Back to Busy for 2024

2024 is about to get very busy for us! Here’s an update on school activities, sports, Superbowl events, and more.

Winter is wrapping up quickly here in the desert and we suddenly find ourselves as busy as ever with events and activities. It looks like Tuesday will be our busiest day for the next few months, especially for Elise who has choir before school, Girls On The Run immediately after school, and then acting class after that! I am an assistant coach on Ava’s softball team and we have practices on Tuesday night as well, so our whole family will be running around on those days. In addition to the Tuesday night practices, we have practice or games on Saturdays, batting cage sessions on Sunday mornings, and we will eventually be playing games on Thursday evenings as well. For myself, baseball season is just getting started and I will soon be playing games on Sundays, so it’s safe to say I’ll be spending a ton of time around a baseball field this Spring. 

Regarding school activities, Elise and Enzo recently completed their annual APEX fun run. They had a blast doing it last year and were even more successful with their fundraising this year. Elise’s teacher set a very high goal for the classroom and said that there would be no more homework for the rest of the school year if they achieved this goal. Apparently, that was the right kind of motivation because they totally did achieve it! Enzo set a goal for himself on the day of the run to complete 100 obstacle courses and he ended up finishing just shy with 96. For comparison, the average number of completed courses for a kid was about 65.

With the girls being as busy as they are it means that Mr. Enzo will be running around a lot with Jessica and me from one activity to another. We’re trying to get him involved in something but haven’t had any luck so far. He loves playing football and basketball at school with his friends, plus we frequently shoot hoops at home in the backyard, but whenever we suggest getting onto a team he is totally against it. We’re not sure why he isn’t willing to put himself out there but it’s something we need to work on, otherwise he’s going to start missing out on too many things. He has already set a goal for himself to make it into the Middle School jazz band, which means he will follow Ava’s footsteps by joining the beginning band program during his first year, but that’s still a few years away so we need to focus on the nearer term for now.

Superbowl Activities

Since the Superbowl was in Las Vegas this month, we decided to take advantage as much as possible by attending some related activities. As mentioned in last month’s post, I wanted to keep up the tradition of taking Enzo to a sporting event for his birthday, so this year we attended the Superbowl’s Celebrity Flag Football game, which was held near our house at the Dollar Loan Center. Before the game, Enzo and I had dinner at Tacotarian, and he now insists that their plant-based fish tacos are one of his all-time favorite foods.

We arrived early and had fun checking out the items in the silent auction, then we ran into a couple of his buddies from school. We decided to get some candy at a concession stand and found ourselves standing next to Snooki from Jersey Shore, who was being followed by a camera crew. During the game, Enzo and his friends were standing along the railing next to the field. One of the referees kept coming over to talk to them and introduce them to various celebrities. One of the highlights of the night for Enzo was when he got to meet former NBA all-star Tracy McGrady, who was a captain of one of the teams playing that night. His other big moment that night came after the game when he got to take a picture with UFC star Justin Gaethje.

Enzo & Dad at the Celebrity Flag Football game
Enzo and Dad before the Celebrity Flag Football game
Enzo and UFC star Justin Gaethje
Enzo and Justin Gaethje

On the day before the Superbowl, I took the kids to the NFL Play Football event, which was being held at a local high school. Tickets were free if you knew how to get them, and luckily for us, Jessica was able to score four through the school district. It was a fun event filled with complimentary swag and food, plus we got to meet players, and cheerleaders from the Raiders, Chiefs, and 49ers. The cheerleaders performed and the kids got to run through some football obstacle courses. They enjoyed one of them so much that they each did it three or four times. We also got to try on some authentic NFL helmets! It was a really fun event that we were thankful to be able to attend.

Pellegrini kids with two Raiders cheerleaders
The kids with a pair of Raiders cheerleaders
Elise and Ava with a pair of Chiefs cheerleaders
Elise and Ava with a pair of Chiefs cheerleaders
Elise with a pair of 49ers cheerleaders
Elise with a pair of 49ers cheerleaders
Enjoying our complimentary lunch at the NFL Play Football event

Spring Break is coming fast

In addition to all these activities, we’re also getting ready for our trip to Colorado, which is only a couple of weeks away. The plan is to head out early on the morning of Friday, March 8, and drive to Grandma and Grandpa’s house up in the mountains. We will stay the night with them, then drive down to Denver on Saturday morning. We have a hotel reserved in Downtown Denver, just a couple blocks from the concert venue. We will spend the weekend in Denver, then head back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house on Monday morning. The kids love playing in the snow at their house so our plan is to stay with them on Monday and Tuesday, then drive back to Henderson on Wednesday. We’re really excited to see Moon Taxi play live, especially in such a small venue, so I look forward to writing about it in next month’s post.

A few weeks after that, Jessica will be heading back to Iowa to spend some time with her Grandma. It’s been a few years since she has seen her and she doesn’t want to take anything for granted. The kids and I always miss her when she’s gone but it looks like my Mom will be coming over to stay with us for the weekend to help out. It will be the weekend of our 14th anniversary that she’s gone so we’ll have to find another time to celebrate. It’s all good though; I’m glad she is able to get back there and spend some quality time with Sherry.

Vegas Showbiz and Cappers Update

I forgot to mention this in last month’s post, but early in January Vegas Showbiz finally reached 1,000 subscribers on YouTube! This was a goal I had been chasing for nearly two years so it felt great to finally achieve it. This meant that the channel made it to the next tier of the YouTube Partner Program, allowing it to profit from advertisements that run before and during videos. The channel is still small, and based on our average number of daily views, it only makes about $2 per day, but it’s something and it can only go up from here.

There are other perks that come with the channel though, for instance, Jessica and I recently had the pleasure of attending the Grand Reopening of the Jersey Boys show at The Orleans. Jersey Boys used to play in Vegas between 2008 and 2016, and it was a very popular show during that time, but it’s been gone since then. The Orleans has never done a show this big before and we loved it. Before the show we got to attend a cocktail party, then we were seated in the front row for the show! We were cracking up because they were clearly giving us the VIP YouTuber treatment even though our channel isn’t big at all. These are exactly the kinds of things I was hoping would happen when creating the channel two years ago, so it felt great to be able to have them come true. We very much enjoyed the show and gave it a nice review a couple of days later.

Ready for Jersey Boys to begin!

Regarding Cappers, things have definitely picked up over the past two months. One major contributor to that has been the addition of our daily sports betting analysis video, which we post on YouTube Shorts and TikTok. It’s one minute or less and we simply highlight a play that looks attractive on the site. It’s normally a screen recording of the site with either Devin or myself talking about why we selected this particular play. We only get about 40 views per day on YouTube, but we average anywhere from 200 to 700 views per day on TikTok! This has been driving a lot more traffic to our site, resulting in more free trials and more paid subscriptions. 

Recently we even got our first annual subscriber, which came from a guy in Ireland, of all places. It’s great to see that we are reaching an international audience, and it comes as no surprise that when we review our viewer analytics on TikTok, we can see that about 96% of our viewers are male, and the majority of them are between the ages of 18 and 25. Sports betting is extremely popular with young men these days, especially since new states are constantly legalizing it. While there are plenty of services out there for sports bettors, most of them are known as Touts, and they simply tell you who to bet on. These services are much more expensive than our site, so it makes sense that a younger generation of sports bettors is attracted to our platform, which focuses more on presenting relevant information for them to make their own decisions with. I am constantly working on adding new features to the site which add value for our users and I firmly believe that it’s only a matter of time before this thing really takes off.

One feature I’m really proud of is the Expected Value dashboard, which compares odds on every game from a lot of different sports books and identifies games where you can get good value by betting on a specific game at a specific sports book. One thing that makes the sports financial market much different from the stock market is the fact that the odds for games are often different from one book to another. The same kind of thing doesn’t exist in the stock market, meaning the price of a stock is the same regardless of which brokerage firm you use. When I find value in a game at a particular book, I run it through variants of the Kelly Criterion formula to determine the optimal bet size, as a percentage of your total bankroll. In many cases, no bet is recommended, but when enough value is there we display the optimal bet size and it’s doing very well. I’m always tracking the performance of our dashboards and systems, and I’m confident that our users are turning a profit if they follow along.

Another feature I recently built that I’m very proud of is related to NBA player prop bets. If you’re not familiar with prop bets, it’s like betting that a certain player will score more or less than a certain amount of points in a game. It goes well beyond points though. In the case of basketball, you can use Cappers to research how many rebounds, assists, and three-pointers they will have. Each day our site analyzes every prop bet available for every player, then examines their stats from every game of the season to determine how likely they are to go over or under the given line. We graph all of this out for the user, then compare their recent performance to how well the opposing team does at stopping players in these categories. For example, if a player has been rebounding well recently and they’re playing against a team that is at the bottom of the league in rebounding, we highlight that to the users. 

We frequently recommend these types of plays in our daily videos and have been very successful in doing so. I find these types of plays much easier to beat consistently than betting on the outcome of an entire game. They’re known in the gambling world as “soft markets” while betting on games are considered “hard markets.” Not only do these types of plays appeal to sports bettors, but they also appeal to fantasy sports players, which opens up a much larger audience to us. I’m already working on adding the same type of feature for the upcoming baseball season, then will do the same thing for the next football season as well.

In order to continue building our knowledge, Devin and I are always reading books and watching videos about sports betting. Whenever we learn valuable new things, we work on adding them to Cappers. This was how Cappers originated, with me reading books about NBA betting and transferring those learnings into a website, so that trend continues to this day. Sorry for being so long-winded about Cappers but you can probably tell that it goes beyond work for me. It has become a passion that I have invested myself heavily into. I can’t wait for the day that this is my only job, but in the meantime, I’m willing to continue grinding along with two jobs as long as necessary. Again, it’s only a matter of time.

I guess that’s about it for now. It’s great to be busy again, and although it’s been a mild winter for us, it’s nice to have it already warming up. We’re going to be outside a lot this Spring, and I’m excited for everything the kids have going on. Elise and Ava have school performances coming up soon, I’m excited to be out at the baseball field regularly, and can’t wait to get to Colorado. Other than holidays, I haven’t had a day off since starting my new day job last April, so this getaway is going to be nice. Here are a few more recent family photos.

Elise looking adorable at school
Dinner at our new favorite Chinese restaurant, ShangHai Taste.
Dinner at our new favorite Chinese restaurant, ShangHai Taste.
Enzo and his buddies at the APEX Fun Run
Elise and Mom at the APEX Fun Run

Happy 9th Birthday Enzo!

All about Enzo’s 9th birthday!

