Tag: Summer

Back to School, 2023 Style

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Restarting Activities

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

Cappers + Vegas Showbiz Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ava’s first day in middle school

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

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

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

Happy 10th Birthday, Elise!

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Last Few Weeks of Summer Break

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

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

An Update on Vegas Showbiz and Cappers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More Homemade Music

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Family-Filled June

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Larry Pipkin officiating the Pellegrini wedding in April 2010

A Visit From Family

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

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

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

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

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

Father’s Day

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

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

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

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

Father's Day 2023

Summer Break for the kids

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

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

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

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

Cappers Beta Launch

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Homemade Music

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

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

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

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

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

Looking Ahead to July

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

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

School’s Out For Summer, 2023

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ava and her 5th grade teacher

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

Elise finished really strong in science this year!

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

Enzo at the beginning and end of 2nd grade

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hiking at Valley of Fire State Park

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

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

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

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

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

The Chicks Concert with Jim and Cara

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

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

New Pool Decking Coming Soon

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

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

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

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

Back to School – 22/23 Style

An update on the end of our Summer break, including a road trip to Los Angeles, plus our first week of the new school year.

Tomorrow the kids and Jessica will already be beginning their second week of the 2022 / 2023 school year. It still feels too early to me for school to be starting, but that’s how they do it here, so we just have to adjust. They did a full 5-day week last week to kick off the new year, which I think is a bit much for the first week, but they were troopers and got things off to a great start! Not surprisingly, each of them is already making new friends at school, and overall they are loving it.

Ava is in Jessica’s class and, as a 5th grader, has instantly taken on a leadership role. She was selected to represent the class in the student council, and she has already made remarks to Jessica about her increased sense of self-confidence since starting there. Obviously, we couldn’t be happier about this and just hope the positive momentum continues. This is going to be a very important year for Ava because it’s her last year of elementary school. Jessica is doing everything she can to prepare her for middle school, and having Ava in her class each day is the best way to do that.

Ava Pellegrini on her first day of 5th grade
Ava’s first day of 5th grade
Ava Pellegrini on her first day of 5th grade

Elise is off to a great start in 4th grade, although she’s so hard on herself with the way she compares herself to her peers that she would tell you she’s behind. I can heavily relate to that type of sentiment and feeling; I just hope she uses it as fuel and motivation. Jessica basically hand selected each of the kids’ teachers this year and has already spoken to Elise’s new teacher to see how the first week went. Not surprisingly, Elise did great in her first week and doesn’t appear behind in anything. Her teacher seems awesome, and Elise loved her instantly, so things look really good for Elise this year.

Elise Pellegrini on her first day of 4th grade
Elise on her first day of 4th grade
Elise Pellegrini on her first day of 4th grade

Enzo is off to a great start in second grade. Like Elise, he tends to be hard on himself when comparing himself to his peers. I think the annual change in schools has a lot to do with that for both of them, but again, he’s doing totally fine in school and just needs to get more comfortable in his new surroundings. He’s actually doing excellent in math, so we’re very encouraging of him to keep pushing in that area. There’s a little boy sitting next to him that he quickly built a friendship with, plus he and Elise both get to see Mom and Ava at different points each day (recess, lunch, special classes).

Enzo Pellegrini on his first day of 2nd grade
Enzo on his first day of 2nd grade
Enzo Pellegrini on his first day of 2nd grade

I think they were all exhausted after the first week, but the first week is always the hardest. Each week will get easier and more routine from here on out. It’s been strange having the house so quiet all day long again, but considering that I’m working, that part is kinda nice. One thing I love about working from home is that my kids get to have the same vision of me working at home that I had of my own Dad. Obviously, our jobs are a bit different, but that part doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re there to say goodbye when they leave in the morning, and you’re there to greet them when they return in the afternoon. I don’t take that for granted at all either, because it wasn’t that long ago that I was commuting an hour plus each way and then feeling bad when the kids tell me I’m barely around. Knowing that working from home is a permanent thing for me gives me a lot of peace of mind in that sense.

