July 2023

July started with us in Seattle and exploring the city. The first stop was at the Space Needle. Washington was a new state for the kids, so clearly it was the first time for them to head to the top. We really enjoyed looking at this scale model made out of Legos while we were waiting in line to head to the top. 

At the top Brinley was absolutely terrified. She didn't want to get anywhere close to the edge. You can see in the top left picture Brinley wanted to sit on the front of the bench and wanted to hold onto it as well. Landon had no fear what so ever. He leaned up on the glass and was just having a lot of fun with it. To be completely honest I was terrified too!

This is what the picture looked like trying to get Brinley to sit back on the bench with us. The person that took the picture for us got a good laugh out of it. 

Next we headed down to Pike's Place Market. The kids and Jennifer were excited about getting coffee at the original Starbucks. The line however was about and hour and a half long. Jennifer and Brinley waited the whole time while Landon and I went to wait in another line. They were all really happy with their drinks. Not to be left out I ordered something for myself, a cup of water. If you know me then you know that pretty much sums me up, free!

While the girls waited in line we hopped into another line and got some Piroshky, which we found upon doing a google search of what to try for food in Seattle. Pictured are a couple of the sweet options that they had. We also tried the cheese piroshky, potato piroshky, and meat one. They were ok, but the dessert ones were better in my opinion. 

This was one of the most disgusting things that we saw on the trip. Down one alley at Pike's Place Market you can find the gum wall. People have placed tons of chewed gum all over the walls. Some even made them into art work. Can you spot the smiley face in the bottom left picture?

The thing you for sure have to see at Pike's Place Market is the the workers at the fish stand. They throw fish around like they are playing pitch and catch with one another. It is really fun to see. We had thought about going out to Olympic National Park, but we just couldn't work it into this trip. Looks like we will have to come back someday to explore it. 

New state means it is time for a picture. The road sign was on the side of a bridge so we had to settle for this one at a rest stop. Idaho is the 43rd state for the kids. 

We stopped at the Creators of the Moon National Monument. The landscape was really unique. It is volcanic rock and old lava tubes that have opened up and formed tunnels and caves. We explored the Indian Tunnel and climbed all around the fallen rock. The kids completed their first junior ranger badges at the National Park. They had to complete a few tasks and then even had to recite the junior ranger motto to get their badges. 

State 44 Montana!

We got to Yellowstone, the first National Park, and our first stop was Old Faithful. We got there about 30 minutes before the projected time for it to erupt. We decided to stay and wait because it took about an hour to drive down to that side of the park with all the tourists and traffic. I took pictures of all the people that joined on either side of us to see the most famous geyser in the world.

I loved seeing all the wildlife. We saw a lot of buffalo, some elk, a coyote, and some deer. The thing that I kept an eye out for the entire time was a moose. We weren't able to spot one this time but I would love to come back and search for one again. 

They were literally just a few feet away from the car. There were lots of people who were out taking pictures relatively close to these big guys. I was happy to take pictures from my car. 

We also visited the Canyon Village where they have the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. The views were spectacular. 

The next morning we woke up early and headed down to the river to do a little white water rafting. Landon was terrified about it and chose to sit in the middle of the boat because he didn't want to fall into the river. It wasn't too long into the adventure that he moved to the side of the raft and at the end he was riding on the front of the boat like a little hood ornament. 

After drying off from the rafting and lunch we headed back into Yellowstone to see the Grand Prismatic Spring. On the walk out to see it we got caught in a downpour. Thankfully Jennifer had packed us some ponchos so we were some of the only dry people out on the trail. Yellowstone is such a huge park and we barely scratched the surface of it. Another park that we will have to come back to see again. 

State 45 for the kids North Dakota. 

We were having trouble finding anything to do in the state so we settled on the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The biggest draw to this park is the prairie dog towns. We enjoyed watching them run around in and out of holes. 

Onward to state 46 for the kids, South Dakota. 

South Dakota proved to be a very special state for Jennifer since it was her final of the 50 states! I have had the privilege of joining her on the journey in every state too. This actually completed my second time seeing all the contiguous 48 states. 

If you are in South Dakota then you for sure have to go see the most famous sculpture in the USA, Mount Rushmore! We hiked the trail that goes down below the mountain and the kids once again completed their tasks to become Jr. Rangers. We decided to go ahead and spend the night in area and celebrated the 4th of July eating pizza and watching some fireworks. 

