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!
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.
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 photoEnzo’s 3rd Grade photoI love how Jessica gets a school photo each year as well. Halloween 2023SEMA Fest 2023Waiting for our favorite bands to take the stageJessica and I never intend to dress alike, but it frequently turns out that way.Thanksgiving morning, 2023Ava opening her birthday giftsAva 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.After her games today, we took Ava to Plant Powered for a vegan burger. The candle was a nice touch by Mom.
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!
At the 2023 Las Vegas Pride ParadeEnzo and one of his best friendsOff to another softball game!Elise and Jessica before the Ed Sheeran concertHaving fun at the “Marriage Can Be Murder” dinner showRevolving Sushi with Ava and Enzo
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.
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 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 experience conveyor sushi for the first timeEnzo 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
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.
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.
Having fun at the Las Vegas Museum of IllusionsAt the Vegas Golden Knights 2023 Rookie Game versus the Anaheim DucksAt the Neon Trees show on Fremont St. This was our first entire family concert in Vegas.
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.
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 birthdayElise opening her presentsElise at Chef Kenny’s for her birthday dinnerElise finally got to have a Grimace Shake at McDonaldsEnzo with a sparkler sword on the 4th of July. Love those glasses!Ava and her sparkler sword on the 4thElise and her sparkler swordFamily photos on the 4th of July are a tradition for us. Here are a few from this year.Mom and I on the 4thOur good friend and old neighbor Avery recently came down from Washington for a visit. It was a fun couple of days.
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.
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 after the showObligatory family selfie from the poolJessica and Tito did a hike one morning at the Hoover DamFamily fun at the chocolate factoryComparing the cutting board to the real thingTree 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.
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!
Of course Enzo ordered this giant Nutella crepe while out to lunch with NanaAnd of course he ate every biteReady for the show!
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 her 5th grade teacher
Elise finished really strong in science this year!
Enzo at the beginning and end of 2nd grade
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!
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 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!
April 2023 has been an amazing month, and we still have more good stuff coming up!
April 2023 has been a pretty amazing month for us, and we still have some good stuff to look forward to before moving into May. Most notably, Jessica’s birthday is coming up on Friday and she has a lot going on. We’re going to see Chelsea Handler’s comedy show that night at The Mirage, then early the next morning she is flying to Tucson, Arizona to spend the weekend with her girlfriends from Seattle. I mistakenly said she was going to Sedona in last month’s post, but it’s definitely Tucson. They’re going to do some hiking and some chilling, but she wants to get as much training in as possible because this is the same group she’s going with to hike Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous United States, in October. I’ll have details on Jessica’s birthday and weekend getaway in next month’s post.
As for April, there’s been a ton of stuff going on, so let’s start at the beginning of the month. Monday, April 3rd was our 13th anniversary and we celebrated in a very memorable way. Our good friends and ex-neighbors, the Browns, were in Vegas for Spring Break, so they came over to our house for dinner that night. Ava and Elise still talk to Avery regularly online, and they’re always sending each other little gifts in the mail, so it was a pleasure to spend an evening hanging out with them. We actually had so much fun that we ended up meeting up with them again the following night at an arcade in Vegas. We love their family and had such a nice time catching up. Christy is from Vegas and her Mom still lives here, not too far from my Mom, so hopefully they will start making regular visits once again.
Dinner with the Browns on our anniversary. We love them so much.
Ava, Avery, and Elise. BFF’s forever.
More fun with Avery
Road Trip with Nana
We spent the evening of Tuesday, April 4th at the arcade with the Browns, then I was up and out the door early the next morning, on April 5th, to pick up my Mom for a road trip to southern Arizona. As I mentioned in last month’s post, we recently made the decision to get a bearded dragon as a pet, and after doing my research online, I decided that I wanted to purchase one from the Atomic Lizard Ranch, located very near the Mexican border in Bisbee, Arizona. It’s about an eight-hour drive from my Mom’s house, and we had to meet them at 3:00 pm, so we were on the road by sunrise.
We ended up driving all the way down the state of Arizona, from top to bottom. I’d never done a road trip in, or through, Arizona before, and here are my observations. The desert in northern Arizona is much greener than the Mojave desert stretching through California and Nevada. They get a lot more rain during their wet season than we do, and consequently, they have those picturesque cacti, like the ones you see in drawings and cartoons, growing wild everywhere. It’s not uncommon for them to be 20 feet tall, and some are even closer to 30! There are beautiful wildflowers growing near the side of the road, and the vastness of empty space is incredible. It never fails to amaze me when driving through states like Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, just how much wide open empty space there is. It definitely puts the size of our country into perspective.
