Enzo’s First Pool Tournament

Enzo’s first pool tournament turned into an unforgettable day, from early morning softball to a second-place finish after hours of intense matches. What started as a new hobby quickly became something bigger, bringing the whole family along for the ride and setting the stage for what’s next.

Before I get into the chaos of Saturday, I want to take a minute to wish Jessica one more happy birthday. Yesterday ended up being a really special day for her from start to finish.

Her classroom team went all out with a surprise celebration, complete with a sash, and the kids kept coming up all day to give her birthday hugs. She also heard from several people she hadn’t talked to in a while, which made it even more meaningful. On top of that, after fighting with the school district all year over her pay, she finally got a win. Even after the union told her she was wrong, she stuck with it and ended up receiving full back pay for the entire year. Not a bad birthday gift.

We had a few other wins at home too. A painting project on our stairs and upstairs cabinets that had been sitting unfinished for years is finally done, and it turned out great. I also found out I’ll be heading to Boston for work this summer, and since Jessica will be on break, she’s coming with me. She’s never been, so she’s really excited.

We wrapped up the day with a family dinner at a new restaurant, then came home for cake. It was one of those days where everything just came together. With her master’s graduation from UNLV just a couple weeks away, it feels like a lot of her hard work is really paying off.

Jessica Pellegrini with co-workers on her birthday, 2026
Jessica and her assistants at school
Ava, Jessica, Enzo, and Elise Pellegrini - April 28, 2026
Ready for Mom’s birthday dinner
Jessica and Enzo Pellegrini at her 2026 birthday dinner
The Pellegrini family at Mom's 2026 birthday dinner
The Pellegrini family on Mom's birthday, 2026
Jessica and Michael Pellegrini on Jessica's birthday, 2026

Saturday felt like two full days packed into one. Ava had an early softball game, so we were at the field by 6:45 am for warmups. The game wrapped up around 9:20, and I barely had time to change before heading over to Walters Billiards for Enzo’s first tournament. Before getting into how that all played out, it’s probably worth sharing how we got here.

I got into pool around the same age Enzo is now. I watched The Color of Money with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise, and I thought the whole pool scene was the coolest thing ever. On top of that, tournaments were regularly on ESPN, so my dad and I would watch them together. Around that time, a place called Renton Family Billiards opened near us, and we started going there. That’s where I learned the basics and met the owner, Rich “The Hat” Geiler. He always wore a Panama hat, which is how he got the nickname. He was a great guy and a really good teacher, and I learned a ton from him.

My parents could see how into it I was, so they ended up buying a table from Rich and setting it up in our basement. I was probably around 12 at the time, and for the next several years I played constantly. By high school, it turned into our weekend routine. Friends would come over, and we’d spend hours just playing pool.

I moved out at 18 and kept playing in pool halls. At that point I started taking lessons from another instructor named Rod, who introduced me to more advanced concepts like body mechanics, aiming systems, and cue ball control. I got pretty serious about it for a while and even thought about trying to go pro. That didn’t end up happening, though. Life pulled me in a different direction, and eventually pool took a back seat to other things like work, music, and everything else going on at the time. Still, I always had that idea in the back of my mind that someday I’d have my own place again with a nice 9-foot tournament table.

Last summer, the kids spent a couple of weeks with Grandma and Grandpa Martin, along with their cousin Cole from Houston. They were traveling around in the RV, visiting national parks, but also spent some time at the house in Colorado. There’s a pool table upstairs, so Enzo and Cole started playing around on it. When Enzo got home, he told me he had learned how to play pool with Cole. I thought it was pretty cool, but didn’t really do anything with it at the time.

Fast forward about five weeks ago, when we went back to Colorado for Spring Break. This time, Enzo really wanted to play, so we started getting games in every day. He was starting from scratch, so I walked him through the basics. By the end of the week, he had already made a lot of progress, which got us talking about finding a place to play once we got back to Vegas.

I did a quick search and found there are quite a few pool halls around here. I’ve since learned that with the number of rooms and major tournaments held here every year, Las Vegas is actually considered the pool capital of the world.

We started checking out local pool halls, and almost every time we went, someone would come up to talk to us about Enzo. He’s obviously young, but people could see right away that he had some natural ability. One day, a guy approached us and said he was working on building up the youth pool scene in Vegas. He mentioned he was hosting the first Nevada State Championship for kids on April 25 and thought Enzo was already good enough to compete. He also offered lessons, explaining that he’s a certified instructor and the first two sessions were free. We thanked him and said we’d think about it.

About an hour and a half later, we were still there playing when he came back over and started watching again. He overheard me explaining an aiming concept called the ghost ball and asked if he could walk Enzo through it in more detail. I told him to go for it, and he ended up spending another 90 minutes working with Enzo, covering that and a bunch of other fundamentals. His name is Sean, and it didn’t take long to realize we liked both him and the way he teaches. It turned into a long day at the pool hall, but Enzo got so much out of that first session that we decided to keep going with lessons.

A week later, Enzo had his second lesson, and then another just a couple days after that. We wanted to fit in as much as we could before the tournament, and the improvement after each lesson was easy to see. The tournament was set to start at 11:00 am on Saturday the 25th, with warmups an hour before. Jessica, Elise, and Enzo got there around 9:45, and Ava and I showed up not long after, coming straight from the softball field. We didn’t really know what to expect and figured it would wrap up in a couple hours. That turned out to be way off.

There were actually two tournaments going on at the same time. One was a 10-ball event for kids 18 and under, which also served as a qualifier for Nationals in Chicago this July. The other was a 9-ball tournament for kids 12 and under. Jessica, Sean, and I all tried to talk Enzo into playing both, but he wasn’t interested in the 18U event. He only wanted to compete in the 12U 9-ball tournament, so we eventually backed off and let him stick with that.

His first match was against a 12-year-old girl who had been playing since she was five. So Enzo, with about five weeks and three lessons under his belt, was going up against someone with seven years of experience. She was clearly a strong player and jumped out to a 3–1 lead in a race to four. It was double elimination, so we knew he’d get another chance no matter what, but something shifted and he started putting games together. Before long, he battled all the way back to hill-hill.

For anyone who doesn’t follow pool, being “on the hill” means you’re one game away from winning. So hill-hill means the next game decides everything. That final game came down to the nine ball. It was sitting near the center of the table, while the cue ball was buried deep in the corner. She was fortunate not to scratch, but it left Enzo with a tough shot to win it. By that point, we had a crowd watching. My family was there, along with my mom, Denny, Terry, and his girlfriend. Everyone was locked in, and I was definitely feeling the nerves for him.

Enzo didn’t seem fazed at all. He stepped up and calmly cut the nine ball straight into the side pocket to win the match. It was one of those moments you don’t forget.

Enzo jumped right into his next match against a boy who had just swept his first opponent 4–0. Enzo kept his momentum going and won that set 4–0 as well, pushing his streak to seven straight games and moving him forward in the winners bracket. Right after that, he faced an 8-year-old girl who had come in from Arizona with her family. She’s already at a level where she regularly beats adults in league play.

Enzo came out strong again, winning the first two games and stretching his streak to nine. Then she started to settle in and battle back. The match went hill-hill and, just like his first match, it came down to the nine ball. Enzo made the shot to win, but he also scratched on the same play, which gave her the game and the match. That one was tough, but Jessica and I were really impressed with how he handled it. By then, he had already started making friends, and he went right back to hanging out with them, talking through matches and playing games like nothing had happened.

What we didn’t expect was the wait before his next match. Some of the players in the 9-ball bracket were also competing in the 10-ball event, so everything had to pause until that finished. Enzo ended up waiting about four hours. It wasn’t ideal, but we made the most of it. We grabbed some food, and he kept working on his game and spending time with the other kids.

During that stretch, Jessica took Ava home, then came back with Elise, and most of the group cleared out, but Elise surprised me. She started asking if I could teach her how to play. I hadn’t realized how locked in she was, but she had been watching everything and really getting into it. We grabbed a table, and before long she was knocking in some pretty solid shots.

Play finally picked back up, and Enzo was now in the loser’s bracket, where matches are races to three instead of four. His next match was a rematch against the girl from his first set of the day. Just like before, it came down to hill-hill. This time, Enzo closed it out with a carom on the nine ball. He hit the correct ball first, the cue ball bounced into the nine, and it dropped for the win, ending her run in the tournament.

