Happy 8th Birthday Enzo!

Yesterday the awesome Mr. Enzo turned eight years old! Normally I like to write a family blog post on the day of our kids’ birthdays, but this time it wasn’t possible due to the big night out Enzo and I had on his birthday evening. Since his birthday fell on a Saturday this year, we were able to have his party at home on the day of his actual birthday. It was a bit chaotic, as many of his friends from school were able to attend, but he had a great time.

Earlier that morning, he opened presents from family, and that’s when I finally broke the news to him that we would be attending the UNLV basketball game later that night. Over the past few months, Enzo has grown a love for the game of basketball, and he regularly asks me if someday I could take him to a game. Once I saw that UNLV was playing a home game versus their rival, the University of Nevada Reno, on the night of his birthday, I splurged a bit by purchasing great seats for the game. I originally thought they were in the third row because our tickets say Row C, but it was more like midway up in the first level. The seats were still excellent, though.

I’ve only been to one other college basketball game in my life, which was when Jessica and I went to a San Diego State game many years ago featuring a young Kawaii Leonard, who would later become a huge NBA star. When I broke the news to Enzo, he gave me the biggest hug and wouldn’t let go. You can see it in the video I made for his birthday. I was a little surprised at just how happy he was about it, and I got a little choked up by his response.

We arrived an hour before gametime so we could take our time walking around the Thomas & Mack Center and check everything out. We watched the teams during shoot around and went down to the court level to take a few photos. The atmosphere during the game was electric. Between the fans, UNLV students, the band, the cheerleaders, and the halftime entertainment, there was never a dull moment.

It was a back-and-forth game, but UNLV ultimately won by 6 points. We were cheering as loud as we could, and consequently, my voice is pretty hoarse today. Jessica made Enzo a sign that said “It’s my birthday” on one side and “Go Rebels” on the other. Enzo was really hoping to get on the jumbotron, and as fate would have it, we ended up on it four times throughout the game! All the people around us knew it was his birthday due to his sign, so every time the camera would start showing people in the crowd, everyone around us would point at Enzo, who was usually up dancing and waving his sign around. 

There were so many people wishing him a happy birthday as they walked by, and the cutest part was that he kept count of them. By the time we left, his count had reach 20 people. As we walked back to the car he told me this was his best birthday yet. Nothing could have brought me more joy.

As far as his birthday party goes, it was a great day. As usual, Jessica deserves a ton of credit for making it happen. She always comes up with great ideas for activities, and she got a cake with his face printed on it, which was a request by Enzo. We had a piñata outside, but Enzo didn’t want to wear a blindfold, so it didn’t last long enough for each kid to have a turn hitting it. They all got plenty of candy though, so I don’t think any of them were too upset. We also set up a little photo studio in the house and had all kinds of masks for the kids to wear in their pictures. 

There were more kids at the party than we were expecting, and it was getting a little crazy having all of them inside our house at the same time, so after everyone finished their cake Jessica took them to the park by our neighborhood to let them burn off energy. I’m not nearly as good as Jessica when it comes to dealing with other people’s kids, but I always love chatting with the parents. You always get to meet such friendly new people, so it really was a great day.

Since Enzo and I were going to the game, Ava and Elise ended up going home with Nana for a sleepover. This meant Jessica had the place to herself for the evening. I felt bad about that and would have gladly gotten her a ticket to the basketball game, but I didn’t know then that the girls would end up at Nana’s house. It’s all good, though; she worked so hard to make the house look perfect and deserved a nice quiet night with zero responsibilities.

Overall it was a great day for Enzo. I remember being about the same age when my dad took me to my first basketball game. We went to see the Super Sonics play, and I loved every minute of it. I also remember after the game, we were walking back to our car, and my dad tripped on one of those concrete bumpers they put in parking spaces to keep you from pulling too far forward. He slammed his shoulder into the bumper of another car ahead of us and really hurt himself. At that time, we lived about 30 minutes south of Seattle, and he had to drive us home in a lot of pain. It wasn’t the greatest way to end the evening, but here we are about 35 years later, and I still remember it like it was yesterday.