My only complaint about driving through northern Arizona is the quality of their roads. I’ve never seen so many potholes in my life and I felt like I was dodging them for hours. I think we get a little spoiled from the high quality of our infrastructure in Nevada because of all the tourism revenue to pay for it, but once you cross over into this remote part of Arizona, there’s clearly very little revenue to help pay for road maintenance, and you’ve got to pay attention. Having been through it now, I’m glad Jessica is flying to Tucson, rather than driving through this area alone. A blown-out tire out in the middle of the desert with no town for 50 miles would be a really bad situation to deal with.
Eventually, the road quality improves, and by the time you’re getting close to Glendale and Phoenix, there are no issues. The cacti that I mentioned are native to northern Arizona specifically, so you’re only seeing them for a couple of hours, but they were definitely my favorite part of the scenery. There are also plenty of beautiful rock mountains and other natural rock formations, but those cacti are so unique looking that I’m really glad we got to see them in person. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.
As we approached Phoenix from the Northwest, my Mom and I couldn’t believe how much it reminded us of South Seattle. The layout of the buildings and railroad tracks was eerily similar to the area she grew up in, and that trend continued as we passed through Phoenix. It felt like the desert version of Seattle. We didn’t get off the freeway, but from the look of the buildings, we both agreed that it had a strong resemblance to Seattle, without the water of course.
Once Phoenix is behind you, there isn’t much until reaching Tucson about 90 minutes later. It’s just wide open, except now, there are no more of those beautiful cacti growing in the wild. It’s just desert, although we did see the longest police funeral procession I’ve ever witnessed. It had to be two miles long. I’ve never seen so many police vehicles and motorcycles in my life. As we passed through Tucson, it felt very similar to the Spokane Valley in Eastern Washington. Had I not known where I was, based on the scenery alone, I would have sworn I was close to Spokane. We were getting hungry around this time, and I saw a sign on the southern edge of Tucson for Rita Road. It had food options and felt fitting that we would stop there, so we took a break there for a quick lunch at Subway.
Bisbee is located another couple of hours south of Tucson, and to get there you have to pass through Tombstone, the classic old-west town. We ended up staying the night in Tombstone, but first, we had to get to Bisbee on time. There’s an enormous copper mine right off the freeway in Bisbee and we got a pretty good look at it from the freeway. The town now has a kitschy old hippy vibe to it, and it was actually pretty cool. Apparently, Johnny Depp owns a house there.
We arrived literally at 3:00 on the dot and picked up our little guy. I had been struggling during the week before the trip with deciding what to name him. I had a few ideas, and the kids were throwing ideas at me non-stop, but nothing was sticking. Then one night while dreaming, I remembered a nickname my Dad used to call me as a little boy. He used to call me Shorty, but only for a few years because it soon became obvious that I was going to be much taller than him, so the nickname was relatively ‘short’ lived.
It’s been at least 35 years since he, or anyone, called me Shorty, but it came back to me during this dream, and decided that had to be the name of our dragon. The inner workings of the human brain are fascinating. My Mom decided that his middle name should be Bisbee, after his birthplace, and I agreed. I frequently find myself calling him Shorty B.
After picking Shorty up in Bisbee, we turned around and made our way back to Tombstone for the evening. We checked into our room at the Allen St. Inn and I decided to hold Shorty for the first time. It was probably too soon and he freaked out, jumping out of my hands and falling at least four feet to the floor. He was fine though and we haven’t had any more issues like that since. This is me holding him right after our first crazy encounter.
Check out more photos of Shorty at the end of this post.