This is probably one of my favorite pictures that we have ever taken. I couldn't believe it that I lucked out and got Honest Abe. I let Landon have the first pick of what President he wanted to be and he picked George. Then Brinley picked Teddy because she said she liked him in Night at the Museum (the movie). Since I am the next youngest I got to pick Abe. Jennifer got the left over Thomas Jefferson. 

The next morning we got up early and hit up the most advertised tourist trap in the entire United States. They advertise for hundreds of miles about the free ice water and tons of other things. I took pictures on the same jackalope when I was a much younger lad. We enjoyed looking around and taking some pictures. Then it was time to head back out on the road. 

South Dakota also has a really awesome National Park, the Badlands. The kids really enjoyed running around on all the land formations. 

I just loved this picture of the Badlands. A lone sunflower growing out in such a desolate land. 

Minnesota was state number 47 for the kids. We had originally planned to go to the Mall of America, but by the time we were going to arrive in Minneapolis the mall was going to be closed. We found a roadside Jolly Green Giant. Then we stopped for what we found on google to be the food of Minnesota, loaded tater tots and Juicy Lucy, a burger stuffed with cheese inside the patty. 

The final of lower 48 for the kids was Wisconsin. We spent the night and then got up the next morning to go see a cheese factory because it is the Dairy State. We tried fresh cheese curds and all of us were not really big fans. I think it had something to do with the squeaking sound that it makes while you are eating them. We also all tried a chocolate cheese, but none of us were fans of that either. 

If you build it they will come! I had been wanting to go see this place ever since they started playing major league baseball games at the Field of Dreams a few years ago. It was only going to be about an hour out of the way so I thought it would be worth it. I have always enjoyed the movie and have even watched it with the kids. I had a lot of fun playing around in the field. The kids got to use their new gloves too. 

The movie set field was just open to the public so we took full advantage of it. We all took a turn at bat and I even got to hit. I think Jennifer surprised the kids with how well she could hit the ball. Landon took a turn throwing from the mound and I even got to hit off of him. It was a moment that I will remember for a very long time.

It wasn't too packed, but there was about 100 people walking around and enjoying the field and house. We decided to not do the tour of the house and instead spent about two hours hitting and fielding on the movie field. We even snuck into the cornfield and took a picture of all of us coming out like the players in the movie. 

We had an awesome adventure on our trip out west. We drove around 5,700 miles in just over twelve days time. If you ever get a chance to take a cross country trip I would highly recommend it. There are so many sights and interesting things that you can find along the way. This trip was my third time driving all the way to the west coast. I told Jennifer that it was the last time I will drive to the west coast, but if someone asked me I would probably do it. 

We had some visitors in town when we got back from our trip. Aunt Andrea, Uncle Chris, Olivia, and Eliana came down to spend some time with us. We had a s'mores night over at McKinley's house. Olivia approved of the s'mores.

The whole crew got to come watch Landon play baseball. Olivia found a lot of little friends to play with at the park so she had a lot of fun. 

I had a friend that came and took pictures of Landon and his teammates during their ballgames. She sent me these shots of Landon. They were awesome.

Brinley's team had a tournament that weekend too. It got to be very late at night when they were finishing up the championship game. Uncle McKinley and Aunt Taylor stayed to watch the very heated championship game where Brinley's team lost in the very last inning. 

They have a PGA Golf tour that is held every summer in nearby Nicholasville. I signed up to volunteer as a walking scorer. After multiple hours of online training the day finally arrived for me to go score some professional golf. It was really interesting and a little nerve racking too. It took a couple holes but then I got the hang of it. Until I had the golfers ask me for things. One of the golfers took a drop off a hazard and didn't tell me, I had to ask his caddy about it. Then I multiple times had to ask for a rules official to come over and help with a dispute about something. I even had one golfer ask for a trainer to come see him because his neck was hurting. One of the golfers that I was scoring for even lost his ball in the thick cut grass and couldn't find it. That made me feel better about my golf game. Overall it was a pretty fun experience and I would do it again.

Our little man turned 10! I can't believe how fast this past 10 years seems like it has flown by. This guy make us extremely proud to be his parents.

Landon picked a fun filled day with whatever he wanted to do. It started with playing everything imaginable at Malibu Jack's. He was so excited about being old enough to ride the go carts by himself, but unfortunately they also have a height requirement that he does not meet. He was a little bummed about that. We even had grandma and grandpa show up to play a round of mini golf with him. 

