It’s hard to believe October is already coming to a close. This month has flown by for us but in a good way. Starting with the kids and school, Enzo was selected as Student of the Month in his second-grade class. This is based on a combination of scholastics, leadership, and effort. Obviously, Jessica and I were very proud of him, but more importantly, he was so proud of himself, especially when his name got called out on the loudspeaker.
Things at school have also been going well for Elise and Ava. Both of them have joined the school choir and are loving it. They meet every Tuesday morning before school, and I can’t wait to see them perform. It’s only open to 4th and 5th graders, so Enzo has time to think about it. Elise has also been involved in an all-girls running club at school, which she is enjoying. Ava recently competed in the school’s annual Four Square tournament. It’s such a popular event that sometimes even adults register to play. She had a blast, as usual.
Here are their most recent school photos:
Preparing for Halloween
Halloween is now just a couple of days away. The kids have already attended several Halloween events over the past couple of weeks, each of which is an opportunity to get back into their costumes and collect candy. Enzo is wearing a scary-looking Morphsuit, Elise is dressing up as an angel, and Ava is literally wearing my Dad’s old dress blues from his time in the U.S. Navy!
I know my Dad was a little guy and all, but it blows me away that my ten-year-old daughter can fit into a uniform that he probably wore in his late teens or early twenties. That’s crazy.
This will be our second Halloween in our new neighborhood, and we’re looking forward to it. Last year was easily the best trick-or-treating I’ve ever experienced. I still can’t believe there was a house spinning fresh cotton candy for each kid. Plus, there was another house that built its own haunted house for people to walk through. The decorations throughout the neighborhood are over the top as well. Luckily, our good friends Tiko and Tina will be bringing their daughters over to walk the hood with us.
Here’s a sneak peek at the kids’ costumes this year.
Birthday Dinner with Nana
We can’t have Halloween without also celebrating my Mom’s birthday. This year we decided to do a family-style meal at Crossroads, our favorite vegan restaurant on the Las Vegas strip. We had previously made a video for the Vegas Showbiz YouTube channel reviewing our first meal there, so we were excited to try it again.
As expected, the food was delicious. Their scallopine parmesan is incredible, as were the other pizza and pasta dishes. Our new favorite, however, was the calamari. It was better than plenty of real calamari dishes I’ve had in the past. My Mom never passes up on calamari at a restaurant and said she would be back just for that.
The kids really enjoyed going out to a fancy with their Nana, and this was long overdue. We were saying we hadn’t done a nice dinner like this with my Mom since my 30th birthday, so hopefully it won’t be nearly as long until the next one.
Surgery for Spencer Kitty
As the owner of long-haired cats, Jessica and I have gotten used to regularly brushing our cats and checking them for mats in their hair. Recently, while checking Spencer, I found what I thought was a hair mat but turned out to be a crusty scab. There was hair dried into it, and I knew it needed to be looked at by a veterinarian. Jessica got her into the vet the following morning, and they couldn’t clean the area up without surgery.
She had a pretty big cut near the armpit of her front left leg, but we still don’t know what caused it. Spencer and Peach are indoor cats, so it’s not like she got into a fight outside. My best guess is that it happened when I saw her jump from the floor all the way to the top of the fridge. It was pretty incredible to witness, but she didn’t make it all the way and ended up having to drag her back legs up. I don’t know for sure if that was the cause, but more importantly, she is healing up nicely. She ended up getting five stitches, which will be coming out Monday morning, but what’s worse for Spencer is having to wear a cone around her neck. These cats don’t even wear collars because they hate them so much, but we had no choice this time.
Another Unexpected Issue with the Pool
I had a crazy close call with our pool equipment a few nights ago. I knew our filters were due for a cleaning, and I had done it a couple of times previously since purchasing the house, so I decided to get it done after work. Pool filter systems operate under heavy water pressure, and anytime you’re working with a pressurized system, there’s a possibility of danger.
In this case, I had no problem letting all the pressure out before opening the big container and pulling out the dirty filters. After (poorly) cleaning the filters, I put them back in the container, put the lid back in place, and tightened the metal belt. Everything seemed to be correctly reassembled, so I turned the water pump back on and got close to the filters so I could watch the pressure gauge rise.
I was probably only two or three feet away, and right around the time when I was thinking the pressure should probably stop rising, the damn thing exploded right in front of me! It was loud, and the fiberglass top of the filtration unit shot straight up in the air like a rocket. There’s an overhand from our house directly over part of this unit, so how it missed the house is a mystery to me.
This piece that shot off was pretty large. It looks like the top half of a fiberglass egg but with a rounder top. It’s probably about three feet tall and is too large for me to wrap my arms around.
When it blew, my immediate reaction was to drop into a turtle position with my arms covering my head. As soon as I hit the deck, I remember thinking I should look up to see if it was going to hit me. I didn’t end up doing it, though, because I didn’t know if something was going to be right there when looking up. It could have been coming down in multiple pieces, and I knew fiberglass was dangerous.
I just stayed there crouched in a ball next to the heater and little wall separating our pool equipment from the flowers, hoping nothing would come down on me. My guess is that from the initial boom until the piece came crashing back down to the ground was a full three seconds. I wish I had perimeter cameras on our property because I would love to see this in a replay. It felt like an eternity while I was crouched up, but eventually, the top landed about 10 feet away on the concrete. The pressure gauge on top of it shattered on impact.
I knew I was lucky not to be injured, but then I realized there was another immediate problem. The whole time I was crouched on the ground, I was getting soaked because the pool pump was still running. If left unattended, it would only be a matter of time before our pool was empty. I immediately ran over to turn off the pump, then just sort of stood there soaking wet, observing everything that just went down and looking around dumbfounded because I knew there were zero witnesses.
I went to my local pool store, which is run by this cool Italian family who is incredibly knowledgeable about swimming pools. I told them what had just happened, and they told me how lucky I was. There have been plenty of cases of injuries and, in some cases, even deaths from this type of accident. Their technician was able to come out to our house that same evening to take a look at everything. Since I was dealing with 22-year-old equipment, I opted to go for a whole new setup rather than trying to piece it back together. The nice thing about this approach is that it comes with a warranty. We knew when purchasing the house that the pool equipment was all original, but I think I’m going to hire a professional next time I need my filters cleaned.
They were out today to install the new filtration system, and the pool is back in normal working order. These types of unexpected expenses are frustrating, although I’ve come to expect them since becoming a pool owner. In this case, however, I’m just feeling fortunate that no one (including myself) got hurt and no other damages were caused. It could have been so much worse. Man, I would love to see a replay though…
Looking forward
As always, we have some exciting things to look forward to. As already mentioned, trick-or-treating on Monday night should be a lot of fun. Once we get into November, it’s all about Thanksgiving and Ava’s birthday. Like the year she was born, Ava’s birthday this year also falls on Black Friday. We figured it would be better to do her party the weekend before Thanksgiving than two days after, so we will be hosting a party here at the house. Her whole class is invited, and we’re expecting quite a few to attend.
After that, Amy and Tom will be coming to Las Vegas in early December to celebrate her birthday. We’re excited that Uncle Joel and Aunt Melanie will also be coming along this year. It’s always fun having family come to visit us in Vegas, so we’re planning out some fun stuff to do. Then, just a couple weeks after that, we will be driving up to the Colorado Rockies to celebrate Christmas at Amy and Tom’s place. The kids were wishing for a white Christmas, and it worked out well for everyone, so we decided to make it happen.
I guess that’s about it for now. Thanks for reading, and happy Halloween! Looking forward to doing the next post about Ava’s 11th birthday. Here are a couple more pics.
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