buy a couple of them. We look pretty cute on the trolley seat together, and we didn't have many photos together yet. Once they were printed, we caught the lift back down, and decided to walk the couple of blocks back to the strip. Don't get me wrong, we would've caught a taxi, but we were worried about how short was too short a trip, so walking was it. The sun was pretty harsh, and it didn't make it any better that it was just a concrete jungle with no shade at all along the way. We had to pass over the freeway and the railway (yay yay yay yay yay) before finally making it back to the strip, making it a bit more of a hike than we'd thought. As we circled over the freeway, we found a homeless woman in the middle of the overpass, begging for some cash. There were people begging everywhere here, which was a little sobering, but there are shelters and support available. So while it's a complicated subject, there are much better places that the homeless can find, and certainly better than the middle of the freeway overpass where barely a soul walks, so I don't get all that emotional about it; they need to want to help themselves to a certain degree, not just resort to begging. Whatever our views, any sympathy for this woman went completely out the window when, after we politely declined her begging request, she spat at us. That's a really good way to get money woman. We finally got back to the strip right at the corner where Caesars's Palace is, which is a Roman themed casino. As my first experience of the strip, the life and energy of it was in-your-face amazing. There were lights and sounds and attractions in every direction, and it was only the middle of the day. We found a bar on the corner of the street at Caesar's and, after such a hot walk and it being Stace's 30th (in case you haven't noticed, I'll be pointing that out a lot in this blog), we decided to have a drink. This area looked a tiny bit familiar for some reason, which was odd because I'd never been to Vegas before. After seeing a sign, I finally realised why. It turns out that, being based on Rome, the steps leading up to the pedestrian walkway are modelled on the Spanish Steps in Rome, a famous stairway built in the 1700s. This iteration clearly isn't that old, but it wasn't as busy either. The ones In Rome were so covered by seated tourists I really couldn't see them at all when I was there, so a couple of years since I'd visited the actual Spanish Steps, it was nice to finally appreciate what they may have looked like. As we sat and had our drink, we realised there was wifi lurking, so we caught it and established ties back home, particularly for Stace's sake as she was 30 and had a wealth of well-wishes for that fact. We FaceTimed her sister Gabby for a little bit, and once that was done we decided to move on. One of the awesome things about here is that you can drink pretty much anywhere, so we decided to take our drinks with us as we crossed over the pedestrian walkway to the other side of the strip. We were heading for Paris, and before you think I'm mixing up my unfinished Europe blog with this one, I'm not. I mean the Paris Las Vegas casino, a huge complex (like all of them) with a Paris theme! I bet that surprises you. I've promised I'd actually take Stace to Paris one day, and while I'm tempted to say dream completed (I think I did say that in a snapchat), you should know me better than that and know I will actually take her to Paris one day! We finished our drinks and headed inside, and were greeted with a massive casino floor, bars and restaurants. It's funny because all the casinos from the outside have their own unique theme, but as soon as you step foot inside, they're all exactly the same. We were still pretty thirsty (Stace was 30), so we found a bar, sat at it and ordered some drinks. Even on the bar counter they had casino games, so we put some cash in and lost it straight away, having no idea how to play said game. Even when we thought we'd won, we'd lost and our credit went down. After that fail we were getting hungry, so we ordered a pizza in the restaurant next door, as well as another couple of beers. French themed casino, Italian based food. I think they're all just confused to be honest. A bit like we were at that bar casino game. By the time we finished our pizza and beers we were feeling pretty good with ourselves. It was approaching 4pm and we knew Jenna and Leigh had flown in by then, so we decided to wander back to our hotel to get ready for the night, which was shaping up to be a big one for Stace's 30th. When we got back, I went to the shop in the hotel foyer to buy a couple of beers for the room, and ended up getting a slab. Overkill I know, but when it cost only $20, do you blame me? When I got back to the room, Stace and I watched Cinderella. It was pretty good. Then we both had a couple of beers and dolled ourselves up for the night. Stace looked good. I looked good. We were ready to celebrate! Celebrate what you might ask? Stace's 30th of course! We headed down to one of the bars within our