Owner: Roth Family Adventures URL:http://www.rothfamilyadventures.com Join Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 16:42:32 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: The daily life of a Las Vegas family. Site statistics:Click here
The Vegas Stigma 2007-04-22 07:03:00 Some of our readers are aware that I work for a private university in the Las Vegas
area. This past week I've been traveling to various college fairs where colleges and universities from all over the U.S. have been showcasing their academic programs and courting potential students. My travels so far have taken me to Houston, San Diego and now Orange County, Calif. While visiting these cities, I found it very interesting how people view Las Vegas.In Houston, on numerous occasions when students would stop by our booth to get information, their parents would say negative things about their son or daughter attending college in Las Vegas. It's the whole "Sin City" image. Often times when a student was walking towards our booth I'd see a parent grab him or her by the arm and say "no way...you're not going to school there."However, in San Diego, parents were very open to the idea. I would hear parents encourage their sons or daughters to stop by and get information. I'd hear, "wow. Look.
Goofing Off 2007-04-21 16:30:00 When you get Grace and Dyezabelle together, they're bound to goof off. Photographic evidence below.Rothfamilyadventures.com
BBQ 2007-04-29 20:14:00 Last night we were invited to the home of Ashley and DJ for a BBQ
. As usual, the food was great and so was the company (Thanks DJ and Ash...and Ash's mom). Zane was very well behaved yesterday, not that he's a total terror on most days. But yesterday he was on his very best behavior from the moment he woke up all the way until he went to bed. At DJ and Ash's he wondered around the back patio and inside the kitchen, touching everything and just plain goofing off. He was pretty funny. We're hoping for a repeat performance today as we go out do whatever. We have no real plans. It's supposed to be almost 100F today, so I don't know exactly how long we'll last out and about. We'll see.Since this blog is probably somewhat boring without photos, here's one of Zane riding in his car (birthday gift from Auntie Catherine and Uncle Kam).Rothfamilyadventures.com
Movie Night 2007-04-28 20:27:00 Last night we enjoyed (kind of) the movie Happy Feet outdoors at the District at Green Valley Ranch. They show a movie on the "green" every Friday and Saturday night during the spring. Last night was very pleasant. It was very warm when we arrived and dropped down to the high 70s by the time we left at around 9 p.m. There were a lot of families there, including members of Grace's mommies group. However, it was so packed with people on blankets,we didn't get to sit near them.Zane was pretty well behaved for the most part. He started to get bratty towards the end, but that's because it was getting near his bed time. He met new friends sitting next to us. It was a couple with a 19-month-old daughter. He basically acted like he adopted them as his new family. He joined them for crackers and sat on the mom's lap. It was quite funny. They were very nice and didn't mind the intrusion.Overall it was good. They have another movie tonight. We may go, but Grace is feeling a little (a lot) un Read more:Night
Dance Dance 2007-04-27 05:58:00 Zane showcases his mad dancing skills to the music of his singing Easter Bunny (courtesy of Grandma) while on vacation in Coronado, Calif. Once again the camera was held in the wrong position, so the second video is sideways...sorry. But it's very funny.Rothfamilyadventures.com Read more:Dance
, Dance Dance
Innocence Lost 2007-04-25 16:56:00 Zane officially moved to the Toddler class at school this week. In doing so, he went from being the biggest and oldest kid in his class to being one of the smallest and youngest. It's a great step as he's eating table food, drinking from a cup and learning to play and share with kids that are older.Here's the problem. I went to pick him up on his second day in the class and he had a "Boo-Boo" report attached to his bag. Usually the report tells parents if their child had an accident, bumped his or her head, etc. I opened it up to discover that Zane was bitten on the left arm by another child. They had to treat it with an ice pack. I went over to get Zane and he had a round, teeth-shaped deep bruise on his arm. It looked extremely painful.I know its going to happen when you put kids together, but we were hoping it wouldn't happen so soon. Prior to yesterday, Zane didn't know what biting was. In a way, it's a loss of innocence. He now understands that he can inflict physical pain t Read more:Innocence
Time Flies 2007-04-25 00:04:00 I can't believe this was a year ago.Rothfamilyadventures.com Read more:Flies
, Time Flies
Not-So-Honorable Distinction 2007-04-24 17:21:00 Yesterday we learned that our friend Kam's car was stolen. He asked all of us to be on the look out for it. It's bright yellow and hard to miss. Unfortunately, it's probably already been to a chop shop and disassembled. Poor guy.Ironically, today an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal proclaimed Las Vegas the car theft capital of the U.S. Apparently we've been ranked lower for a number of years and we finally moved to the top. It's nothing to be proud of. Here are a few stats:Clark County (Las Vegas) Auto Thefts:Year Rank Thefts2006 1 22,4412005 2 22,4652004 3 18,6152003 4 18,1032002 5 15,5032001 11 12,7552000 14 11,047Where To Watch Your Vehicle More Closely: Metropolitan areas with the highest rate of auto theft in the nation in 2006:1. Clark County2. Stockton, Calif.3. Visalia- Porterville, Calif.4. Phoenix- Mesa- Scottsdale5. Modesto, Calif.6. Seattle- Tacoma- Bellevue, Wash.7. Sacramento- Arden- Arcade- Roseville, Calif.8. Fresno, Read more:Honorable
