Anyway, Nancy called a bit later while we were getting dressed, and told us that she had been up since 7:30 am, eating breakfast and playing the slots. Now why did that not surprise me? :) We got ready and then went to LKK's room, where everyone was meeting. Cheryl and I got on the elevator at the Tropicana, and pressed the button for LKK's floor. We were in there chatting, when all of a sudden a girl on the elevator goes, "Melanie?" I look over, and there's Rachel!! We hugged her and said hello, then all walked to LKK's room, where Dharma, Phil, Nancy, and LKK were already. We hung out and chatted a bit, took some pics and some video, then decided to go to the mall on the strip. We had planned to meet Michelle and Dawn at Dive, a restaurant at the mall.

We got there, and Cheryl immediately took off shopping, while the rest of us wandered the mall aimlessly. Nancy took video of us commenting on the different shops and carts, we got lots of candy, then went to meet at Dive. We went out to the restaurant, to see construction going on. Phil asked one of the workers what was going on, and they told us that they were tearing Dive down. How wonderful! We waited for Cheryl, Dawn, and Michelle to get there, and decided to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, which is in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. We piled into Phil's van (and when I say piled, I mean PILED). We all got to know one another a bit better during that drive! Anyway, we went to Caesar's and walked to the Cheesecake Factory, taking pics along the way. We sat down and ate...and ate...and ATE. It was SOOO good, and there was so much food!! And of course we HAD to get cheesecake! Amazing. We also created a spectacle out of ourselves by randomly singing Irish Drinking Songs. You have no idea how much “Oh, ei dee di dee di dee di dee” will make people turn around and stare. It was fun, though. :)

Afterwards, Cheryl went to do some more shopping, LKK and Rachel went back to their rooms to relax, and the rest of us wandered around the Forum. Dawn, Michelle, Laura, Dharma and I spent a LOT of time in FAO Schwarz, and we bought little stuffed giraffes (wonder why?). We walked through all 3 floors, looked at the Barbies, the Star Wars stuff, took pictures with feather boas, talked to Oscar the Grouch. It was great! I love that store, so much fun. Afterward, we decided to go back to the Rio for a Mardi Gras show that takes place every night. We split up, and Michelle, Dawn and I went with Laura, and Nancy, Dharma, Cathy, and Laura went with Phil. We stood on a balcony and watched the parade, which was these huge floats hanging from the ceiling. There were people inside waving and dancing, a show on a stage below and guys throwing beads from the float. We waved and got beads thrown to us. We found out that it was possible to actually be in the float, so we decided to get tickets to be in it for the next night (Dawn’s wonderful idea!).

We then went back to our hotels to get ready for the shows that night. I took care of a blister that I had gotten from running around like a madwoman the night before while wearing my tall shoes. I won’t share the lovely details, I’ll just say that Cheryl and I became a bit closer after that! :) Love ya roomie. :)

LKK, Michelle, and Dawn were going to the 8 pm show, and Nancy, Cheryl and I were going to join them for the 11pm show. Cheryl and I got ready for the show and met Nancy in her room, then the three of us walked over to the MGM. We waited outside the theater for the first show to get out, talking about how we hoped to meet the guys afterwards, since we hadn’t seen them the first night. Cheryl noticed a woman standing near us wearing a backstage pass, and heard her say that the guys always have a meeting after each show, but a little while afterward, they come out through the normal theater doors. Michelle, Dawn, and LKK came out of the theater, and told us the same thing that Cheryl had just heard. They said that Shawna had told them...then pointed to the woman Cheryl had just pointed out. Very funny. So, we planned to wait around outside after the show.

We had about an hour before the second show began, so we decided to get a drink. Cheryl, Nancy and Dharma went to eat at Emeril LaGasse’s restaurant, but Phil, Michelle, LKK, Dawn and I weren’t hungry. We went to the Coyote Grill (I now know that it's Grill, not Cafe...thanks Dawn! Boy, why did I somehow KNOW you would know the answer!) and got drinks. Dawn got a HUGE half-yard tall pina colada, and flirted a bit with the cute bartender. :) As 11pm got closer, we decided to head toward the theater. We stopped at the Brown Derby and watched a Frank Sinatra impersonator (who was GREAT) for a couple of minutes. We went into the theater (Dawn hiding her HUGE drink) and got our seats. It turned out that LKK, Nancy, and I were at our table with Katie, and Dawn and Michelle were at the table right next to us with Leigh and Kelly. We then met Linda (R&C Fan), who was at the table next to them. It was so cool to meet everyone and have us all sitting together! Amazing how that worked out! We chatted until the show started. We found out that Chip was unfortunately not going to be in the second show, because he was sick. We were all upset, but hoped that he’d feel better soon.