The birthday boy wanted to stop by and see Uncle McKinley on his birthday too. 

This little guy wanted an ice cream cake for his birthday. We went out for his traditional birthday lunch at Goodfellas. Then came home and of course he wanted to play video games, the kid is obsessed! 

Landon got a hoverboard for his birthday. Jennifer made him wear a helmet when riding it. The kid was a natural on it. Before long he was zooming all around the house on it. Brinley on the other hand was a little shaky. Jennifer had to walk behind her to catch her if she fell. It took her a little longer, but she finally figured it out. 

Grandma and Grandpa leaving to head back home after coming up to celebrate with Landon for his birthday. 

I had won some tickets to Kentucky Kingdom from a silent auction basket so we packed up and headed to Louisville for the day. The kids rode every roller coaster that was available and we all had a lot of fun. I was more terrified on the Ferris Wheel than any of the roller coasters that we rode throughout the day. 

It was a fun time at the park. We ended the night with some dippin' dots before heading back home to Lexington. It was a fun day with some of my favorite people. 

Another weekend tournament ended with Brinley getting another runner-up ring. We are very proud of her and the Rampage team. She is getting quite the collection for her ring holder. 

Our church held an outdoor night of worship at an amphitheater and we were very happy to be there. Landon might have been more excited about the ice cream truck. 

Aunt Andrea celebrated a pretty big birthday this year, she turned the big 4-0! We all were able to meet up in Cincinnati for the day at the children's museum. All the kids had fun playing with one another. We also toured the really cool Lego exhibit. They had an interactive where you could help put Lego pieces on an 8x8 square. The square was then placed on a large mosaic wall that displayed an awesome picture of NYC on the 4th of July. We were actually there to see the wall get finished. Then about 5 minutes later they started tearing it down to start a new one. 

I snapped this picture one night to let my brother and Taylor know that I was putting in work. We have an upcoming trip in August to go out to Yosemite to hike Half Dome. This is a pretty grueling hike so I was trying to get my legs and body ready for the summit. I packed the backpack with about 15 bottles of water to simulate carrying all my supplies for the day. 

Landon's last tournament of the season ended with a loss right before the championship game. On the way back to the car I asked him to snap a picture with me. He asked why because we had just lost. I told him I wanted one last picture with him when I was able to coach him. He said he still wanted me to be his coach, but I believe it is time that I move over to the sidelines. I am pretty hard on this little guy and I don't want to ruin sports for him because I really love watching him play ball.

As baseball ends we were able to get connected with a tackle football program based out of LCA. Landon had no idea about anything related to football, especially tackling. I am really excited to see him play the game that I grew to love.

July was a lot of fun and we had a blast finishing up our trip out west. I can't believe that at the age of 10 and 11 the kids have now been to all the states with the exception of Hawaii and Alaska. I hope that we are able to get those marked off in the next few years. I still can't believe how fast these kids are growing up too! We no longer have a single digit aged child in our house. I pray they always know how much their mother and I love them. 

June 2023

We started the summer off with some donuts. The kids got a full dozen for their good grades. You can get a free donut for every A that you get on your report card. 

To work off some of those donut calories we got out and took a hike at the arboretum. We walked in the wooden area and I let the kids pick all the paths that we took to see if they could get us out of the woods. While walking on these paths it made me think of the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. So, I got my phone out and read the poem to them and then had a discussion about how it relates to life. Sometimes you are going to have to make decisions that might not be easy and not many people will want to go down the hard and difficult road, but to not be afraid to try that journey in life. 

With rec ball nearing an end it is time to get the Slam team back up and running. Landon and his team were so excited to get outfitted with all of their gear. New helmets, jerseys, and batting gloves made for a lot of happy little boys. 

Brinley's team had a softball tournament near Santa Claus, IN. That meant that they were all going to Holiday World. We had bought tickets in advance with the team. The date of the tickets just so happened to be on the same day as Landon's rec ball tournament. He really wanted to go to Holiday World and skip the rec ball tournament, but I told him that he needed to finish out with his team. So, we compromised and we went to the park and stayed about 5 hours before heading back home to Lexington for his tournament game. 

Landon is always spending some time out on the baseball field, but his rec ball season ended with a tough loss. His expansion team White Sox really came together and was a great group of kids that all have a bright future both on and off the field. It was sad to see our two 12 year old kids move on, but excited to see the ten 9 year old boys come back to play next year. He really enjoyed kid pitch and has learned a lot of new things about the game of baseball. 