Today marks the 9th birthday of our amazing little man! It’s hard for Jessica and me to comprehend that our youngest is just a year away from hitting double digits. Nevertheless, we couldn’t be more thrilled or proud of how things have unfolded. Enzo and his sisters are doing wonderfully, and everyone is thriving down here in the desert. Sometimes I still have to pinch myself just to believe it’s all real.

Although Enzo’s real birthday is today, we decided to have his party yesterday. In the past, we hosted his birthday parties at our house, but this year we opted for a fun morning at an indoor trampoline park with his friends. They enjoyed jumping, laser tag, pizza, and bundt cakes. The night before the party, the kids participated in a four-square tournament at school and then Enzo and Elise each had a friend over for a sleepover. After yesterday’s party, everyone was exhausted and looking forward to a peaceful evening at home.

Enzo started his day by unwrapping gifts and catching up with family over the phone. His presents included a mix of toys, a generous amount of Robux for his beloved Roblox game, tasty snacks, and new clothes. To continue our tradition of attending sporting events on his birthday, this year Enzo and I will be heading to the Celebrity Flag Football game just before the Superbowl, maintaining the excitement from last year’s UNLV basketball game outing. Overall, it was a joyful start to Enzo’s special day!

Enzo absolutely loves sushi, so I’m happy to be able to prepare it for him tonight as part of his birthday celebration. Jessica and I recently took our first sushi-making class, and we had an amazing time. We were taught how to create spicy tuna rolls, California rolls, and vegetable hand rolls. Following the class, the girls and I went on a shopping spree at a Japanese market and gathered all the essential ingredients for making sushi at home. Since then, we’ve indulged in homemade sushi multiple times, and it’s safe to say that we’ve improved with each attempt.

Lately, I’ve been immersing myself in YouTube tutorials to pick up some new sushi-making techniques. However, the best part of this culinary adventure has been sharing it with Jessica. She’s always been my biggest cheerleader in the kitchen, but there’s something extra special about tackling sushi as a team. It takes time and effort, but the satisfaction of working side by side on a new culinary endeavor and then savoring the results together brings me true happiness.

The kids are just as delighted as we are about it. In our family, there are only so many foods that everyone enjoys equally, and sushi is definitely one of them. The kids particularly love California rolls and fried shrimp rolls, while Jessica and I prefer tuna and salmon, but it’s all delicious. We’re thrilled to prepare all of those dishes and then gather for a family meal that we know will be enjoyed by everyone.

I believe that’s all for now. I wanted to dedicate this post entirely to Enzo’s special day. There’s a lot to look forward to, and I’m confident there will be plenty of updates next month. But for now, I’ll conclude by sharing that everyone is doing wonderfully. The kids are thriving at school and growing up quickly, Jessica and I are doing well at work, and we’re keeping busy with activities that make us happy. Here are some recent photos. Happy birthday, buddy!

Enzo and his buddies at his 9th birthday party
Enzo and his buddies at his birthday party
Enzo and Mom on his 9th birthday
Enzo and Dad on his 9th birthday
Ava and Elise on the morning of Enzo's 9th birthday
Our first time making sushi at home
Our first time making sushi at home
Enjoying homemade sushi for the first time
Our 2nd time making sushi at home
Homemade sushi, volume two!
Homemade fried shrimp rolls
Fried shrimp rolls – homemade sushi volume three!
Enzo Pellegrini on his 9th birthday
Happy 9th birthday Enzo!!!

Merry Christmas, 2023

Our 2023 Christmas break was centered around home this year, with frequent dining out, family movie nights, batting cage visits and ice skating, ample video game sessions, and a delightful visit from Grandma and Grandpa Martin.

In contrast to last year’s trip to Colorado, our family opted for a low-key December at home this time. It’s been a lively and eventful month filled with shopping, dining out, video games, batting cage fun, ice skating, and cozy family movie nights. The kids eagerly anticipated their school holiday break and while they may not be fully prepared to go back next week, it’s clear that everyone has relished their time off.

After Ava’s softball season ended, we decided to start frequenting a local batting cage with her teammates during the off-season. We found it so enjoyable that I opted for a monthly membership, granting us unrestricted access to the facility. Our visits often include Ava’s teammates and their families, but we also go on our own at times. I’ve even introduced Jessica and other friends to the experience, and they all seem to love it as well. Even if you’re not into baseball or softball, using the batting cage is an excellent way to stay active and improve hand-eye coordination. Our goal is to keep going throughout the off-season so that both Ava and I are fully prepared for our upcoming seasons starting in March.

Ava’s Christmas this year had a strong softball theme, with her receiving a new gear bag and stylish batting gloves. She also got a variety of new clothes and an extensive book series from her favorite Anime, Demon Slayer. One of the most thrilling gifts was a trip to a tattoo shop to get her ears pierced a few days after Christmas. We made sure to go to a specialized shop instead of getting it done at the mall. Since then, she has been fixated on them, worrying that they might fall out, but she is delighted with how they look and happy to have them.

Elise’s Christmas revolved around fashion and skincare products. Lately, she has been very interested in taking care of her skin, regularly using various masks and creams. She has also started wearing a bit of makeup and is very passionate about keeping up with the latest fashion trends. It’s amusing to see that one of her beauty products is an anti-aging cream, even though she’s only 10! I don’t think she needs to be concerned about aging at this age. It’s been delightful to witness her growth into a remarkable young lady.

Enzo was thrilled with his Christmas gifts, especially the two new pairs of shoes. One of them stood out as the most vibrant and colorful tennis shoes I had ever seen! In addition to the footwear, he received a collection of clothes, a new football, wide receiver gloves, and an assortment of toys to keep him entertained. Jessica and I couldn’t help but laugh at his confident demeanor when he’s wearing something he loves.

Jessica and I are big fans of the TV show Survivor, and one thing that always stands out to us is the contestants’ signature accessory called a Buff, which is essentially a type of neck gaiter. When we threw Enzo’s Survivor-themed birthday party a couple of years ago, we gave everyone in our family custom-printed Buffs featuring designs from season 41 of the show. While I still regularly wear mine, Jessica doesn’t wear hers as much because she finds the print too bold. This Christmas, I decided to surprise her with a merino wool Buff in her favorite color, teal, so she could enjoy wearing it more often. Along with that, I also got her a sleek Yeti travel mug and a Henderson Hawks t-shirt for her to wear at Ava’s softball games. In return, Jessica gifted me a set of wooden chopsticks and something I’m really excited about: she signed me up for a beginner’s sushi-making class in January!

Even though we continue to consume plant-based foods regularly, sushi has significantly impacted our lives in recent months. Jessica and I found that it was the one thing we truly missed after eliminating meat and fish from our diets in 2020. Luckily, there is a fantastic sushi restaurant just down the street from our house that we all love to visit, and the kids also enjoy going to a few revolving sushi restaurants around town.

Last Saturday, we took my Mom out to watch the new Willy Wonka movie, which was fantastic. After the movie, we enjoyed an amazing sushi dinner at a relatively new restaurant called Taru. It was the best sushi meal we’ve had in a while and we can’t wait to go back. I’m really excited for the beginner’s sushi-making class in January, where I’ll learn to make sushi rice, California rolls, spicy tuna rolls, and vegetable hand rolls. I’m already looking forward to taking the advanced class later on. I’m sure the kids will be delighted to have homemade sushi for dinner at home soon.

Apart from the various gifts we received for Christmas, I upheld our yearly custom of gifting electronics by buying a PlayStation 5 for the family. Both the kids and I had been eager to have one, and after being hard to come by at first, I managed to snag a great deal on Black Friday this year. Additionally, I bought five games and customized PS5 controllers for each of the kids.

This year, as Christmas Eve coincided with a Sunday, Jessica and I decided to let the kids unwrap all of their PS5-related presents early in the morning. We then dedicated the entire day to playing video games. Additionally, I surprised them with the new Super Mario Wonder game for the Nintendo Switch and set up an extra TV in the family room, making our gaming session even more exciting! Our gaming marathon extended into Christmas Day as well.

After Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa Martin made the trip from Colorado to visit us for a few days. It worked out perfectly because we visited them last Christmas, and this year they came to us. They took the kids shopping for Christmas gifts and even went to the Las Vegas strip one afternoon. Ava got some new shelves for her bedroom, which Grandpa Tom installed, making it look incredibly organized. Elise found more skincare products while shopping with Grandma, and Enzo got some new clothes, including a couple of Boston Celtics hats. One evening, we took them to dinner at our favorite local sushi restaurant. Unfortunately, today is their last full day with us before they drive back to Colorado tomorrow.

Jessica and I decided to give the kids a special gift that we’ve all been eagerly anticipating. After brainstorming ideas for Spring Break 2024, we realized that we all share a love for attending concerts. So, we made plans for a road trip to Denver to see one of our favorite bands, Moon Taxi, perform on the first Saturday of Spring Break. We quickly secured tickets and are excitedly looking forward to the drive in March. Their music is a staple in our car rides, and although it’s a long journey, we’ve made it before and are now planning other enjoyable activities in Denver during our stay. While we’re no strangers to Colorado, most of our time has been spent in the mountains, so spending a few days in Denver will be a refreshing change of scenery.

The Christmas break for this year is almost over. We’re excited to visit Devin’s house on New Year’s Eve, and shortly after that, Jessica and the kids will be back in school. I’ve been working throughout the break, but I enjoy having everyone at home with me all day. It’s been a wonderful break, but returning to our usual schedule is also beneficial. Below are some of our cherished family photos from this holiday season. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Elise decorating our Christmas tree
Ava decorating our Christmas tree
Jessica getting ornaments picked out for the tree
Peach and Spencer love laying under the tree
Our tree on Christmas Eve night
Sushi dinner with Nana
Sushi dinner with Nana
The kids on Christmas Eve morning
Enzo with his new Ramen shirt
Elise getting new press-on nails for Christmas
Mom and Elise with her new Stranger Things shirt
Enzo and Mom at a school holiday party
The kids on Christmas morning

Happy 12th Birthday Ava!

An update on Ava’s 12th birthday, softball, and Thanksgiving 2023.

Today our sweet Miss Ava turns 12 years old! Rather than celebrate her birthday via a traditional party, we decided to switch things up this year by holding a variety of celebrations and events, starting with the SEMA Fest concert and car show at the beginning of the month. While SEMA, which is the largest trade show in the world, has been going on in Las Vegas for a long time, this was the first ever SEMA Fest. Some of our favorite bands were playing so we decided to take the whole family for an evening of cars, motorcycle jumps, BMX tricks, burnouts, and amazing live performances by bands like Walk The Moon, AJR, and Imagine Dragons. It was an unforgettable night and Ava kept saying it was way better than a birthday party anyway.