Wrapping up Summer break

Jessica and I wanted to make one more fun little trip to finish off our Summer break, so we planned a visit to Los Angeles for 2 nights. It actually almost didn’t happen, so let me expand on that part first. The plan was to leave at 6:00 am on Sunday, July 31st, and drive straight to Santa Monica so we could have a day at the beach. The day before that was my birthday, and since it fell on a Saturday, we decided to have a little pool + pizza party at the house with our friends. 

I haven’t had a birthday party in many years, but it made sense this year, so Tiko brought both of his daughters over, plus Devin and Bridgette came. We swam for a couple of hours, then took a break to eat pizza. After finishing our pizza, people were slowly migrating back toward the pool. Most of us were just sitting around with our legs in the water, but Enzo was getting up on the ledge above the pool, jumping in, then climbing out and repeating. This is nothing new – all 3 of the kids do this regularly, but as he was running around the back side of the pool to get back up on the ledge, he tripped on the pole holding up the basketball hoop and slammed his forehead into the concrete ledge above the pool.

I didn’t even see it happen, but I heard him scream, so I ran over to him. By the time I reached him, there was a big gash on his forehead, and his entire face was covered in blood. He was screaming, and it felt like we were living in the scene of a horror movie. I picked him up and started running back to where everyone was. I think I yelled out something about having a serious problem, and I remember all the girls (ours plus Tiko’s) were in the pool; when they saw Enzo’s bloody face, they all started screaming in terror.

Luckily all of the adults jumped into action. Bridgette immediately got a towel on Enzo’s face and started cleaning him up, while Devin and Tiko took care of the girls so they wouldn’t see anymore. Jessica ran in to get her keys, and within a minute, we were on our way to the emergency room.

I didn’t even get to say goodbye to my friends, but I can’t tell them how much I appreciate them stepping up. They stayed at home with Ava and Elise while Jessica and I went to the ER with Enzo. Unfortunately, things were pretty busy that night at the ER, which is probably common for a Saturday night. Even though I had a child with a head wound in my arms, it still took nearly 30 minutes for us to get checked him checked in. I have to give Enzo a ton of credit because he did remarkably well staying calm. I guess to a certain extent, he’s used to this, having been through multiple similar situations, but he still deserves credit. It was a nasty deep gash on his forehead, but he was such a little trooper.

After getting Enzo into a hospital bed and figuring out the plan with the doctor, I sent Jessica home. I didn’t want our friends to have to stay there all night, and a lot needed to be picked up at the house. It was a very slow process, but he ended up getting 6 stitches in his forehead. I thought our trip would have to be canceled at this point, but I asked the doctor about it and received permission to go. We just had to keep the stitches dry, so no swimming or showering for a few days. I was a little bit surprised they gave him permission to go on rollercoasters at Six Flags, but they did, so the trip was back on! This wasn’t exactly how I envisioned the night playing out, but there’s no question we will always remember my 42nd birthday.

Enzo and Michael Pellegrini waiting in the emergency room
Waiting for stitches at the ER
Enzo Pellegrini forehead stitches 2022-07-30
Six stitches! He’s a tough little guy.

A quick trip to Los Angeles

We got off to an early start as planned, and even with stopping for gas and food, we still arrived at Santa Monica beach by 11:00 am. We still have our beach tent from the San Diego days, so we found a good spot to set that up and then just hung out for a few hours. Enzo could only get his feet wet, and Elise isn’t that into cold ocean water, so they mostly played on the beach, building sand castles.

Ava, on the other hand, is a California girl at heart. She loves getting out there in the water, and I love watching her. It reminds me of my childhood, out there thrashing around in the Pacific ocean waves. The water is cold, and we’re especially spoiled now that we’re used to swimming in our heated pool, but she doesn’t care. She jumps into and over those waves with so much energy; I just love it.

