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We’re a family of four and we have nine Alexas in our home.

Four people with nine Alexas.

That’s more than twice the number of Alexas than people!

Why so many, you wonder?

Because having Alexa available in several rooms throughout the house has IMPROVED OUR LIVES IN MANY WAYS.

We started with one Echo in the living room and were so impressed that we added eight more Alexas over the course of a few months.

Our Alexa army currently includes the following…

a Dot on my vanity {Mama Wolfe}

a Dot in my mom’s suite {Train Gampen}

a Dot in our son’s bedroom {The Lone Wolfe}

a Dot in our son’s playroom/office {The Ploffice}

a Dot in my husband’s home office {Alpha Wolfe}

an Echo in the basement family room {The Wolfe Den}

a Dot in my workspace in the basement {the Wolfe Sanctuary} plus

a Dot in the boringly named Kitchen and an Echo in the Living Room.

But, why so many?!?!?!

Alexa has way more to offer than just random trivia bits or info on what time the local grocery store closes. She has a long list of skills….so long that we have just begun to scratch the surface.

Below are NINE WAYS ALEXA HAS IMPROVED OUR LIVES so far.

ONE: {Alexa has TAUGHT us a lot.}

Our son, who will soon be 13, definitely uses Alexa more than anybody else in our family. He is homeschooled and will ask Alexa for definitions of unknown words he comes across while reading. He checks his math problems {after he computes them on his own, of course}. He confirms correct spelling as he is writing. He even asks Alexa to read long Bible passages for Bible history.

But, he’s not the only one who uses Alexa to learn new things. If the family gets into a debate over a historical fact, some random bit of trivia or whether Columbus Day is a federal holiday, we ask Alexa to settle the debate. All we have to do is say her name and ask the question. She instantly reports what she finds on the Internet. She has TAUGHT US A LOT!

BONUS: Anything that is asked of Alexa instantly appears in the app on my phone. So, if the 12 year old is seeking inappropriate information, I would instantly know.

TWO: {Alexa has GIVEN us peace of mind.}

My elderly mother lives with us. and she has an Alexa next to her bed that she uses anytime she needs help. She can either drop in on one of us and ask directly for help with something or she can make an announcement which goes out to every Alexa in the house at the same time. Being able to easily ask for help when needed has allowed her to have continued independence and GIVEN US PEACE OF MIND.

BONUS: My mom also uses Alexa to help in other ways, including turning her lights on/off, setting timers, controlling her TV and more.

THREE: {Alexa has DECREASED hollering.}

Our house is not huge but it is big enough that in order to communicate with with one another, we used to do a lot of hollering. From room to room. From upstairs to downstairs. From one end of the house to the other. But, with Alexa’s drop in feature, the hollering has come to a halt. Now, we just drop in on one another. If I need to check on whether our son is showered and ready to roll, instead of hollering upstairs, I can just drop in on him in his bedroom and gently ask. Or, if I’m in the kitchen and my husband is in his basement office but I want to find out if he wants meatloaf or burgers for dinner, I don’t need to scream. I can just drop in on him and ask {or remind him to take out the trash, hang the Christmas lights, call the plumber….} So, Alexa has DECREASED HOLLERING and increased calm conversations.

BONUS: Whomever you drop in on cannot ignore you and pretend they don’t hear your question. When you drop in, it opens a two-way conversation so you instantly hear everything in the other room while the other room can also hear you. It truly allows for calm two-way conversations.

FOUR: {Alexa has ORGANIZED our lives.}

Alexa is amazing at organizing things. She can make lists, set reminders and assign chores. And she does all of those things with a simple command.

Our son is actually pretty good at doing his daily chores but struggles to remember things that are only required of him once or twice weekly. But by assigning “trash” and “dog doo” to his chores, Alexa reminds him {instead of me nagging him}. She even offers him praise when he completes the chore.

She can also keep track of grocery lists and tasks to do. From anywhere in the house, I can simply ask Alexa to “add peanut butter to my grocery list” and she does. Or, if I’m brushing my teeth in the downstairs bathroom and suddenly remember that I need to change the kid’s dentist appointment, I can ask her to add that to my tasks for tomorrow and she does. I’ve always been a fairly organized person, but Alexa has ORGANIZED OUR LIVES even more so!

BONUS: She has an amazing listening range and can pick up commands even when not in the same room.

FIVE: {Alexa has SAVED us time.}

One of my favorite ways to use Alexa is to ask her for weather and news updates while I am getting dressed to start the day. When I use my phone to check for those details, I always get sucked into the blackhole of FaceBook or get stuck swapping texts back and forth with a friend. But, with Alexa, I can easily listen to a quick weather report or news update while still putting on makeup or getting dressed. It’s as easy as can be and has saved me countless precious minutes each morning. And who doesn’t want to SAVE TIME?