Brinley and her teammates had a lot of fun on their weekend tournament in Santa Claus, IN. This group of girls have almost become more like family. They always have a good time together. 

Next thing up for our girl was heading off to summer church camp. We were excited about her getting to go and learn more about God and learn to worship him daily. This was extremely hard for me because our little girl had never been away from family for that long, but I knew this was a very important thing for Brinley to do. I want her to grow up and be an independent young lady who isn't afraid to try new adventures. I know she was a little nervous too. She was really happy to find one person that she knew before she got on the bus. 

We got our girl back from church camp, so we took her out for a treat. We were so excited to see her and catch up and learn all about her adventures. She had so much fun and was ready to go back for more.

Father's Day 2023 was spent on the ball field for our first summer baseball tournament. We had a really rocky start to the morning. Landon's team was not ready to play and it was some hard baseball to watch all around. We lost in the first round of the tournament to a team that we shouldn't have lost to. If I had my way then I would have spent all day at the field watching my kids play ball. After heading home we rested for a bit and then decided to head back out and get some more work in. Both kids put in some work and I believe that they both got better on Father's Day 2023! These two kids are my biggest blessing and I am so happy to be their Dad!

Next summer camp was for Landon. He went to the UK baseball camp. He spotted a few of his teammates there too. He even got a picture with Coach Mingione. Landon was announced as camper of the day for one of the days that he was there. I am proud of him and all of his development and growth over the years. He has turned into a great little ball player. 

This was Landon one of the days I took him to the baseball camp. They have all kinds of batting cages below the stadium. It was really cool to see behind the scenes of the baseball facility. He had a lot of fun at this camp and I believe he showed out for all the coaches and players. 

Last camp of the summer was for me. I went to Camp KCA which is a camp for all families of Kentucky that have had a child diagnosed with cancer. Through donations they are able to offer this camp for free to all kids aged 5-18 who have had cancer or are a sibling of someone who had cancer. It is always an amazing week. Part of my job in the DanceBlue Clinic is to go and work camp as a nurse. We have some children who are on active treatment and we are there in case issues were to occur. In between times I am needed as a nurse I am spending time having fun with these children. The top picture is some of the med shed after a slime war. The bottom picture is of the lizard bead that I created during arts and crafts. I get so excited about camp every year because I get to see these kids run around and have so much fun. 

Brinley with a bunt in one of her games. I can't believe how much she has improved over just two years playing softball. When we started she could barely play pitch and catch with me. Now, she is out here laying down bunts. I am so proud of her development. 

Another weekend means another baseball tournament. Landon's team had a single day tournament. A teammate's parent snapped the top picture of me during our 3 hour break. If I ever sit down for any amount of time then more that likely I am going to be catching some zzzz's before it is all said and done. 

There was only one weekend over the summer that both kid's teams didn't have a tournament so we decided to take a vacation. I took two weeks off from work and we decided to take another cross country road trip. Our first stop was in St. Louis with a trip up into the arch. We tried to go up in this on another trip, but we hadn't planned ahead with tickets. After waiting in line to get up to the top we all hopped into the small little egg and headed to the top. Brinley was terrified on the trip up to the top. Everyone enjoyed the views from the top. It was a beautiful day outside and you could see great views of the city and the Mississippi River. 

A few more pictures from the top and then outside with the arch. After the Gateway Arch we were ready to head west! For the next 2 week adventure this was the only thing that we had booked in advance. We picked every hotel based on where we thought we could get to that day and were just hoping to find some adventure along the way. 

The next day and a half was spent mostly in the car and just the wide open road of the mid west. As a child I had stopped at the Bonneville Salt Flats and I remember it being pretty cool. I knew that when we were driving through northern Utah I wanted to take the kids to see it. We drove out on the salt flats and then got out and took a bunch of photos. Just like most things in life it wasn't exactly what I had remembered from my childhood, but it was still really neat. I think the kids were just happy to get out of the car and run around for a bit. 

I made the kids take a picture of their mother and I of course had a get a kiss from the beautiful lady.

Once we hit the California border we knew that it was time to find the first In-N-Out we could find. The kids had been before, but they didn't remember it. The kids really enjoyed it, especially the milkshakes!

We made it to the Pacific coast and the first thing that we signed up to do when we got to San Francisco was Alcatraz. My family wasn't able to get tickets when we went there during my childhood, so this was a new experience for me as well. It was a really cool experience and I would highly recommend if you are ever out there. 

