Beginning of a New School Year: 2021-22

Hey There!

We have officially completed the first week of the 2021-22 school year. And to be honest, it's kicking our butts. This year Rory started middle school which means we are now juggling two different school schedules, two different drop offs, two different pick ups, two different lunch menus, two different picture days... the list goes on and on. So things are gonna look a little different, starting with Rory walking to and from school and Rian riding the bus both ways. With the exception on the first day of school, both Rory and having been doing school completely solo and they love it! They seem to be adjusting well and are super happy with their teachers and school schedules. The only thing that we're having issues with, well at least Rian and I are, is the change in our sleep schedule. Both of us are dragging and by late afternoon into the evening, we are struggling to stay awake. I feel like I'm in the "I've just had a baby and I'm living in the sleep-deprived, foggy mind state", but without the maternity leave 😂. 

I'm so incredibly proud of Rory and Rian and I can't wait to see what this year brings them.

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

-aMie

New School Year Prep

Hey There!

I cannot believe this is the eve of a new school year for Rory and Rian. And this year starts a whole new chapter for Rory (and sort of for Rian too in a way). With starting 6th grade this year, Rory is now entering into middle school, and a brand new one at that! He is so excited, and slightly nervous which is to be expected. Rian is now going to be navigating solo at school without Rory to lead the way. She has her own adventures to explore, like riding the bus. But before these two can do all that, we had to do some prep.

Let's start off with Rory... He actually had two opportunities to explore his new school this last week, once with just the other 6th grade students and a second time with me and Rian in tow. Dropping him off to tour the school bright and early one Saturday. He was nervous, but when I picked him up he was stoked to have got his PE clothes.

It was a sad day when I realized that Rory had outgrown a lunch bag. Brown bagging it from now on, I guess. 😭


Thanks to Target and Amazon for being the real MVP's of school prep. I couldn't have done this without you!!! 😂 (Thanks Tina Zyskowski for the Target idea!)

I love Rian's style right now. I seriously can't wait for us to be the same size, so I can steal her clothes and shoes. How cute are these rose gold Adidias?!?😍 And well, I'm sad to report that Rory has swiftly passed me up in shoes. I couldn't wait for him and I to share Vans and we never will. He is now a whole shoe size bigger than me. And to think about it, I'm not even sure he ever was my size. It seems like he went from a 5 to a 6, than immediately to a 6.5. Don't let that photo deceive you, those shoes a lot bigger than they look.

Goodbye are the days of cute kid backpacks. Both kids opted for a "much cooler" choice. Rian - "I want like a purse backpack." I actually really love both of theirs and I'm seriously considering ordering myself one like Rian's, but in a different color of course.😁






For the most part, school supplies were very much similar to the previous years, except for that Rory needed a wired mouse and a couple of pairs of wired earbuds. I know I never had those items on any of my school supply lists when I was a kid. 😂 What's really cool now is that the schools have refill stations where they can refill their water bottles. 








I'm so excited for Rory and Rian to start school tomorrow. I can't wait to see them all dressed in their new clothes and shoes in the morning and all geared up for what's in store for them this school year! I'll be sure to share with you all how it goes, but until then, thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

-aMie

Lake Las Vegas

Hey There!

Today I'm sharing our recent trip to Lake Las Vegas. For those of you that don't know where Lake Las Vegas is, it's a small community just east of the strip in Henderson. It makes for a great little get away for us since it's only 30 minutes from our house, but you feel like you're in a whole other world! Rory's words, not mine. But he's not wrong! I feel like with quarantine and the aftermath of lock down, I spend more of my day with the kids, but we're not necessarily spending a lot of quality time together. And with the kids going back to school in a matter of days, I wanted to get in one last summer trip with them before the hustle and bustle of school starts up again. 

Of course I start every trip with the car selfie and I'm not gonna lie, my wind-blown hair courtesy of the air condition was a bonus this time! 😂 Heads up- the selfie game was, umm interesting this trip. That's all I'm gonna say!






We were here a few weeks ago and Rory really wanted to go paddle boarding, but unfortunately because of the all the monsoon storms lately, the lake was closed during this trip. So we scratched our original plans to paddle board and go on a sunset boat trip and decided to explore the village and hang out around the hotel.




With no time to lose, we started our village tour with a quest to find the perfect lunch spot. This little pizza spot didn't look like much and I wasn't really sure what to except, but they kids loved it! The food was delicious and I have to say that the mozzarella sticks were the best I've ever had! 






Some selfie fun (???) before we headed down to the pool. Listen Chica, you make crazy faces and I'm gonna post them. 

The pool was pretty empty but the kids didn't waste any time to make a friend. They played for hours, just tossing around a small football.

We headed in to get ready for dinner just as a monsoon was rolling in. 


How does Rory look like a legit teenager?😭


With the monsoon pouring buckets of rain outside, we decided to try the hotel restaurant instead of walking down to the village. The chicken caesar salad was delish!




But we couldn't escape the trip without a failed juggling act. Rian figured out quickly that juggling a cup of soda and a takeout container with the hotel door handle takes some skill. 


Seriously living their best life...


...Until Rian took over the bed. At one point, Rory and I were laughing so hard because I was trying to move Rian without waking her. But no matter how hard I pulled the sheet, she wouldn't budge. She is a heavy sleeper (pun not intended).


I got in a quick hotel workout using water bottles for hand weights and the Openfit app...


...Because more pizza for lunch. This time we went a little more fancy and tried an Italian restaurant. We then headed back to the hotel for more swimming and then back to the village for gelato. 

We decided to call it an early night since we had to get up super early to head back to town for Rory's middle school orientation the next morning. We had leftover pizza, I mean did you really think that we ate three whole pizzas for lunch... hahaha?!? 


And my solution for Rian to stay on her side of the bed 😂


The Village

The village has a great little grocery store where we stocked up on beverages, snacks and breakfast items.


Mrs. Coco's Cafe (this cute French-looking cafe is on our list for next time, since when we went the wait was too long for our hungry bellies) 


LLVWS is where all the water activities take place. Call it wishful thinking, but we had to double check to see if the lake was really closed. Rory was soooo over the pics in the blistering sun.


Pizzamania is where we ate the pizza-by-the-slice and delicious mozzarella sticks and we can't forget about the fries! Luna Rosse is the Italian restaurant with the giant pizzas!


Bellalinda is the place to go for great gelato! 




Yes, life is sweet! This was a short trip, but it was great for my heart. We truly spent quality time together and making countless memories exploring! This is becoming one of our favorite spots and there were so many places that we wanted to try, including Mrs. Coco's Cafe and Sonrisa's Grill. We will definitely be back!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

-aMie