Up next was another rematch, this time against the boy he had beaten earlier. Once again, it went all the way to hill-hill, and the way Enzo finished it was unreal. With three balls left on the table, he started by banking one the full length of the table, which was a huge shot in that moment. He followed it up by making the next ball cleanly and leaving himself in perfect position on the nine. I started recording as he lined up the final shot, and he drilled it to win the set and knock out another opponent.

Another rematch came right after that, this time against the 8-year-old from Arizona. Once again, it went hill-hill and came down to the nine ball. They each had chances and couldn’t finish it, then Enzo stepped up and fired in a bank to win the set. The crowd went crazy. I wish I had it on video, but his coach Sean, who was also running the tournament, came over and gave him the nickname “No Fear” for the way he was taking on tough shots under pressure.

That win sent him to the finals, where he would face an 11-year-old named Austin who had come up from Phoenix. We had been watching Austin all day, and it was obvious he was one of the best players there. He’d only been playing for about seven months, but he had already taken second in the 18U 10-ball event and hadn’t lost a set in 9-ball. He already had 3 professional sponsors before this event, but I believe that number is now growing. Because it was double elimination, Enzo would have to beat him in two sets to win it all. We knew that was going to be tough, especially at that point. He had been there for 12 hours and was about to play his seventh set of the day, more than anyone else in the tournament.

Austin was playing great and ended up beating Enzo 4–1 to take first place, but it didn’t take anything away from the day. The two of them had become friends along the way, and Jessica and I really enjoyed getting to know his family. For Enzo to finish second in his first tournament, with only five weeks and three lessons behind him, was pretty incredible.

What stood out even more was how he carried himself. Most players shake hands after a match, but Enzo made a point to shake hands after every single game. He never got upset when things didn’t go his way and showed a level of sportsmanship you don’t always see. The focus it takes to stay locked in for that many matches is tough for anyone, let alone an 11-year-old who just started playing. It was really impressive to watch.

By the time we got home, everyone was completely wiped, but we were still talking about everything that had happened. We couldn’t stop replaying the day in our heads. We all slept great that night, but even the next morning we were still riding that same energy.

Part of the reason the tournament was scheduled that weekend was because players from all over the country were in town for the APA Poolplayer Championships at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. Along with the tournament, there’s a convention-style setup with vendor booths and appearances from pro players. Enzo, Elise, and I decided to go check it out. We were hoping to run into some of the kids from the day before, and it turned out we did.

Right when we got there, I saw that Fedor Gorst, currently the number one player in the world, was doing a live appearance from 2:00 to 4:00. I checked the time and it was just after 2:00, so we went to find him. When we got over there, he was in the middle of a game, and it didn’t take long to realize there was a long line of people waiting for their turn to play him. One of the kids we had met the day before was near the front, so we stuck around to watch his match. Afterward, he and his dad came over and we talked for a bit.

Getting to watch the best player in the world up close like that was pretty special. You pick up a lot just from seeing how someone at that level approaches the game.

Throughout the day, we kept running into familiar faces, including Sean and Austin, and got to watch them play a few matches. We spent time checking out the vendor booths, learned a lot about equipment, and I even ended up having a long conversation with one of the top instructors in the country.

It turned into a full weekend of pool, and it really locked in Enzo’s interest in the game. It also had the same effect on Elise. Enzo has always been good about saving his money, but as we were leaving the Westgate, he told me he had finally found something he actually wants to spend it on. He was all in on cues, jump cues, break cues, gloves, tip tools, chalk accessories, all of it.

Getting back to school on Monday was a little rough, but the excitement didn’t wear off. When Elise got home that day, she said she had been talking about pool with her friends the whole time and just wanted to play again. That hasn’t changed either. I asked her at dinner last night if she wanted to take lessons with Sean, and she didn’t hesitate at all. Immediate yes.

Word got around at school about Enzo’s tournament, and a few people asked him to bring in his trophy and share a little about it. He’s not the type to brag, but he brought it in on Tuesday and talked about the experience.

I think both Enzo and Elise can gain a lot of confidence from getting into pool. It’s not an easy game to learn. There’s a physical side to it with mechanics and consistency, but also a mental side that involves problem solving, angles, and staying composed under pressure. Even Ava might decide to give it a try, which would be fun. More than anything, I just like that it’s something we can all connect on together.

Coming back to that long-time dream of having my own table, Jessica and I finally decided to make it happen. After a lot of back and forth, the next question was where to put it. We looked at a few spots around the house, but nothing really felt right, so we landed on converting our extra oversized garage stall into a game room. It’s about 20 by 15 feet, which gives us plenty of space.

Getting it cleared out was a project in itself. Between our stuff and everything the previous owners left behind, including building materials and big cabinets, it took a few weeks of donating and hauling things away. Yesterday morning I finally got rid of the last of the cabinets, which felt like a big milestone.

We decided to keep the momentum going. Since our painter was already working on the staircase project, I had him start on the new room right away. Earlier in the week, I had a 2-ton mini-split heat pump installed so we can actually control the temperature out there, which was a must in Vegas. Things are moving pretty quickly now.

Next up is cleaning and treating the floor, then I can start focusing on picking out the table and getting it installed. After that, we’ll add a TV, some comfortable seating, maybe a dartboard, and turn it into a spot where we can all hang out.

I know this ended up being a long post and mostly about pool, but I wanted to capture Enzo’s first tournament while it’s still fresh. It was a really special day, and something I know he’ll enjoy looking back on.

There’s a lot coming up next month too. The biggest one is Jessica’s graduation from UNLV. Her parents will be in town for it, so it’ll be great having everyone together. Ava is also trying out for the softball All-Star team this Friday, and I’ve already signed on as an assistant coach. If she makes it, we’ll be traveling out of state for tournaments, which will be a first for us and something I’m really looking forward to.

The HGSA Hawks 14U Spring 2026 team photo
Our Spring 2026 team photo. The girls made tough faces while the coaches all smiled.
Ava Pellegrini's Spring 2026 softball photo
Ava’s Spring 2026 softball photo
Elise Pellegrini's Spring 2026 school photo
Elise’s Spring 2026 school photo
Enzo Pellegrini's Spring 2026 school photo
Enzo’s Spring 2026 school photo
Ava Pellegrini's Spring 2026 school photo
Ava’s Spring 2026 school photo
Enzo Pellegrini concentrating on a pool shot
Enzo Pellegrini concentrating on a pool shot
Enzo Pellegrini concentrating on a pool shot
You can see the concentration on his face in every shot. Now, imagine repeating that hundreds of times throughout the day, as an 11-year-old.
Austin and Enzo after the 2026 Nevada State Championship
Enzo and his new buddy, Austin, after the tournament.
Enzo and Michael Pellegrini after the 2026 Nevada State Championship pool tournament
So proud of my boy!

Spring Break 2026 in Colorado

Spring Break took us from 94-degree Vegas heat to snowy Colorado mountains, with a late-night drive and plenty of family time along the way. A nice change of pace before the busy stretch ahead.

Last week, we made our annual Spring Break trip to Grandma and Grandpa Martin’s house in Colorado. Normally, we leave early Saturday morning and power through the whole drive in one day. This year, though, we had to mix things up. Between Enzo’s flag football game and Ava and my softball practice, we didn’t get on the road until 4:30 pm.

The plan was to stop for the night in Grand Junction, which is about two-thirds of the way there. I guessed we’d roll in around 1:00 am Mountain time, and somehow we nailed it exactly. We pulled into the hotel parking lot right at 1:00 am on the dot. It made for a long night, and we missed out on the usual Utah scenery, but honestly, breaking up the drive for once was kind of nice.

The weather stayed clear for most of the trip, but Sunday morning in the mountains was a different story. We hit snow, ice, and temps below 20 degrees, which felt pretty wild considering it was 94 degrees when we left Las Vegas the day before. Ute Pass was especially slick, so I took it slow, but we made it safely around noon. That gave us the rest of the day to relax, play in a little snow, and check out Grandma and Grandpa’s player piano.

