Day at Upton Park

With summer winding down, Sara took the kids to Upton park to take advantage of discounted passes from summer reading.

Everyone had lots of fun in the batting cage, at the swimming pool, and on the ropes course.

Julia connects with a softball (great timing on the pic Sara!)

RJ in the batting cage

Based on his smile, RJ must have been aiming at Julia

Julia on the ropes course.

Sara said that the ropes course was as challenging at the one in Miami. She also mentioned that there was on area where you had to walk off a cliff. See video below. It was probably scarier than the video portrays it. 

Girls Garage

Sara decided it was time for Julia to learn something about maintaining cars. 

Sara and Julia replace the air filter on the mini-van

 

Garden, But

Too much time away equals not a lot of production from the garden.

Doug got some lettuce in the early going BUT it quickly got bitter. RJ planted radishes BUT forgot to pick them. Sara had some cucumbers BUT they got bitter. We are getting cherry tomatoes BUT nobody is eating them. Doug planted some sunflowers BUT the rabbits ate the good ones and the deer ate the rest. BUT the sunflowers the deer ate sprouted two flowers ... so there is still a chance.

RJ got some volunteer tomatoes and 2-3 cantaloupes. We got about 20-30 peaches (the squirrels got the rest)

Julia planted corn. She got about 10 ears (we overcooked the first batch), Doug's corm is still growing

Garage Door - snap

Sara and the kids were coming home ... the garage door opened a few inches and slammed back down. Spring broke. Luckily they were outside so they didn't hear the BANG. Once the spring broke the part the holds the door along the rail was stripped. 

So in addition to a new garage door, we needed a new garage door opener ... or do we?

Broken part - the guide in the middle was stripped

Garage door guy somehow clamped the spring ... so we could open the door manually.

$15 later we installed the new part and have a temp solution until the new door arrives

Of course the new part was slightly different than the old one. So you could not lock in the guide. As a result I had to take apart both parts and use parts of both to construct a working part.

Ninja Creamy

The kids got better about brushing their teeth and were rewarded with a Ninja Creamy Swirl. This was after Sara purchased 3 machines and kept the best one.

Now instead of going to the store to purchase 1/2 gallon of ice cream for $3.00, we go to the store and purchase $8.00 worth of ingredients, mix the ingredients 12 or so hours in advance, and then eat ice cream.

The result is soooo worth it. Now we get soft-serve ice cream at home!

Beach with Kovaks

After dropping Doug at the Philadelphia train station Sara, RJ, and Julia headed to Sea Isle City. Doug needed the extra time to prepare for Ascent (partner-only summer training). 

Shockingly there are no pictures of Bubba Dogs ... but the boys ate there pretty much every day (from what I heard).

Day 1 (Tuesday) featured big waves and red flags. Doug was jealous. The waves cleaned up (and got smaller) on Wed. and Thurs. 

It wouldn't be a trip to the beach without some sand castles

The girls (I wonder if Beachy Towel News reported this year)

How did Janelle get the hat Sara lost last year? Turns out she 'bought' it, yeah, right.

The Boys avoided the camera for the most part

Driving OH, IN, NJ

For summer vacation we decided to drive the mini-van all over the place.

• July 30: drive to Cleveland, OH
• Aug 1: Cousin Joe's funeral in South Bend, IN
• Aug 2: Guardians Game in Cleveland
• Aug 3: Beach with Kovaks via Philadelphia (separate post)

On July 31 Doug worked from a partner office in Cleveland while Sara and the kids hung out with Ian. The highlight for Doug was braving the Cleveland bus and train to turn a 30 minute commute home into a 110 minute commute home.

Kids toured Cleveland with Ian (not pictured)

We did not spent the night in South Bend, so we had to change in a Chipotle bathroom

Prior to the Guardians game we went to church and hit the game room in Aunt Donna's building. Julia is NOT ready to become a pool hustler yet.

Off to the Guardian's game. Prior to leaving, Doug placed a $2 bet to try to recover the $1 he lost last year. The Guardians were favored to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks.

We re-enacted last year's photo (except Doug pitched)

The entire Cleveland gang in the box

RJ drank 9 sodas at the Guardians game (we got there early so he had 3 before the start)

Sara and Marissa

This time Cleveland WON and Doug got some massive cash ... $3.14. So if you subtract the bet amount ($2) and the money he lost last year ($1) ... he netted $0.13!!!

The next day we started the drive from Cleveland to Sea Isle City, NJ.

While travelling through Phily, the gang dropped Doug at the train station.

Mountain Biking - Fountainhead

The Grays suggested that we go mountain biking at Fountainhead Regional Park in Fairfax Station. The reviews were accurate so Sara and Julia did a different trail. The 'green' trail featured a few 12" drops, some berms, a lot of roots, and some good up and down. Geoff cut his finger, RJ managed to crush you-know-where on his back tire, and Bradley fell and scraped his arm/leg/back. So overall ... a successful day!

RJ, Bradley, Geoff, and Doug did two laps on the green trail ... as well as a loop to the water courtesy of a missed turn when we were looking for the trailhead.

Taking a break

Elevation Map of Route

Distance: 1.71 miles Max Speed: 9.5 mph Elevation Gain: 160 feet Time: 32 min

We celebrated with a trip to 7-eleven after the ride.

Requirements for next ride:

• RJ 'needs' a new mountain bike
• Everybody needs gloves to keep sweaty hands from slipping off the handlebars

Lake Linganore

The Kenemuths invited us and the Carters to a pontoon boat outing at Lake Linganore.