Ava Pellegrini playing at the beach in Santa Monica, CA
Ava playing at the beach in Santa Monica
Ava Pellegrini playing at the beach in Santa Monica, CA
Elise Pellegrini playing at the beach in Santa Monica, CA
Elise was quite the little builder at the beach
Elise Pellegrini playing at the beach in Santa Monica, CA
Enzo Pellegrini playing at the beach in Santa Monica, CA
Enzo had fun in Santa Monica
Enzo Pellegrini playing at the beach in Santa Monica, CA
Jessica Pellegrini at the beach in Santa Monica, CA
Jessica always loves a beach day
Jessica Pellegrini at the beach in Santa Monica, CA

After a few hours down on the beach, we took the kids up to the Santa Monica pier to walk around. There were all kinds of little shops, people fishing everywhere, there were acrobats and even a magician! It was a trip walking around there, but they loved it.

Santa Monica Pier
Pellegrini Kids at the Santa Monica Pier
Pellegrini family selfie on the Santa Monica pier
Family selfie near the end of the pier

After leaving the pier, we walked along the boardwalk towards Muscle Beach and Venice Beach. A bunch of people were working on different types of tightropes and practicing balancing acts. It was fun to watch, and there was a playground for kids, so we posted up there for a bit just to take it all in. There was a fruit stand on the boardwalk, so we got a big bowl of fresh fruit and sat there eating all these delicious fruits (mango, pineapple, watermelon) while we watched all the interesting things going on around us. It was a really fun afternoon. When you combine this with their experiences in San Diego during Spring Break, I think it’s safe to say that the kids get the whole California beach thing by now. I actually made a video about our day at the beach for the Pellegrini Kids YouTube channel – you can check it out below.

Pellegrini family selfie on the Santa Monica boardwalk
From the Pellegrini Kids YouTube channel

A scenic tour of Los Angeles

We took the long way getting to our hotel, which was up in Santa Clarita near Six Flags. I wanted to show the kids a bit of Los Angeles, so we ended up cruising through the UCLA campus, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, and all the way down the Sunset strip. They’re used to Vegas glitz and glamour, but Los Angeles has a different vibe to it, and they were eating it up. As a kid, I always had a strange love for Los Angeles, so it was cool taking them on this little sightseeing tour.

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Monday, we spent basically the entire day at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Enzo isn’t tall enough for some of the rollercoasters (the 54” ones), but he could do everything else, so that’s what we did. Honestly, plenty of the rollercoasters he was big enough to do were still able to scare me to death. I think we were all pretty frazzled after going on X2. Except Elise, of course, because she was the only one smart enough not to go. Poor Ava started crying when it was over. Enzo and I were looking at each other all wild-eyed, like what just happened? Here’s a POV video somebody made on it a long time ago.

This was probably the scariest rollercoaster I’ve been on

By the time we left Six Flags that evening, everyone was exhausted. It was a full 8-hour day of rides, lines, and walking. We found an awesome little SoCal Mexican restaurant for dinner, crashed hard, then made our way home in the morning. As usual, we stopped at the Lenwood exit in Barstow for gas and food. As we were exiting the parking lot to head back to the freeway, we ran into our neighbors (including Elise’s best friend), who were on their way to San Diego. Such a small world.

The Pellegrini family at the end of a fun day at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Back to Business

I’m so glad that the trip worked out because it ended up being a big highlight of our Summer. The kids have been getting asked a lot in school about what they did over Summer break, and the L.A. trip has been one of their top things to call out. With that behind us, we’re back to our routine but still enjoying the warm weather. After last Summer’s record-breaking heat wave, this Summer has been very mild for Las Vegas standards. It’s still very warm out, but the difference between 95 and 115 is huge.

Enzo got his stitches out a few days after the trip, and he was immediately allowed to get back in the water, so we’ve been swimming a lot. I’m trying to stress to him the importance of not running too much and paying attention to where he’s going. He’s not a clumsy kid, he just gets ahead of himself because he’s running or wants to be in the lead. I’m hoping we don’t have any more injuries soon because each of the kids will soon start their new activities. Ava is going to check out volleyball, Elise is joining a girls running group at school, and Enzo is getting into more advanced swimming lessons.