We also promised Ava that we would take her shopping for her birthday and her request was that we go to the mall on Black Friday, which was yesterday, so again all five of us went out together for a day of crowds and shopping. She got a really cool pair of Air Jordans and enjoyed the time bouncing around from store to store.

Today, which was her actual birthday, was spent at the softball field for an end-of-season tournament. A couple of weeks ago Ava’s team won the championship for the Fall season of the Henderson Girls Softball Association’s 12U division. Before the playoffs began, her team started off by winning their first nine games in a row, then finished with a record of 10-1-1. Our first playoff game was against the only team that had beaten us during the regular season and they jumped out to an early lead.

Ava came to bat in the bottom half of the final inning with the bases loaded and no outs, down by three runs. The count was 2-0 when she drilled one up the middle, just slightly off towards the third base side. The pitcher appeared to make an impressive diving catch, but as she landed on the ground she dropped the ball. Ava got down to first base quickly, but each of her teammates stayed on their base because they all thought the pitcher caught the ball. There was mass confusion but ultimately they were able to throw the ball to each base and finished the game with a triple play.

It was a tough way to lose and Ava felt like it was her fault, but I explained to her that she did her job by getting a hit when it mattered the most. The game can be cruel at times but she had nothing to hang her head about. After that game, however, her team went on a tear by winning five games in a row to take home the championship! The final three games were on the same day, so it was a long one, but luckily Grandma and Grandpa Rudd were out visiting from Iowa that weekend so they got to see it in person.

I was so happy for the entire team and obviously very proud of Ava. The progress she made during this Fall season was incredible and she deserves a lot of credit. Most of these girls have been playing together for the past five or six years and Ava only had minimal experience with softball before this season. It was intimidating for her at first, but I love the fact that she never missed a practice, never missed a batting cage session, never missed a game, and never turned down an opportunity to practice with me at the park. She truly loves the game and has committed to working hard this winter in preparation for the next season, which begins in the Spring.

Our tournament today didn’t go like the regular season went for us, but we couldn’t have expected it to. We were facing all-star teams who had traveled from Hawaii and California to play in this tournament. Our team is not a travel team and we were the only local team even participating in the tournament. Our girls were a bit intimidated by these out-of-towners and had a hard time getting into their groove, but it was still fun. Nana came out and watched her play, plus we made treats for the whole team. Every time Ava came up to bat her teammates sang “Happy Birthday” to her, which was really sweet.

They played three games today, plus we’ll have at least two more games tomorrow, so it’s a long weekend of softball, but that’s it for the season. We already have plans to work regularly with some of Ava’s teammates during the offseason, and I’m personally going to do my best to train her for the upcoming season. It will be good for me as well because I need to get ready for my own baseball season, which begins in March.

I actually got a chance to get out and play in a baseball game last Sunday, which was really fun. I’m joining the Nevada Adult Baseball Association, which has teams in an upper level and a lower level. The guy who runs the team in the upper level is starting a new team in the lower level, but he asked me if I was available to fill in last weekend for the upper-level team because so many people were out of town for Thanksgiving. I said I’d be happy to play and ended up having a blast.

I was a bit intimidated at first because I have never faced pitching this fast before, so it took some time to get the hang of it. Guys are throwing in the 80’s so I struck out on three pitches for both of my first two at-bats. I got a nice base hit in my third plate appearance though, which felt amazing. More importantly, the guys on the team were so friendly and welcoming. Due to all the time I spend at home, I’ve been wanting to get involved in team sports again, and I feel lucky to have found such a great group to join.

One of the players on the team is a professional coach and we connected right away. Tuesday will be my first private lesson with him and I’m excited to transfer everything I learn onto Ava. I have a feeling we’re both going to come into the Spring season prepared and better than ever. 

When I was a little boy baseball was by far my favorite sport, so getting back around the game over the past few months has been awesome. I’m so glad Ava is into it because we’re spending a lot of time together again, just like we used to during the hockey days.

Ava's softball team photo

A Lot To Be Thankful For

This was our third Thanksgiving in Nevada, but for the first time since moving here, we didn’t host it at our house. We spent the early afternoon at Nana’s place, then went over to my buddy Devin’s house for about 6 hours of food, games, and football. There was so much food I couldn’t believe it. Even though there were 15 people there, we could have easily all sat down for a second Thanksgiving dinner and still had plenty of leftovers to take home.

The weather was nice so the kids spent a lot of time playing outside. Meanwhile, Jessica and I had a great time catching up with friends. By request, I made roasted garlic mashed potatoes and stuffing, while Jessica baked three different kinds of bread and cookies! Devin had two different types of turkey, ham, and our favorite mushroom steaks for those of us non-meat eaters. He also ordered the famous coconut cake that Tom Cruise sends to everyone in Hollywood each holiday season. It came from Los Angeles packed in dry ice the day before Thanksgiving, and while I personally despise dried coconut, I’ll have to admit that the cake itself was lovely.

Before the adults made a dinner toast, I went over to the kids’ table and made sure they knew that every adult in that house was extremely thankful for each of them. We have such a great group of friends and getting to spend that day with all of them was unforgettable.

Holiday Mode

Everyone was exhausted yesterday after our Black Friday shopping mall experience, but later that evening we busted out the Christmas tree and all of our indoor decorations. The house feels very festive now, although we haven’t yet taken on any of the outdoor decorations. I’m sure those will be done soon though. The kids always love hanging their favorite ornaments on the tree and Jessica and I always look forward to the pageantry of the whole thing.

Pretty soon there will be school holiday events to attend, including Ava’s first-ever school band concert. We’ve decided to stay home for Christmas this year, but Grandma and Grandpa Martin will be coming out for a visit during the week between Christmas and New Year. 

The kids are very much enjoying this little Thanksgiving break from school, but I think they’re even more looking forward to the upcoming break as we get closer to Christmas. This morning Elise and Enzo finished another session of boxing, which was very exciting for them. Although Jessica and I have encouraged them to try out some team sports, they’re simply not interested, but they enjoy going to their boxing class so we’re cool with that. School has been going well for them and before you know it, Elise will be graduating from elementary school, just like Ava did last year.

Speaking of school, Jessica’s Willy Wonka costume was epic for Halloween this year. Unfortunately, she did not repeat as the winner of the school’s costume contest, but I blame the kids since they’re the ones who did the voting. It’s been a very busy Fall season for us, filled with lots of good times and new friends via Ava’s softball team. Now that the season is over, things are going to slow down a bit, but it’s perfect timing because we’re excited to enjoy the holiday season. The kids haven’t been able to spend much time with Nana lately due to everyone’s busy schedule, but we’re going to make up for that starting now.

I think that’s about it for now. I just wanted to give a quick update, and most importantly, celebrate Ava on her special day. We’re very proud of her and it’s been exciting seeing her getting back into something she loves. To all of our family and friends who read this, we send our love and wish you a happy holiday season! Here are some recent family photos.

Elise's 5th grade school photo
Elise’s 5th Grade photo
Enzo's 3rd grade school photo
Enzo’s 3rd Grade photo
Jessica's 23-24 school (teacher) photo
I love how Jessica gets a school photo each year as well.
The Pellegrini family on Halloween, 2023
Halloween 2023
The Pellegrini family at SEMA Fest
SEMA Fest 2023
The Pellegrini Kids at SEMA Fest 2023
Waiting for our favorite bands to take the stage
Jessica and I never intend to dress alike, but it frequently turns out that way.
Thanksgiving morning, 2023
Ava opening gifts for her 12th birthday
Ava opening her birthday gifts
Ava wearing her new Nezuko hoodie
Ava loves anime and is obsessed with the character Nezuko from a show called Demon Slayer. Big thanks to our friends the Palmer’s for their thoughtful gifts.
Ava with all her new Nezuko gear
Ava ready to enjoy a burger from Plant Powered on her birthday
After her games today, we took Ava to Plant Powered for a vegan burger. The candle was a nice touch by Mom.

Ready for Halloween 2023

Getting ready for Halloween and keeping busy with lots of activities!

Halloween is always a big deal for our family. Not only is it Nan’s birthday, but it’s easily one of our favorite holidays. Elise will tell you without hesitation that Halloween is her favorite holiday, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Ava and Enzo said the same thing. Jessica is really into it as well; she’s the reigning costume champion at the school she works at and is hoping to repeat this year. Last year she killed it with her pinata costume and this year she has put together an amazing outfit to dress up as Willy Wonka.

As far as the kids’ costumes go, Ava is dressing up as one of her favorite anime characters, Elise is a Pokemon character, and Enzo has a blowup chicken suit with bright rainbow colors. I’m taking the easy route and just dressing up as a baseball player, but in all honesty, Halloween isn’t as big of a thing for me simply because I work from home, so I don’t have anywhere to go in a costume besides trick or treating with the kids.

Speaking of trick or treating, I feel like Halloween has gotten even better for us since moving to Nevada because of the neighborhood we live in. I’ve never seen anything like it. It might even be fair to say that houses in our neighborhood are more decorated for Halloween than Christmas. There’s a house that builds a haunted house in their backyard each year, plus houses that give out full-sized candy bars. There’s even one house that has a cotton candy machine and spins it individually for each kid! It’s such a fun experience for everyone and we always look forward to it each year.

To make our evening even better, my Mom is coming over to have dinner and spend her birthday evening with us. She’ll also be working the front door to hand out candy while we’re out in the neighborhood. I’m looking forward to making a nice birthday dinner for her and getting some quality time. The kids haven’t been able to spend as much time with her recently due to activities and social events, so it will be great having her over.

A Big Night For Elise and Jessica

About six weeks ago Elise was supposed to go to the Ed Sheeran concert at Allegiant Stadium with one of her best friends. They got all the way to the stadium before finding out that the concert had to be postponed due to safety issues while setting things up. The concert was rescheduled for Saturday, October 28, which was last night. As it turned out, Elise’s friend’s Dad wasn’t able to make it, so they had an extra ticket and were kind enough to offer it to Jessica. She was thrilled to be able to go and of course, they had a great time. Jessica took a bunch of videos for me so I’ll be making a Vegas Showbiz video out of it very soon.

Since Elise and Jessica were having a special night, I wanted to do something fun with Ava and Enzo to keep them from getting jealous. We went to the mall and then decided to go to our favorite conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Enzo asked if we could take the long way so I decided to cruise all the way down the Las Vegas strip. I figured it would be fun because it was Saturday night, but it turned out much better than expected. First of all, the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix is only a couple of weeks away, and they’re going to be racing on the strip, so we got to see all the grandstands and other race infrastructure. I love Formula One racing and it was so cool to be driving down the same street that my favorite drivers will soon be racing on. I can’t believe they’re going to be driving 200 mph on that road and can’t wait to see it.