I worked a short week, Monday through Wednesday. My days usually start early, but being on Mountain time meant I could start an hour later and still wrap up early enough to enjoy the evenings with everyone. Monday stayed cold, but by Tuesday things warmed up fast, and the snow disappeared just as quickly. Everyone but me went ice skating that afternoon, and on Thursday we all headed up to the summit of Ute Pass for a hike.

The views were incredible. Nothing beats that mountain air. Most of us had a great time. Ava, not so much. Steep inclines are not really her thing, and she let us know about it. Still, it was a beautiful day and nice to get outside for a few hours.

On Friday, Jess and I took a day trip down to Denver. It was the first day of spring, and the weather completely surprised us. It got up to about 85 degrees, which made it a perfect day to walk around. We stopped at Stoney’s for a beer and some March Madness, then met a friend of mine for lunch at a Thai spot. After that, we checked out a bookstore nearby and took a recommendation to explore the RiNo (River North) arts district.

That ended up being a great call. There were murals everywhere, including one being painted while we were there, plus a bunch of cool shops and food spots. We also wandered into a European motorcycle dealer, where I showed Jess the Moto Guzzi I’d love to own someday. Overall, it was just a really fun day. We do not get many chances to sneak away like that, so we always appreciate it when we can.

Saturday’s drive home flew by. We made it in a record 9 hours! It’s always quicker heading back with the drop in elevation, but this was still our fastest trip yet. Getting home on a Saturday is nice too, since it leaves all of Sunday to reset before the week starts.

Now we are back and heading into the final stretch of the school year. This morning, Ava and I went to the opening ceremonies for spring softball, and her first game is tonight. Jessica’s graduation is less than two months away, which everyone is excited about. Before we know it, summer travel season will be here again.

Big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for hosting us. It was another great trip. And now, the quest to repeat as 14U champs officially begins tonight!

Jess and Elise Pellegrini hiking Ute Pass in Colorado
Jess & Elise with their matching Ice Cube t-shirts. It truly was a good day.
Enzo Pellegrini hiking Ute Pass in Colorado
Enzo with the perfect mountain backdrop
Jess and Michael Pellegrini hiking Ute Pass in Colorado
Ava and Mike Pellegrini at HGSA Spring 2026 Opening Ceremonies
Let the season begin!

Activities, Activities, Activities!

Spring sports, big trips, and Japan in 2027, our 2026 calendar is filling up fast and we’re loving every minute of it.

As the name of this post suggests, our family is back in full swing with activities in 2026. Elise recently completed another level of figure skating and is moving up. She’s also preparing for a school trip to Knott’s Berry Farm in April, where her orchestra group will be performing. Enzo is doing another session of Track & Field every Monday evening, and he recently joined his first flag football team, which plays games every weekend. He’s having a blast with both and is already looking forward to another football season immediately following this one. Ava recently visited Disneyland for the first time as part of a school band trip and had an amazing time. Our Spring softball season just got started, so she and I are back out on the field multiple times per week, plus going to the batting cage with the team on Sunday mornings and practicing hitting at home. When you factor in everything else Jessica and I have going on, it’s a lot to keep up with, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Someday these activities will be distant memories, so we’re trying to make the most of them while we can.

Our annual Spring Break trip to Colorado is only about three weeks away, so everyone is getting excited. A friend of mine at work lives in Denver, and we’re coordinating plans to get together sometime that week. There’s a possibility he’ll come up to do some snowmobiling with us, but that depends on the weather. They’ve had record-low snow in the Rockies this year, which is concerning given that several states, including ours, rely on the Colorado River for water. If he doesn’t make it up the mountain, Jess and I will drive down and spend a day in Denver, so it should be fun either way.

Two months after that, Jessica will be graduating from UNLV, which is obviously a big deal for our family. Her mom and Tom, as well as her dad and Debbie, will all be coming out to celebrate and see her walk. I’m glad we’ll be attending the ceremony because it will be great for the kids to experience it and have memories of their mom earning her Master’s degree. We’re in the middle of planning a dinner at a fancy restaurant on the Strip to celebrate. The softball season will still be going on as well, so the family will be able to attend one of our games.

Shortly after that, in June, we’ll be heading up to Washington for Aunt Norma’s 100th birthday. It’s going to be a very busy week, and we can’t wait to see everyone. We recently booked our accommodations. We’ll be staying the first two nights, June 11 and 12, at a house in Everett. Then we’re spending two nights at a hotel in the Bellingham area, followed by two nights at a house in Tacoma. It’s a lot of moving around, but it will allow us to do everything we want and visit with everyone during our time up there.

Up until a few days ago, we didn’t have any other plans scheduled for the summer, but that changed when we received an email from Tom inviting us to visit his family’s cabin in Canada. They’ve had it for years, but it needed work, so he and his siblings have been fixing it up and are excited to start having people visit. It’s located about three hours northwest of Toronto on Lake Huron. Our plan is to fly to Toronto in late July, right between Elise’s birthday and my own, rent a car, and spend a week fishing, speed boating, and exploring the beaches. I hear the water is as crystal clear as the Caribbean, and we think it will be a very memorable experience for our family. We plan to fly home from Toronto in the evening, so when we leave the cabin, we’ll do so early in the morning and have the entire day to explore Toronto together. I’ve been there once on a work trip and loved it, but this should be an even better experience.

The other major travel plan on our distant horizon came up recently while we were out to dinner. Elise asked where I think we should go on our next big international vacation. I had already been thinking about it, but hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, so we decided to talk it through as a family. The timeframe we’re looking at is late May or early June of 2027. The options I suggested were Italy, Japan, Australia, or Mexico. I’m still open to any of those destinations, as well as others, but as we went around the table and took a vote, everyone picked Japan. To be fair, Enzo voted first and initially chose Italy, but once he heard that Super Nintendo World is in Osaka, he quickly changed his mind. For Jess and the girls, Japan was their immediate answer, and just the thought of going there brought Ava to tears. She has been obsessed with the culture, especially anime, for years. I personally loved the idea because I’ve been there once, back in 2019 with friends, and I’ve always wanted to return with my family. It’s still over a year away, so we haven’t started planning the details, but that’s the decision we landed on, and it comes up often in conversation.

In the shorter term, it’s nice to be busy with so many fun activities. The weather is starting to turn; it will be 80 degrees later this week, so we’re getting plenty of fresh air and vitamin D. Every time I get back out to coach on the softball field, I’m reminded how much I love it. It looks like we’re going to have a good team again this season, so I’m hoping we can run it back for another championship. Either way, it’s a blast being out there. That’s about it for now. Looking forward to sharing pictures from our upcoming trip to Colorado.

Happy 11th Birthday, Enzo!

Celebrating our son Enzo on his 11th birthday!

Today, our awesome little dude Enzo turns 11 years old. A Wednesday during the school year may not be the ideal birthday for a kid, but at least he gets to spend it with friends, and I am sure they will find a way to celebrate him. Jessica’s classroom is right next door to his, so I would not be surprised if she has something special planned for him.

For our family celebration, we usually go out to dinner on Friday nights, but this week we decided to celebrate on his actual birthday and let him choose the restaurant. Since he loves Asian food, he picked a traditional Japanese ramen spot. The kids have not been to Shokku yet, but Jessica and I love it, and it is right in the heart of the Las Vegas International District, so that is where we will be going. If timing works out, we will hopefully make it home in time to watch the latest episode of our current favorite family show, Beast Games.

Another celebration is coming up this Saturday night. Normally, we would throw a birthday party for Enzo, but this year he chose something different. Instead of a party, all he wanted was to go to a Vegas Golden Knights game against the Seattle Kraken with his best friend Charlie and me. I love that idea, especially since we went to his first Golden Knights game last year for his 10th birthday, and the year before that, I took him to his first UNLV basketball game for his 9th.

Enzo knew there would not be many presents this year because he received a Mac Mini and a computer desk at Christmas, which doubled as a birthday gift. He was completely fine with that, but we still picked up a few small things, including a few books, a pair of shoes, and computer speakers. Over the last month, he has become quite the little computer user. He is taking online typing lessons, and I regularly sit with him to teach new skills and shortcuts. Once he feels more comfortable with the basics, we plan to move into more advanced projects, including coding.