The downtime for Summer was great, but I’m excited for everyone to start getting busy again. Fall, which is my favorite season, is just around the corner. I’m ready for some football and some beautiful Las Vegas Fall weather. See you in September!

Fun with mirrors at Area 15
Fun with mirrors at Area 15, Las Vegas

Happy 9th Birthday Elise!

An update on Elise’s 9th birthday, Summer vacation, and upcoming plans.

Today our sweet Miss Elise turns 9 years old! It’s hard to believe she is 9 already; I remember holding her as a newborn like it was yesterday. Although today is her actual birthday, her main celebration was held at home this past Saturday. It was a Pokemon-themed party, so kids started off doing a little Pokemon scavenger hunger, then everyone jumped in the pool for an hour or so.

After swimming, we came inside for food, cake, and presents. Elise’s cake this year was something to behold; it was certainly one of the fanciest cakes we’ve ever gotten. I don’t know how Jessica found this baker, but Elise and I went to her house on the day of the party and we couldn’t believe it when seeing it for the first time. The Pokemon theme was in full effect!

Elise with her Pokemon cake

After cake and presents, plenty of kids got back in the pool. It’s over 100 degrees everyday here, so swimming is pretty much the only thing you can do outdoors during the middle of the day. Consequently, we’ve been swimming almost daily.

As far as today goes, Elise started her morning off by opening more presents from family. I got a video of the whole thing and added it to the kids’ YouTube channel, which you can see below. Around noon the kids rode with Mom down to the airport to pickup Grandma and Grandpa Rudd, who are out here visiting from Iowa through the weekend. We haven’t seen them since last Summer, so getting to see them on her birthday was special for Elise. We all went out for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, which was a fun way to end her special day.

Beyond that, we’re having a great Summer, it’s just hard to believe how fast it’s going by. The kids go back to school on the second week of August, so we’ve only got a few more weeks of Summer, then the house will be quiet again while I’m working 🙂

We recently celebrated the 4th of July by having friends over for swimming, food, and fireworks. We lit off our own small fireworks at the house, then walked over to a park near our neighborhood to watch several different fireworks shows going on at various casinos. The one at Green Valley Ranch was really close and looked awesome, while the ones on the strip were cool to look at from a distance.

Although Summer break is starting to draw to a close, we do have one more exciting little trip to look forward to. On Sunday, July 31st, we’re going to leave early and head to Los Angeles for a couple days. We will spend that Sunday afternoon at the Santa Monica beach and pier, then the next day we’re going to Six Flags Magic Mountain! We’ve been wanting to do this for a while but waited until Enzo was tall enough for all the rollercoasters. I remember us taking Ava there on my birthday weekend when she was less than a year old, now here we are doing the same thing again nearly a decade later. I look forward to writing about it in next month’s post.

That’s about it for now. I hope Elise had a very happy birthday, and want her to know how proud her Mom and I are of her! She is such a great kid, a great sister to Ava and Enzo, and we all love her to the moon and back. Happy Birthday Elise!

Singing to Elise at her birthday dinner at Lindo Michoacan
Time for dessert!
Elise’s 9th birthday video
Enzo showing off his home diving skills

Happy 7th Birthday Elise!

Today our sweet Elise turns 7 years old! I remember her birth like it was yesterday and couldn’t be more proud of the young lady she has already grown into. She’s such a great kid with so many amazing qualities; not only are Jessica and I beyond lucky to have her as a daughter, but Ava and Enzo are also extremely lucky to have such a loving and caring sister. Although the circumstances these days throughout the world make it difficult for us to throw a proper birthday celebration, we still wanted it to be a special day for her and show her just how much she is loved.

For a while now Elise and I have had a deal that I would take her shopping on her birthday, but she has been going back and forth on whether she would prefer a longboard or a scooter. She’s been thinking about it a lot because Ava and our good friend Avery love riding their longboards up and down our street, but she always enjoys riding scooters as well. I told her we would go to the store to look at both, and most likely she will find ‘the one’ when she sees it.