To make our drive even more fun and memorable, we were sitting at the front of an intersection near MGM Grand waiting for a green light, and suddenly about 15 motorcycles came up around us to get in front of me. They were ¾ size stunt bikes and the riders were doing all kinds of cool tricks while waiting for the light to change. We had no idea what was going on but they were waving to us and the kids loved it. They had their bikes up on the back wheel spinning around, then as soon as the light changed they were doing wheelies through the intersection, and some were riding while standing on their seat.

It was 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night, so it was prime time to be cruising the strip. I’m used to seeing classic cars cruising the strip on a Saturday night, but I’ve never seen anything like this. Ava was filming it the whole time on her phone and we were talking about it all night.

Activities Galore

As mentioned earlier, the kids have been staying busy with activities lately, so Jessica and I are constantly running them around. Elise and Enzo are back in their Saturday morning boxing class, and Ava has been loving her new softball team. We’ve been spending a lot of time in the fields and batting cages lately, which I love. Her team won their first nine games before losing one yesterday, so they’re off to an excellent start. The Fall season is shorter than Spring, so there are only a few games left, but I think it’s a guarantee that Ava will be playing again next Spring. She has made a ton of improvement over the past couple of months and we plan on working hard during the offseason.

I’ve enjoyed being back around baseball so much that I too am joining a team in January. I’ve been wanting to get back into some type of team sport or activity because I spend so much time at home working. While I do get plenty of exercise at home via the rowing machine and weights, it’s not the same as getting out there with people. 

I thought about joining a hockey team but here’s the problem; hockey is very popular here (like it is in Seattle) but there are only a handful of ice rinks to play at. Kids teams always get preferential ice time, so if you’re on an adult team it’s not uncommon for games to start at 11:00 p.m. or later. I simply can’t make that work with my schedule, but that same problem doesn’t exist for baseball. Not only are there fields everywhere, but the weather here is conducive to playing all year long. I always loved playing baseball as a kid and wish I wouldn’t have quit, so I’m excited to get back into it. I did some research and found the Nevada Adult Baseball Association (NABA), which is a hardball league that looks really fun. I went to one of their games last Sunday and felt like I could definitely keep up. I’m planning on playing catcher and have started training for the season. Luckily, I’ve become friends with a guy who used to be a catcher in the Phillies system, so he’s going to work with me. I’ve also been watching a ton of videos on YouTube and regularly get out to practice with the kids. It’s important for me to stay active and I can’t wait to get back into a team sports environment.

Vegas Showbiz and Cappers Update

Our subscribers for the Vegas Showbiz YouTube channel are continuing to grow quickly and we’re now up over 850. Getting to 1,000 has been a goal for me since day one and I think we’ll be there in the next two or three months at most. On the Cappers side of things, I’ve been working on it for exactly a year, and we now finally have some paid subscribers! We’ve obviously still got a long way to go, but our growth is totally organic without any type of paid advertising, so it feels great to see it gaining momentum. 

It’s doing well from a performance perspective as well, especially with NHL recommendations. We’re only a few weeks into the new hockey season and if you were to bet one unit on every NHL betting system recommendation our site makes, you’d already be up over 50 units! 50x on your money is insane, and there are certainly no guarantees that it will stay that way for the entire season, but there is no question that we have tapped into some successful systems and methods. I wish we could get that type of performance with football betting, but there’s too much action and the lines are too sharp to make that kind of money. The real profit, when it comes to betting on the major U.S. sports, is with hockey and baseball.

Hopefully, we can continue spreading the word and growing the business. Devin and I are both extremely bullish on our business model and feel like it’s only a matter of time before it blows up. Just gotta keep grinding in the meantime.

That’s about it for now. We’re looking forward to a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Rudd in a couple of weeks. It’s hard to believe that the holiday season is already here. I don’t have too many recent photos to share, but here are a few. See you next month!

Pellegrini Kids Halloween 2023 costumes
2023 Las Vegas Pride Parade
At the 2023 Las Vegas Pride Parade
Ava and Elise at the Pride Parade
Enzo and his buddy
Enzo and one of his best friends
Heading to Ava's softball game
Off to another softball game!
At the Las Vegas Ed Sheeran concert
Elise and Jessica before the Ed Sheeran concert
Dinner at "Marriage Can Be Murder"
Having fun at the “Marriage Can Be Murder” dinner show
Outside Sapporo Revolving Sushi
Revolving Sushi with Ava and Enzo

Falling Into Autumn, 2023

An update on our family as we enter Fall 2023. We’re as busy as ever with school, activities, work, and more!

Fall is my favorite season, especially earlier on, and this year is no exception. Living here in Southern Nevada, the weather this time of year is absolutely perfect; it reminds me of Summers in Seattle. The brutal heat of the Summer is gone, and so are the monsoons of August. It’s sunny and about 90 degrees every day with no wind, so we’re outside enjoying the weather a lot more than we normally would be during the Summer, swimming excluded.

One way that we’ve been out enjoying the weather lately is by going to the softball field. Ava recently joined a new team through a private softball league and is playing in their Fall Ball season. She last played in the Spring of 2022 for a team through the city of Henderson, and we tried to do the same thing again this year, but there weren’t enough girls signed up so the season was canceled. 

This new league she’s playing for is a lot more serious and the quality of play is much higher. She was a bit intimidated at first because most of these girls are more experienced than her and have been playing together for years, but she’s been getting so much better after the past few weeks. I’ve been practicing with her at home, plus she has never missed a team practice, and we meet with the team every Sunday morning at the batting cage. 

In addition to getting better as a player, she’s also learning a lot about being a good teammate. At first, she would sit quietly on the bench but now she’s up there cheering for her teammates and participating in all their funny team chants. We’re really glad to see her involved in a team sport again and it’s fun going to the ballpark to watch her play.

Another cool thing that Ava has recently taken on is that she has become a member of her Middle School band. She is playing the cornet trumpet and is really enjoying it! It’s not uncommon for her to stay after school to get extra music practice in. Obviously, I’m thrilled to see any of the kids taking on an instrument and I can already see the joy it’s giving her. Just like softball, we’ve seen a noticeable improvement in just a few short weeks.

To cap it off, this week she brought home her first progress report and it was mostly all A’s and B’s. The transition from elementary school to middle school is tough for a lot of kids, so Jessica and I are very proud of how she’s been doing.

Ava practicing trumpet
Ava at Cosmopolitan Las Vegas

Elise Having A Great Final Year of Elementary School

Speaking of progress reports, Elise just brought hers home and it was all A’s with one B. Once again, Jessica and I were so proud. It hasn’t been the easiest start of the year for her but she’s been putting in the work and it shows. Regarding activities, we took a break from boxing for the Summer but Elise has been asking to get back into it, so this weekend will be her first class. We’re glad to see her doing something that she enjoys so much, and that gives her confidence. I’ll tell you what – Elise is not to be messed with. She’s fast, strong, and can throw a solid punch. I pity the fool that crosses her someday.

Elise has made some great friends at school over the past couple of years and now she frequently finds herself getting invited to do all kinds of cool things. A few weeks ago her friend invited her to come to the Ed Sheeran concert at Allegiant Stadium. They made it all the way to the front door before finding out that the show had to be postponed due to an accident while setting things up. They were bummed but took it well; the show will now take place on October 28th so they will be going then. She still got to go out to a nice dinner that night with her friend’s family.

Elise and her teacher at Pali
Elise with her 5th grade teacher at the Pali Institute

More recently, this past weekend Elise was invited by another friend to go to the iHeart Radio festival at Mandalay Bay. Her friend’s dad is a marketing executive for MGM so they brought a group of girls to the show. She got all kinds of cool swag, including an M&M bucket hat, and then saw artists like The Foo Fighters, Kelly Clarkson, Fall Out Boy, 30 Seconds to Mars, and others. 

Jessica and I didn’t want Ava and Enzo to be jealous so we took them out for an epic night while Elise was away, which included an hour at an arcade, dinner at a conveyor sushi restaurant, and a viewing of Sphere Las Vegas the weekend before it’s grand opening with U2. It was an awesome night but Enzo was clearly partied out by the time we got home.

Enzo and Ava having conveyor sushi for the first time
Enzo and Ava experience conveyor sushi for the first time
Enzo partied out
Enzo partied out at the end of a long Saturday night out on the town. Those are my Gucci sunglasses that I bought for my 26th birthday in Vegas. Now Enzo rocks them regularly.

Another really fun thing Elise recently took part in was her school’s 5th-grade camping trip to the Pali Institute. Ava had a blast doing the same thing last year and this year was no exception for Elise. Going on a 5th-grade camping trip is like a right of passage and we were so happy to hear about the great time she had. She got to participate in all kinds of cool activities and spent lots of quality time with her friends.

Enzo Crushing 3rd Grade

Like his sisters, Enzo is off to a great year at school. I haven’t seen a progress report for him so far but he’s doing really well in every subject. He’s just like me in the sense that he comes home each day and does his homework immediately. He takes his work seriously and never misses a beat. He’s excited to be getting back into boxing this weekend with Elise, and like Elise, he has made some great friends at school.

Enzo has definitely found himself in the middle of a great group of friends and I think it’s fair to say he is one of the more popular kids in his grade. Jessica recently took him over to his buddy Charlie’s house for a play date, then came home and told me about how beautiful this kid’s neighborhood is. Apparently, he lives on a golf course and one of his newest neighbors is Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. I’ve been telling Jessica that our kids clearly have good taste when it comes to making friends and that it might not be long before we’re riding their coattails.

Enzo and Dad on Fremont St
Enzo and Dad on Fremont St

A Change of Plans for Jessica

Jessica spent the whole Summer training for her upcoming Mt Whitney hike but unfortunately, it’s not going to happen. A few weeks ago she went on a big hike with one of her friends as a training exercise but the weather and conditions turned out unexpectedly bad. Out of respect for her privacy, I don’t want to go into too much detail, but the short story is that she was injured during the hike and the injury is preventing her from going on the Mt Whitney trip.

I don’t want to alarm anyone because she’s going to be totally fine, but a hike like that is no joke and she simply won’t be able to do it at the scheduled time. It was really tough for her to accept and she was gutted by it, but there’s no question she made the right decision to cancel. Although we can’t replace that experience for her, we’re working on setting up some super cool things to do that weekend to help make up for it in some way.

Vegas Showbiz Update

I can’t believe how much Vegas Showbiz has started taking off over the past few weeks. It all started off with me reaching out to various performers to see if I could interview them for the Vegas Showbiz YouTube channel. Through one of those requests I got hooked up with Authentic Public Relations and now all kinds of things are popping up. They were impressed by my interview with Adam London, one of their performers, and have since invited Jessica and me to see the show Marriage Can Be Murder and then interview their performers. They have also invited us to the grand opening of Tape Face’s new show at MGM Grand, which includes a meet and greet afterward. 