Photo Post 2007-05-02 05:23:00 This week has been insane at work so far, so I have little time to post. To compensate, below are pics from Sunday. The first is Zane in his highchair with bananas all over his face and the second is a family shot from our Sunday trip to the luxurious Wynn Resort.Rothfamilyadventures.com Read more:Photo
Weekend Pictures 2007-05-06 19:00:00 Here's some pics from our weekend, so far.Grace, Zane and Grandma go to the aquarium at the Silverton Casino on Friday afternoon.Lot's of fish.Zane is mesmerized by the aquatic life.Despite the cool, windy weather, we made it out to the District at Green Valley Ranch Friday evening. Here's Zane bundled up and preparing to play.I guess Zane learned from when we lay on the blanket in the grass in the backyard to watch airplanes. Despite having no blanket, he decided to lay on the grass and point at the sky.Zane and Alexa compare sweatshirts.Zane eats crackers with Jacob.Yesterday I wrote about Zane always standing on top of his car, among other things. Here's a photo of him showing off.Zane and his ball.Rothfamilyadventures.com Read more:Weekend
, Pictures
Things Zane Says 2007-05-05 19:21:00 Zane has been talking his head off lately. While most of it sounds like a foreign language, he speaks very matter-of-fact, with brilliant use of tone. Fortunately, he's now saying some words we can actually understand, including:Thank you (tank ew)Uh-OhDoggieDaddyMommaA, B, C, D (that's as far as he can go at this point)ToesYeah (and claps simultaneously)There's more, but I can't recall all of them at this point.Everyday he picks up new words and learns new things. One of his favorite activities right now is bouncing and throwing his ball. Grandma's tile floor is perfect for bouncing. He also enjoys scanning the sky for passing airplanes and pointing them out excitedly. He can spot them from very far away. And if he hears a passing plane, he gets excited and searches the sky for it. It's funny. His scary new thing is climbing up on his riding car and standing on top of the seat, freehand. He' going to fall and break his head.By the way, we ended up going to the District at Green
*Laughing Out Loud* 2007-05-05 08:19:00 Paris Hilton is going to jail for 45 days. Ha Ha Ha! Her royal whoreness deserves it.Rothfamilyadventures.com Read more:Laughing
TGIF 2007-05-05 00:05:00 Thank F-ing God is Friday. It's been a treacherous week at work. Calling it busy would be an understatement. In fact, I'm so done with it, I don't even want to say anymore about it. Next week will hopefully be better. I do know Monday will be. We have our annual golf tournament at the super-exclusive and private SouthShore Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas Resort. Although I'm not going to embarrass myself by golfing (I suck!) in the tournament, I will be out there all day working the event. It's supposed to be a beautiful 85F day. Just perfect. Unfortunately, I have to arrive at the golf club by 5:30 a.m. It's about a 20 minute drive from home. So if you do the math you'll realize that I have to wake up very, very early. It's the only thing I'm not looking forward to.I don't think we have any real plans for the weekend. We were planning to go to the District at Green Valley Ranch for their Concert in the Courtyard tonight, but it's a little cool and windy this afternoon. We have
We're Hurting Our Kid 2007-05-08 19:08:00 According to this story on CBSNews.Com today, we're hurting Zane by allowing him to watch television. He really doesn't watch much television. The shows he does watch are primarily PBS programs, such as Between the Lions, Maya and Miguel, etc. He also likes Sponge Bob and Jimmy Neutron on Nickelodeon. We're also very careful about what we watch in his presence. For example, over the weekend I was flipping channels and came across one of the Lord of the Ring movies. It was the one with that ugly looking little monster character that follows the hobbit around because he wants the ring. I consider the monster to be a little scary and may cause Zane to have nightmares, so I quickly changed the channel when it appeared.The news story recommends more playing outdoors, reading and interaction with other children. Luckily he does all of that too, especially at school. So I guess we're not hurting him too badly.Rothfamilyadventures.com
