39 Floors Above Vegas

A few months ago, I got this message on Flickr:

Are you a homeschoolin' RV mama? I know, strange question, lol. Someone suggested I find 'delight' on here since I'm about to go RV'ing for a little bit, and I'm wondering if you are she!

Tiffani

I wrote Tiffani back and assured that I "I am she". :) I started following her amazing Flickr stream...and realized that she is a total freak about photography, just like me. We sent a few more messages...and I always looked forward to her photos. I also started reading her blog, Child's Play.

Then, a few days before we were leaving Vegas, I got another message that said she was going to BE IN VEGAS for 3 days! Yay! That's what I'm talkin' about. Tiffani was going to be tagging along to Vegas while her husband attended a convention there. They left the kiddos with Grandma.

After a few failed attempts at connecting, we were finally able to make it happen. We picked her up at the Four Seasons (where Matt happened to walk right by Cameron Diaz!) and we headed out for Thai food. Afterwards, we hung out in her huge hotel room on the 39th floor. Our ears popped as we were going up there!

Lucy loved sitting at the window and looking at the pretty lights. We were so high up that it kind of made us dizzy looking down to the ground!

We all curled up in the cushy bed and giggled like we were having a slumber party. It was a good time.

We had such fun talking about unschooling, photography, Jason Mraz, and life in an RV. It's really amazing how we can feel like old friends in such a short time thanks to the connection we had online. Can't wait to run into this family again on the road somewhere...

You can check out her sweet blog here.
And her Flickr stream here.
Photos from our time together here.
All photos available for comment on Flickr here.



Kindred Spirits

One of our favorite things about life on the road is the people we meet along the way. And Las Vegas was no exception.

The reason we were in Vegas was to install a veggie oil system in "Benny the Brave". An added bonus was that we REALLY liked Benny's owners :) We had so much fun with Justin, Tara (AKA The Organic Sister), and Zeb...and we had lots of time to get to know them better.

It turns out that Matt and Justin have very much the same personalities (laid back, fixers)...and Tara and I do as well (type A, planners). Justin is a finish carpenter by trade and Tara is a fabulous photographer and has dreads! Let's just say we were never lacking in things to talk about! We made a great team. And even though Zeb is older than Bella, they had fun hanging out as well.

They are a fellow unschooling family...and we were so inspired by watching how they live that out in daily life. Both Justin and Tara are passionate about "life learning" and it's contagious when you're around them. Tara's blog has so much information and is a really fun read...be sure to add it to your blog list if it's not there already!

Good times at California Pizza Kitchen...

Sara and Tara spent many days at the park with the kids and friends...

Zeb teaching Bella a new game...

Matt and Justin workin' hard on the veg system...

Enjoying friends at the going away party...

Two families on the road! We have plans already to meet up again somewhere down the road...we'll be counting the days!

Benny the Brave is lookin' good...be sure to go to the gallery and watch the video below to see the renovations!

Here is a little interview and tour of the RV that I did with Justin and Tara...

Come check out more photos of their new home and their party in this photo gallery.
All photos available for comment on Flickr here.

Learning on the Road

We love learning...but we don't sit down and "do school" every day. We prefer to learn through life experience and by pursuing the things that Bella is passionate about...which is referred to as "unschooling" (more info here and here). Here are just a few of the new things we learned while we were in Las Vegas!

Springs Preserve
There were so many people telling us to go check this out, that we just had to go! The Springs Preserve is a 180 acre natural habitat right in the middle of the city. According to their website, "...the Preserve features museums, galleries, outdoor events, colorful botanical gardens and an interpretive trail system through a scenic wetland habitat". It was basically a HUGE science museum and outdoor trail system with hands-on exhibits, and a great art museum. They are very focused on sustainability...and had many opportunities to learn about living green. I wish we would have had more time to explore it all! We needed several days there to take it all in.

Hoover Dam
We were especially excited to go see the Hoover Dam and the new by-pass bridge...and it was only 45 minutes away! We packed a picnic lunch and headed to Boulder City. It was a beautifully sunny day, and we enjoyed walking the dam and learning more about the amazing men that built it. We were bummed that the museum on site was $8 per person...but we ended up finding a great little museum in the Boulder City Hotel for just $4 for everyone!

Chinese New Year
Bella has dreamed of China for as long as I can remember. When she was younger, she used to have her own gibberish language that she called "Chinese". She would also tell us that she had a sister in China...and made up elaborate stories about this sister. So we were super excited to hear about the Chinese New Year celebration in Las Vegas' Chinatown! We were able to find some books at the library to learn a little more about the event's history before we went.

The celebration was on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, and it was packed! We enjoyed the dancing, the noodles, and the beautiful dresses! We bought some pretty chopsticks to remember our time there.

When we got home, we read one of our favorite books, Hungry Planet. We learned more about what they eat in China...and that night we made rice and veggies with tofu. Bella made sure that our bowls were set up EXACTLY like the photos in the book!

Lied Discovery Children's Museum
This museum was only 1 mile from our campground! We were thrilled to find out that the "passport membership" we have through Bozeman's science museum covered this one as well (free admission!). It's a great program if you travel full time...you can get into MANY zoos, museums, and more for free! Bella begged to go back here over and over. Her favorite thing was the miniature airport security check point. She must have taken her shoes off and walked through the scanner 5 times in a row. She also loved the grocery store. Daddy really liked the bubbles!

Photos from Las Vegas here.
Photos are available for comment on Flickr.