the elusive vacation

We need a vacation....badly. I have a week off coming up at the end of June, but we still haven't planned what we're doing. This is mostly due to some medical issues that may need to be addressed during that time. What needs to be done, where and exactly when will not be determined for another few days, so planning has been placed, frustratingly, on hold for now.

We'd like to hop on a plane and head off to an exciting, exotic location, but that probably won't be feasible this year. With Z-Dub's surgery earlier this month and some other medical appointments in the family, we've had to fork out nearly $1,500 to pay insurance deductibles, uninsured diagnostic tests and for prescription medications. Needless to say, it's been one extremely expensive month so far. It's probably going to continue to be as such for the next couples months as well.

If we are able to take some time for a vacation during that week, it'll probably be just a quick trip to our homeland of Southern California -- perhaps San Diego. It'll still be fun, but nothing like last year when we went to Montreal. Speaking of which, I wrote an article for Uptake today about  vacationing in Montreal. Feel free to check it out . It was difficult to write because it made me yearn for a return trip. I definitely want to go back for the Jazz Festival and to see more of the city. Maybe next year.

Anyone else have plans for summer vacation this year? Want to invite a family of four?

a deserving mother

The rules are simple over at Uptake.com -- write a post about why you deserve a “Spa Girl Package” and you can win a trip for four to the Silverado Resort in NapaValley. Despite what some of you may think, based upon what I’ve got going on downstairs I’m definitely not a girl, but HotMomma is. And she’d love a spa getaway with her BFFs. So instead of talking about me, I’m going to deviate from the rules a bit and write about why she deserves to win. Actually, I’m going to give four good (and hopefully compelling) reasons:

1. She's been begging me for a trip to the beautiful Napa Valley and I still haven't come through with my promise to get her there. How many years has it been? Too many to count.

2. The last time I surprised her with a spa treat it turned into a bit of a disaster. Her prized diamond necklace -- a family heirloom that has been passed down three generations -- was lost in the spa and never found. It turned what would have been a relaxing time into one of heartache and tears.

3. Our three year old had surgery last weekend to remove his tonsils, adenoids and get tubes in his ears. He's been in a miserable whiny state ever since. And to make matters worse, he's been treating HotMomma like crap ever since, clingy to his Daddy (yep, me) like a leech and being totally disrespectful to his concerned mother who wants nothing more than to comfort her first born. It's been a bit of a slap in her face and she's feeling down because of it.

4. Mother's Day was a week ago and I still haven't gotten her a gift. Pathetic, I know.

As you can see, HotMomma NEEDS this trip. It will not only provide her an opportunity to rejuvenate, but will also get me out of the dog house. Okay, not completely out of the dog house. Perhaps just one foot. Every little bit helps.

red rocks and stuff

When HotMomma and I lived in the Phoenix area for a couple of years, we used to enjoy our road trips up to Sedona. It was absolutely beautiful up there among the red buttes. We took off-road jeep tours on the rugged terrain, explored weird vortexes and enjoyed the great restaurants. It was amazing.

Thinking of these past trips, I decided to write an Uptake post on vacationing in Sedona. Of course, now I'm feeling all nostalgic. The article has inspired me to look at booking a Sedona vacation. Although, I'm thinking more of a romantical vacation sans kiddos.

Check out my Sedona post here.

random post about weather and a contest

Like my uber-creative title? I know...it sucks. It's Wednesday and I'm already burnt out from my week, so don't make fun of it.

On to the post. Is it me or is the weather getting freaky? Just two days ago it was in the mid-80s here in Las Vegas. Then the winds came again (they've been a pain in the ass this year) and the weather chilled. Today is supposed to only reach 58. Even more shocking was the fact that when I stepped out the door this morning to head to work it was snowing. Seriously...frickin' snowing in Vegas in mid-April. There's something very wrong with that.

Even more surprising is the fact that the weather predictors are forecasting 90-degree temps by the end of the weekend. It's quite a roller coaster ride going from warm to cold to hot all in the span of a few days. Although I'm not a fan of the cold, I'm definitely not looking forward to the hot weather. I'd like a few weeks in the 70s, like in California. We're going to try to hit Disneyland again next weekend. Hopefully the weather will be perfect.

