High Roller is a fun, frugal adventure

A version of this was originally posted at What's On magazine.

A Guide To Vegas For Kids

Take two kids, a reluctant husband and a mommy afraid of heights and slowly spin them 550 feet in the air for 30 minutes. You’ll get one of the best family deals in Las Vegas and a lifetime of lovely memories.

We were so excited to finally be able to ride the High Roller at The Linq. Well, by ‘we’ I mean the shorter half of our family of four. I’ve been to most of the family-friendly attractions in Las Vegas with my 4-year-old twins in tow, but the towering High Roller gave me a bit of trepidation. I’m not one for heights. But my twins are fearless, so up we went. (I used to be fearless, and then I had kids!)

The High Roller at The Linq takes you 550 feet off the ground in a comfortable, spacious bubble for a 360 degree view of the Las Vegas valley, the mountains and exciting Strip action below. And the High Roller’s Family Hour Package offers serious bang for your entertainment buck at $49.95 for two adult and three child tickets, a steal for this frugal mom.

The Family Hour Package includes:
2 adult tickets
3 child tickets
3 High Roller binoculars for guests to keep
3 Juice drinks from the Sky Lounge

At that price, we had to give the glittering ride a whirl. My husband is reluctant to traverse the Strip, which can be difficult with children. But this ride is a breeze to get to either from walking on the Strip or by car or taxi. Once we were handed our tickets from the easy access window at the back of The Linq promenade, we were on the ride in less than a few minutes as we made our way to the platform accompanied by lively music and friendly attendants.

The ride is smooth and the view is fascinating. The twins called out landmarks they knew and asked about new ones they viewed through their sturdy new binoculars. These will come in handy for years! Music and trivia play on flat-screen TVs during your ascent, with a bubbly video host supplying information as you climb to the pinnacle of 550 feet. There is much to talk about as curious little minds take in all of the interesting things they can see, from the airport to Red Rock. This is one of the only places in the country to get this type of experience, and at $10 a person for a family of five, it’s a phenomenal deal.

If you go early in your Vegas stay, you can check out all the places you’re considering going to while you rise over the Strip. It gives you a sense of how much there is to do and see in Las Vegas. And if you decide to make this a cap to end your vacation, it’s a nice way to reminisce about where you’ve been and make plans for your return visit to the Entertainment Capital of the World.

Pinterest worthy: To get the kids to be part of the experience, I quickly drew up “passports” on hotel stationery that had our confirmation number written on it. They tucked them into their pockets and felt they were a big part of the day’s adventure. They carried their passports carefully until we got to the window and handed them off to me, the official ticket-taker for the family.  It will be a nice addition to the scrapbook!

A Study In Contrasts, Twin Style

They are the yin yang twins. Always have been. Even before they were born. She was Mighty Miss, dipping and twirling and punching, while he was Mellow Man, nestled comfortably under my ribs, tucked as far as possible from his sister’s busy body.

She was born kicking and screaming, he asleep. She’s the gas and he’s the brakes.

The surprise is not that they are so different, but how their differences play well together. 

She is always running wherever we are going, clambering onto the jungle gym or into the arms of whoever we are visiting. He takes his time, his head swiveling to take in the tiny mushrooms in the park grass, the construction truck at the stop light, the rippling plastic bag caught high in the tree branches. She runs with the pack, gathering friends with her charm and momentum. He sits back and observes, happy to create his own games, selecting friends prudently. She started talking almost immediately, words and sounds jumbled together but no mistaking her pressing need to communicate with the world around her. He didn’t utter much more than a well-rehearsed raspberry until he was well past the age of 2, each word enunciated the best he could and chosen judiciously.

As a parent, as a new mom, as an observer (which us new moms tend to be), I wondered if they would be friends, if their opposites would conflict fundamentally with what it means to be family.

But it works.

They take turns being vulnerable, shoring up their own feelings to offer strength to the other in times of crisis, such as a doctor visit or class. They comfort each other in tense moments. They sense the other’s discomfort or uncertainty and quietly reach out to comfort them, no words needed. 

On a recent morning on the way to the High Roller, a giant Ferris wheel of Plexiglass cars that fit 40, they were thrilled about the day's adventure, if not a bit pensive. As the giant structure loomed overhead Jack said something quietly in the backseat. Morgan offered to hold hands on the ride. He said he would sit next to her, too, if she got scared. They reached across the car seats and held hands, satisfied that they would be safe. They had each other to lean on.

Is it a duck or a goose? Home School at the Lake

Today we took our little home school outside for a field trip before the deluge.

We took a short trip to the man-made leisure lake a few miles from the little house to discuss webbed feet and the many types of fowl that pop in for a rest while on their way to places south and north, depending on the time of year. 

From our discussions: "It's not a duck, mom, because it has a long neck."

"It could be a fat penguin. But it's just a duck." 

We also saw turtles and fish, which led to a discussion on if fish can swim faster than ducks or geese. Morgan would prefer webbed feet over fins. Jack wants to see a turtle swim up close because they have legs like an elephant. They also decided Graham crackers are better than any other square crackers, but that circle crackers are the best. Quite the educational morning!

We're enjoying home schooling with a mix of unschooling while the little ones are still not eligible for Kindergarten until next year. And then, Kindergarten is only half-day in our state, otherwise you need to pay for full day. So we'll be doing the home school at least through the next two years, and maybe beyond that depending on our situation.

I am loving home school, and the twins seem to be taking to it particularly well. I'll admit it's a little harder than I expected, and we're all learning patience, however each morning they rise the first questions they ask pertain to school and when we can start. 

We have yet to crack open the Clifford the Big Red Dog Science Kit or The Magic School Bus: World of Germs (we're all excited about that one!). There's been too much else to do that has drawn our attention. The weather has been particularly interesting, which played nicely into our unschooling (it really needs a better name, although I believe it was chosen for the shock factor). We are in monsoon season. It can be bright blue skies in the morning and a deluge by noon, halting traffic around the valley and sending the house into sudden darkness as the skies open up and pour ice-cold rain. That started a discussion about summer turning to fall, how hail is formed (and the introduction of a new word they can't get enough of, "sleet") and the dangers of a flash flood.