I was able to wrap up all my meetings by lunchtime, then the two of us headed out to the sporting goods store to have a look. We looked at the longboards first and there were a few she was interested in, then we took a look at the scooters. After a few seconds she said “Daddy, I’ve made up my mind. I’m getting a longboard.” I loved how serious she was about her decision and was happy to go along. She ended up picking out a really cool Stella longboard with orange wheels and an orange design on the bottom. It was fitting considering orange is her favorite color.

Earlier that morning she opened some of her presents, which included walkie-talkies from Grandma and Grandpa Rudd, an mp3 player from Nana, and a bluetooth speaker with microphones from Grandma and Grandpa Martin. After returning home with her new longboard she had lunch and then got out on the street to break it in, but took a cake and ice cream break in the afternoon. Later on we all went to our regular Tuesday evening Jiu-Jitsu class and she was greeted with a ‘surprise’, which was a pig pile from the other kids in class. In this case the only other kids in class were Ava and Enzo, so it wasn’t bad. I gave her the option of skipping class because it was her birthday but she wanted none of it. She really loves Jiu-Jitsu so it was a fun way to spend her birthday evening.

In addition to everything today, we’ve got some fun stuff to look forward to this weekend. Grandma and Grandpa Martin are on their way up from Colorado in the bus, along with their grandson Cole from Texas, and will be here tomorrow. This weekend we’re having a few friends over to skateboard and ride bikes outside, enjoy some treats, and watch an outdoor movie once it starts getting dark. Then on Sunday or Monday the kids will head out on a road trip with G&G for about a week. They won’t be going too far away but there’s so much to see without leaving Washington so I’m looking forward to hearing about it.

Speaking of road trips, when I wrote my last post I focused on our change of plans around Disney World and how we had decided on doing a 3 week road trip to and from Florida. At that time the Covid-19 situation seemed to be trending in the right direction and Summer felt like the safest time for us to go on our long-awaited vacation. Unfortunately things with Covid have taken a significant turn for the worse and Florida has become arguably the most dangerous place in the world, so even though Disney World has reopened, we have made the tough decision to once again postpone our trip. 

I knew there was a decent chance of this happening but it’s still disappointing because we hate to keep letting the kids down. However we have to be smart and can’t allow ourselves to be so dogmatic about the trip that we’re willing to risk our health and safety in order to make this vacation happen. At this point the plan is to reschedule the trip for May 2021, right between Spring Break and Summer. Hopefully by then things will be in a better state and we’ll be able to have the vacation we’ve been hoping for, but at this point nothing will surprise me.

For a while there we had a plan B, which involved a road trip to San Diego, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas, but unfortunately that’s not going to work out either. Just this week California had to shut everything down again due to spikes in Covid outbreaks, and Arizona + Nevada aren’t doing a whole lot better, so there’s no point in us going there either. Again it’s all very disappointing, but there’s nothing we can do besides be smart and keep our family safe.

At this point we’re onto plan C, which will most likely involve a very small road trip somewhere east of the mountains. We’re still working out details but are considering a couple days in Couer d’Alene Idaho so we can take our kids to Silverwood, which is a big theme park and water park. The kids have actually been there before with Grandma and Grandpa but Jessica and I have never been, and we really want to do something fun this Summer. I’m not worried about our ability to keep our distance and stay safe, and only crossing one state line seems most preferable at this point. We haven’t finalized anything yet but that’s what we’re thinking about at the moment. Considering what a strange year it’s been we just want to do something special to remember this Summer by, so hopefully this works out.

In the spirit of doing something special for the family, we also have some exciting news in the sense that we have adopted two purebred Siberian kittens! It’s been about 4 years since Bella passed away and we haven’t had a family pet since then. For a while now we felt like a cat would be the ideal family pet for us, but due to Jessica’s allergy we never thought it would be feasible. 