Threatened Tranquility 2007-05-11 16:55:00 Yesterday I picked up Zane from his school at about 4:30 p.m. and headed off to meet Grace at an appointment. Within thirty minutes a massive condo complex under construction about 200 yards away from the school and just two blocks from home caught fire with flames shooting up to 70 feet in the air, which created quite a spectacle in the neighborhood. (Photo by the Las Vegas Review-Journal)It also created a traffic nightmare as streets were closed and more than 10 fire trucks battled the fire throughout the late afternoon into the late night hours to save the CVS Pharmacy (our pharmacy), homes and an elementary school nearby. It was one of the most fierce fires the Las Vegas Valley has seen in quite some time. Who knows what started it. There have been cases of eco-terrorism at construction sites in town, but it could have been just an accident. Time will tell.In other fires news, the idyllic Catalina Island, which is located 26 miles off the Southern California coast, is threatened by Read more:Tranquility
Pre-School Cannibalism 2007-05-10 17:02:00 Recently I posted about Innocence Lost, referring to Zane being bitten for the first time. It was just a few weeks ago. Luckily, it appears he hasn't started biting others after learning how to inflict pain with teeth. His first bite received was on his left arm and resulted in a deep round teeth ring and a nasty bruise that took about four days to completely heal. When that happened Zane came home with a "Boo Boo" report which explained what happened and how it was treated (ice and TLC).Jump forward to yesterday....it was a very warm afternoon/early evening. Grace's Mom took Zane out in the back yard and they were playing on a big blanket in the grass. Grace and I came out to join them after frantically searching the house for Grace's debit card, which we didn't find (that's a whole other story).Because of the warmth, I decided to take Zane's shirt off, which revealed another deep, round bite mark and bruise on his back. It looked painful. Apparently, because it was under his cl Read more:School
A Beating 2007-05-10 00:13:00 Despite not really enjoying living in Phoenix for two years, while there we did grow very fond of the Phoenix Suns. In fact, we became fans. So last night was a huge treat to watch them kick the crap out of the San Antonio Spurs (Sorry Lup!). A record-breaking 101-81 victory is definitely an ass kicking. We watched the second half of the game with excitement, so Zane got to witness his mother scream, hoot and holler at the television set with enthusiasm not seen since last year's NBA Playoffs. He thought it was hilarious and at times joined in without any real clue what he was excited about. It was a funny sight to see.Hopefully the Suns will knock the Spurs out of the Playoffs and advance (series tied 1-1). We're extremely happy that our team's nemesis, the number one-ranked Dallas Mavericks, were embarrassingly eliminated by the number eight-ranked Golden State Warriors (who are they?). This increases our chances of going all the way to the finals and possibly the glory of Champio
Censorship? 2007-05-15 00:00:00 The Pentagon has announced that beginning Monday overseas military personnel will no longer have access to MySpace and YouTube. They plan on blocking the popular Web sites. They say it's because the amount of bandwith the sites use are a strain on the military's resources, but I think it probably has more to do with censorship. They probably don't want military folks posting pictures and videos of what's going on in the war zones. Doesn't seem fair. These men and women are far from home and many of them use MySpace to stay in contact with family and friends back home. I know my brother-in-law does. Now they are even more cut off. It's a shame.Rothfamilyadventures.com Read more:Censorship
Happy Mother's Day 2007-05-14 03:23:00 Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in our lives.Rothfamilyadventures.com Read more:Happy
, Happy Mother
Busy Weekend 2007-05-14 03:12:00 It's been a rather crazy weekend here in the Roth faux-house (only because it's temporary). Grace's Aunt from Guam paid a visit Friday night and into Saturday. Grace's sister and three nieces from San Diego are also here. As you can imagine, it's a bit cramped and chaotic.On Saturday I woke up super early in the morning and flew to Phoenix for the day to visit our house and make sure things are in order. While I was there we had two potential buyers take a tour. I'm crossing my fingers that someone will make a good offer soon. We have to sell by January (we'll explain why at a later date). I flew home in the evening and reunited with the rest of the family. Unfortunately, that evening, after waking up at 4 a.m. to travel, Zane had a very restless night. He woke up about five times. He woke up for good at 6 a.m. this morning. Way too early!This morning (Mother's Day), the entire family went to our favorite breakfast restaurant, the Pancake House at Green Valley Ranch Resort & Ca Read more:Weekend
Suns Lose 2007-05-17 17:39:00 We watched the Spurs vs. Suns match-up last night with boisterous enthusiasm. We had to show our support for the team as they had to work extra hard without the help of two key players. Unfortunately, despite a valiant effort, the Suns weren't able to keep their momentum and gave up their lead in the final minutes of the game. It was sad. Now the Spurs lead the series 3-2. We look forward to the next game when Stodemire and Diaw are back. We'll kick some ass.Rothfamilyadventures.com
Bye, Bye - Ruff, Ruff 2007-05-16 18:24:00 Zane is so funny. He now says bye, bye and waves when people leave or you take him from a room. Also, every time he hears or sees a dog, he makes a barking noise. Hilarious!Rothfamilyadventures.com