An Evening in Tombstone
When planning out this road trip, I was originally planning on going alone, but it was Jessica’s idea that I ask my Mom to join me. I’m so glad she thought of this because my Mom and I haven’t been on an overnight trip together since visiting Europe in the Summer of 2001! We’ve been on family trips together since then, but not just the two of us. I was originally thinking we would just get a hotel in Tucson, but once I realized Tucson was about 2 hours north of Bisbee, I decided to look for something closer. That’s how I stumbled on Tombstone. My Mom has been to all the major spots in Arizona but had never been to Tombstone. My only reference was the movie from the early 1990s with Kurt Russel and Val Kilmer. I have always loved that movie and watched it several times with my Dad before his passing in 1995. When I asked my Mom if she would be interested in staying the night there she thought it was a great idea. It’s a tiny town that still leans heavily into its wild west heritage. Shops close up early in Tombstone, so we didn’t have much time to explore after getting checked into our hotel, but we were still able to check most of it out. I bought souvenirs for the kids at the O.K. Corral and even ended up buying a beautiful pair of brown boots at a Western clothing store. I love wearing boots, mostly because I got into them when riding motorcycles regularly, and I’ve been wanting something a bit dressier for at least a year. I could never find the right ones because I didn’t want traditional cowboy boots and I didn’t want work boots, but while looking for a Western hat at one of the stores, I unexpectedly found the perfect pair of boots. I’ve been wearing them constantly ever since. I love the fact that I got them with my Mom on our road trip to Tombstone.
After our shopping was complete, we had dinner at The Longhorn restaurant, which was decent, then grabbed an after-dinner drink at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon. Big Nose Kate was Doc Holiday’s girlfriend, and the saloon is epic. It’s everything I could have ever wanted in an old west saloon. It was a long day and we were exhausted, so we had one drink and decided to call it a night. The next morning we were up early and ready to get Shorty to his new home. I made a video for Vegas Showbiz about our experience in Tombstone, which you can check out below.
During our drive home the next day, my Mom held Shorty (in his Tupperware container) the entire way. She was reading all kinds of interesting facts on her phone about bearded dragons, and really fell in love with him. She would hold him up near the window so he could get natural light, which was exhausting for her arms, but we could tell he liked it. He’s so alert and present, which isn’t how most other types of lizards are. Every time a semi-truck was next to us he would perk way up to watch it go by. For some reason, he loved watching the trucks, and overall, did excellent on his first road trip.
I’m so thankful for this experience with my Mom. As previously mentioned, it’s been a very long time since the two of us had done anything even remotely similar to this. I love her so much and even though this was a quick trip, it was something neither of us will ever forget. Thank you, Mom.
Getting Shorty Home
I was very busy in the weeks leading up to this road trip with putting together a beautiful habitat for Shorty. I purchased a 120-gallon tank from Toad Ranch Cages, then outfitted it with a ceramic tile floor, a heat lamp, a UVB lamp, and one more light for brightness. I got a variety of rock and (fake) plant decorations, including a beautiful piece of African wood, for him to climb on. The plants have to be fake because he would try to eat real ones and that wouldn’t be good.
Plenty of people at pet stores will tell you that a 40-gallon tank is big enough for a bearded dragon, but if you do your research, you’ll learn that if you want to do it the right way, you need a 120-gallon tank. In all honesty, it was pretty expensive getting everything set up, but I plan on keeping Shorty for many years, so giving him a proper home was important to me. He’s been living with us for about 2.5 weeks now and is doing great. I feed him live roaches for breakfast and dinner plus a salad for lunch. His diet will switch to predominantly salads once he reaches 18 months old, but for now, I have to be very comfortable with live roaches. I started ordering them online from DubiaRoaches.com because they’re so much cheaper compared to the local reptile store.
His tank is located in Enzo’s bedroom, which may sound strange, but Enzo’s room is huge and there was plenty of space in there. I didn’t like the idea of putting the tank in any of the rooms on our first floor, and Enzo loved the idea of having a dragon as a roommate. Part of the reason I selected Shorty, amongst all the other options from the Atomic Lizard Ranch, was that he was born on January 28th, which is also Enzo’s birthday. I like to joke that both of my sons were born on January 28th. There was a long stretch during the pandemic when Enzo didn’t like to sleep alone in his room. This went back to our days in Washington, but those days seem to be well behind us by now, and I told him that he never has to be scared again now that he has a dragon in his room to protect him. Here are some recent photos of Shorty.
My Mom got some amazing photos of Shorty on her iPhone while staying with us this weekend. I think I’m going to switch back to an iPhone sometime in the next year or so.
You can see his neck beard well in this shot. That’s why they’re called Bearded Dragons.
Easter Weekend With Friends
Literally, the day after getting home with Shorty, Jessica’s good friend Jody, and her family, came to stay with us for Easter weekend. Jessica and Jody worked together at a restaurant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa over 20 years ago and have remained close friends ever since. I remember when we first started dating, Jessica traveled back to Iowa for Jody and Dave’s wedding. They also came to our wedding a few years later, but until recently, our families had never spent much time together.