Activity-wise, Enzo had a great time at the annual Track and Field camp in December, and we recently found out they are hosting another one this spring, so we will be signing him up again. He is also about to start playing on a flag football team. This is a big milestone for him since he has never participated in team sports before. Jessica and I have always encouraged him to give it a try, but we did not want to push him. I am excited to see him step into something new and get out on the field.

School continues to go very well for him. He still excels in math, and he earns strong grades across all subjects. He is enjoying his final year of elementary school, but he is understandably a little nervous about moving on to middle school. We keep reminding him that most of his peers feel the same way, and that the transition will get easier after the first day, but I completely understand his hesitation.

The rest of the family is doing well and staying busy. Jessica is entering the final quarter of her master’s program at UNLV and is looking forward to graduating. Ava will be heading to Disneyland next Friday to perform with her school band, and later in the year, Elise will be traveling with her orchestra to Knott’s Berry Farm. Softball season starts in February, so Ava and I have been practicing and getting ready. Elise has also started a new round of figure skating lessons, and I have enjoyed being there to watch a few of her classes.

For me, it has been nice to have a bit more free time now that Cappers has closed. I have been spending a lot of that time playing guitar and cooking with the wood-fired pizza oven I received for Christmas. While it is technically a pizza oven, it works for all kinds of cooking. Lately, I have been using it to roast tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and onions for homemade salsa, which has become one of my favorite things to make. I am also looking forward to the upcoming softball season and feeling optimistic about our chances to repeat as champions, especially with several of our strongest players returning.

We recently booked our flights to Seattle for Aunt Norma’s 100th birthday in June. My mom will be joining us, and everyone is looking forward to the trip. There are so many people we want to see, and the kids are especially determined to visit our old house, so it will be a busy week, but a meaningful one.

That is about all for now. I hope this is a special and memorable birthday for Enzo. I am incredibly proud of the young man he is becoming, and I am really looking forward to our big hockey night out this weekend. Happy 11th birthday, Enzo. We love you.

Enzo Pellegrini on the morning of his 11th birthday

2025 Comes To An End

From Christmas morning riddles to championship wins and life-changing experiences, 2025 gave our family a lot to be thankful for. As the year comes to a close, we’re reflecting on a year filled with growth, change, and memorable moments as a family.

2025 has been a great year for our family, with some big highlights that I will get to shortly, but most recently we had a really nice Christmas at home. We didn’t travel this year, but Jessica, the kids, and I are all off together for two full weeks, which is both wonderful and pretty rare. Elise and Enzo woke us up right at 6:00 a.m. on Christmas morning, with Ava not far behind. We tried something new while opening presents this year, and Jessica deserves full credit for finding a way to slow things down so we didn’t tear through everything in twenty minutes. Instead of writing names on the gifts, we wrote clues about who each present was for. The kids had to work together to decide the answer, and if they were right, that person could open the gift, but if they were wrong, it had to be set aside and revisited three presents later. Some clues were obvious, others were surprisingly tricky, and they even missed a few. It was fun for Jessica and me to watch them puzzle through the riddles, and it absolutely accomplished the goal of stretching out Christmas morning.

Each kid had a few standout gifts this year. Ava received a drawing tablet, lots of new clothes, a button maker, and a prepaid debit card. Elise got her second set of ear piercings, an Apple Pencil for her iPad, plenty of clothes, a pair of Uggs, and a prepaid debit card as well. We liked the idea of giving the girls their own cards because it introduces some real responsibility around money; it also solves a very practical problem, since they are often out with friends and need to pay for things at places that do not take cash. Our hope is that this helps them learn to hold onto their money and make thoughtful choices instead of spending it all immediately, so we’ll see how that experiment plays out.

Ava Pellegrini with her drawing tablet on Christmas morning, 2025
Elise Pellegrini with new Uggs on Christmas morning, 2025
Elise Pellegrini with new Uggs on Christmas morning, 2025

Enzo’s main gift this year, shared between Christmas and his late January birthday, was a computer and a desk for his room. He has been asking for one for a while, so I picked out a very nice Mac from Apple. I told him that if he wanted to get into computers, I would happily teach him, but he would need to take it seriously and understand that it could not be only about playing games, which he had no problem agreeing to. For a school project, he wrote a letter to Jessica and me about what a good kid he has been this year and what he hoped to get for Christmas. In it, he said he wanted his own desktop computer because “my Dad is a Principal Software Engineer and I want to follow in his footsteps.” That line definitely made me smile, and we are already having a lot of fun working through lessons together at home.

Enzo Pellegrini with his Mac Mini computer on Christmas morning, 2025

Jessica’s main gift from me was the new Google Pixel Watch 4. She relies pretty heavily on a smartwatch, especially at work, where it is great for setting timers, quickly checking messages, and staying on track throughout the day. She has been using the same Fitbit we bought back in 2021, and it was clearly on its last legs, so I wanted her to have something new and really nice. Her main gift to me was a portable wood-fired pizza oven, which I absolutely love. I have already used it twice, once for pizza and once for something completely different. Even though it is marketed as a pizza oven, it is really just a small wood-fired oven, so you can cook just about anything in it. I have a cast-iron skillet that fits perfectly inside, and one night I used it to roast a chicken. I have always loved making my own pizza, and this is definitely going to take things to the next level.

Our neighbors have a long-standing tradition of dropping off small gifts around the holidays, usually something like cookies or a festive candle. This year, we decided to switch things up by making homemade salsa, jarring it up, and delivering it with a bag of chips to friends in the neighborhood. I have gotten really into making my own salsas over the past year, so Elise and I took a trip to a Mexican grocery store and stocked up on ingredients, after which I made a very large pot of salsa to share. I kept the spice level on the mild side since it was going to so many different people, but it turned out great, and we have received a lot of compliments. We liked the idea of doing something a little different, and since no one is ever lacking sweets this time of year, it ended up being a big hit.

Michael Pellegrini making salsa
Making salsa for the hood

On Sunday, my mom and Uncle Terry came over for a holiday meal where I more or less recreated Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Uncle Bob and Aunt Sandy were not able to join us, but it was still really nice to have a small family get-together. I made roasted garlic mashed potatoes the day before, then got up early Sunday morning to get the turkey started. I also made stuffing, roasted carrots, green beans, and gravy, while Jessica handled the appetizers, salad, and a really good lemon cake for dessert. It was definitely far too much food, but hopefully Mom and Terry have been enjoying the leftovers we sent home with them.

We are looking forward to ringing in the New Year with friends from the neighborhood tonight, but first, we are excited for our family’s annual New Year’s Eve tradition, which we call the Memory Jar. Throughout the year, whenever something fun or meaningful happens, we write it down on a small piece of paper and drop it into a jar in the house. Then, on New Year’s Eve, we sit down together as a family and read through all of those memories. It usually leads to a lot of laughter as we relive moments from the year, and it has easily become one of our favorite family traditions.

December has been an overwhelmingly positive month for us, but there was one small downside, which was the difficult decision Devin and I made to shut down the Cappers website. We poured everything into it over the past three years, but ultimately, we were never able to fully break through in the sports betting market. We had a small, loyal group of users who truly loved the site and were genuinely sad to see it go, but the overall customer churn was tough to manage. Some months we would gain ten new users, only to lose ten others, and on top of that, there were frequent failed payments, which made growth feel like an uphill battle.

Sports betting is incredibly cyclical, with business nearly disappearing once football season ends, leaving you in survival mode until the next season rolls around. On top of that, dealing with customers who blamed us when they went on a losing streak was never enjoyable. After three years of riding those highs and lows, we decided it was no longer worth continuing. We even ran a radio commercial on VSiN back in October as a last-ditch effort to bring in more users, but when that didn’t move the needle, it felt like the right time to move on. That said, I have no regrets. I learned an incredible amount through the process, including getting deeply involved with AI well before it became mainstream, and that experience directly contributed to landing the job I have now. Building the entire Cappers platform taught me more than almost any project I have worked on professionally, so it was absolutely a worthwhile experience.

