Vegas, part 1

So, Nathan and I took a trip to Las Vegas earlier this week to celebrate our 27th/32nd anniversary (belated, in that our wedding anniversary was at the end of December, and early, in that the anniversary of us meeting is next week). We'd not spent any significant time there before (have driven through but nothing more) so decided to see what all the hype was about. :)

We arrived Monday evening and made our way to our hotel. (We stayed at The Flamingo for its lower price and central location on The Strip. Thankfully, I saw someplace that the smart thing to do was to join the Caesar Rewards program and get the app so you could check yourself in and was so glad we did! The line for checking in was crazy long.) After finding our room and dropping off our bags, we wandered down to the Linq Promenade for dinner then walked The Strip to the north and took in the free volcano show at the Mirage and the fountain show at the Bellagio. We also enjoyed the view from our room...of the Sphere and the High Roller wheel.  

On Tuesday, we said hello to the resident flamingos at our hotel then rode the Deuce bus to the Arts District and did more wandering and walking. We found lovely murals and ate lunch in the Arts District...walked to and through the Fremont Street Experience...found a fun Container Park with cute little shops...chilled at a local coffee shop that was amazing (Public Us, highly recommend!!)...and walked across the street to Fergusons Downtown (billed as a kind of in-person Etsy mall) and enjoyed the quiet (actually just relaxed in the courtyard area for a good bit, soaking up the beautiful weather). 

From there, we walked a bit to the Neon Museum for our 4:30 admission. We wandered through their "boneyard" of old neon signs. It was really cool and we took a lot of pictures while enjoying the signs posted with cool information about the signs and about individual women of Las Vegas (since March is Women's History Month). We'd timed our admission tickets so that we were able to appreciate the signs both in the daylight and after dark...which was awesome.

We then Uber'd back to The Strip (after dark, it wasn't recommended to walk the area). We ended up sharing the famous Trash Can Nachos at Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen & Bar. They were fabulous! (I've watched enough Food Network that it was kinda cool to be there, so I also got a photo with a cutout of Guy, lol.) 

After that, we rode the High Roller (it's a 30 minute ride) and enjoyed the views over The Strip. Nathan also got this shot (bottom right) of the BattleBots arena. It was actually just down the block from our hotel, but sadly they didn't have any tickets for the nights we were there. (We've enjoyed BattleBots for years after being introduced to it during our Mythbusters days and had become reacquainted recently after adding the Discovery+ add-on to our Prime streaming services.) 

And that was Monday and Tuesday. Back in a minute with the rest of our trip...

Throwback Thursday - Leap Day Edition

Happy Leap Day, everyone! When my boys were younger, I was able to convince them to leap for/with me on Leap Day...

Here they are in 2008 when they were 2, 5 and 7...(and here are layouts I made back then)...

...and this is 2012...

...and here's 2016...

I wasn't able to coerce them in 2020 (and we were apparently busy and distracted). And odds aren't looking good for this year. ;) So. I'm sharing these past photos to celebrate. Enjoy. 

Thankful Thursday

Apparently I haven't done a Thankful Thursday post yet in 2024. Plenty to be thankful for...so here goes:

1. College taekwondo club scrimmages. Last Saturday, CU Boulder's taekwondo club had both UNC and DU's taekwondo clubs on campus for some extra practice. Asher drove himself and two other members from UNC down to Boulder...where they met up with Micah who fed them and got them to the meet up. It sounds like they had a full afternoon of practicing for Nationals in April...

I'm thankful that these taekwondo clubs provide my guys with community and opportunities like this and that sometimes they can be together. 

2. Flights of hard cider. While Micah and Asher were doing that, Nathan and I went out to lunch in Old Town. We hadn't been to Scrumpy's for awhile so decided to go there...excellent. :) Thankful that they have flights of hard cider...as I'm indecisive and choosing eight was considerably easier than choosing just one, lol.

3. Complete taxes. Thankful, too, that I got all our tax stuff to our tax guy and we managed to file them early last week. Feels fantastic to have that done! (We actually even received our federal refund today!) Will help boys each file theirs this weekend...