SIX: {Alexa has REVAMPED our sleeping habits.}

We are a family of night owls, which means we find it hard to fall asleep at a decent time and then struggle to wake up early in the morning. But Alexa has helped us REVAMP OUR SLEEPING HABITS. Our son’s personalized playlist helps him fall asleep each night and his alarm wakes him each morning.

I don’t like to sleep to music but I utilize Alexa in a different way each night. I like to read in bed until I feel sleepy but now I use Alexa to read to me! All I have to do is ask her to read my choice from the Audible Library. She uses her soothing voice to read the next chapter of my book until I feel sleepy enough to finally fall asleep. All I have to do is say, “Alexa, stop” and she does.

BONUS: From the app, I can change the volume of my son’s music or stop it completely after he falls asleep. I can also verify that his alarm is set, change the time of his alarm or cancel the alarm altogether. She also offers several different types of alarms. Some are downright hilarious {Sharknado!} And you can even ask her to wake you up with your personalized playlist.

SEVEN: {Alexa has ENHANCED our days.}

Our son loves to listen to music…while he works, while he plays and even while he sleeps and having Alexa and unlimited Amazon Music has been a game-changer for him. It does not matter if he is doing his school work on the couch, at his desk or in the basement, he is able to access an unlimited array of songs instantly. Not only can he listen to some upbeat tunes during his math lesson, he can also listen to various samples of whatever classical composer we are studying at the time. He can even access the songs we use to memorize Scripture. The offerings on Amazon Music are truly vast and the instant access to such a variety of music has ENHANCED OUR DAYS in a big way.

BONUS: With the Alexa app, I can control the volume, stop the song and filter his choices. It also shows me everything he has listened to {in the off chance I did not HEAR it firsthand, ha ha!}

EIGHT: {Alexa has CREATED a peaceful space.}

This one might be unique to just our family but, I can definitely say that Alexa has CREATED A PEACEFUL SPACE for this Mama! Our son has a Ploffice for his school work and elaborate Lego collection. My husband has a home office in the basement. My mom has a large suite with loads of privacy. But, until I carved out a little sanctuary in the storage area of the basement, complete with comfy chair, big desk and Alexa, I did not have a work space to call my own. But, now I have a private, quiet, peaceful place to work on blog posts and TpT products. And because Alexa is a part of that equation, I can work diligently in my little sanctuary without feeling guilty for shirking my household duties or concerned that our son is ignoring his school work. My mom can reach me if she needs something. Our son can too.

NINE: {Alexa has INCREASED family time.}

The best thing Alexa has done for our family is INCREASE FAMILY TIME.

Between jamming to tunes while cleaning the house together and reminiscing about the “old” music my husband used to listen to, Alexa has used music to INCREASE FAMILY TIME.

Then you add in the GAMES that she offers, with or without game buttons, and Family Game Night has taken on a whole new dimension.

For a family Christmas gift, I plan to get an Echo Show for the kitchen so we can easily pull up recipes, catch the news and watch lunch-time documentaries!

My husband uses the Alexa app to drop in on the entire house on his way home from work. This allows us to put away the school work, quickly pick up any messes and be ready to greet him when he walks in the door. This habit has changed the dynamics of weekday evenings for the better in an immense way.

And with the increased communication throughout the house {including cutting into the gaming headphones}, making plans to spend more time together has never been easier.

And that’s something that everybody deserves!

Animals are our son’s passion and at 12-years-old, he insists he wants to be a professional zookeeper when he grows up. In addition to driving him to his position as a volunteer animal caretaker at the local museum multiple times each week, my husband and I enjoy taking him to zoos, aquariums, sanctuaries, etc. Besides making memories for our little family, each experience provides new educational opportunities for our son and seems to cement his career choice even further. My professor-by-trade husband calls it “research”. I just call it fun!

We visited this zoo on a recent trip to see my brother and his wife on their new farm in Cheney, Washington. While there, my sister-in-law suggested we visit Cat Tales Wildlife Center so we spent part of an afternoon exploring this little gem…

NAME: Cat Tales Wildlife Center {also listed as Cat Tales Zoological Park}

LOCATION: Mead, WA {close to Spokane}

HOURS: {Summer} 10am-5PM, {Winter} 10am-4pm, closed Mondays

ADMSSION RATES: {Adults} $10.00; {Seniors/Students} $8.00; {Children 3-12} $5.00; {senior citizens on Sundays, handicapped always, active duty military/veterans/law enforcement/firefighters with ID} FREE

DESCRIPTION: Cat Tales is a small nonprofit sanctuary for rescued big cats and other wildlife. The animals have been rescued from unfortunate “pet” situations, retired from the entertainment industry and rehabilitated after unfortunate injuries in the wild. Current animals include: two American Black Bears, four North American Bobcats, three coyotes, one Red Fox, one African Lion, one Canadian Lynx, two North American Pumas, several tigers and a wolf-hybrid.

