Vegas :-$

Nobody wanted to leave Oregon.  We had been globe-trotting our way southeast for a couple days and every time we stopped, turned, or an obstacle arose, one of the kids would say something like, “Well, I guess we better go back to the Ferré’s,” or “Oh, good!  Are we turning around to go back to the Ferré's?”  As much as everyone loved the ranch, Travis and I were committed to our voyage to Vegas. 

“Can we listen to our devices?” asked the kids along our 11-hour drive from Boise to Las Vegas.  From all the information we’ve gathered about electronics, Travis and I have decided to limit the amount of screen time/device time our kids get.  Now that we have two functioning spare smart phones we’ve given the kids for listing to audio shows, audio books, music, and for taking pictures, they ask us daily if they can use them.  At home 30 minutes is the daily screen time limit.  On the road we only pull them out when we are driving more than three hours between cities…and one hour of device-time has been the limit.  Until our desolate drive between Boise and Las Vegas.  That Wednesday they got two hours.  Lucky them.  

Taite usually listens to his motivational audio books (love it!) or Adventures in Odyssey.  Calla has two favorites – Adventures in Odyssey and the Kid’s Music or Christian Music playlists in iTunes.  When she chooses iTunes – get ready!  Inevitably a musical favorite will pop up and she will belt out the lyrics like she’s Big Daddy Weave herself.  She is as talented at singing as Travis and myself.  Thankfully God gave us these skills (or lack-there-of) and apparently enjoys listening to our songs.  I’m confident He’s the only one who enjoys them.

They are good sharers

Parker's ear buds are red

Lincoln's ear buds are yellow

Parker listened to the Kid’s Disney Radio music downloaded to iTunes.  Because she couldn’t judge her volume as she listened, Parker kept yelling at people, “Hey (insert name)!  It’s your favorite song!  Do you want to listen?”  I guess Lincoln took her up on it one time.  He was using another device to look at the stored pictures and videos.  He cared more about the videos so he watched all of them over and over again.  I’m sure those videos coincided nicely with Parker’s music as they each listened to one ear bud from both devices. 

While in Oregon the subject of screen time came up.  Peter mentioned that as his kids got older they wanted more time to play games or watch shows.  They had a family meeting.  He had his kids do research on technology – the types of technology kids use, the time they spend on it, and the affects of technology on kids.  Their assignment was to write a paper about their findings and ultimately offer an amount of time per week they thought would be appropriate to spend behind screens.  They discussed the findings as a family and came to an agreement.  I love the idea!  I’ll be sure to publish my children’s findings when I have them do that project.  ;-)

Near the final moments of our drive home – as we saw Vegas from the distance – I had the itch to take our kids to a Vegas family-friendly show Thursday night. I did a little research, made a call, and voilá! I had 6 tickets to the Mystére Cirque du Soleil show.  I was so excited!  I’ve been to a couple of Cirque shows, but this would be the first for the kids.  Normally this Cirque show is at minimum $103 per ticket.  It just so happened that Mystére had been on a 2-week break and the weekend’s only available tickets were for the dress rehearsal – and were only $35.  (A very pleasant surprise when you are buying 6 of them.)  Once I had paid for the tickets the customer service guy gave me the confirmation number, then he reviewed the times of the show.  It was for Friday night.  Arghh!  I had plans for Friday night already (a MonaVie event).

Travis took the kids by himself.  They dropped me off at my meeting then went home (to the RV) to change clothes.  They mini-golfed at Circus Circus.  Dinner was at Pho in Treasure Island.  Then they were off to the show (also in TI).  They loved the show!  They said they liked it better than STOMP!  STOMP would be hard to beat.  It was a highlight for everyone.  And, according to the kids, the dress rehearsal for Mystére was even better!  Travis said, “They were both amazing shows with very talented people in them – very different from each other.  I liked them equally.”    Apparently it’s a must-see next time you are in Vegas. 

Parker is the official flag holder

Taite, Lincoln, and Dad play a competitive game of mini-golf

Here we go...

Another Vegas must-see is Red Rock Canyon.  We went rock climbing Thursday afternoon.  We did this last year, but we had Lincoln and Parker in backpacks then.  This time they were both on their own.  After our skiing experience – and Parker only skiing the bunny hill three times then deciding she didn’t want to do that anymore – I was concerned with how rock climbing would go.  It was a long way up!  A treacherous journey for a four-year-old. 

Mountain Goat?

Spiderwoman?

Sherpa?

Can you see Taite up ahead?

Sir Edmund Hillary?

By the end of our expedition I was sure Parker was part mountain goat and Taite had a little Sir Edmund Hillary and Daniel Boone in him.  Parker looked like Spiderwoman!  She shimmied up those rocks like they were a bar stool at the ice cream shop.  She had no fear.  She listened to instructions.  And she quickly implemented Travis’ pointers.  Taite led the team like he knew where he was going.  He didn’t want to wait for the rest of us so he’d wander ahead then call back to us the best route.  I imagine him retiring from his football career as a trail guide or some sort of outdoorsman.  And his little sister will meet him regularly for wilderness expeditions.

Taite

Lincoln

Parker

Calla

Rock climbing was a highlight for me.  I loved climbing as a family to the highest point we could find in the canyon.  When we arrived at the top we just sat, ate a snack (of course, because moms always have snacks), and looked out over the expanse.  Nobody complained the entire climb.  In fact, everyone wanted to keep going further.  Sometimes a walk to the park can cause leg cramps and sore feet!  But this experience was a challenge unlike any other.  I bet this won’t be the last challenge our family will welcome.

We just did that!