After doing some research we learned that when a person is allergic to cats, it’s based on a protein secreted in their saliva called “Fel d”, which dries on their fur when they clean themselves and causes an allergic reaction for some people who come near them. Luckily not all cats secrete this protein though, and the Siberian breed is known as one of the most hypoallergenic breeds of house cats available. We were able to expose Jessica to them one afternoon and everything was totally fine, so we felt comfortable in moving forward.

We ended up finding a breeder in North Seattle and were able to reserve two sibling kittens who were born on the 4th of July. They need to stay with their mother for the first ten weeks, meaning they won’t be coming to live with us until mid-September. While we wish they could be with us now, after seeing how much work newborn kittens can be we’re happy to wait a couple months before bringing them home. We have never worked with a breeder before and would normally be inclined to rescue an animal from a shelter, but due to the allergy limitation we felt like this was our only option. Getting two was really in the best interest of the cats because everything we’ve read says they do so much better when they’re not alone.

At this point in our lives we definitely feel ready to commit to pets again, and cats just feel like the right fit for us. They’re a low maintenance pet but still show a lot of affection. While all three of the kids were excited, there’s no question Elise was the most excited at the prospect of getting a cat. She has always been obsessed with cats and was over the moon when we broke the news. Considering all the let downs we’ve had this year, it felt so nice for Jessica and I to give them some exciting good news. They certainly deserve it.

In other family news, we recently spent the 4th of July at our house with Kristy, Beto, and Madi. This was literally the first time we had seen any family since January, so it was really nice to get together. We had dinner, then hung out in the cul-de-sac with the neighbors and let off a ton of fireworks. Rumor has it that this was the last year we would be allowed to do our own fireworks, so it was fun to be able to share that with them. Hopefully we can set up another get-together sometime soon.

That’s about all for now, but before I go I just want to again wish Elise a very happy 7th birthday! We love you more than you can imagine and hope you enjoyed your special day. Noi ti amiamo così tanto!

Having fun on the 4th of July
Enzo is now attending Jiu-Jitsu classes with us and loving it!
Such a little fashionista
Sister love
Summer fun with our good friends Avery and Nathan
Our little furballs on the day of their birth
Here’s one of them a few days later
Someone is ready to open their presents!
Getting our shopping on!
Cake time. Love the make-shift candle…
Happy birthday sweetheart
Taking a family photo in the driveway on the 4th of July has become a tradition for us

Making Plans

If you’re reading this post around the time it was written, then you surely know these are crazy and often scary times we’re living in. Just as it appeared that we were transitioning out of the Covid-19 quarantine, the biggest racial protest in a generation broke out, sending the entire world into such a frenzy that even the pandemic barely made the evening news. It’s an unprecedented time that none of us will ever forget, so Jessica and I are more focused than ever on staying out of harm’s way and placing our entire focus on that which we can control.

As far as the racial protests go, I think it was long overdue, but I also feel the lockdown from the pandemic, and all the tensions surrounding that experience, helped it reach a boiling point. People were getting fed up on so many different levels that it was easier than normal for things to implode. I agree wholeheartedly with the peaceful protesters and want their message to be heard, which is why I hate seeing their message overshadowed by violence, destruction, and theft. In some ways I feel like we’re in the middle of the perfect human storm, and that we should all be afraid to a certain extent.

Speaking of storms, let us not forget that every year we set new records in Summer and Fall for natural disasters, and it’s not like those things are going to disappear or take a year off just because we’re dealing with all these other problems. The uncontrollable wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods will be here soon enough, and I’m worried about our ability to deal with them based on everything else going on. We seem to be in a bit of a downward spiral, so again I feel it’s more important than ever to do your part and find your own ways to make an impact.