Additionally, another public relations company called KorePR found me online and asked if I’d be interested in interviewing a comedian named Byron Kennedy regarding his upcoming headlining slot at the Laugh After Dark comedy festival and the debut of his first comedy special “NashVegas.” Obviously, I said yes and the whole thing went really well.

I’m having so much fun doing these interviews, mostly because I feel like I can talk to anyone about practically anything. I guess I’m just channeling my inner bartender from a previous life, and I feel confident that it’s going to continue growing from here.

Cappers Update

I feel like Cappers is right behind Vegas Showbiz in terms of starting to take off. One reason for this is that, as Devin and I put it, we’re finally fulfilling our AI promise. The URL for the Cappers website is https://cappers.ai, which implies that we are using artificial intelligence to handicap sporting events, but that wasn’t actually the case until about a week ago. Certainly, we have always been building databases of sports data and using that data in various sports betting formulas and systems to produce betting recommendations, but until now, there was no actual artificial intelligence going on behind the scenes. 

That’s all in the past though, as we are now using ChatGPT, the most popular and widely used form of AI in the world, to evaluate games and make betting recommendations. We’re still calculating results from all the systems and providing all the data that we always have, but the ChatGPT results are a huge value add.

At a high level, here’s how it works. You can think of ChatGPT as an invisible robot that you can ask questions to. While you could simply ask the bot something like “Who’s going to win tonight’s game between the Lions and the Packers,” you probably wouldn’t get a very intelligent response because you’re not giving it information to use in its decision-making process. I’m sure it will get there someday, but for now, you have to construct a very detailed question, known as a prompt, in order to get an intelligent response.

A big part of the work I’ve been doing for the past year is writing little computer programs known as Azure Functions that run regularly on timers to get all the latest data from every sport we support and save that data into our database. Once you have all that data, you can use it any way you like. We use it in all those betting system formulas, and we use it to construct the ChatGPT prompts. The prompts we send to the GPT bot are long (about 300 words) and contain all kinds of important information about how each team is performing, point spreads, betting odds, injuries, weather conditions, etc. It takes a lot of code and logic to produce these prompts, but the result that you get back from the bot is really impressive.

I’m not going to lie and say that the recommendations from the bot are always 100% correct because clearly, nothing can ever predict the future with total accuracy, but the responses so far have been looking great. What you get is a response that is very well thought out, takes all the important factors into consideration, and makes an intelligent recommendation. Even if you decide not to make the bets recommended by the bot, it’s still really useful information that you should be aware of and take into account. Plus, more often than not, the bot gets it right. Here’s an example of it’s response about last Sunday’s Steelers vs Raiders game, which was totally accurate across the board.

Cappers.ai Chat GPT analysis of an NFL game

If that’s too small to read in the image, here’s what it says:

Analysis

The Steelers and Raiders both have a 1-1 record this season, but the Steelers are coming off a win while the Raiders are coming off a loss. The Steelers have been scoring more points on average this season (16.5) compared to the Raiders (13.5). However, the Raiders had a higher average score last season (23.2) compared to the Steelers (18.1). Both teams are averaging 2 turnovers per game this season. The Steelers have 1 offensive injury and the Raiders have 2 defensive injuries, which could potentially impact the Raiders’ ability to stop the Steelers’ offense.

Point Spread Bet

Given the Steelers’ recent win and the Raiders’ defensive injuries, I would bet on the Steelers +2.5 points. This means that even if the Steelers lose by 2 points, the bet would still win.

Money Line Bet

I would be on the Steelers’ money line at +124. This means that for every $100 bet, the payout would be $124 if the Steelers win.

Over-Under Pick

The Over/Under is set at 43 points. Given the average points scored by both teams this season (16.5 for the Steelers and 13.5 for Raiders), I would pick the Under at -110 odds. This means that if the total combined score of both teams is less than 43, the bet would win.

Summary of Picks

Point Spread: Steelers +2.5 Money Line: Steelers +124 Over/Under: Under 43

Final Thoughts

While both teams have had a mixed start to the season, the Steelers seem to have the edge due to their recent win and the Raiders’ defensive injuries. However, as with any sports betting, there are no guarantees and outcomes can be unpredictable. It’s important to bet responsibly.

As you can see, this is an extremely well-thought-out response and had you wagered $100 on each of those three recommendations, you would have gotten your $300 back plus a profit of $282. Considering the fact that we’re offering a two-week free trial of the Cappers Application, then only charging $19 per month (for now), Devin and I feel that it’s an incredible value. People pay hundreds of dollars for tout services to tell them who to bet on. We’re not a tout service but instead believe in giving our customers intelligent recommendations and using them to make more informed betting decisions of their own.

If you’re reading this and know anyone who may be interested in a Cappers free trial, please reach out to me and I will give you a code to extend that free trial to one month. I firmly believe that it’s just a matter of getting the word out there and this thing is going to explode. We’ve put a TON of work into it and I’m so proud of what has been created. While we’re currently only offering AI betting recommendations for NFL games, I’m already working on it for the upcoming NHL season and will do the same thing for NBA games. It won’t be long before every game has an AI recommendation to go along with all the other system results.

That’s about it for now. As I say every month, we’re extremely busy, but busy is good and it beats the alternative. Jessica and I couldn’t be more proud of the kids and everything they have going on. If you’re thinking about making a trip to Vegas, please let us know.

Jessica, Elise and Enzo at school
Jessica and Enzo at school
Elise and Ava on Fremont St
Jessica and the kids at the Las Vegas Museum of Illusions
Having fun at the Las Vegas Museum of Illusions
The Pellegrini kids at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas
The Pellegrini Kids at the Vegas Golden Knights 2023 Rookie Game vs the Anaheim Ducks
At the Vegas Golden Knights 2023 Rookie Game versus the Anaheim Ducks
The Pellegrini family at the Neon Trees concert in Las Vegas
At the Neon Trees show on Fremont St. This was our first entire family concert in Vegas.

Back to School, 2023 Style

An update on Jessica and the kids getting back to school for 2023 after a great Summer break.

Summer as a season may still have a few weeks to live but Jessica and the kids have already completed three full weeks back at school. It’s always a sharp contrast at our house when school gets back in session because during the Summer we’re usually all at home, then suddenly it’s back to being quiet again, with just myself and the cats being there all day. The biggest change with this new school year is that Ava is now in sixth grade, meaning she has moved on to middle school.

Her school is located one mile from our house, so she usually rides her bike there in the mornings. We recently purchased a pair of electric scooters, so sometimes she rides a scooter instead. I rode with her the morning of her first day but since then my new routine is to be there when school gets out so we can ride home together. My work day starts early because the company I work for is in Tennessee, so my mornings tend to be very busy, but the afternoons are the opposite because most of my coworkers are starting to wrap up their days by the time it reaches 2:00 p.m. for me.

I usually prefer to ride my bike because I like the exercise it provides, but sometimes the triple-digit heat is too much, so having the scooter is a nice option. They’re very quick and fun to ride. Either way, every time Ava comes out of school and sees me wait she comes running up to give me a big hug, then when we get home she always thanks me for riding home with her. Obviously, the pleasure is all mine and it feels great to be so appreciated by your child. I’d better get used to this new schedule too, because based on how our kids’ grades are spread apart, we will have a child in middle school for the next six years. Looks like I’ll be riding to that campus a lot, but that’s fine with me.

Jessica, Elise, and Enzo have had a great start to the new school year. Unlike last year, Jessica doesn’t have one of her own children in her class this year, but she’s so good at what she does and no one in that school (parents included) takes her for granted. They keep offering her a role as a full-blown teacher with a classroom of her own, but she’s quite happy doing what she’s doing and doesn’t want to rock the boat unnecessarily. She loves the woman she works with and feels great about the role she plays in making a difference in these kids’ lives. It’s not uncommon for Jessica to provide clothes to a child in need, and she’s always there with a big hug when they need it.

Jessica is also only a little more than a month away from her bike hikes of Half Dome and Mount Whitney. She’s been taking her training very seriously all Summer, but it’s difficult training for such a grueling hike during the Summer when you live in Southern Nevada. It’s simply too hot to do your training outside, especially considering that we just had the hottest July in Las Vegas history, but she still finds a way. It’s not uncommon for her to put on her pack and walk up and down our staircase for 90 minutes at a time. She has also been doing yoga and weight training. I don’t think she’s been in such good shape since we left Washington and I’m excited for her big adventure.

Elise is now a fifth grader, meaning she is in her last year of elementary school and will be joining Ava in middle school next year. The big right-of-passage for fifth graders at her school is a trip to Pali Institute, which is an outdoor education retreat in Southern California. Ava went last year and had an amazing time, now Elise’s time is quickly approaching. She’s very excited to go and we can’t wait to hear about her experience. 

One of the benefits of having Jessica working at their school is that she is able to hand-select which classroom her kids will end up in. Consequently, Elise is already thriving this year and absolutely loves her new teacher. She has a small but great group of friends and is already displaying noticeable academic improvements. This is going to be a big year for her as she gets ready to transition to middle school and we’re so proud of how she has kicked things off.

Enzo is also off to a great start as a third grader. Like Elise, he has found a solid group of friends, and I’m not kidding when I say he is one of the most popular third graders in the school. He’s one of the cool kids that everyone gravitates to, which makes me happy, but none of it has gone to his head. He takes school and homework very seriously and his grades show it. Recently, one of his best friends came over after school, and the first thing they did was their homework from that day. Once their homework was completed they allowed themselves to play and have fun, but not until then. This certainly wasn’t a requirement from Jessica or myself, but that’s just the kind of kid he is.

There was a situation a couple of weeks ago where someone wrote “Enzo Pellegrini was here” on school property. We knew it wasn’t him because it wasn’t his writing, his name was misspelled, and he swore he didn’t do it. We attributed it as a consequence of being so well known and liked, but he still took it upon himself to clean it up because he didn’t want his name out there looking like graffiti. 

Restarting Activities

We normally give the kids a break from activities during the Summer but we’re about to get back into everything very soon. Ava has softball tryouts next weekend and we plan on getting Elise and Enzo back into their boxing class very soon. It surprises me how much they like boxing but I love it. I’m expecting all three of them to be back in their rock climbing class at the community center very soon as well. This means that our evenings will be getting busier with practice schedules, but as I always say, busy is good!

Cappers + Vegas Showbiz Update

Speaking of busy, I’ve been keeping quite busy with both of my side hustles. On the Cappers side of things, Devin and I are ready for the NFL season to get started. It took a lot of work to build out all databases and betting systems, but at this point, we’re ready for the season to start. We recently designed cards to start handing out and are hoping that things will start to take off now that football season has arrived.