Speaking of California, the folks over at UpTake are having a contest. You can win a Napa Valley spa vacation for you and three friends. Check out the details here. It's actually really easy to enter, so you'd be a fool not to. I would, if I could. HotMomma would love some girl time in Napa Valley.

Disney Vacay Montage

We're back from our short Disneyland vacation to celebrate Z-Dub's third birthday. It was a fun and exhausting trip and Z-Dub had a blast. We took hundreds of photos, of course, but I thought I'd share just a few. I'm playing catch-up at work today and will be back to regular posting (and reading) tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy!!!

Ready for blast off!

Z-Dub's shirt says "Big Brother: Honor and Defend" and The Deuce's says "Little Brother: Search and Destroy."

Mom and son.

A Goofy encounter.

Excited for Autopia.

Sukita (cousin) and Z-Dub.

Still in line.

HotMomma and cousin DP.

HotMomma and her cousins from Sactown and little DP at Space Mountain.

HotMomma and me.

What's Z-Dub looking at? Perhaps the giant, talking Buzz Lightyear.

Goofing off.

The teacups at night. I couldn't catch a photo of Z-Dub riding. It was too fast for the camera at night.

The Deuce and his Auntie.

Enjoying the fireworks.

The fireworks.

Z-Dub shows off one of his Birthday presents.

Also, Z-Dub refers to Donald Duck as "Donald THE Duck." It's funny when he says it.

And, finally, we fly a lot, but the short 36-minute flight home from SNA to LAS was one of the scariest we've ever experienced on account of the wind. HotMomma was reciting Hail Mary's as I sat in my chair with   white knuckles. Luckily we all made it home in one piece.

spring is in the air and wine is in the glass

It's that time of year again -- the air is warm and the sun is shining. It's spring, our favorite time of year here in the desert. It's time to enjoy outdoor eating and activities in the park.

It also means it's almost time for UNLVino. For those of you unfamiliar with this annual Las Vegas wine tasting event, it's a must attend if you're here in mid-April. Let's just say the wine is flowing and everybody lets loose and has a great time. I wrote an article about it for Uptake.com. Check it out. If you're from a land afar, you may want to book your flight and hotel reservations today and join us for a couple of days of drinkin'.

Money raised at the event supports my alma mater and they need all the money they can get these days.

a swanky new hang out

Living in Las Vegas is great. We're home to world-class resorts, restaurants, night clubs, shopping, etc. It truly is a playground for grown-ups. Not so much for kids though. Which brings me to the point of this post. We have a brand new resort/casino/spa opening up this weekend just a stone's throw away from our home. We've watched its construction from when it was just a desert lot nearly two years ago to now. It's a truly impressive property featuring a lot of great amenities. We can't wait to hang out there.

I wrote an article about it for Uptake.com. Check it out.

travel blog network debuts

Today the folks at UpTake issued a press release officially announcing their Travel Blog Network writing team, which includes me. I can see the paparazzi gathering outside my window. I hope they don't take any unflattering photos.

But seriously, I've had a blast writing for UpTake for the past couple of months under the Vacations category, along with a talented team of writers led by the super blogger Whit. We're writing all about great (and sometimes not-so-great) vacation destinations in this big and diverse country of ours, offering information about where to go, what to do and where to stay from our own perspectives. Because we're writing about the areas in which we live, work and play, our insight is great for folks planning a trip, especially to a destinations they've never been to before. I'm covering the Las Vegas area for obvious reasons. I like to show that there is more to Southern Nevada than casinos, nightclubs, celebretards, hookers and blow. Although we all know that those things are appealing to a lot of people.

Here's some of my posts from the past couple of months. I plan to write many, many more, so subscribe to the RSS feed and enjoy.