While part of me is sad to see Cappers come to an end, another part of me feels a real sense of relief not having to worry about it anymore. I have more free time now, and I have been enjoying putting that time toward things like music and cooking. There is always a positive side to every ending, and while Cappers never became the massive success I once imagined, so much good still came out of it. New friendships, valuable experience, important lessons, and even freelance opportunities all came from that journey, and that is what I choose to focus on moving forward.

As I look back on 2025, there are a handful of experiences that will stay with me forever. At the top of that list is our trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in May. It was our first big international trip as a family, and it gave the kids their first real glimpse of life in another culture. Between the fun activities, beautiful beaches, welcoming people, and incredible food, it was a trip we still talk about often and would love to repeat someday. It felt like one of those experiences that truly shapes you, and it set a precedent for the kinds of trips we want to prioritize in the future.

Another major milestone for me this year was starting my job at HealthEdge. The tech job market has been rough over the past couple of years, and after riding my own personal rollercoaster last year, landing the highest-level role of my career at a great company, on a team full of genuinely good people, is something I do not take lightly. It has been both validating and energizing, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity.

2025 was also the year I stepped into coaching softball as a head coach, and it quickly became one of my favorite things to do. I still remember feeling nervous before our first practice back in February, but those nerves faded fast once we got on the field. I found myself loving the time spent working with the girls, teaching the game, and watching them grow. There were plenty of lessons learned during that first season, and there will always be more to come, but we held our own. The second season, which I wrote about last month, turned into an unforgettable run that ended with a championship win; something I did not expect, but always believed we were capable of. That kind of success so early in a coaching journey is rare, and it was truly a team effort. I’m humbled to have played even a small part in it, and just last night, Ava and I were talking about how excited we are to get back out on the field and start preparing for the next season.

The kids had some great experiences of their own this year, including a two-week RV trip with Grandma and Grandpa Martin. They visited several national parks in Utah, slid down sand dunes in Colorado, and spent plenty of time playing in the mountains. Jessica and the kids also made a summer trip to Iowa to visit family. This was a huge year for Jessica as well, as she became a full-time teacher. As if taking over her own classroom were not enough, she has continued working through her Master’s of Education program at UNLV, earning straight A’s and staying on track to graduate in May 2026.

Clearly, we have a lot to be proud of and thankful for. Everyone is happy and healthy, taking on new challenges and staying busy with the things they love. 2025 was a great year for our family, and 2026 is already shaping up to be a good one as well. We’ll be heading back to Colorado in March for Spring Break, which has become a nice annual tradition for us. We are also looking forward to Jessica’s graduation in May, and excited to visit friends and family in Washington in June to celebrate Aunt Norma’s 100th birthday. I’m sure there will be plenty more good moments along the way, and we are more than ready to start filling up the next memory jar.

Enzo Pellegrini at the Bellagio Conservatory Garden's Holiday 2025 display
Ava Pellegrini at the Bellagio Conservatory Garden's Holiday 2025 display
Jessica and Enzo Pellegrini in front of their 2025 Christmas tree
Elise, Enzo, and Ava Pellegrini in front of their 2025 Christmas tree
Michael and Jessica Pellegrini in front of their 2025 Christmas tree
The Pellegrini family in front of their Christmas tree, Dec 2025

Happy 14th Birthday, Ava!

Ava’s birthday and Thanksgiving came together perfectly this year. Family filled the house, the food was great, and the memories will last well beyond the holiday.

I usually write my birthday posts on the exact day, but this week was packed, and I couldn’t get to it in time. Still, I wouldn’t miss the chance to write about Ava’s fourteenth birthday, even if I’m a few days late. It turned out to be a special day for all of us. Grandma and Grandpa Martin had arrived from Colorado on Sunday, so they were here to celebrate, too. Ava had school on her birthday, but it was the last day of the week, which meant no early bedtime. She said she had a great day and got plenty of birthday wishes from friends, but the real fun started once school was out.

This feels like the year Ava truly discovered fashion. She was never much into clothes or outfits before, but now she’s all about putting together the perfect “fit.” For her birthday, all she wanted was to go shopping, so our first stop Tuesday evening was the Premium Outlet mall near downtown Las Vegas. We ended up in the Dr. Martens store, where she tried on different shoes and boots. She said she wanted a classic pair, so I found the style everyone used to wear in Seattle back in the 90s. She loved them, found her size, and hasn’t stopped wearing them since. She’s had knockoff Docs before, but never the real thing, until now.

Ava also wanted to stop in the Levi’s store since she’s into those classic styles. It felt like we were there forever, but she finally settled on a shirt and two pairs of jeans. Elise found a pair of ripped jeans at another store, and earlier in the fall, I had given Ava a very nice new softball bat as an early birthday gift, so between that, the clothes, and the boots, those were her main presents from Mom and me. She also got some nice drawing supplies from Uncle Jim and Aunt Brenda, a generous amount of cash from all her grandparents, and a thoughtful box of gifts in the mail from our friends, the Palmers.

After shopping, we were all ready for dinner, and Ava requested sushi. I knew exactly where to go: Taru Sushi in Chinatown. We’d been there once before as a family, and it’s also where my buddies from Tennessee and I always end up when they visit Vegas. Dinner was fantastic, as always. We started with appetizers—salt and pepper squid, spicy tuna salad, and crispy Brussels sprouts—then the sushi rolls started arriving. The presentation there is incredible, and we must have ordered about six rolls. The Chu Taru, Sunset, and Over the Rainbow were my personal favorites, though everything was excellent. The kids kept thanking me for taking them somewhere special, but it was entirely my pleasure. We stayed for more than two hours, eating slowly and talking, which is exactly how Jessica and I like to dine. It was a wonderful birthday dinner, topped off with dessert and singing.

In addition to all the birthday fun, it’s been a busy week for us. I took the week off work (my first time off since joining HealthEdge in June) and spent Monday volunteering in Jessica’s classroom. I had a blast working with the kids, and several of them took a real liking to me. One even kept giving me hugs throughout the day. It was great seeing Jessica in her element, running the classroom so naturally. She’s so good at what she does, and I loved getting to experience it firsthand. Since it was the start of Thanksgiving week, we put on a Thanksgiving lunch for all the kids. Amy and Tom came to help serve, and there was plenty of food to go around. Our family brought a big batch of fried chicken, but there were also tacos, mashed potatoes, fruit and veggie trays, and several pies. Enzo joined us, too, and everyone had a great time.

On Wednesday morning, I picked up Kristy, Tito, and Madi from the airport. They were tired from the early flight, but everyone settled right in for a relaxing day at home. With ten people staying in the house, it somehow never felt crowded. I spent a good part of the day making roasted garlic mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, while everyone else hung out and caught up. The weather was perfect, so most of the afternoon was spent outside in the backyard enjoying the sun. My Mom stopped by with a pan of stuffing and some birthday gifts for Ava, then later, Tito came out to play catch with the kids and me. That evening, we all wound down with a couple of holiday movies.

Thanksgiving was a big day for us and turned out to be the largest gathering we’ve ever hosted at our house. Along with the ten people already staying with us, another ten came over for dinner. My mom stopped by for a while before we ate, and we were joined by Devin, Tiko and Tina with their two daughters, my friend Tony and his son Luca, and Tony’s parents. It was a full house, but somehow it never felt crowded. Tom was a huge help with serving dinner, and Jessica had plenty of support from her mom and Kristy in setting the tables and getting everything organized. Dinner was excellent (I think it might have been the best turkey I’ve ever made), and everyone seemed genuinely happy. Tiko brought four or five pies for dessert, so after dinner we gathered in the living room to watch football and sample them all. It was the perfect holiday and has Jessica and me already thinking about hosting more gatherings like this in the future.

Friday gave most of us a chance to get out of the house, although I stayed home to help Tom with a computer project. Amy and Jessica went Black Friday shopping at the mall, while Kristy, Tito, and Madi headed out for brunch. That evening, Kristy, Tito, and Madi went to see Mat Franco’s magic show at the LINQ, while the rest of us grabbed pizza and played a few rounds of Yahtzee at home. Today, everyone heads back, and honestly, the week has flown by. Amy and Tom left early for their long drive back to Colorado, and I’ll be taking Kristy and her family to the airport this afternoon. It’s been exactly the kind of week I was hoping for, and I’m so grateful for the time we’ve had together with family and friends.