Jody and Dave live in Minneapolis with their 12-year-old son Leo, and their 9-year-old daughter June. They flew to Vegas for vacation recently, rented a car, and spent several days in Utah hiking Bryce Canyon, then came back to Vegas to hang out with us for a few days before heading home. Apparently, they had a brutal winter in Minnesota this year, accumulating 84 inches of snow, so they were definitely ready for some warmth and sunshine.
As expected, our families hit it off instantly. Ava and Leo were inseparable, as were Elise and June, but what was probably the most funny was how close Dave and I became. The similarities between us were uncanny and it got to a point where our wives would just roll their eyes when another one was uncovered. We both work in tech, we both play guitar, we both drive a German sport wagon, we both have a tattoo of a lion on our right shoulder, we both carry a switchblade, we both love a fine whiskey, we have similar tastes in music, movies, and food. We have the same political ideals. It just kept going on and on. By the time they were leaving, I gave him a big hug and said “Sorry Dave, but you’re stuck with me.”
They were only with us for two nights, but it was a blast. We took them to two of our favorite restaurants, plus we all went to the Farrel Dillion Comedy Magic show on Saturday night. Jessica and I had already been to that show once before, and we loved it, so we thought it would be a great time for our families to go together. Like myself at the first show, Leo got pulled up on stage to participate. After the magic show, we took them to the Bellagio to see the Spring garden display and the fountain show.
On Easter morning the kids had fun doing an egg hunt both inside and outside the house, then I made a big brunch for everyone. Afterward, we had time for a nice little walk around the neighborhood before they had to get to the airport. In addition to hitting it off with Dave, I also really enjoyed hanging out with Leo. He’s super into music and playing guitar, so I let him play all of my guitars and amps. We even jammed together a few times and I taught him a few new tricks. I think he had a field day playing with all my stuff, but honestly, the pleasure was all mine. I really hope we get to spend more time with their family again soon. We were so simpatico it was crazy. Here are a few photos from their visit.
The kids on Easter morning
Easter morning brunch
Jessica and Jody
Everyone together before heading out
Activities Galore!
Now that the weather is perfect again, we’ve transitioned into a variety of activities, and everyone seems to be loving them. Jessica, Elise, and Enzo are taking a boxing class on Saturday mornings with an ex-professional boxer who now runs his own gym. He trains professional fighters but also trains anyone else looking to learn the sweet science, as well as get a great workout, improve coordination, and learn some quality self-defense.
Jessica initially signed up just to keep Elise company, because it was Elise who most wanted to try it out. As it turned out, Jessica loved it and convinced Enzo to give it a shot. He now loves it as well, and the whole thing makes me so happy.
Additionally, Ava and Elise have been participating in a rock climbing class at the local rec center and they are really enjoying it. We just signed them up for another session, and at that point, Enzo will be joining them. Enzo has also recently gotten back into swimming lessons, so he’s staying busy. Soon Ava and Elise will also be joining a dance class. It’s important to us that the kids stay busy with a variety of fun and healthy activities, and the enjoyment they’re having is quite obvious. They just seem happier when they have fun things like this to do, even though it can often be a struggle getting them out the door when all they want to do is chill with their iPad.
Elise is loving her new boxing class
Wrapping Up The School Year
Wrapping Up The School Year
We’re only a few weeks away from closing out another year at school. It’s hard to believe how quickly the years fly by, but there is no question that this has been Ava’s best year in elementary school. The timing is perfect too because this is her last year before heading off to middle school. The improvement she has shown in her test scores this year has been nothing short of amazing, and no one (besides Ava) deserves to take more pride in this than Jessica. After receiving the accommodations she needed in school, the results came quickly. She has teachers who believe in her and the numbers are there to back it up.
In all honesty, this year has been an academic struggle for Elise, but once again, Jessica went to bat for her in a big way, and we are now receiving special accommodations for her as well. We’ve had some heart-to-heart talks with Elise lately about school and we can already see the change in her motivation and work ethic. Her teachers are seeing it as well, so we’re hoping for a strong 5th grade for Elise, just like we saw for Ava.