Boats linked together - the Kenemuth's is the second from the left

Julia preparing to slide / dive

Chilling on the boat

Rope swing (not pictured: jumping from the rock cliff on the opposite shore)

Overall it was a great day of swimming, jumping, sliding, swinging, and socializing. And nobody got sunburned!

G-Geoff Visit

We hosted G-Geoff for his good-will tour of DC. He brought his dog Arthur with him ... so we got some pictures. Geoff was on his own agenda, but he forced to play True Colors with us one night.

Arthur was pretty chill - he didn't bark over 4 days, but he did like to jump on people

Waking Julia was easier for a few days!

Bike Repair Shop

Plenty of bike repairs were needed this summer. Or should I say ... this week. 

GT 24" Mountain Bike

After a trip to whitetail the mountain bike needed a new chain, a new rear derailer, and a new rear shifting cable. 

After Julia and I replaced those 3 parts the shifting was terrible and the chain fell off the derailer. After some troubleshooting Doug decided that the rear derailer mounting bracket (hanger) was bent as the rider crushed down on the mangled mess.

So we ordered another part, waited another week, and fixed the bike that is not in great shape and will become a permanent resident of Whitetail.

Halfway done. New derailer, cable, and chain.

One of those derailer hangers is slightly bent

GT 26" Specialized Hard Rock

RJ took on the task of repairing the flat on the front week of the bike he started riding after the demise of the 26" GT. He found 2 huge thorns in the tire ... lucky he looked before putting the new tube in.

RJ works on the flat tire

Flat was fixed in less than an hour.

GT 26" Rocky Mountain Fusion

The rear gears would not shift on the bike pictured in the back of the pic above. After some investigation Doug discovered that somebody pushed the rear shifter so far beyond first gear that the rear derailer cable slipped.

After fixing the cable and doing some adjustments the bike was back in business.

Well Done Popcorn

Burned popcorn doesn't smell very good. But popcorn that is really burned and creates a billowing cloud of smoke that smells really, really bad. Although this did not merit a call to 9-1-1 we were pretty grossed out by the smell. By the time Doug got home the situation was not too bad ... but that didn't stop Julia from using the smell as an excuse to sleep on the porch in a tent in 74 -> 66 degree weather.

The smoking remnants of a bag of popcorn were extinguished and left in the yard to deter wildlife

Sara and Julia avoided the smell in the house by sleeping on the porch (weather was perfect)

Lindsey / Girls Weekend

We hosted Lindsey and her girls for a night during girls weekend in DC. RJ and Julia didn't understand how small children could make so much noise. Ah, if we only had videos of them at that age.

Sara and friends at the outlets

Big Chickens

Hillary had a 50th birthday and retirement party. Doug, RJ, and Julia used it as an opportunity to visit our chickens ... and get two more Slurpees.

Chickens are all still alive and quite grown up. Julia climbed into the coop to hang with Khaki.

Sara needs to get a water slide for her 50th birthday!

Julia Ear Piercing

Julia was promised that she could get hers ears pierced when she turned 12. Sara took her and the process went smoothly with no pain.

 

Before the holes

New earrings in .. still smiling!

World Cup - Miami

Trip to Miami was a grand experience, featuring ... 

• Snorkeling trip
• Badia Spices tour
• Science museum 
• World Cup soccer - Argentina versus Cape Verde
• Hanging out with cousins

Day 1: Travel / Arrival

RJ in the Miami airport. He was frustrated by the lack of coconuts ... but we got hand-picked mangos!

Day 2: Snorkeling / Cousins

Sara and the kids enjoyed a snorkeling trip with the Martins to the reef off John Pennekamp National Park.

Prep for the snorkeling trip

Elevator on the way to dinner at Donna's or South Beach Club?

Day 3: Spice Factory / USA Soccer

Kids went into the activity with a typical teen-age level of interest. Once they hit the production line the level of interest changed.

Julia and Doug fixated on the machine that puts paper on the top of pallets. RJ was pretty amazed with the entire process. Sara's business side came out and she peppered (no spice pun intended) Robert from Tech Group with questions. 

Production line at Badia

Warehouse at Badia

Watching USA vs Bosnia game at Aunt Donna's later at night

Day 4: Science Center / Group Dinner

Frost Museum of Science was interactive and entertaining. We did a film in the planetarium, watched the fish in the aquariums, and stayed much later than we should have without eating lunch. Doug and Tom broke off to read lots of stuff and geek out.

Never under-estimate how fun it is to watch fish, sharks, rays, and a turtle

Trip to science museum was fun and interactive. 

Day 5: World Cup

We routed against Spain in the group stage so our World Cup experience would feature a good game between Spain and Argentina. Instead we got Cape Verde versus Argentina. 

But Cape Verde was a LOT better than we (and 60,000 Argentina fans) would have liked! We ALMOST got to see one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history ... but Argentina got a late goal and held on for a 3-2 win.

Team USA photo earlier in the day.

We arrived early to take advantage of a world class spread (sushi, steak, plus more!)

Prior to the game RJ shook is finger at the VAR review box. We were still bitter from the Croatia loss to Portugal.

The Johnson's and Martin's pre-game photo

Our entire crew during the welcome event

View from our seats ... pretty sweet!!

RJ and Julia in the 'alternate' seats - front row

Day 6: Travel Home

After a 12:30am bedtime following the game we were awakened at 3:30am to get to the airport. Ugh.

In addition to the 6-7 stuffed stowaways, Julia got another Squishmallow on the trip. Here we are in Atlanta

Caiden, RJ, Jett in the ATL airport after 2 hours of sleep