Looking ahead, Elise and Ava are both preparing for their winter music performances at school. Ava recently switched from trumpet to baritone, and Elise has been practicing nonstop for her role as first chair violin in the school’s intermediate orchestra. Her dedication always impresses me, especially with how much she’s improved in just over a year. Lately, we’ve been practicing scales together (her on the violin, me on the guitar), and it’s been a lot of fun. Enzo is excited for another two-week track and field camp in December, and this time, Ava will be joining him. Then, in January, Enzo starts flag football. We’re staying home for Christmas this year, but we’ll all have the last two weeks of the year off together, and I’m really looking forward to it.

That’s about all for now. I’m so glad Ava had such a wonderful fourteenth birthday, and I’m especially grateful for all the time we spent this week with family and friends. It’s been a week we won’t forget, and I truly appreciate everyone who helped make it so special. Happy holidays!

Ava before school on her 14th birthday
Dropping Ava off at school on her birthday morning
Ava with art supplies for her 14th birthday
Having fun with arts and crafts
Dinner at Taru Sushi in Las Vegas
Dinner at Taru
Ava having dessert at Taru
The first of several desserts at Taru
Ava Pellegrini on her 14th birthday
Happy Birthday, Ava

A Softball Season For The Ages

The Hawks wrapped up the Fall 2025 season with a playoff run that felt impossible until the girls made it real.

Normally, in months when one of our kids has a birthday, I write my family blog post on that day. I will still do that for Ava’s fourteenth birthday later this month; however, our Fall 2025 14U softball season with the Hawks just came to an incredibly exciting end, and I felt the need to write a separate post about it. This was Ava’s favorite softball season, and I wanted to document our playoff run while the details are still fresh.

We entered the playoffs as the number two seed with a regular season record of 9–2–1. The playoffs use a double elimination format, which means every team can lose once and keep playing, although the second loss ends the season. Our first opponent was the Halos, the number three seed, on a Thursday night. They have one of the strongest pitchers in the league, and her dad is the most experienced coach around. It was their first season in 14U, although they had gone undefeated and won the championship in 12U the previous year. We beat them twice early in the season, then they beat us in our last regular-season matchup.

Their pitcher was locked in for this first playoff game, and they beat us 4–1. They played the Lady Outlaws, the number one seed, immediately after and won that game as well, which secured their place in the championship. Because they had not lost yet, they would get two chances to win the title.

Meanwhile, our team fell apart emotionally after our loss to the Halos. We always meet briefly after each game, but this one began with one player in tears and quickly turned into an argument among the girls about how one teammate had been treating others. I stayed quiet and let them work through it. When things finally settled, I reminded them of Ava’s first season in 12U. That team went undefeated during the regular season, then lost their first playoff game, and still won five straight to take the championship. I told them we had the talent to do the same if we could regroup and play together.

I was not sure what to expect the next evening. Would everyone show up? Would the argument linger? Fortunately, the girls seemed lighter and closer after letting everything out. We had no room for error, and our first opponent was the Thunder, the lowest ranked team in the league. We won 6–3, then played the Bomb Squad, the number four seed, right afterward. We had beaten them twice already, so I felt confident. Here is a short excerpt from the AI recap of that game:

“Hawks flipped the game on its head in the bottom of the first, scoring five runs on five hits to take the lead, 5-3. The biggest blow in the inning was a double by Ava Pellegrini that drove in two.”

It was another close game, but we won 10–7 and kept our season alive.

That game had two moments I will never forget. First, Lex, our starting pitcher and power hitter, hit a home run over the fence. Inside-the-park home runs happen now and then in our age group, but hitting one out is rare. She had been trying to do it for two seasons and had come close many times. When she connected on a high fastball late in the game, there was no question it was gone. Her brother recovered the ball, and she later asked me to sign it. It was the first over-the-fence home run in Hawks history at any level.

The second moment came in the final inning. Bomb Squad was down 10–7 and beginning to rally. With one out and runners on first and second, they hit a high fly ball to left field. Our left fielder that inning was a first-year player who had never played a season of softball before and had not caught an outfield fly all season. She tracked it perfectly and made the catch. The crowd erupted, especially her mom, who kept yelling, “Hell yeah”! I gave her and Lex co–player of the game awards.

Winning those two games sent us to Championship Saturday, although the road was still long. We first had to face the number one-seeded Lady Outlaws. They had beaten us every time since I became head coach. We tied them once this season, then lost the second matchup, and they beat us both times last year. I wanted that game badly. The winner of our matchup would move on to face the Halos, who would still need to be beaten twice.

Heavy rain postponed Saturday’s games to 10:30 Sunday morning. Ava and I arrived at the park at 9:15 for warmups. I always run drills with the players before each game, and I had a good feeling that morning. The girls looked sharp, and the energy was positive. I made sure to tell several of them, “Today is our day”.

We lost the coin flip again and batted first. I believe we are the best hitting team in the league, and we proved it by scoring the maximum five runs in the top of the first. The Lady Outlaws answered with four. After that, our pitcher settled in and never allowed another run. Meanwhile, our bats kept working. We won 12–4, our first ever win against them. Ava contributed an RBI double. I was thrilled with that win alone and would have considered the day a success even if we lost to the Halos afterward.

Here is the video of the game with the Lady Outlaws:

We lost the coin flip again for the first championship game and went down 7–0 by the end of the third inning. At that point I was hoping only that we would avoid a shutout. Fortunately, our bats came alive in the fourth and we scored the maximum five runs. The Halos scored two more in the bottom half, giving them a 9–5 lead. I told the girls they were still alive but needed at least four runs in the next inning to extend the season. They responded with another five-run inning, which gave us a 10–9 lead. We still needed three outs. The Halos loaded the bases with one out, and a base hit likely would have scored two. Their hitter ripped a line drive, but our shortstop snagged it, then our pitcher earned her biggest strikeout of the season to secure the win.

Here is the video of that game:

Once again, we lost the coin flip (what are the chances?), which made us the away team for the final game. I welcomed it because our pitcher had thrown two complete games already and needed as much rest as possible. The Halos’ pitcher clearly did not have her best stuff, and I told our team the momentum had shifted our way.

Ava came up in the top of the first with a runner on second and no outs. She singled and drove in a run, our only run of the inning. The Halos answered with five. More importantly, one of their hitters lined a ball straight at Ava at third base. She got both hands up, but the ball hit her bare hand rather than her glove. It was a frightening moment. She was crying and apologizing. Jessica helped assess her hand, and thankfully, she was not injured. She refused to leave the game. I kept her in the dugout for the second inning to calm down, which frustrated her, but I reminded her she had not missed a defensive inning all season. She was our only player with perfect attendance for the entire year, including practices, clinics, and games.

Neither team scored in the second inning, and our bats woke up in the third. Ava hit an RBI double, and we scored four to tie the game. We held the Halos scoreless, then headed into what would almost certainly be the last inning of the season. I gathered the team and told them that time was about to run out. I reminded them of what they were capable of and asked them to prove it one more time.

They did. Ava hit another RBI double, and the other Ava on our team hit an inside-the-park home run. We hit the maximum five runs and led 10–5. Lex fought through exhaustion and held them scoreless again. The five runs they scored in the bottom of the first ended up being the only runs they scored in the game. Here is part of the AI recap:

“Hawks collected 14 hits in the game. Ava Pellegrini led the Hawks with three runs batted in. The third baseman went 3-for-3 on the day.”

Here is the video of the final game:

Winning that game felt surreal. I walked out of the dugout with my hands in the air, and Ava ran straight across the field to hug me. She was crying and overwhelmed. The whole team was celebrating, except for Lex, who had nothing left in the tank. She had thrown 59 pitches on Thursday, 180 on Friday, and 228 on Sunday. That is 467 pitches in one weekend! Our backup pitcher never appeared for the playoffs, so Lex had no choice but to carry the load.

After the game, I invited the families to join us for our final talk. I praised the girls for their work and their ability to resolve Thursday’s issues and come back stronger. I told them to be proud of themselves because no one can give this to them; they have to earn it as a team. I talk to the team a lot about how there’s so much more to youth sports than wins and losses. Whether they realize it or not, they’re learning lessons that will serve them well later in life. Things like setting goals, hard work, how to be a good teammate, and working towards a common goal. I then gave out a few awards, and we took plenty of photos with the trophy.