Enzo has been thriving in second grade and his scores are there to prove it. He’s constantly bringing home tests with 100% scores, but more importantly, I love his work ethic. He’s just like me in the sense that he can’t chill until he gets all of his work completed. Every day after school he’s allowed to relax before doing homework, but he always opts to do his homework immediately. Once everything is complete (and perfect), he can sit down and relax.
This year has been a bit more of a challenge for Jessica, simply because she has to be a teacher, and also a Mom, in her classroom, but it’s going well. She absolutely loves her job and plans on staying put for a long time. It makes me so happy to see her doing something she loves, and it’s still crazy to me how our lives have turned out since moving to Henderson.
Changes At Work
Last month I wrote about how my good friend Devin and I recently decided to start a business. If you’re not already familiar with that, I encourage you to check out the post. Since then, we’ve made a lot of progress and are now close to completing our LLC filing. We decided on the name Cappers, which is short for handicappers and have registered the domain name cappers.ai. Considering the popularity of artificial intelligence, we have decided to brand our business as the AI sports handicapping site. I’ve been hard at work building out a huge database of sports stats for our AI models to consume. Devin has been doing a lot of market research and financial modeling. Everything continues to look good and we’re very bullish on our business model. It’s going to take time before we’re production-ready, but we’re definitely on track and I look forward to providing more updates on this in the near future.
In addition to all the Cappers work I’m doing, I also decided to make a change to my day job. Friday, March 31st was my last day at Microsoft! After eight years I decided it was time for a change, mainly because during my last two years in Teams I was moving further and further into data science, which is an area that I’m simply not passionate about. Due to the Microsoft hiring freeze, I wasn’t able to find a different internal role related to web development, which is my (work) passion, but I did find an excellent opportunity with a company called eviCore, which is a subsidiary of Cigna, in the healthcare industry.
As I’ve learned, the healthcare industry is pretty much recession-proof, which is nice considering how topsy-turvy big tech has been over the past year. There are so many layoffs going on, so when you combine that stress with the stress of not liking the work you’re doing, it gets really tough. I’ve never really prioritized my own mental health because I’ve always been focused on the well-being of my family, but it got to a point where it was destroying me, and those effects were clearly trickling down to my loved ones.
The main reason I started building the website that would become the basis for Cappers was that I missed web development and didn’t want to lose those skills. The main reason I took this new role at eviCore was that the C# and .NET web development work they were hiring me for were extremely similar to the work Devin and I are doing. I knew working with a new group of talented engineers in this space would make me stronger, and consequently, I’m already loving it. I’ve only been there a couple of weeks, but I was lucky enough to land on an awesome team and the company culture is amazing. It’s way less stressful than I’m used to, and we basically only work a 4.5-day workweek. We have something called “Flex Fridays” where, as long as you’re caught up with your work, you get to spend the second half of each Friday learning or working on anything you like.
As far as the work we do, it’s basically all based around providing portals for hospitals and doctor’s offices to use in making determinations on whether medical procedures should be approved or denied. We process millions of these requests from various medical providers each day, and working in the medical industry has already proven to be quite interesting to me. Again, it’s recession-proof, and not having the pressure of meeting Wall Street’s expectations each quarter, and not having to keep up with the pace of consumer innovation has been a huge relief.
The company is based in Nashville, meaning they are two hours ahead of me. My team has a daily meeting at 9:00 am central time, which is 7:00 am for me, but I love it because I work from home, so all I have to do is get on the computer each morning by 7:00, and I’m able to wrap up my work day between 3:30 and 4:00. Jessica and the kids get home from school each day around 3:30, so it’s perfect.
After spending over a decade working at two of the biggest companies in the world, I kinda felt like a free agent. I was ready for a change and going to a smaller company with less stress was extremely appealing. eviCore has over 2,500 employees, so it’s not like they’re a small company, but Microsoft has a quarter million employees, so this is literally 99% smaller. Anything would feel small after all these years at Microsoft and Amazon, and I feel like I’ve earned it. My stress is down and my quality of life is up, and again, this all trickles down to my family.
Summary
I know this was a very long post, so if you’ve made it this far, thank you for sticking with me. Again, we’ve got a lot more good stuff to look forward to, so I’m already looking forward to next month’s post. This Thursday night, the Vanderburg school choir, which Ava and Elise have been a part of this whole year, will be singing the National Anthem at the Las Vegas Aviators baseball game. Nana will be joining us for the game, then the next day is Jessica’s birthday.