After the show, we hung out in the little area outside the theater, hoping to see the guys come out. We were all chatting in little groups, when all of a sudden I saw a tall man with a baseball hat come out of the theater. Of course this catches my Ryan-seeking eye, and I saw him walk over to a blonde woman and give her a hug and kiss. I was the only one to have seen him, so I started squeaking a bit (I had horrible man-voice, mind you) and pointed him out to everyone. Now, I felt bad interrupting him, because he was with what looked like family, but then he started getting people around him. Well, I figured I might as well take advantage! Since he had already been interrupted, I figured it was okay if I just went over and said hi. :) He was signing autographs and taking pics with people. When he was free, I introduced myself to him. As I was talking, I realized how ridiculous my voice sounded, so I said, “I’m sorry, I have man-voice!”. So glad that I felt the need to tell Ryan that I had man-voice! He said, “That’s okay, I have a girlie voice!” What a cutie. I got a pic with Dawn, Ryan, and me, and had him sign my ticket. I then informed him that he rocks. Seriously. I literally said, “You rock!”. He said, “Thank you!”. Boy, I’m so eloquent sometimes.

As we were standing with Ryan, the best moment of Dawn’s life happened. Well, maybe not the best, but close. :) Somebody said to Ryan, “Is that your wife?” and pointed to Dawn!! We just about died!! Ryan said, “No, actually my wife is the woman waiting impatiently behind me!”. Actually, it was only then that I noticed that Pat was there...one track mind anyone? :) For the rest of the night…Dawn WAS Ryan’s wife!! :) She was completely freaking out (and who wouldn’t be?). It was SO funny!

As we were all huddled around him, in an effort to make an exit, Ryan pointed over our shoulders and said, “Hey look, Brad Sherwood!” We turned around and surely enough, he was there. He was walking by, and Michelle grabbed him and dragged him into a picture...before Ryan could get away. :) We all got in for a pic with Ryan and Brad (I nearly knocked Michelle over in the process). Brad left, and we talked a bit more to Ryan. He then tried to make an exit one more time by pointing Colin out (“Hey look! Colin Mochrie!”), who had been standing next to us for a few minutes, without us (or at least, me) noticing! We swarmed him, of course. I introduced myself to him, and had him sign my ticket as well. Cheryl informed me that I also told him that I had man-voice. I don’t know why I felt the need to keep telling the guys this information, but oh well. She said he laughed, though! I think I was so nervous, I barely noticed. I then got a pic with him and Cheryl (which came out SOOOO cute!). I apologized for taking up his time, and he responded with, “Yeah, what a horrible way to spend my time!”. So sweet. Everyone got to meet him, and then Greg came out. The process was repeated. When it came to my turn, I introduced myself and told him that I had seen him a few weeks ago in NYC, and that he was great. I mentioned the "Rover, bend over" guy who was in the audience for that show, and we both commented on what an idiot he was. I had him sign my ticket, and also got a pic with him (in which he is, of course, making a face). Then Cheryl got to talk to him (he called her "darling"), and she got a pic, too. Cheryl and I forced LKK to go talk to Colin, because we knew how much she wanted to talk to him, and she got a pic with him (although we're still not sure who's camera it's on!). We were all standing around and talking, when Drew walked out. Nancy had the video camera out, and he waved into it as he walked by. I was standing right next to Colin at this time, and Greg came over to talk to him. He said very quietly that everyone was meeting up in the Betty Boop Lounge, and asked if Colin was coming. Colin said no, he wasn't going to. Greg said, “Okay sweetie,” and rubbed his arm a bit. It was so cute!! :) Colin turned to us and said, “I’m not made for Vegas,” (although we would find out afterwards that it SO isn't true!). :)

Greg came over and talked to Michelle, Dawn and me. We talked about the shows, the upcoming PPV specials, and all that. He mentioned that they had an early call for the PPV shows…4pm! How funny that he calls that early! Anyway, we all chatted a bit more, then the guys all left. By that time, I was completely freaking out that we had gotten to meet them! I was SO giddy, shaking with nervousness, almost jumping up and down in excitement, and just smiling like an idiot. I kept tugging on Dawnie's shouler, saying, "Oh my god, we just met all the guys!!". We were trying to figure out what to do. Michelle and Dawn were going to wander MGM, and dragged me with them, and Cheryl, Nancy, Phil and LKK went to LKK’s room for some videos. Michelle, Dawn and I walked around a bit, and ran into Leigh, Kelly, Louise, and Melanie. They said they were getting something to eat, but we weren’t hungry, and said we were going to wander. We walked back around by the Brown Derby and the Coyote Grill to see if anything was going on. Unfortunately, they were both closed….Dawn didn’t get to see her cute bartender again. We started walking back toward the casino, and randomly looking around. We were walking past a bar, and we noticed Shawna sitting at a table…then saw Brad…then Ryan and Sean. We walked up to the bar, and ran into Drew. We talked to him, and he was really nice. He asked which shows we had gone to, and we said all of them. He said he had noticed us in the audience for the first show, but not the second. Something about the lights being messed up or something. I forget. :) He took a pic with the 3 of us, and signed autographs. He made fun of Dawn for her cup, which was now empty (anyone who saw his standup before the PPV special understands why), but she said that she had gotten it for the drink, not the cup. He asked Michelle if he could keep her Sharpie, because someone had taken his. She said sure, so he kept it.