Alcatraz was also full of vegetation. They had so many beautiful flowers and plants. I really thought these were beautiful succulents. 

More pictures from our adventures at Alcatraz. The entire tour is guided by radio. It walks you through the entire building and even has first hand accounts from former inmates. 

A picture of all of us inside the cafeteria of Alcatraz. We all looked like tourist for sure with our headphones. 

The thing that we weren't prepared for in San Francisco is how chilly it was in the city. Jennifer and the kids were always freezing. They were really happy to get some hot chocolate at the Ghirardelli store. We drove around the city just seeing the sites and even stopped by the Full House house. Last stop in the city that night was going to be the Golden Gate Bridge. The fog was crazy and you couldn't even see the entire bridge. We went to walk across the bridge, but they were closing the walkway about the time that we arrived for the night. We decided to spend the night and get a fresh start in the morning. 

I had a friend recommend to me that he had a lot of fun running the Golden Gate Bridge so the next morning I woke up and ran the length of the bridge. It was a nice little run, but there was an insane number of bicyclist and I had to make sure I was not going to get run over. After everyone woke up we all went up to walk on the bridge. Landon was mad that I didn't wake him up to run in the morning with me. He wanted to run it, but I told him that I was too tired and we didn't have anywhere for me to shower so we compromised and just walked out to the halfway point and let him touch the big cables. 

On the way to our next destination we asked the kids what they wanted to eat and they said In-N-Out again. This time the kids and I put on the hats that the workers wear. 

We drove up the coast of California and I had remembered on our trip a place where we had drove through a redwood tree. A quick google search showed us the Chandelier Tree that was just off the highway we were traveling on. We stopped and drove the rental car through it twice, then walked through it, and finally took some pictures with some fallen redwood trees. I don't know if the kids were as impressed as I was, but I just love seeing the huge redwood trees!

We stopped at the Redwood National Forest. We did a short little mile hike through the park to see some of these giant trees. The kids were so excited to put a pin in Kentucky to show where we were from on the map in the ranger station. 

We drove up the coast a little further before stopping at a roadside beach. The kids got out and ran around for a little while. The water was freezing. I facetimed with my parents and my mother was losing her mind saying that she was worried about the kids getting caught up in the tides and drowning. The kids were barely ankle deep in the water. However, on the way back to the car we saw this posted sign warning about the exact thing she was worried about.  

The next morning we explored some more of the Redwood National Forest. This place is awesome and at the end of our trip we all included it as one of our favorite things we did. It seemed like out of a movie set. We climbed on some trees and walked on fallen ones too. Brinley even spotted a banana slug! We waded in the little creek and we all tried our hands at skipping rocks. We were not that good!

Onward to Oregon for our next adventures. We stopped outside of Portland at Multnomah Falls. It was a beautiful double waterfall with a spectacular view. Jennifer and the kids climbed up to the bridge and I stayed down to take their picture. 

We drove down the road a little further and got to Horsetail Falls. This one had a little collection of water at the base and we decided to go for a little swim. Well, the water was freezing! I had to drag the kids into the water. I braved it and went to swim underneath the water fall. It didn't look like it from a distance, but that waterfall was extremely powerful and I'm so thankful that I didn't try to take the kids out to it.

This was the furthest I could get Landon to go out in the water with me. I had to carry him because the rocks were so slippery. Landon actually fell down and scraped his leg.

Brinley was much smarter and wanted to walk the outside of the little basin of water to get close to the waterfall. She walked back and I went straight in to try and go under the waterfall. 

One last picture with Horsetail Falls before heading out. This waterfall and water basin, although very cold, provided a lot of fun for our family. Nice little addition to the trip. 

Both kids needed new ball gloves and I jokingly told them we were going to get them in Oregon because they don't have sales tax. What can I say, once a cheapskate, always a cheapskate. So, we headed over to a Dick's to get a glove for both kids. They were really happy to pick out their gloves. Now we just have to get them broken in!

We braved downtown Portland to get some VooDoo Doughnuts. It was definitely a show while we waited in line for 20 minutes to get donuts. The kids and Jennifer were actually terrified I later found out. There was a DJ out on the street playing music and a lot of homeless looking people out dancing. Everyone enjoyed their treats as we headed out toward Washington state. 

We had a lot of fun during the month and especially on our cross country trip out west. The fun wasn't even half over though because we had about another seven days on the road in order to get back home. Thanks for reading and God Bless!