For our family, there’s no question that making an impact starts at home. We have 3 little people that need to be brought up the right way. Simply not being racist is no longer good enough, so last week we started getting books that explain racism and race relations to children. We’ve watched videos on the Civil Rights movement, watched specialized programming explaining these topics to children, and engaged in conversations once thought of as ‘uncomfortable’. Who is it really uncomfortable for though? Certainly not the kids…

Beyond the children, I’m finding dialogs opening up everywhere. Certainly they are at work, but the same can be said for our Jiu-Jitsu school, which just reopened a few days ago. I’m one of the only adults in the school who isn’t involved in law enforcement or the military, and the conversations we’ve had there have been really interesting. One guy is ex Secret Service, two more guys are Seattle PD, there’s Marines, Army & Navy vets, and then you have someone like me from the tech industry. Everyone is super respectful of each other’s opinions, and hearing things from their perspective has been very interesting to me. Overall I feel like dialog via face-to-face communication is so much more powerful and constructive than anything you’re going to get from social media, but it’s difficult when you’re still supposed to be social distancing yourselves due to the pandemic. The resounding theme for me these days is to do my part, on all levels, and I find that everyone I associate myself with is doing the same.

Although the world seems to have recently drifted into unchartered waters, we still don’t see any harm in making plans for the future. Our Disney World trip, which was originally supposed to occur in early April in celebration of our 10 year anniversary, had to be pushed back to late May, then pushed back again. At this point we’re scheduled to go the last week in August, and as long as Disney follows through with their plan to reopen in mid-July, we should be in good shape. 

In some ways it may even work out to our advantage because only people with existing reservations will be allowed to go this Summer, and that includes us. This means there’s a good chance that it will be much less busy than normal, but we’ll see. At this point we have learned to expect the unexpected and won’t be surprised if we have to change our plans again, but that’s fine. Every time we reschedule the trip Disney sweetens the deal even more for us, so soon enough they may be paying us to come.

While we’re confident in Disney’s ability to provide a safe environment, our biggest safety concern for the trip centered around air travel. Being in various airports and airplanes means a lot of exposure to people from all around the world, so we started kicking around the idea of extending the trip from one week to three, and turning it into a cross-country roadtrip. I have plenty of unused vacation time, and we don’t have any other school or work schedules to worry about. Plus we have a very comfortable van that is meant for long-distance trips, so we decided to go for it.

The biggest blocker to our roadtrip plans would be getting a refund on our airfare. We purchased the tickets last year through Orbitz, and they were non-refundable. I decided to take on the challenge of getting our money back, and started by calling Orbitz customer service. I went into this whole ordeal with two requirements: accept nothing other than a refund, and treat everyone I speak to professionally and respectfully. I assume getting screamed at is a common occurrence for these customer service representatives, but I’m simply not willing to go there. It doesn’t make me feel better about myself to yell at someone, and I feel like that type of behavior would only be detrimental to my cause.

As expected, no one was very eager to give me my money back, but each time I spoke to someone I would make some type of progress, setting things up for the next step. Again, I feel that being calm and respectful was crucial because eventually someone would level with me and tell me exactly what they could and could not do, as well as help me get one step closer to my ultimate goal of a refund. 

After speaking with a couple people from Orbitz, I was led to United Airlines customer service, which is who we were flying with. Eventually this led me to filing a reimbursement claim with them online. I decided to use my work email address so they would know who I was employed by, and I explained the entire circumstances as eloquently as possible. 

At the end of my explanation, I said that my employer provided me with legal assistance, and although it would not be my preference to utilize those services, I was prepared to if my refund request was denied. I’m not sure if that ended up being a factor or not, but two days later I had an email confirming our full refund for all five tickets, and the day after that the refund was received. So, it took a fair amount of effort and perseverance, but kudos to United Airlines for doing the right thing.

With that out of the way, we were free to start planning “The Great American Roadtrip”. There are so many places and cities we’re excited to see, and while I’m sure there will be times where Jessica and I are cursing ourselves for making such a crazy decision, I’m equally certain that this will be something we remember forever.