Obviously, it was very special for me to be able to come full circle and have the same type of experience with Enzo. Luckily this particular evening didn’t result in any injuries, but you never know with our family. I’ll never forget spending the night of my 42nd birthday with Enzo at the emergency room, getting stitches in his forehead after he tripped and fell head-first during our pool party.

Before I move on, I just want to say how much I love my son and how proud Jessica and I are of him. Like his sisters, he’s an amazing kid whom I couldn’t imagine life without. Although we try not to focus too much on grades and test scores, I’m very proud to say that Enzo recently scored in the 98th percentile nationally in math. He’s literally in the top 2% in the United States for math at his age! Regardless of that, he’s just an awesome kid, and I couldn’t be luckier as a father to call him my son.

Other Family Updates

January has been a good month for us. While we had a great time during the holiday break, everyone was ready to return to their routine and see their friends again at school. Ava and Elise have been staying busy with various school activities; they continue to enjoy participating in the school choir, and they’re excited to get back into “Girls on the Run,” which is a running program held by the school for girls only. Elise did it earlier in the school year and loved it, so now Ava will join her for the Spring session.

Speaking of Spring, softball season is coming soon, and Ava plans to play again this year. She really enjoyed it last year, and we all like hanging out at the ballpark during that time of year because the weather is so perfect here. We’re also going to get Enzo back into swimming lessons soon. Even though he loves shooting hoops at home (we recently set up a hoop in the backyard), he says he doesn’t want to play on a team and would rather focus on swimming as his main sport. I’m all for it and love taking him to the pool, so hopefully, it won’t be too long before he’s ready for his first swimming team. I’m also going to encourage him to try diving, but we’ll see how it turns out.

In addition to running, Elise is really interested in trying out boxing, so we’re going to look for a gym for her. Las Vegas is known as the fight capital of the world, so we should be able to find something. We have gloves here at home, and I often hold pads for her to hit. She’s very strong, and I honestly think boxing would be great for her self-confidence. 

Before Winter comes to a close, we’re hoping to do a day of skiing/snowboarding/inner-tubing up at the Brian Head ski resort in Utah. It’s only about three hours from the house, so we could do a day trip with no problem. It sounds like Uncle Brad is going to join us since he used to be a ski and snowboard instructor. I love the idea of exposing the kids to winter sports, even though we live in the desert 😉

We’re also planning our first family trip to the Grand Canyon for this year’s Spring Break. Once again, it’s only a few hours from the house, and the kids are now old enough to appreciate it, so there’s no reason not to go. Neither Jessica nor I have ever been there, so we’re looking forward to it. One of the things I loved about moving to Nevada was that it opened up so many new possibilities for road trips. There are plenty of places in this great country of ours that I’ve still never gotten to see, so we’re not wasting time checking them off our bucket list.

A Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Rudd

Last weekend we were fortunate enough to get to spend a bunch of time with Grandma and Grandpa Rudd, who were out visiting from Iowa. Rick had a work conference in Las Vegas, so they decided to come a few days early and spend the weekend with us. We went bowling one day, then Rick and I assembled the basketball hoop the next day. They took the kids out shopping and Enzo got a new pair of Nike’s that have become his new favorite sneaks.

We’re always thankful when family comes to visit, and luckily, it won’t be long before we get our next visit. My cousin Kristy and her husband Gilberto are coming to Vegas next weekend in celebration of his birthday. Jessica and I are really excited to take them to a fancy vegetarian restaurant called Saffron. We ate there last year for our anniversary and loved it so much that we made a Vegas Showbiz video about it. It’s one of those places where the food looks like art, the ambiance is beautiful, and the service is top-notch. It’s going to be a great weekend.

Wrapping Up

As always, I couldn’t be more thankful for the lives we have created. I know we’ve worked hard for it, but that doesn’t always guarantee anything. Jessica and I sometimes have to pinch ourselves because we can’t believe how everything has turned out. Ultimately though, you could take away the house, the cars, and all the experiences, and I know that we would still be very happy because we have each other. Nothing is more important to us than our family, and it’s days like this that keep everything in perspective. Happy 8th birthday Enzo. We love you so much!!!