hotel, where we met Jenna and Leigh, who'd ditched the kids and also dolled themselves up and looked good. Not sure if they watched Cinderella though, it's none of my business. They were staying at the medieval castle themed casino called Excalibur next door, which was internally linked to our hotel via a walkway, so it didn't take much for them to get to us. After a couple of drinks at the bar, we decided to catch a taxi down to Caesar's and start our night there, as it was more central to a lot of other entertainment. Getting into the casino at Caesar's, I stopped for a photo with the statue of Caesar to send to my mate Jim, saying that I'd found him. Jim's always asking where Caesar lives, so I answered for him. Jim also likes The Hangover a little too much. Jim's cool. We were all getting hungry so we went hunting for food, and found a Gordon Ramsay restaurant within the casino that, surprisingly, had room for us. They must've known it was Stace's birthday. We ate some pretty delicious meals there and drank some pretty delicious beers. Ironically, nobody had a Caesar salad, which is weird because we were in Caesar's, which is Roman themed, and there's that saying 'when in Rome do as the Romans do'. But we didn't do that. Ok so that's tacky but you expect nothing less from me, do you? After dinner, perhaps unsurprisingly the night started to go into a little bit of a blur. We crossed over to Paris to gamble and drink, and eventually found some live music there to sit around and drink to. Then it was sing around and drink to. Then it was really badly dance and sing and drink to. Then it was telling the band that it was Stace's 30th birthday so they sang happy birthday to her and we really badly danced and sung and drunk to. Then it was the band playing songs for us but us getting over it so finishing our drinks and quickly legging it between songs. Bye band. While legging it, discussions turned towards getting tattoos. But luckily we found a pub - yes pub, not casino - that specialised in beer pong and as a bonus, had a live band, and it killed off that discussion. Cue new opportunity for someone to sing to Stace for her 30th birthday. We went in and got our beer pong kit, which was a couple of jugs, balls and cups, and then it was game on. Except it wasn't. Stace and I dominated. I kept my best ever game of beer pong for my girlfriend's 30th birthday, like the beer pong jock I am. We rubbed it in by celebrating profusely, before I eventually made up and hugged Jenna. I love hugs. But the part we were all waiting for was for the band to sing to Stace for her birthday, and sure enough they did. And we (I) sung loud and hard. Happy 30th birthday Stace. The thrill that was the beer pong didn't temper the discussions about tattoos, and once it was over, we resumed our search for a tattoo place. When we were actually searching, the only one we could find was closed, but once we'd stopped seeking one, sure enough we found one. Go figure. By this time we were well into the early morning. The tattoo discussions had been centred around all getting a little matching tattoo to reflect Stace's 30th in Vegas. But Jenna was really keen to get some words - 'put an end to duchenne' - for her son Zaya, who had the disease. She'd never had a tattoo before and was after the support to get it, so Stace decided to get a little 'V30' on the back of her thigh. So at close to 2am in Vegas, Stace and Jenna were getting ink. I bet that's never been a story told in Vegas before. Not. After the tattoo, it was getting pretty late, or early depending on your views of this time of a night out. And the hunting and getting of tattoos had sobered us up a tad, which probably wasn't a bad thing. We had been keen to head to Coyote Ugly, which is a bar in the New York New York casino based exactly like the bar from the movie, but like the older lady she is now, Stace was getting a little bit tired, and as it was now nearly 3am, the rest of us likely were too. By the way, New York New York is ridiculous. It's set up with a replica Statue of Liberty out the front, and miniature Manhattan skyline makes up the hotel. There's even a Brooklyn Bridge along the footpath! When we arrived back at Excalibur, we decided to call it a night, and Jenna and Leigh headed off to bed. I was getting really worried that I hadn't had a burger yet today (I'm counting this early morning as part of yesterday as we haven't stopped), so all my fingers and toes were crossed that McDonald's was open. It was, and we fully pigged out and got a s***load of it, taking it back to our room and scoffing our face. By this time of morning it was a favourable time at home, so Stace and I drunk called some of our cronies and family and talked what is likely to have been a lot of ****. With that it was about 4:30am, we'd well and truly made the most of the day for Stace's birthday, and we hit the sack. No fairytale ending though. Sadly. Happy 30th birthday Stace, and I hope the next 30 are the most amazing of your life yet. I'll be trying my hardest to make it that way.