The plan is to take a week getting to Florida so we can see Mount Rushmore, visit family in Cedar Rapids for a couple days, spend a day in Nashville, and see some other attractions in the Southeast before arriving in Orlando. We will then spend a week as planned at Disney World, then take another week to get home. We haven’t finalized our plans regarding which route we will take home, but we know we want to see the Grand Canyon, and spend a couple days visiting family and friends in Las Vegas. It’s going to be an epic trip, and we feel like that timeframe from mid-August through the first week of September is ideal on multiple levels.

So that’s the plan for now. We won’t feel like anything is set in stone until Disney World officially reopens next month, but again there’s nothing wrong with having a plan, and we’re willing to adjust as needed. I feel confident that it’s going to work out, so we just need to be patient and see.

In other family news, Elise recently lost her first tooth, which was exciting. She wanted me to pull it, so I was happy to oblige. She got a little freaked out and started screaming at one point, but to her credit she pulled herself together and we got it done without much discomfort. She was so cute carrying around her “Toothy” pillow the rest of the night, and of course the Tooth Fairy was kind to her.

Ava and Enzo are also both doing really well. All 3 of the kids are thriving under Mom’s home schooling, and their test results are now proving it. Ava has become quite the little skateboarder these days, and Enzo is constantly out there tearing it up on his bike and scooter. Also, Jessica is becoming a master at jigsaw puzzles.

In terms of activity, last month Jessica and I took up jumping rope as our preferred method of cardio exercise. I find it to be a really efficient way to get your heart rate up, and although I’m now able to go to Jiu-Jitsu again, I’m going to continue jumping rope because you get into such a zone when doing it. 

It was humbling at first because you can’t get into the right rhythm, and you’re gassed in the first minute or two, but just like anything else if you stick with it you start improving rapidly. These days I go out there and do 600-700 reps without breaking a sweat. Jessica used to be a member of the “Iowa Skippers” and is definitely better at it than I am, but it’s all good. We were joking that we should start a neighborhood rope jumping club because it’s an activity that enforces social distancing – if you get too close to each other you get stung by the rope.

I think all this time at home caused me to start getting a little stir crazy because I recently decided on a whim to shave my beard. Last time I did this was at my Mom’s house for Christmas about 2.5 years ago, and all I remember is Ava crying and refusing to look at me. Due to that traumatic experience, I grew it right back and didn’t really think about shaving again, until now. This time around I decided to have the kids help me shave the beard, and it seemed to help, but they’re still asking me when will it be back. 

One thing I’ve been enjoying since then is shaving with a straight edge razor. I’d never done it before, but I definitely understand why people get so into it. It’s much more of an experience than normal shaving, and if you do it right, you can’t possibly get a closer shave. This is because the number one rule when shaving with a straight razor is that you have to stretch the skin super tight. The combination of stretching the skin and shaving against the grain results in the closest shave possible.

Every time I tell someone I’m shaving with a straight razor I get some type of warning about being careful, and it’s true you have to go slow and be careful, but what that really means is taking the time to learn the technique behind it all. It’s not like normal shaving with a safety razor, so I had to watch a few videos on YouTube to understand it. Things like stretching the skin, maintaining a 30 degree blade angle, and using different parts of the blade for different areas of your face are crucial. I think the reason I like it so much is because it is very technical (like most other things I enjoy doing), so I usually just put on some music and take my time with it.

I guess the common theme these days is finding ways to stay engaged and happy when your normal routine no longer exists, and for our family it hasn’t been too much of a problem. We’re finding ways to stay informed, do our part, and make a positive impact however we can while always placing top priority on staying safe. As usual, we have a lot to look forward to, but not just about the big things like vacation. Simply getting together with family or friends for a Saturday afternoon will be such a treat once the time finally comes. I just hope it comes sooner than later.

Even a face-first bicycle crash doesn’t stop this kid from smiling
Ava in her happy place
Elise was a trooper getting her first tooth pulled
“Dad do you think I look rich?”
Saying goodbye to the beard – for now at least
Making silly faces after shaving
Mom doing her part
Elise and Toothy – love that smile!