The Vegas Showbiz YouTube channel has been growing a lot lately, which has been invigorating for Jessica and me. Last Spring we had a bit of a lull and slowed down considerably on video production, but we have kicked things back up big time over the Summer. The channel now has over 700 subscribers and we’re counting down as we approach 1,000. We’re already a part of the YouTube partner program, but once we reach 1,000 subscribers we will reach the next level, and since all other requirements have already been met, at that point we will start getting a monthly paycheck from YouTube. 

In addition to our normal content reviewing Las Vegas shows and restaurants, we also recently did our first Las Vegas performer interview. We met up with Farrell Dillon at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club before one of his shows and chatted for about a half hour about his life and career as a magician. It went really well and I’m definitely looking to do more performer interviews soon. Here’s the interview with Farrell.

Today should be fun, as we’re having several friends over for a pool party. Chances are this will be our final pool party of the Summer, although I’m sure we’ll get a least a few more family swimming sessions in before calling it a season. It’s been a great Summer, but Fall is my favorite season of the year and I always love the transition between the two. 

We’ll be staying home for Labor Day this year, although Ava has her softball tryouts that weekend. We don’t have any upcoming family plans at the moment, but that’s always likely to change. The kids have recently been spending every other weekend at Nana’s house and she always has fun things to do with them. We’re all getting excited about Jessica’s big hiking trip in October, and we’re starting to plan out this year’s Halloween costumes.

That’s about it for now. Wishing everyone a happy Labor Day weekend! Here are a few recent family photos from our Summer in Vegas!

Ava, Elise, and Jessica getting ready for the Barbie movie

Ava’s first day in middle school

Enzo and I at FlyOver Las Vegas. Check out our video review on YouTube.

Jessica on stage at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club. She was the director for our Farrell Dillon interview.

I had an amazing birthday dinner this year at Lakeside, located on Wynn’s Lake of Dreams. Check out our review on YouTube.

Happy 10th Birthday, Elise!

All about Elise’s 10th birthday, plus updates on how our Summer break is wrapping up, Vegas Showbiz getting into the YouTube Partner Program, and Cappers going live!

Today our sweet Elise turned 10 years old! I still remember the morning she was born like it was yesterday. It was shortly after 6:00 am when Jessica delivered her in a small hot tub at a birth center in Bellevue, Washington. With the music of Elliott Smith playing in the background, Elise was brought into this world and I got to hold her for quite a while shortly after. Obviously, it was an experience that Jessica and I will never forget; it’s just hard to believe that 10 whole years have already gone by since then.

As is usually the case with our kids’ birthdays, we’re spreading the celebration out over several days. Since today is her actual birthday, she started off the morning with breakfast in bed, then came down later in the morning to open presents. We went to a play center in the afternoon to let the kids get some exercise, then we went out to dinner as a family. We let Elise choose the restaurant, and luckily for all of us, she chose Chef Kenny’s, which is an Asian vegan restaurant that we love.

After dinner, we came home and did some night swimming, then took a break to enjoy a cake that Elise and Mom baked last night. More swimming and hot tubbing ensued. All in all, it was a great day, but her birthday celebrations are far from over. Tomorrow, the kids will be going to my Mom’s house for a couple nights and I know she has a few things planned. Then next Thursday our good friends the Palmers are visiting us from Washington for a long weekend. 

Instead of having a traditional birthday party, Elise wanted to go see the new Barbie movie in theaters with her friends, but she wanted to wait until her buddy Miles was here for a visit. Jessica got tickets for a big group of Elise’s friends to go to the movie, but Enzo and I decided to pass. I’ll admit it does look funny but since my friend Leon will be here, I think he and I will take Enzo to do something that day while the girls are at the movie.

I know Elise still has all these fun things to come but I hope she enjoyed her day today. It was pretty much the perfect family day and I don’t think anyone will be forgetting it anytime soon. Happy 10th birthday Elise, we love you!!

The Last Few Weeks of Summer Break

Jessica and the kids have been enjoying their break this Summer, but it’s flying by and they will be heading back to school in about three weeks. We’re really excited for our friends to come down for a visit, but they all know that this will basically be the last hoorah. In addition to the movie, we’re all going to a water park one day while they’re here, so that should be a lot of fun.

We recently celebrated the 4th of July, which was also Peach and Spencer’s third birthday, by having my Mom plus our friends Tiko and Tina, plus their two girls, Helen and Beatrice, over for swimming, a BBQ, and fireworks at the park. We were spoiled by relatively cool temperatures during June but that all seems long gone. The forecasted high temperature for this Sunday is 117 degrees, which is extreme even for us. I remember it getting that hot one day during our first Summer here, but it never got that hot last Summer. When you live here you just learn how to live with the extreme heat during the Summer, but at least we always have a pool to go out and jump into.

An Update on Vegas Showbiz and Cappers

Shortly after my last family blog post, Vegas Showbiz was accepted into the YouTube partner program. They recently lowered their limits to get into the first level of the program and we qualified, so I applied and we were accepted almost immediately. Now that we’re in the partner program we’re technically able to start making money, although that hasn’t happened yet. We’re allowed to sell private memberships to our channel but I don’t think that makes sense for us at the moment. We’re also able to accept tips/donations via the Thanks button below our videos, and we’re able to sell Super Stickers, which are digital pieces of art related to our channel.

I don’t expect us to capitalize on any of these options, but I’ve definitely seen an uptick in our viewing numbers and subscribers since we got into the program. It makes sense that YouTube would start surfacing our videos more in searches now that we’re in the partner program, because the better our videos do, the better they do in terms of advertising revenue. Our big goal is still to get to 1,000 subscribers because at that point we will make it to the next level of the partner program, and at that point, you start getting paid a portion of the revenue generated from ads being viewed when people watch your videos.

It won’t be a huge amount of money, but we expect it to be enough to buy tickets to a show each month. Our plan is to reinvest the money into doing more fun things to make videos about and grow the channel that way. Although we had a lull between February and May where we were only producing two videos per month, getting into the partner program has definitely been reinvigorating. We’re not quite halfway through July and have already dropped five new videos for the month. Here’s our most recent one, which is a review Enzo and I made after visiting Fly Over Las Vegas on the Strip.

Regarding Cappers, last Friday Devin and I went live by releasing it to the world! Our main website is located at https://cappers.ai, so if you want to learn more about what we do, that’s the place to go. The web application that people pay for subscriptions to is located at https://app.cappers.ai. So far we don’t have any paying customers but I’ve made some nice progress this week. 

Yesterday I messaged about 10 professional sports handicappers on Twitter; I introduced myself and offered them a free Cappers subscription. I explained that I was trying to gather feedback from established handicappers so I can fine-tune the site and asked if they would be interested. I have already heard back from three of them who are interested and one, who has over 56,000 followers on Twitter, has already gotten set up with a free subscription. Another one has 35,000 subscribers, so if I can get these guys to tweet about it, give feedback, and perhaps give a testimonial on our site, we’ll be looking good.

Our main goal for these first couple of months is to get feedback so we’re ready for NFL season. Hopefully working with these established handicappers will help get us there. In addition to promoting the site via Twitter, I have also been making videos for the Cappers YouTube channel and writing blog posts for the Cappers blog. Most of the blog posts I have written are heavily focused on sports betting, but my first one was more like our origination story. I wrote about growing up in a house where my Dad ran an illegal sports gambling operation, and how he always told me to do something better with my life. I honestly feel like my tech experience combined with these experiences as a child makes me very qualified to be a founder of a company like this. If you’d like to check it out just go to: https://cappers.ai/blog/2023/07-july/01-commandments-of-sports-betting 

I’m already working every day to get us ready for NFL season and I expect to be hustling for months to help build up our subscriber base. Devin and I should be starting our Vegas sports podcast soon as well, so hopefully all these things will start coming together and the site will blow up. I’m not worried about it because I know how much hard work is being done; it’s just a matter of time.

More Homemade Music

I’ve been on a roll with content creation lately and music has been no exception. I recently tried something new by recording music specifically to be used for the background of a Vegas Showbiz video. Normally, when I record music I’m trying to come up with progressive, interesting ideas and play things that sound impressive. This time, it was a different approach because I wanted something simple with an uplifting feel to it.

I was particularly proud of this one, not because it was the best playing I’ve done, but because I recorded it in an old-school way using my actual amplifiers and microphones. Normally when I’m recording music at home, I plug my guitar into my computer and use software recreations of classic amplifiers. This approach has always worked well and sounded good, but it almost feels like you’re cheating. I’m able to pick from all these classic amps from the 50’s 60’s and 70’s, then mix and match them as I please.

This time, I set up a couple of amplifiers in my bedroom closet, which is the closest thing I have to a recording booth, then mic’d them up and cranked the volume. The music was intentionally simple but the guitar solo was done in a single take with zero practice or preparation. In a strange way I was more proud of this than most of my other stuff, mostly because I was using my own physical amps and pedals to get all the sounds.

I also promised my Uncle Bob that I would make a video with the guitar he gifted me before moving back to Washington, so here it is. Again, I used a microphone in front of an amp with lots of volume, which I think is good for the soul. Playing loud feels so good!

Obviously, it’s been a busy few weeks but I honestly believe that staying busy is the secret to happiness. I’m looking forward to making more music to use in our videos, excited for the future of Vegas Showbiz on YouTube, and extremely excited about everything going on with Cappers. It’s only a matter of time. For now, here are a few more recent photos from our Summer.

Elise having breakfast in bed on the morning of her 10th birthday
Elise having breakfast in bed on the morning of her 10th birthday
Elise opening presents for her 10th birthday
Elise opening her presents
Elise at her 10th birthday dinner at Chef Kenny's
Elise at Chef Kenny’s for her birthday dinner
Elise finally got to have a Grimace Shake at McDonalds
Elise finally got to have a Grimace Shake at McDonalds
Enzo Pellegrini, July 4 2023
Enzo with a sparkler sword on the 4th of July. Love those glasses!
Ava Pellegrini, July 4 2023
Ava and her sparkler sword on the 4th
Elise Pellegrini, July 4 2023
Elise and her sparkler sword
The Pellegrini family, July 4 2023
Family photos on the 4th of July are a tradition for us. Here are a few from this year.
The Pellegrini family, July 4 2023
The Pellegrini family, July 4 2023
Nana and Michael, July 4 2023
Mom and I on the 4th
Visiting the Vegas Strip with Avery
Our good friend and old neighbor Avery recently came down from Washington for a visit. It was a fun couple of days.
Fun times with our friend Avery

A Family-Filled June

Sad news about Jessica’s grandpa, followed by lots of good times during a recent family visit. Father’s Day and the upcoming Cappers launch are also covered.