4. Complete FAFSAs. Yesterday, I also managed to complete both Asher and Micah's FAFSAs for the 2024-2025 academic year. In normal years, I'd have completed that back in October when they open the process. As those with college age kids right now know, though, this year has been different. The process didn't open until January and has been struggling in its rollout. Given that I've completed 15 FAFSAs before the two I did just now, I felt pretty okay with biding my time and letting the system work out some of its bugs, and I managed to breeze through the process in less than an hour altogether. Whew. Glad to have that done.

(We know that we won't qualify for any financial aid but felt it important to still go through the process to maintain eligibility for student loans and certain scholarships.) 

5. Trip planning. I'm realizing that a fair bit of my time this year has been spent on trip planning. It's not something that gets talked about much in advance but I just wanted to put it out there that this is something that's been occupying my time. We have a number of trips coming up this year that we're looking forward to. I so appreciate that we're in a place to do this and that I have the time to plan things out to make for hopefully smoother trips. 

6. Facebook memories. I don't usually share them, but I always appreciate my Facebook memories. Lately, it's been showing me memories from two years ago when Nathan and I went to Greece. Exactly two years ago today, we had a long travel day from Athens to Santorini. I had a lost bag during our flight and we didn't get it back all that day. We had to find/learn our rental car and find our AirBNB. Plus, we were trying to beat the weather so tried to cram things into a short time before the rain. It was kind of a stressful day. 

But. What I remember most about that day was how thankful I was...thankful that we were in Greece in the first place. Thankful that we had Apple Airtags in each of our bags so we knew exactly where my missing bag was. (It had fallen off the conveyer belt beneath the airport in Santorini but they lacked the personnel to retrieve it.) Thankful that our AirBNB host was simply spectacular in making us feel welcome, giving us suggestions and taking over communications with the airport about my bag...keeping us informed and eventually actually getting the bag from the airport and delivering it to our AirBNB for us. So grateful. Thankful that we managed part of a planned hike in beautiful weather before the skies opened. Thankful that despite the pouring rain we found a fabulous restaurant for dinner that we loved so much we returned again later. Just thankful.

7. Return to exercise. I had a lovely walk on Tuesday...nothing exciting, just walking in our neighborhood. It was great because it was nice enough to walk outside without a coat and because I was actually able to go for a walk without hacking up a lung. I've been sick much of 2024 so far and it's been super annoying and uncharacteristic. Between being sick and being in Arizona, this past Monday was the first time I'd been to boot camp all month. I also returned to climbing on Monday...the first time in three weeks. So thankful to finally be healthy again! Hooray!!

So. Lots to be thankful for here...very appreciative. :)

Arizona

So. Last week, I was in Arizona helping out my baby sister and watching her boys while she and my brother in law took a quick trip to North Carolina. Yes, this is the same sister that I've helped out before with watching these nephews. They live in Spokane, WA but are spending some time in the Phoenix area this year to escape the Spokane winter. (They've been homeschooling this school year, which made the change of location possible.) Of course, despite 70 and 80 degree temperatures the week before and after, it was in the 40s and 50s and raining while we were there. Poo. 

Nathan was awesome and decided to join me this time. He still worked a normal(ish) schedule from the VRBO house they'd rented for their stay, but it was lovely having him there for the evenings and such. The boys really enjoyed getting to know him better, too, and he was the designated bedtime reader. :) 

Here's a picture we took just before heading back to the airport at the end of our stay...

Backing up, then...we arrived on Monday and got Nathan set up to work from their place. Then Cas and I took the boys to their new school (one-on-one tutoring for a few hours at a time a few days a week) and went to get pedicures and a snack. We picked boys up and went for a quick hike at Pinnacle Peak (Blaze's new favorite hike and peak). The boys showed me all the different types of cacti and we marveled at the boulders and rock climbers. Later that night we all went to dinner and ice cream before Cas & Charlie did their packing.

On Tuesday, Cas & Charlie left super early for the airport. Later in the day, I took the boys to Bam Kazam...an arcade slash escape room type experience. Given the time of day and such, we fortunately didn't have much competition for the rooms so were able to try things again and again and thoroughly enjoyed our full two hours there (and I'm kicking myself for not taking any pictures!). We then did a late lunch and got boys back in time for Case's basketball practice...stopped at Target for a few things...then spent a quiet night at home with Nathan--eating, playing with boys and reading to them. 

