Today was our first full day in Las Vegas. I started padding around the house in my fuzzy socks around 7am. The sun was peeking through the blinds and the house was silent except for the sound of the birds chirping on the patio outside. I worked quietly from the kitchen table while the brewing drip coffee slowly filled the room with the smell of morning. Greg came out a little after that and we sat in silence, drinking our coffee and catching up on work emails. About an hour later Lance came out and started doing his school work quietly. Ava crept into the room around 9am looking warm and sleepy asking for morning hugs.
A few hours went by, all of us doing our work in silence, before Ava spoke up. "I really like this. It's peaceful." I couldn't agree more. I'm sure part of why this slice of peace was so profound was because we had just experienced a couple days of long roadtrips, over the top adventures, and the hustle of Reno. It's important for me, as mom, to make sure I create these moments of quiet and restoration for my family. It's fun to try new things, but it's especially important to take a breath... and enjoy the silence.
We had to drop our car off at a repair shop in Vegas early this morning so they could address the coolant leak. And while it was there, we found out that the front brakes also need to be replaced. We're looking at just over $2,000 for both repairs. Ouch. It's especially hard to spend the money because if we were home, Greg would be doing the work himself. But being on the road, he doesn't have the tools he needs. It's unfortunate, and costly, but we'll survive. We can dwell on the unexpected expense and let it ruin our potential memories of Vegas, or we can choose to make the best of it. We talked about it this morning and agreed that we were going to feel fortunate it wasn't worse, that it will be repaired in time, and to be grateful we have the money to take care of it. This attitude of gratitude was a big weight off my shoulders.
After a full and relaxing day working and doing schoolwork, we all clocked out at 5pm to enjoy our evening as a family. We did some sightseeing around Las Vegas from the car, and chose the castles of Excalibur as our first stop. We ran from casino to casino on foot taking in all the photo worthy scenes, pointing out the biggest and best lightshows, and exclaiming at all the miniature cityscapes. We especially enjoyed the mini New York city and the mini Eiffel tower, and mini Egyptian Sphinx. On our way out we saw the giant ferris wheel and booked some tickets to go tomorrow!
We made it home in time to eat our special Hershey's dessert that we brought back, and to watch a silly family show before bedtime.
Today was a good day. We are so fortunate.
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