We then saw Greg, and we spoke to him briefly. Dawn and I were a little busy staring at Ryan, who was sitting at a table a little ways away. We commented on how cute he was, etc, basically just completely fawning. :) We walked away and stood at the bar for a few minutes, talking to random people. When we walked back, we noticed that Ryan had left without our noticing! We were very upset. :) Sean then came by, and we got pics and autographs with him (with him making the funniest faces!). He mentioned that the little souvenir magazine that we had gotten was Drew’s girlfriend’s magazine, which is actually pretty cool. :) We talked about gambling, and how he'd been doing. He said he'd lost a lot of money, but Drew had lost more. Seems he wasn't kidding in his standup when he said he lost $30,000 at the black jack tables! He said Drew is hardcore, but at least he has the money to do it. We then saw Julie sitting at a table, and went to talk to her for a bit. She already knew Michelle and Dawn, so I introduced myself, to which she responded, “What are you, 19? You look so young!” :) Guess I wasn’t fooling anyone! :) As we talked to her, we noticed Brad getting up from his table and taking pics and doing autographs for a few other people. He was the one person I hadn’t gotten a pic with yet, so I kept an eye on him. While he was talking, we saw Laura Hall sitting at a table, and asked her for a pic. There wasn’t room for one where we were standing, so we moved near the bar. Greg took pics of the 3 of us with Laura. Laura said, “Do you guys want to get a picture with Greg?” We said that we had already, and she said, “Oh Greg, you’re old news. They don’t want you anymore!” LOL! She talked to us for a while, and she was just SO sweet! She asked us where we were from and how we met, we talked about the shows, and the upcoming PPV, we complimented her website, and she told us how her friends made it and took a LONG time to finish it. She was SO great. I had her sign this thing that I had made on the computer before the trip…it was the pic of the whole cast with fishing rods, that’s on the ABC page, and then in the background I had put other random pics of the cast. I asked if she would sign this “dorky thing that I made”, and she looked at it and signed it. She said, “Wow, I haven’t even seen this publicity photo yet”, meaning the ABC one. She said that it wasn’t dorky, and the other guys probably hadn’t seen the photo yet either. And even if she was just trying to be nice, at least she didn't laugh in my face. :) We thanked her for the pic and for talking with us. What a sweetheart! :)

At that point, Brad was walking toward us, so Michelle called him over. I introduced myself, and apologized for my voice. He said that it sounds sexy, and that it was very Kathleen Turner. Hey, I’m not gonna argue!! I got a pic with him (my boyfriend pic) and had him sign my picture thingie. He wrote “ME” with an arrow pointing to his pic, and then signed it. I said, “Wow, thanks. I wasn’t sure who you were, but that made it quite clear.” I thanked him for his time, and he said he was going to go find his drink. Then the cutest thing happened! He walked back over by his table, and Greg was standing over there. They said something to one another, and then both laughed and hugged. It was just one of the sweetest things I saw all weekend. You could see that they were such good friends off stage, which is just so great to see. I love that. :)

We decided to get some pics with Julie, and then left the bar (after taking a few flashless candid pictures of the guys, of course!) As we were walking away from the bar, we went past a row of video poker machines. At the very end of the row sat Colin! I noticed him, and pointed him out to Michelle and Dawn. We went over and said hi, gave him a message from Ashley, and then let him play in peace (we laughed about his subtle hints that we wanted to play!). As we walked away, Dawn and I had the same thought—if Colin was around, Ryan must be nearby!! We went Ryan-hunting, and noticed a guy we thought was him sitting at a high stakes table. We ran into Leigh, Kelly, Louise and Melanie again, who confirmed that it was Ryan. We walked by there and saw that he was playing Pai-Gow Poker. We had no idea what that was, but a drunk but friendly guy playing at the table next to Ryan’s called Dawn over. His name was Ray Ray, and he taught us (sort of) how to play Pai-Gow Poker. We were still pretty confused though. And guess who else was at Ray Ray’s table…Vern Troyer, aka Mini Me! Ray Ray told us that he was Mini Me’s manager. Very cool. He was sitting next to another friend of Mini Me's who was pretty cool and talked to us too...Mini Me, on the other hand, completely ignored us. Oh, well. Dawn and I were keeping close watch on Ryan at the next table, but he was very into his game. We walked around the casino again, and saw Colin winning money! Lots! We asked him how much he won, and he said $300. We congratulated him and walked off.