June has been a fun and memorable month, but before I get into all the fun stuff we’ve been up to, I want to take a moment to pay my respects to Jessica’s grandpa, Larry Pipkin, who unfortunately passed away earlier this month. I had the pleasure of spending many occasions with Larry, and his wife Sherry, over the past 15 years. He was always so kind to me, and I always enjoyed his endless questions about the restaurant and tech industries. 

Larry was born in 1929, which is the year after my Dad was born. Jessica and I always chuckled about the fact that my Dad was older than her grandpa. He was only a few days short of his 94th birthday, so I have to commend him on a life well-lived. Not only due to the amount of time he was here but for everything he did during that time. He owned an optometry practice, which came after graduating at the top of his class in medical school. Later in his career, he and Sherry would travel overseas to provide free optometry services to those in need.

Without question, my most special memory of Larry is based on him marrying Jessica and me on a boat in Seattle back in April 2010. It was Jessica’s idea to have him be the one who officiated the service and I was all for it. He took it seriously and ended up getting ordained specifically for that occasion. I remember standing next to him moments before the ceremony began; we made eye contact so I nodded my head and whispered “How ya doin’?” He chuckled and said, “I’m fine, but how are you doing?”

The other great memory I have of Larry was from the end of that year when he and Sherry came to spend Christmas with us at our little beach house in San Diego. The four of us, plus our two dogs, lived in this little house for a week, which was so memorable. We showed them all around San Diego, took them to the restaurants we worked at, and went for walks by the beach. 

I probably shouldn’t say this but I will anyway; Sherry wanted to try a pot brownie so we got one for her. Larry wasn’t interested but I could tell he was enjoying giving her a hard time about it. She was worried about having too much and decided not to finish it. Before the remainder of the brownie made its way to the garbage, Larry, ever the sweet tooth, said “You don’t let brownies go to waste Sherry,” then snatched it up and ate it. I’m not sure how much it affected either of them, but let’s just say everyone really enjoyed the spaghetti dinner I made that night.

Of course, Larry’s family could tell many more stories than I can, but those are some of my favorite memories of him. Congratulations to him on a life well lived; if someone told me right now that I could live until the month of my 94th birthday (which for me would be July 2074), I’d take it without thinking twice. Rest in peace, Grandpa Pipkin.

Larry Pipkin officiating the Pellegrini wedding in April 2010

A Visit From Family

On a happier note, last week my cousin Kristy, her husband Gilberto, and her daughter Madi spent the week at our house. We kept busy with various activities including eating at several of our favorite restaurants, swimming in the backyard, and visiting a handful of fun Vegas attractions. One day they all picked up my Mom and went to an escape room near her house. I wasn’t able to join because I was working but it sounded like everyone had a nice time. Another day while I was working they all got to visit the botanical cactus garden at Ethel M’s chocolate factory.

I think the highlight of their visit for me was on Thursday night when we all attended the Tournament of Kings dinner show at The Excalibur Hotel. Jessica and I have wanted to take the kids to this show for a long time so it was great to experience that with family. Everyone enjoyed the entire experience and I have already posted a Vegas Showbiz video of some of my favorite parts of the show. Hopefully, Jessica and I will be making a review video soon as well.

Kristy, Tito, and Madi were very kind in bringing me a Father’s Day present since they arrived the day after Father’s Day. They got me a cutting board made by Fender, which is shaped like a Stratocaster. It’s the perfect gift for me because I love to play guitar and I love to cook! I had to verify the shape was correct by grabbing my strat and laying it directly on top of the cutting board. It was a perfect match.

Their visit flew by but it was a lot of fun. The weather was hot, but not as hot as usual for this time of year, which made things ideal. I hope they enjoyed it and find time to come back.

Outside of Excalibur Las Vegas
Outside of Excalibur after the show
Family swimming time!
Obligatory family selfie from the pool
Chillin in the pool and hot tub with family
Jessica and Tito on a hike at the Hoover Dam
Jessica and Tito did a hike one morning at the Hoover Dam
Family fun at Ethel M's Chocolate Factory
Family fun at the chocolate factory
Measuring the Fender Stratocaster cutting board against the real thing
Comparing the cutting board to the real thing
Tree climbing in Las Vegas
Tree climbing in Las Vegas

Father’s Day

Since the kids were gone on a camping trip with their grandparents last year on Father’s Day, and the last time we celebrated me, which was my birthday last Summer, Enzo split his head open and I got to spend the evening with him in the emergency room, it was important to Jessica that they treated me to a nice day this year. She really came through too; it was easily the best Father’s Day I’ve ever had!

The kids surprised me that morning with presents they made, all of which were special gifts that I will keep forever. Then Jessica surprised me with a few presents that I never expected. She got me a nice new swimsuit because I had mentioned a few weeks earlier that I only had two pair of swimming trunks. She also got me a new little football which is meant for the water because I love to play catch with the kids in the pool. 

The biggest one though, which totally caught me by surprise, was the JBL Bluetooth outdoor speaker she picked out. I’ve been wanting one of these since last Summer so we can listen to music in the pool. Technically we were already able to do that because our house’s intercom/radio system has a speaker by the back door, but the sound quality wasn’t very good and we hate all the radio commercials. The speaker she picked out sounds amazing and I’ve been bringing it outside for every swimming session since then.

We did some swimming that morning, so I got a chance to wear my new swimsuit, play catch with the new football, and listen to music on the new speaker. It was perfect. My Mom arrived a bit later and hung out for lunch. Jessica was putting out delicious snacks all morning, then I hopped on the grill to make veggie skewers and Impossible burgers. It was great spending time with my Mom for the afternoon, then we spent the evening relaxing as a family. I know she was happy to do it, but I still really appreciate everything Jessica did that day. Again, it was my best Father’s Day ever.

Father's Day 2023

Summer Break for the kids

Summer break has been going well for the kids, although Enzo and Ava have been sick lately, so that’s no fun. Enzo is just now getting over tonsillitis and Ava is starting antibiotics today after being sick for several days. Yesterday, Elise got started with Invisalign at her dentist’s office. Her dentist was recommending Invisalign as the best option, otherwise braces. I’ve never had either but Jessica has had both and her results with Invisalign were much better, so we decided on that option.

There was an optional Summer School session going on for a couple of weeks so each of the kids decided to do it. They enjoy seeing their friends, and in Ava’s case, it was a chance to start getting familiar with the new Middle School she will be attending in the Fall. School starts early here, so there are only about five more weeks of Summer vacation before they get back at it.

We’re not going anywhere this Summer but that’s okay because we have more visitors coming soon, plus we’ll be hosting a few more pool parties, including one on the 4th of July. There’s always so much going on in Las Vegas that we didn’t feel the need to go anywhere this Summer. We’ve also got Elise’s 10th birthday coming up in a couple of weeks, so that should be a lot of fun. 

Here’s a video Jessica and I recently made about things to do this 4th of July in Vegas.

Cappers Beta Launch

Devin and I have been hard at work on getting the Cappers site ready for our beta launch. We’ll be displaying it to the world in the next week or two, which is really exciting. We have things broken up into three components: the Cappers website (https://cappers.ai), the Cappers blog (https://blog.cappers.ai), and the Cappers app (https://app.cappers.ai). The Cappers app is what I mainly focus on, as it is the tool that our customers will purchase subscriptions to. At this point, the app is ready for our beta launch, also known as an MVP (minimum viable product) launch.

I will certainly be adding more to it in the future, but as it is, the baseball handicapping tools we’re providing are outstanding. I’ll have a lot to do to prepare for football season, but for now, our focus is on getting the marketing website and blog launched. I wrote my first Cappers blog article recently and look forward to writing more of them in the near future.

In terms of attracting customers, Devin has a variety of marketing strategies to execute, but we’re hoping to utilize the blog for SEO (search engine optimization) and attract customers organically. Another exciting way we plan to promote the business is via a podcast. Devin was doing some research and found that there currently aren’t any podcasts dedicated to Las Vegas sports. There are more specific podcasts about the Golden Knights and the Raiders, but not one more generic about the entire Las Vegas sports scene.

We decided to capitalize on that hole in the market and look forward to dropping our first episode later this Summer. While Las Vegas has long been considered the entertainment capital of the world, it’s no secret that the city is now making a big push to become the sports capital as well. The Golden Knights just won the Stanley Cup in only their sixth year, the Raiders sell more tickets than any other team in the NFL (mostly because people love coming to Vegas to see their team play), and the Aces are the defending WNBA champs.

Formula One recently spent a quarter of a billion dollars on land in Vegas and will have their first race here this November. The next Superbowl will be hosted here in February, and soon the Tropicana will be torn down and converted into a beautiful new stadium housing the Oakland A’s. Or should I say the Las Vegas A’s? It’s no secret that the NBA badly wants a Las Vegas franchise and LeBron James is already on record saying he wants to own that team. Plus, we’re already the fight capital of the world, so I don’t think we will have a hard time finding things to talk about.

In the same way that we see a clear opportunity to bring AI to the world of sports betting, we also see a clear opportunity to advertise that business by generating content about the fast-growing Las Vegas sports scene. Our plan is to record weekly episodes and release them to all the main podcast feeds, as well as upload the video of each episode to our new Cappers YouTube channel. We don’t have any videos on there yet but they will be coming soon. I’m already looking forward to next month’s post when I can officially announce that we are live.

New Homemade Music

Between my day job and Cappers, I spend a lot of time writing code, so by the end of the day my brain often turns to mush. I tend to deal with that by engaging in one of my creative hobbies, which usually means cooking dinner and/or playing guitar. When I’m playing guitar, the easiest thing to do is just practice or jam along to a backing track, but the problem with that approach is that you never have anything to show for the time spent. 

When you’ve already spent the entire day on the computer, it definitely takes more determination to open the computer back up and work on writing and recording a song, but the reward when you complete one is great. I recently started experimenting with some different tunings on the guitar because it forces me to play different stuff than I would normally play. Consequently, I was inspired to write something new, then started working on recording the song and making a video of myself playing all the parts. 

It’s a ton of work and I’d rather not think of how many hours I put into it, but at the end of it all you have something to share and keep forever. It’s like my version of doing a painting. I try to think of a title early on and let that dictate a theme, then keep that theme in mind when writing the rest of the music. 

In this case, I had this idea of a sandstorm brewing in the desert. It starts slowly and peacefully, then grows into a violent rage before ultimately calming back down to its original state. Most of my normal bluesy licks didn’t work in this tuning, so it forced me to step outside of my comfort zone and come up with something new. While I don’t plan on keeping this alternate tuning forever, it was nice to switch things up and get a new dose of inspiration. I’m already planning on my next recording and hope to get it started soon. Here’s the finished product for SandStorm.

