Our first school year in Nevada

It’s hard to believe our first school year in Nevada has come and gone. It’s been a busy and exciting year for our kids, and we’re so proud of how well they have adjusted to their new lives in Henderson. Whether it be taking Ava to early morning archery, working with Elise on projects, or Enzo splitting his face open during recess, there has been no shortage of activity or excitement during our first whole school year here.

Since our last update, Ava has been particularly busy; she was part of the school’s archery club, which met twice a week before school began. None of us had ever been exposed to archery before, but when given the opportunity, she jumped at it. She said she enjoyed it but isn’t dying to continue with it long-term.

Ava also recently finished her first season of softball. She joined a team through the city of Henderson, and they ended up taking first place in their league. There were only three teams in her age group, but more importantly, she had fun, made new friends, and really started to enjoy the game. I felt bad about Ava’s experience on the hockey team last Fall, so it was great to see her out there having fun again. Softball this year was a much less serious type of environment, which is exactly what she needed right now.

Elise and Enzo stayed busy with swimming lessons earlier in the year but have been away from them for the past couple of months. So we’re looking into stepping it up by enrolling them in a private swimming school rather than going through the city. Enzo especially has expressed a desire to compete in swimming, so hopefully we can continue taking steps in that direction. Elise definitely enjoys swimming, but baking is still her favorite activity. This is something we all benefit from 😉

As usual, the kids have a fun Summer road trip coming up with Grandma and Grandpa Martin. They will be heading to Utah for a week of camping in mid-June, and since the kids won’t be home, Jessica and I have decided to visit family and friends in Seattle at the same time. It will be exactly a year since our move, and we’re excited to see everyone.

We recently had a nice Mother’s Day celebration with both of our Moms. Amy came to town to go with Jessica to the final night of Michael Buble’s Las Vegas residency at Resorts World. They had a great time at the show, then the following day, Amy, my Mom, and all of our family went out to brunch at a restaurant in Boulder City. There was a little street fair going on that day, which we browsed for a bit, but the wind was so extreme that we eventually decided to call it a day before one of us blew away for good.

The weather has been heating up here lately, and we’ve already had several days of triple-digit heat. So it’s great to be able to start enjoying the swimming pool again. I learned a lot about maintaining it over the past year, and now I’ve got it running quite smoothly. 2022 will be our first whole Summer with a pool, so I had to be ready. Last Summer was an introduction, but we only got half the season. Now it’s on for real!

Overall, things have been going great; we’re just keeping busy and documenting as much of it as possible. We’ve been having fun creating videos for the Vegas Showbiz YouTube channel, and I have to give Jessica a lot of credit because she has taken on the role of creative director. Most of the videos we do these days are based on her ideas. It’s been fun collaborating on these projects together, and we love watching the channel continue to grow.

Jessica and I recently got to hang out with friends from Seattle who were visiting Las Vegas for a few days. The husband in that group is a high roller at the casinos here, and we were fortunate enough to experience the VIP side of Vegas like never before. Luckily I had my camera with me and captured enough content to make 5 or 6 videos for Vegas Showbiz. 

We visited comped VIP suites in Cosmopolitan (up on the 51st floor overlooking the Bellagio fountains), Wynn, and Palazzo. They even let Jessica and I have their suite on the top floor of the Mirage for a night! This was probably the nicest hotel room either of us had ever stayed in. The only one that would even compare would be our wedding night room at Hotel Andra in Seattle, but that was our wedding night, and this was a random Thursday in Vegas.

As I was driving everyone in Jessica’s van from Cosmopolitan to Mirage, our friends received an invitation to head over to Wayne Newton’s house for cocktails. I’m not kidding. This happened literally while they were in our car, so I’m like, “Do you need a ride?” Fortunately for us, they declined the invitation, and our epic night continued.

Everything that night was comped. There were multiple dinners, drinks, tickets to see The Beatles LOVE show, and rooms at four different hotels. I’ve never seen or experienced anything like it, but it shows how much each casino is willing to do when they want someone’s business. We’ve had plenty of experiences in Vegas over the years, but this type of VIP treatment was a first.

That’s it for now. Please keep an eye on the Vegas Showbiz YouTube channel because we’ve got so many new videos to produce. We’ll be reviewing all the hotels, shows, and concerts as quickly as possible. Here are a few more recent pics. See you next month!