SIZE: This is a very small zoo, which makes it ideal for quick visits. You could easily do the entire zoo {and still be very thorough} in an hour. If we lived in the area, we could definitely get a membership and visit frequently.

ACCESS: Super duper uber easy to get around. It’s all flat and involves no stairs at all. There is a ramp that leads into the gift shop, but other than that, the grounds are as flat as can be. Strollers, walkers and wheelchairs would be easily managed. There are also lots of places to sit along the way.

PARKING: Free, plentiful and close to the entrance!

FOOD/DRINKS: There are no snack shops or restaurants of any sort but there are a few food/drink items available in the gift shop. My husband bought a candy bar and soda and didn’t grumble about the price so it must’ve been on some sort of reasonable level.

GIFT SHOP: As would be expected at a small zoo, the gift shop is also rather small BUT besides the obligatory stuffed toys and souvenir mugs, it does hold some fun surprises. The nursery is adjacent to and totally viewable from inside the gift shop. During our visit, they had Red Fox kits in the nursery which were adorable to see! There is also a small museum of sorts that includes some full size taxidermied animals.

SPECIAL EXPERIENCE: {Big Cat and Bear Adventures} Doing one of these is a must! The cost of $10 to feed a bear, lion or tiger is totally worth it! The Kid fed grapes to a black bear and we both fed meat to a tiger (we paid for a total of three “adventures”.) The bear was hilariously excited about his grapes….like, hopping on his feet in happy anticipation of each grape. Because the kid is only 12 years old, an adult was expected to participate as well (bummer for me, ha ha!) So, I had a front row view of the grateful bear! That experience left me wanting to hug the big fuzzy guy and feed him grapes by the boatload. {But, of course I have a healthy respect for wild animals and would never do such a thing!} The tiger was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more intimidating and serious and did not greet each bite with glee like the bear. Rather, he paced between bites and eyeballed the food as it went from the zookeeper to me and finally through the hole. The experience definitely left me in awe of its intimidating size, amazing strength and natural ferocity. Both experiences were totally 100% safe because the animals are securely contained behind a fence with an extra barrier of something (plexiglass maybe). And you use a funny looking stick to put each piece of food through a hole that the animal grabs with its mouth. Each “adventure” consists of feeding an animal probably 6-8 pieces of food so it’s well worth the price. If you are interested in participating in an adventure, the gift shop sells the passes and also provides a cute magnet to memorialize the adventure.

ENJOYMENT RATING: ♥♥♥♥♥ Though this is a small zoo with a very limited number of animals, it was highly enjoyable for our family. The size lends itself to easily viewable enclosures and creates a feeling of being unusually close to the animals. And the experience of feeding a bear and tiger was uniquely enjoyable for sure!

EDUCATION RATING: ♥♥♥♥♥ 1. All enclosures were marked with the animal’s name and species and some included the story of how they ended up at Cat Tales. There’s the bear who was being raised in a bath tub and the wolf-hybrid who was found injured with a metal chain trailing behind him. 2. While we participated in the Big Cat and Bear Adventures, the zookeeper provided a lot of interesting info and answered our dozens of questions. He seemed very engaged in the process of educating us about the animals in his care. 3. While in the gift shop, we also met a couple of other keepers, one an intern and the other a student. Both were very willing to chat with us, not only about the animals, but also their experience in the field. It turns out that Cat Tales offers a Zookeeper program on-site, which we will keep in mind for our son in the future.

ENCLOSURE RATING: ♥♥♥♥_ It’s a small zoo with small enclosures and while that creates a very engaging viewing experience, it does make one wonder if the animals are “happy” in their space. But, each enclosure did include some sort of private area for the animal to escape to, though most were out and about while we were there {so maybe they are, in fact, happy to see guests.} And when you consider the fact that these animals were all rescued from bad situations and are now obviously being well cared for, things seem to even out. Plus, I saw on their website that they are in the middle of creating a new space for the wolf, foxes and coyotes so it seems they have the right idea.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS: If you’ve never heard of Cat Tales Zoological Park, you’re in good company because we hadn’t either. But I’m so glad we were able to experience this little gem. Not only do we want to take every opportunity to take our zoologist-in-training to a new zoo, we want to have him experience a variety of types and sizes of zoos. Don’t come to Cat Tales expecting the San Diego Zoo or anything remotely similar. It is small. But it is enjoyable, educational and endearing. Each animal there has a tale to tell…a tale of survival.

CONTACT INFO:

www.cattales.org~(509) 238-4126~17020 N Newport Hwy Mead, WA 99021

Nine Ways ALEXA Has Improved Our Lives