I know several coaches with far more experience who have never won a championship, so doing this in my second season as head coach felt special. I became an assistant coach because Ava is my only child who plays team sports, and I wanted to be involved. I never expected to become the head coach, and even when I did, I had no idea what the role would demand. There is far more off-the-field work and conversation than I ever imagined, and not all of it is enjoyable, but when a parent pulls you aside and tells you about the positive impact you’ve had on their child’s life, that is a humbling and rewarding experience that can’t be replicated. I may have started coaching for my daughter and my love of the game, but it became something larger. It made me a motivator, a teacher, and a confidant, and it brought new friendships into my life.

I do not know what the Spring 2026 season will look like. Several of our top players are starting high school and will be trying out for their school teams. I hope they also return to our league, although there are no guarantees. I know I will be coaching in some capacity, but I do not know how many of the same players will be with me.

On Monday evening, Ava and I watched all three games on YouTube. After the excitement of Sunday, it felt strange to be still. We were not sad about the outcome; we were sad that the season was over. Only one team gets to end the season with a win, and we were fortunate to be that team, but the sudden quiet after so many games, practices, and shared weekends hits hard. You get used to the rhythm of it, to the families you see several times a week, and then everything stops. I explained to Ava that, by definition, all seasons must come to an end. There will be more to come, although none will ever replace this one.

This season was special for both of us, and we will not forget it. Even though we are sad it is over, we have already started working on her game for next season. Today, we started refining her batting stance and part of her swing mechanics. We are also excited to work on elevating her defensive play at third base. I think she is beginning to understand that while the wins are a lot of fun, the journey is the real reward.

Dad and Ava before the championship game, Fall 2025
Getting ready for the final game
The H.G.S.A. Hawks - 14U Fall 2025 Champions
H.G.S.A. Fall 2025 14U Champs!
Ava with her 1st place medal
Ava and Dad celebrating the championship win

A Visit with Butch and Carol

Between work trips, family visits, and the kids’ activities, October has flown by. With Halloween around the corner and Thanksgiving plans underway, the season is just getting started.

Yesterday we had a nice visit with Uncle Butch and Aunt Carol, who were in Las Vegas for a few days. They were staying downtown, so we met them at their hotel and headed over to 7th and Carson, one of our favorite brunch spots. We hadn’t seen them since moving away from Washington almost four and a half years ago, so the visit felt long overdue. It was great catching up over a relaxed meal, then walking across the street to the Downtown Container Park to enjoy the weather, play cornhole, and watch a little football. They couldn’t believe how much the kids have grown, and it was nice hearing how much they’re enjoying retirement. We made plans to visit them in June when we head up to Washington for Aunt Norma’s 100th birthday. It was so good to see them again, and hopefully it won’t be this long before our next visit.

October has been a full month for all of us, and we still have Halloween to look forward to. It started off on an exciting note for me. On the morning of October 1st, I flew to Boston for a work trip. My company was hosting an “AI Bootcamp” for executives, designed to train them on AI concepts, then split them into teams to build an AI app in a single day and present it that evening. I was invited as one of the trainers and ended up serving as the main grader for the presentations.

It was my first time in Boston, and with only two nights in town, I wanted to make the most of every moment. Both nights, after the work events wrapped up, I went exploring on foot, calling Jessica and the kids so they could see what I was seeing. The first evening, I walked to Fenway Park. The Red Sox were playing the Yankees in New York that night, so the stadium was eerily quiet. I had the rare chance to walk around this historic landmark completely alone, which, for a lifelong baseball fan, was unforgettable.

The next night, I wandered north to Little Italy, taking photos along the way. I’ve never seen so many restaurants packed into one area, and every single one seemed busy. Even the closed ones had TVs on with the Red Sox game playing. I ended up at a great Italian restaurant, enjoying oysters and veal at the bar with a glass of wine while the game played overhead. After dinner, I stopped at Mike’s Pastry for one of their famous cannoli and kept walking through the neighborhood as I ate it. I followed the Freedom Trail back through the city, passing through the park and an old graveyard from the 1600s, where I called the kids again so they could share in the moment.

I was there for less than 48 hours, but Boston left a big impression on me. It’s now one of my favorite cities, and I can’t wait to go back with the family so they can experience it too.

It’s been a great month for the rest of the family, too. Jessica continues to shine at both school and work. Her first round of parent-teacher conferences went really well, and she earned outstanding feedback from her administrators during her first classroom evaluation. This is likely her toughest year yet, balancing teaching full-time while finishing her master’s program, but she’s on track to graduate in May. Once she’s through this stretch, the coming school years will probably feel easy by comparison. For now, she’s handling everything with grace and setting the standard for how to take on such a challenge.

Ava has been having a fantastic month, both at school and on the softball field. She recently earned a Student of the Month award, which made us so proud, and her hard work on the field has turned her into one of the team’s top players. Just a few nights ago, she crushed a line drive to the fence for a triple, and yesterday we spent some time at the batting cages. I must have fed her around fifty pitches from the machine, and she didn’t miss a single one—it was incredible. Elise is also doing great; she recently advanced to the next level in her figure skating class and is loving it. I was especially proud when she told me she’s now the first-chair violinist in her school’s intermediate orchestra. It’s cool having another string musician in the house. Enzo is looking forward to starting another short season of track and field in December. He had such a great time doing it last year, and we’re all excited to see him back out there.

Halloween is just around the corner, and the kids couldn’t be more excited. They love putting on costumes and collecting all the free candy they can. Our friends Jodi and Miles are coming down from Washington to spend the holiday with us, which will make it even more fun. The kids can’t wait to show Miles how great our neighborhood is for trick-or-treating. And since Halloween also happens to be Nana’s birthday, it’s always an extra special day for our family.

Looking ahead to Thanksgiving—my favorite holiday—it’s shaping up to be a full house. Amy and Tom are coming out from Colorado, and Kristy, Tito, and Madi are flying in from Washington to stay with us. With our family of five, that makes ten people under one roof for a few days. On top of that, we’ll have several friends joining us for Thanksgiving dinner. I’m sure it will get a little hectic at times, but it’s bound to be memorable. I’m hoping for a fun, slightly chaotic “Griswold” kind of Thanksgiving—maybe even another Thanksgiving-gate we’ll laugh about for years. Plus, we’ll be celebrating Ava’s 14th birthday that week. I look forward to writing all about it in next month’s post. Until then…

A Quick Trip to San Diego

September was full of highlights, from a quick San Diego getaway to new projects at work and the start of softball season. The kids are thriving with school and activities, and we’re heading into October ready for more family fun.

We kicked off the month with a quick but memorable Labor Day weekend in San Diego, spending a couple of days with Auntie Dana and Uncle Brad. I would have loved for the trip to be longer, but I had some softball coaching commitments that kept us from extending our stay. Even so, we made the most of the time and took the kids to Moonlight Beach in Encinitas for a full day of boogie boarding. San Diego has always been one of my favorite places, so any visit feels special; even a short trip is worth it, especially when we get to enjoy it with Dana and Brad.

After that, it was back to business for everyone. Jessica has been juggling work and school as always, and I’ve been just as busy with my own commitments. Our fall softball season kicked off, which keeps me on the field, and work has been equally demanding. I’ve really grown to love my new role and have been taking on more responsibility; with one of our managers out on parental leave, I’ve been covering much of his workload. On top of that, I was invited to attend our AI Bootcamp in Boston next week, where I’ll be leading a 45-minute training session on using AI in web user experience. It will be my first time in Boston and a great opportunity to connect with company executives, so I’m really looking forward to it.

This time of year is always the busiest for my side hustle, Cappers.ai. Devin and I decided to push things a little further by advertising on VSiN, the Vegas Sports Insiders Network. We’ll be running one commercial each day throughout October. VSiN airs on more than 350 radio stations nationwide, and since their programming is dedicated to sports betting, their audience is exactly who we want to reach. With any luck, the campaign will bring in more subscribers; if it does, we’ll definitely look at continuing the ads beyond October.