Dam Short Film Festival in Boulder City
Family Fun at Lake Mead Recreation Area
Las Vegas - A New Year's Party Destination
Lake Las Vegas Offers Tranquility
Holiday Shopping in Las Vegas
Experience the French Flair of Las Vegas
Boulder City, Nevada - History and Adventure
Las Vegas Aquariums Showcase Exotic Marine Life
Celebrate Veteran's Day at Aviation Nation
Explore the Natural Side of Vegas

For my Vegas friends, if you have any cool, undiscovered vacation ideas I should cover, let me know.

dream job at last

I woke up this morning to find that my dream job  is finally available. I shall apply immediately. I hope I get an interview.

I wonder if I can bring the family?

gettin' it done

Although I definitely am not lazy given the fact that we have a rambunctious two-year-old and an eight-week-old infant to care for, but I feel as though I've dropped the ball in writing for Uptake.com . The recent change in our family dynamic and the fact that my daytime job has been extremely busy has stolen time from me. I should also add that the hectic holidays didn't help. I was cranking out at least two articles a week prior to the birth of Deuce. In December I only wrote two. Now that it's a new year and I resolve to step it up and start producing. I'm sure Whit (the boss man) will appreciate it.


Off to a smashing start, yesterday I wrote this gem and posted it today. Please check it out. It's about a little local lake.

tagged

I've been tagged by DC Urban Dad, so I'm now obligated to participate in a little meme action. Luckily it's an easy one. The rules are:

1. Go to your documents
2. Go to your 6th file.
3. Go to your 6th picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 friends to do the same.
   

Now, I did have to cheat a little because I'm doing this at work (during my lunch break) and the sixth file in My Documents contains my department budget and no pictures. I'm really not about to take a screen shot of a spreadsheet. That would be just boring. And you'll laugh at the numbers. So I skipped to the seventh file which was actually My Pictures. The sixth picture is this:

This is a picture I took of the Buddha statue at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in 2003 (before kids) when HotMomma and I traveled there frequently during the hot summer months. The statue was presented to the garden in 1949, the S. & G. Gump Company in memory of A. Livingston Gump, Alfred Gump and William Gump. It is located at the eastern end of the Long Bridge. It was cast in bronze on Honshu Island at Tajima, Japan in 1790; it weighs 3,000 pounds and is ten feet, eight inches high. This particular figure is named Amazarashi-No-Hotoke, meaning "The Buddha that sits throughout the sunny and rainy weather without a shelter," which is right on considering its location in the park.


Now the fun part is picking six bloggers to tag. After careful thought (random choosing from by blog roll) here are the tagged (you're welcome):

Dan from Daddy Dan 
Ed from Zoe's Dad 
ZakaryW from Shindig 
Gini from Tao of Gini 
Shelly from Seriously, Shelly 
Rich from Untangling Fatherhood 

Have fun with it.

pardon this commercial interruption

Congrats to UpTake.com for becoming the largest travel search engine on the Internets in just six months. For those of you that haven't checked it out, it's a great site for getting information, reviews and opinions about vacations destinations, hotels, motels, camping, beaches, spas, golf courses, attractions and restaurants. It's kind of a one-stop-shop for all things travel.

As many of you are aware, because I keep mentioning it, I've been contributing to UpTake's blog for the past couple of weeks, providing information for family vacations in Las Vegas and the sourrounding region. I'm very excited to have a very, very small part in such a successful venture. I'd have a big part, but I'd probably screw it up. That's why they have the genius of Whit instead.
Feel free to check out the site and/or the posts I've written:

History and Adventure in Boulder City
Las Vegas Aquariums Showcase Exotic Marine Life
Celebrate Veteran's Day Weekend at Aviation Nation
Explore the Natural Side of Las Vegas

las vegas aquatic

Sharks, sting rays, dolphins, Jelly fish and tropical fish all live in Las Vegas. I know what you're thinking --how so given that Las Vegas is located in a giant sandy, desert wasteland? Well, I wrote an article at Uptake.com explaining it all. You should check it out. Seriously, I know you're intrigued.

weekend randomness

Here's comes a lot of randomness...

We got all into Skype this weekend. My brother introduced me to it last weekend, so we decided to register and invest in a new, though not too expensive, web cam. We got HotMomma's sister and her family in California all signed up as well. We all had a blast "seeing" each other all weekend long. Z-Dub is particularly amazed at seeing his cousins on the computer screen while talking to them. It freaked him out a little bit at first, but he quickly got on board with it and was waving at the screen. It sure saved us on long distance charges since we used it to make most of our calls. Cool!

