OK, OK, OK. So my last post ended with New Year’s Eve, and this one’s starting up at the end of March. I don’t want you to feel TOO thrown off, so here you go: Valentine’s Day happened, in true Johnson fashion! Pink pancakes, pink and red outfits and accessories, and lots of love:

Girl Scout Cookie Season happened! Thank you to the MANY of you who supported Zoe and her Troop this year. She sold over 850 boxes, and the troop made enough money to fund their Savannah trip coming up in July. Plus, we both learned a lot about working together.

Of course, we threw our annual Oscars Party again this year, where Zoe and her friend designed and assembled another Red Carpet dress for Ella. She’s a reluctant model, so this is the best picture I have, and you’re missing the detail on the front… Trust me, it was cool.

St. Patrick’s Day also happened! Complete with a leprechaun trap made by Ella, which sadly failed to capture an actual leprechaun, though he did mess up the place and leave a nasty note:

There. All caught up. On to SPRING BREAK shenanigans! The Johnson family braved yet another road trip, this time to Las Vegas, where we met up with one of our friends who had a work trip to attend. As always, I made a Google sheet, filled with plans to guide our experience. Try to keep up, and if you end up headed to Vegas (with kids) and want that doc, let me know!

One stand-out experience is featured at the top of this post: THE SPHERE. If you haven’t heard of it, I’m a little shocked. As you can see in the picture, it’s literally a sphere, with a whole bunch of high tech features. Feeling nerdy? Check out some of the science they deployed. And don’t ask me any questions about that afterwards. Short version, it cost $2.3 billion. Their first shows were live U2 concerts, enhanced by incredible sound and graphics on both the inside and outside of that sphere.

We did not see those. They also have a Sphere Experience show, where you enter an atrium and learn about some of the technology they use, then enter an auditorium and watch a “movie” that starts with a huge screen in the front, then expands that screen to surround the audience with some of the most high definition graphics and sound I’ve ever experienced. Pretty cool. We saw that.

We also took the girls to Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart, an immersive space that’s hard to describe but fun to enjoy. There are hidden passageways, interactive stations and rooms, and no map… It’s all about fumbling into cool stuff, and we sure did.

Omega Mart is just one of many immersive experiences in a place called Area 15 (get it?). There’s a central outdoor and indoor area for more photo ops, and though we didn’t do the other adventures, there were many options.

One questionable choice we made was taking the girls to The Fremont Experience at night… In an attempt to revitalize the downtown Las Vegas area, they blocked off three city streets, covering those streets with “the largest LED canopy display in the world“. There’s a zip line running down the middle, lots of kiosks with souvenirs, and more exposed body parts than I’ve seen in a very long time. I won’t include the picture here, but do you know what happens when you add an “s” at the end of Vegas? Ask the girl who had that written on her butt in red makeup.

Anyway, on a tamer note, we checked out the Springs Preserve and learned about water in the desert, had lunch at Container Park and saw the huge ant art installation, and wrapped it all up by going to see America’s Got Talent Superstars Live at the Luxor! No, I do not watch AGT. In fact, I find it really silly, but I have to say, I loved that show in Vegas. They brought in past season winners to perform live and had a comedian emcee who really engaged the audience. Here’s a rundown of what we saw for those with time on their hands (it’s worth it):

• Human Fountains – just what it sounds like
• Aaron Crow – magician with knives
• The Silhouettes – dancers (with screens)
• Kodi Lee – blind pianist (p.s. loved him)
• The Pack Drumline – duh, a drumline
• Herwan Legaillard – sword swallowing aerialist
• Mervant Vera – rapping magician (p.s. loved him also)
• Light Balance – dancers (with light-up suits)

And here are some pictures for you to mix and match with the experiences I just listed above (ok, so they’re in order, since that’s not really fair):

On the way out, we stopped at Saint Honore Doughnuts. I’m not much of a donut fan, but I have to say, Vegas really delivered on this one.

And there you have it. An entire first quarter of the year in one blog post. You’re welcome. Hope you enjoyed our relatively recent antics, and believe it or not, I’m really only two big milestone posts away from getting caught up with 2024! Don’t worry. I’ll get behind again, but for now, a little relief.