July 2025

Landon had asked me recently if we could play a round of golf. We got ready and headed over to the local par-3 to play a round of golf. Only to be told that it was women's day and we weren't able to play. So, we just went to hit some balls at the driving range. 

The kids love a good mystery bag. I am a big kid myself so when I saw this at Dairy Queen I just had to have it. It ended up having a chocolate sundae, ice cream cup with sprinkles, and a M&M blizzard. Not exactly what I would have chosen, but a great deal with the prices at DQ. The blizzard itself costs over $5.

Time for the cousin crew picture. Nora wasn't having it and Eliana wouldn't put down the cheese crackers. 

Olivia saw all the rocks that we had painted for our rock garden and said she wanted to do one. Jennifer helped her design the giraffe rock and Olivia painted the whole thing by herself. I think it turned out great. 

Andrea and the girls came down to celebrate the July birthdays. Andrea took the kids on an adventure to see the movie Elio. The next day I was off work, so we took the kids bowling and played some arcade games. 

Our bowling scores and lunch at Chick-fil-a. We had a lot of fun catching up and seeing the girls. They are both growing up very quickly and becoming very independent. 

This boy has been asking for a perm for over six months, and we finally made it happen. He wasn't so sure about it during the two hours we were at the salon, but happy with the results once we got home. 

Before and after - he looks 1,000 times better in my opinion. I think it looks pretty good on him. 

We decided to try our hand at a different type of golf, disc golf. We have an 18 hole course in our backyard. The girls didn't want to come because it was so hot outside. We played about 10 holes before calling it quits. This 11th hole is just a few steps away from our backyard.

JK asked the kids to go see the new Jurassic Park movie at the theater with him. The kids love going with JK because he lets them get whatever they want at the concessions. 

Brinley has been asking for a dog for most of her life. I am not an animal person, but I know that it was something she really wanted. I told her that if she raised the money and paid for it all herself then she could get one. Well, I totally underestimated her because she had the money together in about two and a half months. She sold bracelets at Landon's ballgames and dog sat for some friends. I am very proud of her, and I believe that by making this something she earned that she would have greater understanding and responsibility of this little puppy that she named Fawkes.

Book number 9 for the year was this book by Tim Tebow. I knew a lot of his story, but this gave a lot of the background info that I didn't know about. Very enjoyable book. 

For Landon's birthday we got the guys together to conquer a countdown game. We traveled through time to complete the room with about 15 minutes to spare. Our streak continues - we have always made it out!

Landon wanted an ice cream cake for his birthday. Happy 12th birthday little guy. He didn't want anything for breakfast, but we grabbed Goodfellas for lunch, which he has done for the past 8 years. We played a couple of games with family before heading off to meet some friends. 

Landon really wanted to have a birthday party at Skyzone, but with his knee injury he was not able to jump. So instead we invited a couple of his school friends to play at Main Event. They spent five hours playing everything they could find. They even bowled, zip lined, and played a few games of lazer tag. 

I made Landon leave Main Event so that he could make it to his dinner request of Malone's. He enjoyed dinner and dessert. While we were there he mentioned that he wanted to go back to Main Event since they don't close until 1 am. 

We went back to Main Event and spent another three hours playing games. He was so pumped when he finally beat me at connect four basketball. 

I was able to make it out to Kids Cancer Alliance Camp to hang out with all the my young patients and their siblings. I helped the med shed complete the puzzle they had started and stayed until the late night grilled cheese. 

Landon and I went over to McKinley's house to check on Lexi while they were out of town. Landon decided to try mowing. He has never been able to start our mower, but theirs is electric and just requires you to push a button to start it. Unfortunately the batteries weren't charged and he only got to mow a few strips. 

I was able to complete my goal of 10 books and it was just over halfway through the year. This was a really good read. I wasn't too familiar with the Fonz, but apparently he was so much bigger than I had imagined. He had a lot of things going against him, but was able to overcome adversity and made a great life for himself and his family. 

I signed Brinley up for some softball tryouts and thought it was supposed to last about an hour. Well, four hours later it was time to go home. Brinley was starving so I stopped and got her some chicken from her favorite place. She did not thank it was funny when I told them the name for the order was Brenda.

Look at me being an overachiever and already getting another book done. This was just a collection of golf stories. Interesting quick little read. 

Speaking of golf we decided to give the par-3 another chance. We played 18 for the day and Landon's favorite moment was when the sprinklers came on and he walked through it. 

We stopped by Goodfellas for a bread stick for the kids. I let them go in by themselves to pick them up. The guy inside was being nice and gave it to them for free. The kids were both so pumped. Later that day we headed over to the Battle Axes to let off a little steam. Brinley participated in a rage room where she broke a bunch of glass bottles. She used a sledge hammer and crowbar. She also threw a few against the walls and floor. Then the kids played a game of pool. It was entertaining to watch. Then we all threw axes. We all had a lot of fun.

This game has been so frustrating to me. I have been so close to getting two watermelons and it finally happened. I unlocked the golden fruit. It was so satisfying to make it happen. I literally haven't played the game a single time since then. 

Book number 12 was one that I read to see if I could understand my co-workers better. Very similar to the five love languages. I just need to take the quiz to see which is my appreciation language. 

I have been enjoying more sunrises and sunsets lately since I have started taking walks again. God paints the most beautiful pictures in the skies. 

The survivor picnic was almost bankrupt earlier in 2025, but thanks to many donations and grants we have gotten into a much better situation financially. My friend is on the board for Commonwealth Causes and they had some money to give away to local charities. Thankfully we were selected. This is going to make our picnic bring a lot of smiles to patients later this year. 

It isn't summer if we don't have a bonfire and make some s'mores. Everyone said that it was too hot outside for a fire, but the s'mores tasted delicious. 

Another 6 am morning sunrise before heading into work. It is just so beautiful to me. Sad part is that the picture doesn't even do it justice. 

Getting ready to board the first plane. We had a stop in Atlanta before flying to Seattle. The kids were excited because this flight had TV's. We have only flown Frontier with the kids so they didn't even know the luxury of free drinks and snacks either. 

Like father, like daughter. We both fell asleep on the 2nd flight of the day out to Seattle. 

The next morning we took our time getting up and heading towards the cruise ship. We stopped by the gum wall at Pike's Place Market and even watched them throw a couple of fish. Then when we got to the boat we were pleasantly surprised to get a free viewing of the Blue Angels flying around doing stunts. 

The top is pictures of the kids on the boat for the first time and the picture of them on their first uber ride. The kids quickly got a stick and started playing pool. 

Our first ice cream cones too! Landon got much better about making a cone from this dismal start. 

Our first night in the dining room and I had this fella as my bread plate. You can't take the Kentucky boy out of this guy. Abe and I enjoyed a great first dinner on the Carnival Luminosa.