Excalibur and Family Vacations

This weekend I'm in Vegas with a few friends and it's bringing back memories of when my parents took my sister and I to stay at Excalibur as kids.  My parents had told Angela and I that we needed to be out of the house for the day while it was being bug bombed.  I remember being in the car for such a long time and trying to figure out where they were taking us.  All they said was we were just going out for a drive while we let the fog settle in the house.  After a bit, my sister and I started noticing the license plates going by were Nevada plates and no longer California plates.  It was at that point we realized they were surprising us with at trip somewhere and we began trying to guess what we were going to do.

To our surprise we were taken to Excalibur here in Las Vegas.  My mom had packed our suitcases without our knowledge.  I remember my parents telling us we couldn't go in the casino part but having limitations on where we could go didn't put a damper on any of our fun.  My dad took us into the arcade area and I remember he bought us fabric swords, a crown, and a headband with flowers and ribbons.  They took us to the Tournament of Kings show where we enjoyed a show and ate a dinner of cornish hen with our hands and no silverware.  There is a partial memory that I wish I could make complete, but I remember being with my dad in one part of the hotel (maybe about to play an arcade game or see a movie...not sure) and I remember feeling so happy in that moment.  We were so happy.  They made that trip a memorable and joyful one for us.

As we walked in Excalibur last night, it was the first time I'd been inside since that trip with my parents many, many years ago.  The memories flooded in and the feeling of happiness I remember having with my parents was there all over again.  I looked in one of the stores for the swords I remember getting.  They had swords, but they'd changed over time.  I walked by the place where you can have your picture taken with medieval characters.  Just like we had done before.

My dad and mom gave me and my sister a wonderful childhood.  Full of great memories.  This trip in particular is one of my favorite.  It was a thought out surprise.  My dad loved giving us surprises.  I've got more great memories of the thoughtful things he did to show me love, but I need to wrap this post up for now because we're about to head out to a show.

Boy do I miss my dad.