Come Catch a Leprechaun

On Saturday, March 13th we did our 2nd 5 k as a family, Come Catch a Leprechaun. It was the smallest run we have ever participated in. If there were 500 people I would be surprised. Typically this would make the run easier because there are less crowds to hold you back but mother nature figured out a way to slow us down...wind. It was so windy that day! Jim was pushing Abby and her stroller became a sail. Even with the wind we finished the run in 32:02. We were happy with this time. It was about 5 min faster than our last run.

Joanne Comes To Visit

Earlier this month ( March 4-10th) my cousin Joanne came to town for a visit. We did not have the best of weather while she was here but we tried to make the best of it. We took a couple of drives through Red Rock Canyon...

Had lunch at Mt. Charleston Lodge one of our favorite spots in Las Vegas. On Monday night we all headed to downtown Las Vegas to the Freemont Street Experience. We had dinner and the we walked amongst the crowd on Freemont Street. Freemont Street is famous for having the largest big screen TV in the world. Hoisted above the street there is 12.5 million synchronized LED modules. Several times a night all TVs come alive and put in a show...


We had a fun night...

On Tuesday night Joanne and I headed out on the town and went to dinner and a show. First we headed to Bally's to see Jubilee. While we were waiting for the show we sat down at the bar for as drink and a little video poker. I walked away wining $15 after being dealt 4 Aces! Too bad I was only betting quarters. Next, it was off to the show. Jubilee is one of the original showgirl shows in Vegas. It arrived in town in 1959. The show was fun. I am happy that I was able to see something truly Vegas. Plus, it was amazing to see the girls actually be able to dance with those huge headdresses.

After the show we had a nice dinner and then it was time to head home. Joanne left the next day and if was definitely sad to see her go. We really hope that she will come back and visit us soon.

Dancing and Gymnastics

Abby has a new hobby, dancing. She will dance to almost everything but she particularly seems to live heavy metal music...Jim is thrilled. Here is a video of her dancing to Audioslave...



Abby also started gymnastics this month. The first class was an absolute disaster! Abby fell asleep on the way to the class and was NOT a happy camper when I woke her up. I have the disobedient crying kid in class. There was a shimmer of hope though...when there was about 5 min left in class she started to realize that she was having fun. The 2nd week was much better! The trick was I didn't let her fall asleep on the way there. We look forward to 4 more weeks of classes.

Abby's 1st Bike Ride

Last weekend we took Abby for her first bike ride at Red Rock Canyon. Unfortunately, the bike ride was not a success. It was quite breezy and cold that day plus the terrain we a bit too hilly for our first family bike ride. Even thought we did not have the best of rides we look forward to many more bike rides together!

V-Day Weekend

Last weekend was the first weekend that we were able to head out and explore our new home. On Saturday we took it easy around the house but on Sunday we packed a picnic lunch and headed to Lake Mead. Lake Mead is about an hour from us. Once we arrived we went for a nice hike on the Callville trail. It had some steep parts...

...but it did even out and it ended at the lake's edge were we played by the water and ate our lunch.

As we headed back to the car Abby took a nice little snooze...

After the hike we decided to drive over Hoover Dam. It was really impressive. Next time we will have to get out of the car and walk around it a bit more.
On Monday we headed to Pahrump. Pahrump is best know for their brothels and the home town of Heidi Fleiss but we stayed away from those and headed to the Pahrump Valley Winery. The winery was great. It is a small winery but we were able to taste some great wines and we took some time to walk around their grounds.


We are looking to future weekends of exploring!

Run For a Wish

Last weekend Abby was in her 1st 5k, Kendall Tenney's 5K 'Run For A Wish'. As you can tell by the name, the proceeds go to the Make a Wish Foundation. It is a GREAT cause but not so great of a run.

To no fault of the run organizers it was pouring down rain but...a little rain has never stopped us. Even though Jim is recovering from being sick the 3 of us ran the race in 34.17. It definitely NOT our best time but like I mentioned...it was raining and Jim was getting over being sick. It was also the first race that we have pushed Abby. There were also over 5,ooo people running this race so the course never really cleared out. I know, I know...excuses excuses. Our time definitely motivated us to run some more races to get our time back to what we are used to.

The real problem that we had this run is that the parking was not organized very well. It took us 2x as long to get out of the parking lot than it did to run the race. The race took place at a local outdoor mall and the race participants parked in the mall parking lots. There was NO parking attendants helping control the 5,000+ cars. IT WAS A MESS!!

Even thought the parking was a huge issue we are looking forward to future races. Our next race is March 13th the Come Catch a Leprechaun 5k.

Abby's Birthday Weekend!

I can't believe that we have a 1 year old! This has honestly been the fastest/slowest year of my life!

The sign above was made by my dad. I had a sign exactly like it growing up. Every year we add a new balloon on top of the old one. The last time I used my sign was for my 21st birthday but I think I will pull it out again in a few years on my 35th.

My parents came to town last Thursday to help us celebrate.

While my parents did come to town for the sole reason to be with Abby I was able to drag my mom away for a hike up Lone Mountain. Ok...it was not hard convincing her but that was only because Abby was taking a nap.

While mom and I were hiking dad got straight to work building Abby a toy box.

On Abby's birthday we headed to Bonnie Springs. Bonnie Springs is a replica of an old west town that also has a petting zoo.

I am glad that we decided to go to Bonnie Springs because now we know not to go back. I expected it to be cheesy but it was cheesy to the max. I was really looking forward to going because of the petting zoo but the zoo was really sad. The animals had very small messy pins and a lot of the animals were pacing in their misery. The most interesting part of the zoo were all the chickens roosting in the trees.


Regardless...we still had a good time being together!

After Bonnie Springs we headed home for Abby's birthday dinner and party. Jim made a pot roast. The adults all thought it was delicious but I am not sure if Abby felt the same...

What Abby was really waiting for was her CAKE and presents!

Abby thoroughly enjoyed her cake!

She enjoyed it so much that she had to get a bath before she could open her presents.

On Sunday it was off to one of our favorite places...the t. Charleston Lodge for lunch. It continues to amaze us that we can drive 45 min and be in the snow...

It was a great lunch and a beautiful drive!

On Monday before my parents had to head back to Seattle Abby and I took them to Red Rock Canyon for a hike. We hiked the Children's Discovery Trail which actually ends at a waterfall. It was a great way to close out the weekend festivities.

We had a great time with my parents and look forward to their next trip here in April.