On Wednesday, boys had their piano lessons (via FaceTime), some play time, lunch and then school. After school, Nathan and I picked them up and we all went to the Wildlife World Zoo Aquarium & Safari Park. The boys have been really enjoying the zoo during their time in Arizona and were excited to show us all sorts of things. Given that it was later in the day and chillier than normal, sadly all the rides and the giraffe feeding were closed. But. We got to touch and feed stingrays! 

And then we enjoyed dinner at the restaurant right there off of the aquarium portion of the zoo...sitting right next to the giant tank and watching sharks and fish and turtles swim. We made it home and watched the Gonzaga basketball game (the boys are a bit obsessed with Gonzaga basketball lately and fortunately the Zags won) before getting ready for bed and doing a bit more reading.

On Thursday, I took the boys to an indoor play park (Rush Fun Park) while it poured outside. They got to climb and bounce and shoot hoops and slide and have a great time. We went ahead and ate lunch there (rather than braving the rain) and got back home for a little downtime before heading to Case's basketball game. Nathan came also and we enjoyed watching Case play some 3 on 3 basketball then stopped for a few things at Safeway on the way home, ate dinner and played and read. 

Friday morning, I let the boys play while I packed up and did some tidying. Cas & Charlie made it home just after 11 and we did some catching up and letting boys play before Cas took them to school. Nathan, Cas and I all picked the boys up and took the first picture up above then headed for the airport. Nathan and I ate at the airport and made it to Denver to the start of some snow and finally got home late that night...unpacked and crashed.

Late Friday, Micah made his way home (got a ride with a friend) and Asher joined us Saturday morning so we had a full house for the weekend and got to enjoy catching up with our boys and sharing stories about Cas' boys and watching the Superbowl before both Asher and Micah headed back to their dorms.

Whew.

So thankful that I can help out my baby sister and that I've been able to build a relationship with these nephews despite the distance. Simultaneously thankful that my boys are mostly grown now, lol. If you need me, I'll just be hermitting in my house for a bit... ;) 

Catching up

So, it's been a minute, eh? Let's catch up...

Remember how I mentioned that Nathan, Noah and Asher were sick when we got back from Montana? Well, shortly after that, I also got it...and it was a nasty, lingering bugger. Everyone had just finished getting healthy and then Micah came home for the weekend for his monthly infusion and dang-nabbit if that boy wasn't sick. So then Nathan and I got sick. Awesome. We're at the tail end of things now. Bleh.

(Fortunately, from what we can tell based on the symptoms and the covid tests that were taken, everything was just colds...just congestion and cough...just uber annoying. Generally, we tend to be very healthy here. But. Having two boys living in dorms and coming home somewhat regularly...especially when one of those boys is on immune-suppressants so is more apt to catch everything...is proving to be challenging. Ugh.)

Soooo. It's been a slow start to the year. Amid all of that, we've also been enjoying our squirrels... 

Nathan's trained a couple of them to eat from his hand...one day we looked up to see three of them sitting in the tree just staring at us waiting for Nathan to put out food (it was weird)...we've even gotten them to start cooperating and sitting together to eat rather than chasing one another off immediately...and apparently, January 21 was Squirrel Appreciation Day. 

Obviously, too, Asher and Micah started their spring semesters. Quick shout outs to blue IKEA bags and boys going to college in Colorado...both make move in and move out so much easier and are appreciated. (Incidentally, having boys nearby also made it easier when the car battery in the vehicle Asher drives died in the sub-zero temperatures. I was able to drive him back to campus while we kept the car here to get it fixed during the week.) 

So far, both boys are settling into their semesters and both are already starting to sort out housing for next year. 

And at the end of January, Karate West had one of their largest ever monthly promotions. The demo team performed eight routines...

In the last few months, the team has added a few new members, who were thrilled to perform in some of the routines and are excited to learn even more. And it was bittersweet because two of the members were performing for the last time and Asher's thinking about taking a break to focus on his collegiate taekwondo club. 

So, that's some of what's been going on around here. I'll work on posting more frequently...but am finding that more and more, the goings on of my life aren't just my stories to share, so I've been working to find that balance.  

I'll finish with this photo of a delicious cocktail I had last week with girlfriends...