I love how our cat Spencer makes an appearance in the video. I didn’t even know she was there!

Looking Ahead to July

As mentioned, we have Elise’s 10th birthday, plus two sets of visitors coming in July. Grandma and Grandpa Martin are coming out for a visit, as are our good friends the Palmers. Our new pool deck was recently completed so the pool area at our house has never been better. We’re looking forward to lots of swimming and Summer fun with them. Here are a few more recent photos from an epic June 2023!

Jessica and the kids enjoying some beautiful weather
Ava Pellegrini outside of New York, New York - Las Vegas
Ava, Elise, and Enzo Pellegrini at NY NY, Las Vegas
Ava, Elise, and Michael Pellegrini in Las Vegas
The Pellegrini kids outside of the Hershey's store in Las Vegas
Jessica and Michael Pellegrini at The Golden Tiki in Las Vegas
The Pellegrini kids in Vegas
The Pellegrini kids at Excalibur Las Vegas
The Pellegrini kids outside of the Hershey's store in Las Vegas
Enzo and the giant crepe
Of course Enzo ordered this giant Nutella crepe while out to lunch with Nana
Enzo finishing the giant crepe
And of course he ate every bite
The Pellegrini family at the Tournament of Kings dinner show at Excalibur
Ready for the show!

School’s Out For Summer, 2023

May hasn’t been nearly as crazy of a month for us as April was, but we’ve still got a few cool things to share. Most notably, the school year recently came to an end and the kids are now on Summer break! Enzo had a great year in second grade and made lots of friends that he will continue with for the next three years. Elise, in all honesty, didn’t have her best year of school this year, but we had some heart-to-heart talks with her towards the end of the year and we definitely saw an improvement afterward. 

Jessica did a lot of work to get her the help she needs and we feel great about the class she will be in next year, so we’re excited for her. In a way, we’re hoping she can follow in Ava’s footsteps in this regard because 5th grade was easily Ava’s best year of elementary school. She really came into herself this year and the progress, including test score improvements, has been nothing short of amazing. We have no doubt that Elise will be able to do the same thing next year.

The end of the school year was filled with activities that the kids loved. There were field days filled with games, and a school choir concert for families to attend, plus the 5th graders got to go on an all-day field trip that included swimming and a trip to the movie theater to see the new Super Mario Bros movie. 

The crowning achievement at the end of the year was Ava’s speech during the school’s graduation ceremony. Jessica worked with her on it for weeks and she practiced regularly, but I never heard it until her delivery in front of at least 300 people. I know she was nervous but she did an excellent job. I gave her the same advice my cousin Ken told me to give to Elise when he found out she was doing drama club; plant your feet, lift your chin, and speak to the back of the room.

I realized within the first ten seconds that Ava’s speech had a very different tone to it than the rest of the kids’ speeches. While the other kids were giving speeches with a mostly comical tone, Ava’s speech dove directly into her learning differences due to her dyslexia and ADHD. The central theme was explaining why her teacher this year was the best one she had ever experienced in school. A teacher who understood her learning differences and leaned into them. A teacher who found the right books for her and helped her develop a love of reading. A teacher who taught her to believe in herself when others made her feel stupid, and who made her realize that she really can become a scientist when she grows up if she sets her mind to it.

I’m not talking about Jessica when I reference this teacher, even though the lengths Jessica has gone to in order to improve the kids’ education is nothing short of amazing. I’m talking about the teacher Jessica assists at the school, and she really is fantastic. Ava’s speech was so powerful that parents and teachers were crying while she delivered it. Very few of us would be able to open up like that in front of hundreds of strangers, yet nearly everyone identified with her. Afterward, Ava and Jessica were both approached by many students, teachers, and school administrators talking about how amazing the speech was. Several people said it was the best of the day and many more said they couldn’t help from crying while listening to her. As the one filming the speech, my eyes were filled with tears almost instantly, so my job turned into just trying to hold it together and keep the camera still. We posted the video of Ava’s speech to the Pellegrini Kids YouTube channel, which you can see below.

Ava and Nana at 5th grade graduation
Ava and Mom at elementary school graduation
Ava and her teacher at 5th grade graduation

Ava and her 5th grade teacher

Jessica and Elise Pellegrini holding Elise's Excellence in Science award

Elise finished really strong in science this year!

Enzo Pellegrini on his first and last days of 2nd grade

Enzo at the beginning and end of 2nd grade

Ava Pellegrini at the end of her 2022-2023 school year

Mother’s Day 2023 – A.K.A. “MothersGate”

Before moving to Nevada in June 2021, Jessica had us scheduled for family photos. She wanted to get nice photos of us taken in the great Pacific Northwest before heading away, but it wasn’t meant to be because the day of the photos turned into a big rainstorm and there was no other day for us to do it before moving. We figured we would get photos done after moving but ended up getting so busy with everything that we lost track of it.

Recently Jessica and I started talking about doing family photos again, but this time I offered to do them myself since I have a decent camera and have learned a lot about photography in the past year. I decided that the best Mother’s Day gift I could give her would be to do photos of the kids on the morning of Mother’s Day, then take everyone, including my Mom, out to brunch. 

We decided to do the photos in the Downtown Las Vegas Arts District because they have so many cool murals which could serve as backdrops. The kids stayed the night at my Mom’s house the night before, then we picked everyone up that morning and headed downtown. I had extra batteries for the camera, plus a tripod just in case. We scouted the area and picked out our favorite murals, then I proceeded to take a couple hundred photos.

I was wearing prescription sunglasses and didn’t notice until literally the last photo of the morning that the camera didn’t have a memory card installed. I instantly started to panic. As it turned out, Jessica had used the camera the day before for one of her YouTube videos and forgot to reinstall the memory card after downloading the video files to her laptop.

I was heartbroken and she was beside herself in anger. We had waited two years for these photos and I was so excited to give her this gift, but again, it wasn’t meant to be. After regaining our composure we went out to brunch at a restaurant downtown called Eat, which was excellent, then we went back to a few of the murals and used our cellphones to get some photos. It wasn’t what we had in mind but was going to have to do, for now. I still plan on taking the kids back to the Arts District for more “official” family photos, but here are a few of our favorites from that day. It was certainly one that we will never forget!

Enzo Pellegrini in the Las Vegas Arts District
Ava and Elise Pellegrini in the Las Vegas Arts District
Enzo Pellegrini in the Las Vegas Arts District
The Pellegrini kids with their Nana in the Las Vegas Arts District
Ava and Elise Pellegrini in the Las Vegas Arts District
Elise Pellegrini in the Las Vegas Arts District
Ava Pellegrini in the Las Vegas Arts District
Jessica and Michael Pellegrini in the Las Vegas Arts District
The Pellegrini kids in the Las Vegas Arts District
Jessica Pellegrini with her kids on Mother's Day, 2023

Hiking at Valley of Fire State Park

One of our first big family activities of the Summer break was to go hiking at the Valley of Fire state park. Located about an hour from the strip, Valley of Fire was the first state park in Nevada. We’ve been meaning to go there since moving to Nevada nearly two years ago, but we finally made it on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. We arrived at 8:30 am and started exploring instantly. There are over 40,000 acres of trails, rock formations, petrified logs, petroglyphs, wildlife, camping, and more!

We did a few hikes with the kids and I took a ton of photos, but Jessica and I plan on returning this Fall to do more serious hiking without the kids. They have some advanced trails that we didn’t feel like taking the kids on, especially considering how hot and crowded it was getting as we approached noon. 

There were various lizards out and about, plus we got lucky by seeing a pair of big horn sheep crossing the road. In addition to our hikes, we drove around the scenic loop and visited several iconic photo spots. Seeing the ancient petroglyph drawings was definitely a highlight, and the kids thought the petrified logs which had become stone were amazing. It’s a really beautiful place that I recommend anyone go to visit if you’re in the area. We saw people of all ages out there and look forward to returning.

Here’s the video I made, along with a few of my favorite photos.

The Pellegrini family at Valley of Fire State Park
The Pellegrini family at Valley of Fire State Park
Jessica and Enzo Pellegrini at Valley of Fire State Park
Jessica Pellegrini at Valley of Fire State Park
Elise Pellegrini at Valley of Fire State Park
Enzo Pellegrini at Valley of Fire State Park
Ava and Enzo Pellegrini at Valley of Fire State Park
Elise Pellegrini at Valley of Fire State Park
Enzo and Michael Pellegrini at Valley of Fire State Park
Enzo Pellegrini at Valley of Fire State Park
Hiking at Valley of Fire State Park

The Chicks Concert with Jim and Cara

Our old next-door neighbors Jim and Cara were recently in town for the weekend, and when we found out they were going to The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks) concert, we decided to get tickets and meet up with them. The Chicks are one of Jessica’s favorite bands and we used to listen to one of their albums a lot back in the day. In fact, the CD we made for our wedding guests started with a song by them, yet we had never seen them in concert until now. We got general admission tickets and found a spot right at the front of the audience. I could literally reach out and touch the stage!

It was an excellent show that we will never forget, and it was really fun catching up with our friends. They ended up coming over to our house the next day for lunch, so it was fun showing them around our new place. Here’s the video I made of the concert.

New Pool Decking Coming Soon

When we bought our house in June 2021, the concrete area around the pool wasn’t looking so great. Part of our negotiations was that they would paint the area, which they did, but they used the same paint for the pool decking that they used for the entrance steps in front of our house. It’s dark brown paint that isn’t meant for pool decking, but we didn’t know the difference and thought it looked good, so we didn’t say anything.

What we later learned was that this concrete gets so hot during the Summertime that you can’t walk on it barefoot. It also gets slick when wet and just isn’t ideal as a surface around your swimming pool. We lived with it for two Summers but decided to have it replaced this year. On Thursday of this week, we have a concrete company coming out to grind it all down to a smooth surface, then they will coat it with a real pool decking which is cooler to the touch due to its sand color, and less slippery. We’re also going to have them fill in all the holes from the old fence they used to have here.

Not only will this new pool deck look much better, but everyone will be able to walk barefoot on it, which will be nice. Our backyard is such a focal point of our home and we have several guests coming to stay with us this Summer, so having this upgrade completed before anyone gets here is going to be awesome. I look forward to sharing photos of the finished project in next month’s post.

That’s about all for now. I wanted to keep this month’s post a little on the shorter side considering how long it was last month. We’re really looking forward to getting a visit from Kristy, Tito, and Madi in June, so I’ll write all about that afterward. I’m just glad the new pool deck will be completed before they arrive. Wishing everyone a happy Memorial Day and a nice start to their Summer!