Feiya - The Rowland Family Blog

More Summerlin Sunsets…

Feiya turned 13 years old this past week. We celebrated by letting her open some presents the morning of her b-day. That afternoon I took her to the optometrist and we paired her up to her first pair of glasses. I think every kid wears glasses these days. On the way home I bought her dinner at one her favorite restaurants, Cafe Zupas. They serve some damn good soup!

On Sunday we ordered out from one of our favorite sushi restaurants, Sushi Mon. I was skeptical, but the food was phenomenal. All they’re rolls are half off right now as well. It was a good few days.

Feiya’s Phone Renderings

Feiya has become interested in anime these past months and it’s been influencing her drawings. I’ve seen her watching drawing lessons on YouTube and practicing in her sketch pad. I wish she had that passion for her homework. But I get it, anime and drawing are so much more fun than math. I’m finding that teaching is a tough nut to crack. Teachers earn their pay and I’m not sure if that’s a job for me.

So, here’s a proud dad moment for me. I’m very glad she’s found something that she can express herself with. This was done with the Ibix app on her iPhone. She wants a new iPad for Christmas so she could have a bigger screen. Of course, Ibix isn’t available on Android or PC. We’ll see how her grades go.

Bryce Canyon National Park | Camping Trip 2020

Camping is one of my favorite pastimes. Since leaving Colorado over 12 years ago I haven’t been camping once. Come to think about it, I bet it’s been almost 14 years since the last time I went camping. It’s not that I lost interest, it’s just that it was an activity that just didn’t fit into my life for the past decade or so. I’m so glad to have rediscovered it and am able to share the experience with Feiya and Dana. The seeds for this trip were planted one year ago when we visited Cedar Breaks National Monument just outside of Cedar City, Utah. While exploring this beautiful area we stumbled upon a campground located in a high meadow full of wildflowers. We walked the campsite loop and saw several empty sites that had spectacular views. We were excited thinking we could be sleeping under the stars in anyone of these sites. And it was a busy holiday weekend to boot! I camped regularly in the Mountains of Colorado in the 12 years I lived there. In my early 20’s camping was more or less finding a secluded spot on a backcountry access road and set up a tent, …

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August Update

Made it through August! Even though it was hot as hell here in Vegas, it wasn’t a bad month. I was steady at work for most of the month. Which is good, I like it when I’m not thinking about anything other than work. I like the focus. Home life is pretty well on auto-pilot during the week. We don’t go out much on the weekends, so we cook all weekend long. We fill up the fridge for the week!

It works out pretty well. Feiya started school last week. She hit a couple bumps during the first week. The 2nd day she fell asleep and missed 3 classes. She’s had perfect attendance since. Her workload isn’t too bad yet. It’s nice to see her have some structure. The first few days she complained a lot. Today and yesterday I haven’t heard any complaining or moaning.

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument We took a much needed break from the Vegas heat and the 2020 nonsense over the 4th of July weekend. We rented a SUV for a song and drove to Central Utah and stayed in a rented cabin for 3 days. It was like opening the decompression valves to full. All three of us were very happy for the short escape. We reserved the cabin and rental car last month. That’s when we decided that there was no better way to practice social distancing than Utah. I looked at it as a social distancing vacation from well, social distancing. Utah has been pretty laxed on pandemic requirements. When we were there you could tell who the tourists were and who the locals were by the mask or the absence of a mask. I’m not a fan of wearing a mask, but I had to ask myself– Why not? Right now there is no other known way to prevent the spread. Yes, wearing masks is arguably causes more harm than good. I believe that wearing a mask for short periods of time throughout the day as you weave in and out of public places will cause …

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