I’m so thankful for all the good stuff we’ve had going on lately, and equally as excited for what’s to come. Here are a few more recent photos from this awesome month. See you in May!
Ava with her new “pan hat”
The kids recently had a “Career Day” at school. Elise was a Real Estate agent, Enzo was a basketball player, and Ava was a scientist.
Last weekend we had a blast taking the kids to see the new Super Mario Bros movie in the theater.
Ava’s special 5th-grade photo. I can’t believe she’s about to move on to middle school.
An update on our 2023 Spring Break, including upcoming activities, preparing for a new family pet, and a few other exciting bits.
Since today is the last day of Spring Break, I wanted to give a quick update on how we’re doing and what we’ve recently been up to. We had plans to visit the Grand Canyon for Spring Break this year but unfortunately, that didn’t work out for a couple of reasons. That’s okay though; we live in a fun place with all kinds of things to do, so we decided to stay near home this year.
I don’t want to dwell on this, but part of the reason we didn’t go anywhere for Spring Break was that I ended up getting Covid-19 and had to quarantine from Jessica and the kids for about a week. That was no fun but I’m thankful that it wasn’t worse and most importantly, that I didn’t give it to Jessica and the kids. It’s possible that I got it from Jessica because she was experiencing similar symptoms about a week before me, but she never took a test so we can’t be sure.
The most disappointing part about getting Covid was the timing. Our good friends Tiko and Tina were married on Monday and I wasn’t able to join Jessica and the kids at the wedding. I also wasn’t able to attend Tiko’s bachelor party a couple of days before the wedding. I was pretty sad about this but there was nothing I could do besides stay home and rest. Luckily I was able to watch the ceremony online from a webcast provided by the chapel, so at least I can picture it, but I really wanted to be there with my family and friends. I managed to avoid Covid for three years, then it finally caught up to me at an unfortunate time, but all things considered, I can’t complain too much. I’m feeling totally fine now, and again, the kids never got it, which I’m most thankful for.
Since I was home quarantining, the kids spent several days of their Spring Break at my Mom’s house. Once again, having her help with the kids has been huge for us. She takes them on so many fun outings that Ava is now planning on writing a book about her adventures with Nana. My Mom often takes them to pet stores to view and hold various animals, but this time she took them to a full-blown farm where they were able to feed and play with all kinds of animals. She also took them to one of our favorite indoor trampoline places for a day of jumping and exercise. Ava smacked her face on a wall and has a bit of a black eye, but she’s fine.
School starts back up tomorrow, then we have several activities beginning shortly after. Unfortunately, Ava’s softball season was canceled due to not enough kids signing up. I tried to get her into another league but it was too late. We were all bummed about this, but we found some other activities to jump into. The kids are all resuming swimming lessons on Friday, plus Jessica and Elise will soon be starting a boxing class. Elise has been interested in trying out boxing for a while now and we thought doing it with Mom would make it even better.
Here’s a video the kids made for their YouTube channel taste-testing a few drinks from Starbucks.
Ready for the wedding!The wedding reception was held at the Cosmopolitan Buffet. This was their first buffet and let’s just say the kids were big fans.
Preparing for a new family pet
We’ve been taking care of Jessica and Ava’s class pet, a leopard gecko named Mochi, during Spring Break. This is Mochi’s second time staying with us and we really enjoy having a lizard at the house. I’ve been wanting a bearded dragon for well over a decade at this point and I’m now happy to say that we have decided to get one! Jessica was never into the idea of having a reptile but after caring for Mochi she has changed her tune a bit. It’s still going to be my pet and I’ll be responsible for most of its care, but I’m cool with that. I look forward to having it on my shoulder while I finish up my work days at home.
I’ve been doing a lot of research on caring for “Beardies” and today I bought a home for it. It’s a 120-gallon tank, which is 4’x2’x2’ and we’re going to put it in Enzo’s bedroom. He has a huge room and loves the idea of keeping the dragon in there. I look forward to providing more updates on this soon, but at the moment we’re just starting the process.
Ava holding her buddy Mochi
A football game with Uncle Bob
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with my Uncle Bob at the XFL football game between the Seattle Seadragons and the Las Vegas Vipers. Bob and I have had a lot of great times over the years but for a variety of reasons, we haven’t been able to spend that much time together since my family and I moved to Nevada. I reached out to him at the end of January for his birthday to see if we could set something up and he got back to me a couple of weeks later once he saw Seattle was going to be playing Vegas.