The kids are thriving with school and activities, and with the cooler weather, they’ve been spending more time outside with friends in the neighborhood. Ava’s progress in softball has been incredible to watch; she’s now the starting third baseman on our team and is playing the position with confidence. Her hitting has also taken off, and since she’s put so much work into the sport, it’s been a real joy to share it with her. She even had the chance to go to the Benson Boone concert with friends at T-Mobile Arena last night, which was a big highlight. Elise is settling into seventh grade and loves playing violin in the school orchestra. She also continues to keep the busiest social calendar in the family; today alone, she has two birthday parties to attend. Enzo is making the most of his final year of elementary school. Right after our San Diego trip, he joined the fifth-grade class at the Pali Institute, a rite of passage for kids his age, and had an absolute blast doing science experiments, practicing archery, and exploring the outdoors.

Looking ahead to October, it’s shaping up to be a busy month for all of us. I’m looking forward to coaching plenty of softball games and enjoying the perfect fall weather here in Las Vegas. Halloween is always a highlight in our neighborhood, and this year we’re extra excited since our friends Jodi and Miles will be visiting from Washington. It also happens to be Nana’s birthday, which makes the holiday even more special. That’s all for now—below are a few photos from our beach day in California, along with the girls’ latest school pictures.

Elise boogie boarding in Encinitas, CA
Elise at the beach in Encinitas, CA
Enzo at the beach in Encinitas, CA
Enzo boogie boarding in Encinitas, CA
Ava boogies boarding in Encinitas, CA
The kids with Uncle Brad at the beach in Encinitas, CA
Hunting for waves with Uncle Brad
Ava and Enzo boogie boarding in Encinitas, CA
Elise's 7th grade school photo
Ava's 8th grade school photo

The Best of Summers Comes to an End

This summer was full of adventures, from trips to Mexico and Iowa to afternoons at the pool and visits with friends. Now that school routines are back in place and Fall is on the horizon, we’re grateful for the memories and excited for what comes next.

Although the calendar tells us there are still a few weeks of summer left, for our family, the season has already come to a close. Jessica and the kids have been back in school for three weeks, and the cooler mornings are starting to hint at Fall. We still have one last quick trip to San Diego planned, but looking back, it is clear this was a summer to remember. If you asked our kids, they would probably all say it was the best summer of their lives. It began with a flight to Mexico on the very first day of break, followed by a two-week RV adventure with Grandma and Grandpa Martin. We celebrated a lively 4th of July, then welcomed the Palmers for their annual visit. Jessica and the kids made their way to Iowa for family time, returning home on Elise’s 12th birthday, and soon after, they reconnected with Avery, their close friend from Washington, who joined us for the third summer in a row. Along the way, there were countless afternoons at the pool, water park outings, batting cage swings, and plenty of meals at new restaurants. It truly was a season filled with joy, adventure, and memories that will stay with us for years to come.

Tomorrow afternoon we’ll be heading to San Diego for a quick visit with Auntie Dana and Uncle Brad. Over the past few years it has become a tradition to spend time at their beautiful home in Fallbrook, and the kids always look forward to a beach day. I wanted to give them one more chance to enjoy the ocean before summer is officially behind us. Originally we had planned to leave Friday morning and turn it into a long weekend, since everyone has Monday off for Labor Day. That plan changed when softball tryouts were scheduled for Saturday at 2:00 pm. As Ava’s head coach I have to be there, so instead of three days we’ll only have a day and a half in San Diego. I told the league I thought holding tryouts over a holiday weekend was poor planning, but they insisted it was the only time that worked. It’s a little frustrating, but we’ll make the most of it. Sunday is set aside for the beach, the forecast looks great, and the kids can’t wait to get back on their boogie boards.

On top of all our summer adventures, Jessica has been working incredibly hard, both as a teacher and as a student. She continues to earn straight A’s in her Master’s program at UNLV, and she is already three weeks into her first year of teaching. The time and effort she poured into preparing her classroom over the summer was inspiring, and a reminder of how much teachers do behind the scenes for their students. Her dedication has not gone unnoticed either, as she was recently named a LifeChanger of the Year nominee. Here is what they wrote about Jessica:

Ms. Pellegrini believes that a positive classroom environment starts with belonging. She teaches in a third through fifth-grade self-contained SLD classroom, and many of her students come in already feeling like they are on the outside of the school community. They notice that they are not in the general education setting. They notice when their class is treated differently.

Her goal is to change that narrative from the moment students step into her room. She wants each student to feel safe, seen, valued, and proud of who they are. This begins with relationships. She works hard to build trust and a connection with every student.

Ms. Pellegrini greets them warmly, learns what matters to them, and creates routines that give them structure while still honoring their individual needs. She also teaches with patience, humor, and high expectations. Ms. Pellegrini believes that students rise when they feel respected and when they know someone believes in their potential.

Her classroom environment is intentionally designed to reflect the students in it. That includes the books on their shelves, the visuals on the walls, and the language they use when they talk about learning. She includes multicultural materials, diverse authors, and visuals that affirm different cultures, languages, and family structures.

Many of her students are neurodivergent and come from families that do not match the dominant culture of the school. They need to see themselves represented in what they read, write, and talk about. That representation builds identity, confidence, and connection.

Ms. Pellegrini also celebrates progress every chance she gets. For some students, that may mean reading a new word without support. For others, it might be asking for help instead of shutting down. Every success matters. She wants her students to understand that growth looks different for everyone, and that their path is just as important as anyone else’s.

Most of all, Ms. Pellegrini works to create a space where differences are not just accepted but embraced. She and her students talk openly about how everyone learns in different ways and find joy in discovering how to support one another. In her classroom, every student has a voice, and every student belongs.

Her education journey began because of her daughter Ava, who has a learning disability. After witnessing the challenges she faced in receiving an appropriate and supportive education, Ms. Pellegrini knew she wanted to be part of the solution, not just for her daughter, but for students like her.

In her time as a school employee, she has received only exemplary evaluations and has been recognized by both colleagues and administrators for her work. She was honored to be named a 2024 Starlight Award Honoree, which acknowledges outstanding support professionals in special education. At the time, the award was in only its second year of existence, and she was proud to be part of a growing recognition of the vital work they do.

As a graduate student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Ms. Pellegrini was nominated and accepted into the Advanced Studies Pilot Program in Early Childhood, Multilingual, and Special Education. After speaking with the director of special education, she decided to defer her participation until after completing her master’s degree in spring 2026. These experiences reflect her commitment to the field and her ongoing efforts to grow as an educator.

Ms. Pellegrini is dedicated to building inclusive, student-centered classrooms that meet the needs of all learners and to becoming a leader in the special education community.

In just another week I’ll hit the three month mark in my new role as Principal Engineer on the Experience Platform Team at HealthEdge. The time has flown by, and I’m really enjoying it. I feel fortunate to have joined such a strong company and an even stronger team. Before this year I hadn’t heard of HealthEdge, but their growth over the past five years has been remarkable and shows no signs of slowing down. The opportunities here are exciting, the culture is a great fit, and I get to work alongside talented and supportive colleagues. My scope continues to expand, and I find the work both challenging and rewarding. Even in a time when AI tools are changing the landscape of the tech industry, I feel confident in the role I’m filling and the contributions I’m making. I’m grateful to be here and see this as the start of a long-term chapter with plenty of professional growth ahead.

That’s the latest from us. Everyone has settled back into their routines and is doing well. With school back in session, extracurriculars are in full swing again; another softball season is here, and Elise has returned to figure skating. Fall has always been my favorite time of year, and I’m looking forward to cooler mornings, crisp evenings, and everything the season brings. This summer wasn’t the hottest we’ve had in Las Vegas, but I’m still ready for the heat to ease up so we can enjoy the kind of weather that feels like summer in other places. While the kids weren’t exactly thrilled to see vacation end, being back in school has been good for them. It’s hard to believe Ava is already in her last year of middle school and Enzo in his last year of elementary. Clearly, time slows down for no one.

Enzo Pellegrini on the first day of school, August 11 2025
Enzo, ready for his first day of 5th grade
Elise Pellegrini on the first day of school, August 11 2025
Elise on her first morning of 7th grade
Ava Pellegrini on the first day of school, August 11 2025
Ava on her first morning of 8th grade