Unfair 2007-05-16 18:17:00 Tonight the Phoenix Suns will have to battle the San Antonio Spurs without Stoudemire and Diaw as they've been suspended because of the scuffle in the last game (series tied 2-2). It seems unfair that these two players weren't even involved in the scuffle and are being punished, while Horry was the only player suspended on the Spurs roster even though he's the one who caused the whole thing with his flagrant foul on Nash. Despite the suspension of two key players, we're hoping for a win.Rothfamilyadventures.com
Photo Montage 2007-05-16 03:42:00 Zane pushes his younger cousin, Brieze, around in her walker during her visit over the weekend.Baby Brieze.Grandpa and Zane read a book.Zane being a ham for the camera while playing with his friends at a get together of Grace's mommies' group earlier today.Rothfamilyadventures.com Read more:Photo
, Montage
A Real Vacation 2007-05-15 18:14:00 Sometimes I wish we could go on one of those long, adventurous vacations that take you to remote and exotic locations, where your decisions on what to do and see are spontaneous. The kind of vacation that allows you to avoid the typical tourist traps and you rely on locals to guide you.Unfortunately, this morning while talking with some co-workers over coffee, I learned of several people's upcoming vacation plans, which included Hawaii, Spain, European tour, China, etc. It made me jealous. It made me want to just book a trip, grab our passports and go. But we can't afford, nor do we have the time, to take a trip like that right now. To make matters worse, it's really hard to take long flights with Zane. He's now a typical toddler with an attention span and patience not yet prepared for long travel. He can handle a short flights like one to one and a half hours long, but anything longer would be a nightmare that we're not willing experience. Nor do we want to subject other passenge Read more:Vacation
We're Off 2007-05-18 18:32:00 We're off to North County San Diego this morning for out mini-vacation. We plan to visit the San Diego Zoo tomorrow. I haven't been there since I was a kid. We look forward to seeing Zane's reaction to all of the animals. We'll take lots of photos for posting.Have a great weekend.Rothfamilyadventures.com
New Words In Zane's Vocabulary/Tuesday In Black and White 2007-05-23 22:02:00 Over the past few days Zane has added a couple of new words to his ever expanding English vocabulary. This is in addition to his entire language of Zanese, which he speaks often, but nobody can understand. His new words are Turtle and Duck. He learned them from a book of baby animals he likes us to read to him about 20 times a day. Repetitiveness pays off.Now for some artsy-fartsy black and white photos captured last night in the house, in the backyard and playing with Lola.Enjoy!My Public ShoeboxRothfamilyadventures.com Read more:Words
, Vocabulary
, Tuesday
, Black
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, New Words
Cheerio 2007-05-22 10:39:00 It's a British invasion! Late last week it was announced that Britain's largest grocer, Tesco, is opening 15 grocery stores in Las Vegas and one of them will be right down the street from our home. I wonder if they sell everything there or if it's just British stuff. Crumpets and Tea anyone?Rothfamilyadventures.com
Weekend Safari 2007-05-21 19:56:00 We're home from our weekend adventure. The weather absolutely sucked on the coast. It was grey and cloudy the whole time. The sun never came through, which meant it was cold. Only 65 F. Since the weather was bad, we decided to forgo a trip to the San Diego Zoo. Instead, we ventured inland to the San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido. What a difference. It was quite warm there. We had a lot of fun seeing all of the wild animals. Zane was interested for the most part. He likes to bark like a dog at every animal. Here's some photos from the trip.The entire gang upon arrival. We look disorganized, but that's nothing new.Zane getting ready for the tram ride through the "African" Savannah.Zane and Daddy.Lions rest atop a strategically placed, stripped Range Rover.A spotted Leopard rests under a tree.Giraffes.A large and dangerous Rhino.Grace, Glasel and the girls pose for a picture.Remain seated until the tram makes a complete stop.Dyezabelle feeds some birds.A Gorilla plays with his fe Read more:Weekend
, Safari
Movies In The Park/Reconnection 2007-05-27 01:19:00 Last night we took Zane to see E.T. on the Green at the District and Green Valley Ranch. Our friend Catherine joined us as well. We hadn't seen E.T. in years. Zane did pretty well, but like last time, we didn't quite make it to the end. He got cranky and we had to leave early. Grace is out tonight with some of our friends. I stayed home with Zane. Rather than hang out at the house, I took him for another movie on the Green. Tonight's feature was Jurassic Park. Unfortunately, he wasn't into it at all. He kept getting up and running around. He seemed more interested in collecting rocks from the flower beds than paying attention to the movie. I could understand, Jurassic Park isn't exactly a movie for a 14-month-old. Probably a little too scary too. He's more into funny animated movies like Happy Feet, so we left after an hour.I'm very excited about tomorrow. While Grace is working, Zane and I will be visiting Mike and Nancy Stuto, friends from college. I haven't seen them in more
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