Bob is the biggest Seattle Seahawks fan I know and has gone to great lengths to prove it. His whole SUV is covered with Seahawks paraphernalia and is even painted Seahawks colors. Based on his love for Seattle he has adopted the Seadragons as his favorite XFL team, but he pulls for the Vipers as well. Once he saw Seattle was coming to Las Vegas, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to catch a game.
We had a great time, especially during the fourth quarter when Seattle made an incredible comeback to win the game in the final minute. Not to sound dramatic, but as we get older I try not to take experiences like these for granted. No one knows what the future has in store, but that day was just like old times. It was a day we’ll never forget and I look forward to doing more things like this in the near future. We’re already planning a Las Vegas Aviators baseball game for this Spring or Summer. Here’s a video I made for the Vegas Showbiz YouTube channel about our experience.
Ready for the game with Uncle Bob!
Starting a small business
Another piece of exciting news that I have to share is that my good friend Devin and I have decided to start a business together. Back in September, I started getting interested in sports gambling. Obviously, considering what my Dad did for a living, this was something that I had a lot of familiarity with from my childhood. I never got into gambling while living in Washington, but here in Nevada it’s hugely popular, and more states are legalizing it all the time.
What I realized very quickly was that I’m not interested in gambling large amounts (my average bet is only $10), but what I am really into is the handicapping process. I started researching sports handicapping methods and gambling systems, but what I soon found out was that handicapping a game is a time-consuming process. A lot of research is required to see how teams have been performing, then a lot of math is required to crunch all the numbers and see if an edge can be found. Based on all of my programming experience, it was immediately obvious to me that I could significantly speed up the whole process by building a website that would consume all the data for each team and run all the math formulas.
I started building the website back in November and have barely missed a day of working on it since then. Even when we were in Colorado for Christmas break I was working on it daily. I didn’t initially intend for it to be a business; I just wanted to speed up my own handicapping process, plus I love doing web development but don’t get a chance to do that type of work anymore during my day job.
It didn’t take long, however, before I started seeing the value of what I was creating. What started out as a single NBA handicapping system soon started growing into much more. I was buying books and reading articles to learn new gambling systems. Before I knew it I was adding NHL gambling systems, then getting ready for baseball season.
Devin and I are very similar in many ways, and one of those ways is that we both like small-stakes sports gambling. I was regularly sharing my progress on the site with him and soon enough we decided to sit down and talk about the idea of turning it into a business. He is the most successful entrepreneur I know and the timing was right because he was just getting ready for his next venture. He’s been a Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of two startups, so his goal as the next step of his career was to take on the CEO role for a startup. This made perfect sense to me because I’m not ready to take on that kind of role, and I really wanted to stay heavily engaged on the coding and technical side of things. Thus, we’re 50/50 partners, with Devin being the CEO and me as the CTO.
We made the official decision to start a company earlier this month and have been very busy getting things going. Obviously, I can’t leave my day job anytime soon, so I’m working day and night to make this happen, but it’s worth it for me. We haven’t finalized a name for the business yet, but we’re doing our research and should be settling on that very soon. Part of that selection process has to do with whether a name can be trademarked and incorporated, and if a website domain name is available. Devin is focusing on all that stuff while I stay busy making updates to the website. Our goal is to have a soft launch before the MLB All-Star break, then have things fully up and running by the start of the next NFL season.
There’s a ton of work to do, but we see the potential and think it will be very successful. Devin is so bright with business ideas and has already come up with some great strategies. I couldn’t be more happy or lucky to have him as a partner, but our friendship always comes first. We’ve been close for a long time and we don’t want to let any of that change. It’s going to be a fun road and I look forward to sharing more about it as things progress.
I also want to stress that Vegas Showbiz isn’t going anywhere! The girls are already asking when they can take it over, but that won’t be for several years. We’re still regularly posting videos and just today we reached 500 subscribers.
That’s about it for now. I’m looking forward to our next monthly post because I assume there will be a lot to share. We have two different families who we are friends with that will be coming for a visit in April, so that should be fun. Jessica’s birthday is coming up at the end of April and I’m taking her to see Chelsea Handler’s comedy show that night, then the next day she’s heading off to Sedona Arizona to spend a weekend with her girlfriends from Seattle. Hopefully, by the next post, I’ll have more information to share about the business, as well as our bearded dragon. Here’s a few recent photos.
