Dog Sitting

Coach Joel and family went to a National's game, so Julia got to dog sit!

Whew ... dog sitting Jiro looks like hard work!

First Day of School

RJ started high school at Gonzaga this year. There was NO first day of high-school picture, but Sara did manage take a picture of RJ coming back to get his soccer clothes that he left at home.

RJ - too cool for pictures, Aug 21

Julia's first day of school started the following Monday. We almost forgot the first day of school picture, but Doug remembered! Julia acted annoyed but I don't think she minded the attention. 

Doug's first appearance in a first-day-of-school pic.

Julia and Sara with a more traditional look

Julia and friends with the Nationals presidents

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 an 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 shoots ... so there is still a chance (see post with the results).

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 Creami

The kids got better about brushing their teeth and were rewarded with a Ninja Creami 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!

As time passed, the kids learned to build bigger and bigger ice cream cones.

By September 2, RJ was able to substantially increase the quantity of ice cream per cone

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.