We are Back

Park date

Wow Las Vegas has a zillion little parks. They each have their own 'thing' , which makes finding new ones interesting! Some have a huge trail, or a water play area, or volleyball, or fenced in dog area ( even though I bring my dogs off leach everywhere anyways). Having access to so many parks was an added bonus of moving to Las Vegas and having a baby.

However right now the park dates have to be at 7am, seems to already be in the 90s by 10 am! .... But after all it's dry heat and this Florida girl can handle anything. Just please no more snow for awhile.

Gilcrease Orchard

When I moved to Las Vegas one of the many things that I was surprised to learn about was that less than five miles away from our house was a family owned orchard. Durning the winter, spring and summer they are opened Saturdays from 7am until noon and you can bring a bag and start picking an assortment of fresh veggies and fruits. Because they are known for their apples and pumpkins in the fall their small Orchard turns into a Halloween destination and festival open durning the week as well as Saturdays and there is pumpkin picking and hay rides!

Last Saturday morning I put Kale in the baby carrier, grabbed a bag and five bucks and met a friend down at Gilcrase Orchards to pick off the tree some fresh peaches and apricots. They also had available carrots and asparagus. My whole bag was less than $3!

With half the bag I blended it up and made baby food for Kale, so for about $1.50 I was able to feed him for 4 days!



Helpful tips to a successful day at the orchard.
1. Bring cash
2. Closed toe shoes, your walking along trees and a little bit of a distance
3. Sunscreen
4. A canvas shopping bag
5. Bring some water and snacks and after picking and purchasing your fresh food you can sit under the trees at their picnic tables and enjoy yourself!

Confused

This is what happens when a dog is confused about which toys are got him... Accidentally ate one of the babies bath time toys

Mote Marine, Sarasota Florida

I was looking back at my photos from my trip to Sarasota, FL to visit family and was remembering how many fun things that we did. One of them being a day at Mote Marine. Growing up in Sarasota we always took field trips here and it never really seemed all that exciting compared to other Zoos and Marinas. However going back now, and with my son it was AWESOME! Babies and fish go hand and hand. It was such a calming walk through with Kale, he just relaxed in his stroller ( he was 3 months old) and looked at all the different tanks. Mote Marine would be great if you get a year pass, so if you ever run out of things to do mak

e a trip up there, pack a lunch and eat it by the water! Another reason why I love Sarasota. Eating a subway sandwich is ten times more exciting when your eating it on the beach looking out at a beautiful sunset!

90 Degrees

It's offical...Las Vegas had its first 90 degree day this afternoon, and you could have found us hanging out by the pool. Which is exactally where we will be most of the summer. Roaming around the desert trying to find any water hole that we can hover around. It is quiet amazing that Las Vegas is known for its lounging around the pool atmopspher...however I am finding out that for the locals it is a bit harder to come by a pool. You either have to have your own pool or your complex has one. If you are shaking your head "nope" to both of those like we are then you are out of luck. Last summer Josh and I only found overselves soaking up UV rays by a pool two days. However, all that has changed this year because you could say that we have hit the Las Vegas "jackpot"...unlimited water. Not once but twice. First off Josh's coworker down the road from us has allowed us unlimited access to his neighborhood pool, which I am sure all his neighbors are loving that. Two completely pale former Alaskans running around the pool, slathering sunscreen, and screaming with joy. Secondly I have even gathered connections for some of the casion's beautiful pools. But since both Josh and I are burnt and it is only our first offical 90 degree day I guess we need to be taking it easy and finding some other summer activities that Las Vegas has to offer.

Las Vegas Mommy Group

This is one of my mommy groups that meets up ALL over Las Vegas. These photos were taken at some of our park dates, either at Town Square, or somewhere in Summerlin.

I love Vegas

I LOVE Las Vegas…and it really is hard not too! This is our first spring in Las Vegas, and even though it was a little colder than I had imagined, by mid April I can’t help by waking up smiling! When I first found out that we were being relocated to Las Vegas the only thing that I could picture was the strip and 125 degrees. That is only 5 miles in a huge city and that is only 3 months out of the year that it gets that hot. When I picture Las Vegas now I can see beautiful snow capped mountains with the sun rising behind it, great people and even better weather.

Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine. Why Nevada isn’t considered the sunshine state? I have lived in Florida, and even though it has a lot of sun, Las Vegas has more. I walk outside now, and it is 75 degrees, my skin absorbs the sunshine and I automatically have goose bumps...and a huge smile. You can’t help but to drive around with a huge smile on your face, how could you not be in a good mood (Okay maybe if you fall into the 14.5% unemployeed)? In Alaska there were only certain times you could go outside, and mid April in Anchorage still means that you have four feet of snow in your yard. I think that if you have to spend two years living in Alaska the perfect place to move to next would be Nevada…my sunshine tank is FULL and that is just fine with me. I never know where the military will send us next, so I will be outside grabbing as much rays of light as I can. …now if only we had a pool.

I am in the process of changing the look and the layout of the blog. For several reasons, first off it's fun, & secondly because I have been getting a lot more hits and want the blog to be easy to move about. Please feel free to leave me any feedbacks in the comments section or email me.

The Club

Heading to Sam’s Club on a Saturday afternoon is essentially like walking into your own trap. You know full well what you’re getting into, you even see it coming but you continue on…towards your demise.

Josh and the baby stayed home so that I could make this as quick a trip as possible. We are a small family, so there aren’t a lot of things that we purchase from Sam’s Club. All I needed to grab was dog food, diapers and water bottles. I knew that I would be starting at the back left corner of the store with the bottled water first, then middle left of the store I would grab a bag of dog food and ending up at the front with the diapers and an easy check out. Isn’t it so strange how in our minds we can plan things out so perfectly but it just doesn’t happen that way, mainly because this is a Wal-Mart franchise, and it is just the facts of life that God always teaches you patience at places like this…starting with the parking lot.

The stretch of 500 feet in front of the store is covered with stop signs, speed bumps, markers and everything else to prevent you from going above 2 miles per hour. However, I have considered informing Sam’s Club that they could really cut costs on these speed reduction measures because there always seems to be a flash mob of people, aimlessly walking around the parking lot. Usually kids jumping out in front of your car, or an elder person with a cart. The hardest part hands down of Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club shopping is making it in and out of the parking lot without killing somebody, or hitting a cart. Once I made it inside I knew that the parking lot was only foreshadowing of what was to come. A jungle. No not a jungle, more like a watering hole. Sam’s Club is a Saturday event for many people. A place to let your kids run wild, playing with the electronics, and gadgets, & A place where dad’s run from free sample to free sample. And where the $1.50 hotdog combo has more followers than the Beatles. It is a mess, who was I kidding there was going to be no quick trip.

So like they say,

“When in Rome, do as the Romans.”

I helped myself to every free sample on the left side of the store, checking out and heading over to grab myself a Nathan’s hotdog and coke. And as I left the store I found myself forgetting where I had parked, so I wondered up and down the parking lot with my oversize cart until reaching the end of my Sam’s shopping trip.