Potty training continued this weekend. We had three peeing accidents on the floor and no toilet success. Bribing has failed thus far. We're going to have to change our strategy a bit. On a brighter note, Z-Dub may actually make an honest politician one day.

Let's see, what else? Oh, on Saturday we went to our neighborhood's Fall Festival Extravaganza. It was a good time with a lot of free food. We love free food. Here's a pic of Z-Dub and his chick, Tallulah. And, yes, his shirt says "My Daddy's A Stud Too!"

And finally, thanks to Whit, I'm now writing for the blog at UpTake.com, a really cool travel search and discovery site. I'm covering family vacations in the Las Vegas area. Yep, you heard me, family vacations in the City of Sin. Most of our readers are probably well aware that the mega casinos tried to push family travel back in the 90's, building theme parks and other attractions that appeal to families. The concept was later abandoned and Las Vegas reverted back to it's more lucrative focus on adult debauchery. However, many people still bring their families here for vacation. I'll be writing about some of the things they might enjoy during their visit.

Check out my first post here. Please feel free to leave a comment on the site and let me know what you think.

And, finally, Chuck Westbook has put together a coalition of bloggers with a mission to draw attention to great, but overlooked, blogs. Check it out and see if you want to be part of it. It's a novel idea.

leaving on a jet plane...

It's a little after 4:30 a.m. on Monday and I'm off to the airport to catch a plane for a quick, day-long business trip to fabulous Salt Lake City, Utah. I know, it's not that exciting. Believe me when I say I wish I didn't have to go. It's for business. But at least it's a change of scenery.

burnt to a crisp

I failed to wear a hat or apply sunscreen while at SeaWorld on Saturday in San Diego and at a family party at a park in Oceanside on Sunday. They were two long days outdoors in the California sun. Needless to say, I'm paying for my mistake now. I don't think I've ever been burnt this bad before. To say I'm in pain is an understatement. My noggin is even starting to blister.

I'm also embarrassed to say that I look absolutely ridiculous. My shiny red head looks like some kind of warning beacon that can be seen from miles away. I might as well be turned into a bouy.

Don't believe me?

Check it out...

Oh, to make matters worse, I have raccoon eyes.

weekend in pictures

We're back from our weekend adventure in Southern California. While it was a blast, it's good to be home to sleep in our own beds. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep despite my severly sunburnt noggin. It's late and I'm too tired for a play by play of the entire weekend, so instead I thought I'd post a photo montage of Saturday at Seaworld and Sunday at a birthday party for Z-Dub's cousin Belle and friend T. Enjoy!

Z-Dub and his cousins JP and Sukita* at the entrance to Seaworld

Z-Dub checks out some stingrays, but he wimped out in touching them.

Checking out the sea otters.

Sukita and Z-Dub wait for the family to decide what to see next. Nice belly.

HotMomma, Z-Dub and VegasDad.

Z-Dub talks to his cousin Belle about the fishies.

Z-Dub, Sukita and Belle.

Z-Dub loves polar bears.

Z-Dub and Sukita get nice and worn out in the play area.

Z-Dub shows off his mad skillz.

And on Sunday...

Z-Dub and his cousins get painted in preparation for the big shindig.

Check out his gator.

Z-Dub and his cousin RR.

Sister-in-law SR and her baby 3.0.

Nephew (who never wants his picture taken) actually smiles for the camera.

Bubbas shows off his Spiderman.

The birthday girls ride a pony, which turned out to be a horse.

Nephew M.R. rides a horse too.

VegasDad and his brothers.

Most of the family (VegasDad's side).

HotMomma and her cousin Jenny O.

Bubbas' daddy and mommy.

Z-Dub and his uncles.

Belle and T make a wish.

CR, little RR and BigBro.

HotMomma's sister G-Pi paints some kids.

There you have it. A weekend in photos.

*Derived from the word "suka," which means "vomit" in Tagalog. Sukita vomits in the most random locations. She now has a new nickname. Previously I referred to her as B.S.