Saturday, August 17, 2024

Beach Vacay

The Kovacs and the Johnsons spent a few days at the beach. This year was Sea Isle City, NJ. Summary of fun:

  • 10 minutes after arrival we were on the beach
  • Day 2 featured super awesome surf
  • Day 3 featured red flag surf
  • Boardwalk at OC, NJ was fun - pizza, rides
  • RJ and Milo ate lunch at Bubba Dogs every day
  • Doug got to visit his college roommate Shawn who has a place in Avalon (10 minutes south).
  • Beachy Towel News covered the events
  • Digging and sand sculpting was popular for all
Boys got good at boogie boarding on day 2 ... notice the body surfer (Doug) in background


Julia heads out to catch some waves


Adam and Summer on joy ride


RJ racing the Indy 500



Rides on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ


After riding waves for hours, the crew needed some downtime


Lots of time digging in the sand ... Milo's shark sculpture



Doug stole the competitor's art designer (Milo) for help with the Beachy Towel News logo


The gang in front of the completed puzzle


Lots of digging kept the kids busy while not in the ocean


3 out of 3 days, the boys had Bubba Dogs for lunch




Saturday, August 10, 2024

Whitetail antics

Kids and Sara spent a week in Whitetail. Doug showed up on Friday night in preparation for the Clear Spring Carnival on Saturday night. 

The Clear Spring Carnival is always a hit. A large posse of Whitetail folks (LJ and kids, Heather and Vivian, Erika and kids, the Kenemuths, and us) took on the vomit-inducing, headache-creating rides.


The 'Hamster Wheel' was new this year ... and actually called OMG


Julia and Nico load into the Zipper ... RJ rode this with Rocco about 15 times


RJ scored some free tickets from a random person (Brad has them) so adults rode the Round Up (a.k.a. Throw up)


The kids convinced Doug to stay until the bitter end ... thankfully rides stopped at 11pm


By the end of the evening we were tired and dizzy ... another successful carnival night. Don't forget to ask Ms. Heather about her knife collection she obtained.

On Sunday the normal Whitetail antics resumed ... 

Antic 1: Quicksand

While wading into a pool of runoff water near the resort, Kaleb got stuck in quicksand (if such a thing actually exists). Thinking quickly he leaped out of his shoes and scampered to safety. 

The next day ... 

Doug and Julia spotted one shoe that floated to the top and got stuck before heading down the stream

The other shoe required a heroic effort from Mr. Brad using a shovel to dig up mud (a.k.a. quicksand). The process took about 20 minutes of stench from decaying organisms and leaves, but he managed to uncover the other croc that was buried in mud. $30-$40 saved!

Antic 2: Build your own Boat

Rocco and RJ decided it would make sense to build a boat to float out into one of the seven ponds. Building materials consisted of sticks, string, and several things from a dumpster (bubble wrap, plastic bottles to hold air, other stuff). The kids supplemented this free stuff with a roll of duct tape to hold the entire thing together. 

After a few hours of planning and building ...

... the raft floated ... RJ was the second rider while other kids waited their turn.



Antic 3: Repair Work

After replacing a light switch and contemplating replacing an outlet, a light bulb went off for Doug. Maybe the table lamp was having intermittent issues because the LED light bulb was bad. 

A quick trip to the local hardware store fixed the problem for $10 (it was a 3-way bulb).

While at the hardware store we purchased a latch for the broken structure around the propane tank. After disassembling the door, painting everything, and re-assembling the door the 'simple' repair was complete. 

... the repair to the propane enclosure



Saturday, August 3, 2024

Trampoline #2

Common sense and safety dictated that we purchase a new trampoline. RJ picked it out.

 

We started by disassembling the old and leveling the ground


The 'patient' boys declared that leveling was a waste of time. Nevertheless, Doug spent 2-3 hours in the boiling heat trimming the bush and leveling. RJ helped but petered out when Bradley arrived.


90 minutes of installation ... Julia's feelings were hurt within 10 minutes


Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Fostering Maggie Mae

The kids talked Sara into fostering a dog. The shelter provided us with a rescue named Maggie Mae. Maggie was super chill ... except she had trouble figuring out that dogs go to the bathroom outside.

The kids and Sara spent a LOT of time walking and sitting outside waiting for Maggie to pee.

Maggie joins the family for 3 weeks


At first Maggie was comfortable in her crate, but she ruined the mattress and liked RJ's bean bag


RJ took the morning shift and Maggie enjoyed getting a scratch


In case you were wondering ... in the picture above you can see a mattress that blocks the living room. That 'barrier' soon became just something that was fun to jump over and knock over.

Maggie got to visit Whitetail when the gang went there for the week. Maggie loved running around on the tennis court off-leash. She also loved sniffing everything on the 7 Ponds Trail.

Fun running around on the tennis court



Alas, all good things eventually come to an end. On Aug 10 Maggie Mae found a permanent home.

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

ND Summer Vacation

Summer vacation featured a trip to North Dakota. Brief itinerary and highlights below.

  • Saturday, Sunday: Grandma and Grandpa's farm
    • Four wheeling, trains, BMX 2000, fish spawning
    • Prairie Village Museum, Steve & Andrea's presentation
  • Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: Jimmy and Kelly's farm
    • Horse camp and Fritel Farm
    • Golf, Medora show, cats/chickens
  • Thursday, Friday, Saturday: Bismark
    • German's from Russia conference
    • Science museum, swimming pool, Grandpa's 80th birthday, bounce park
  • Sunday: Minot
    • State fair
  • Monday, Tuesday
    • Bonus days in Buffalo, MN at Anna's due to Delta Airlines fiasco

Grandma and Grandpa's Farm

Plenty of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's farm. 4-wheeling, trains, touring the fields, visiting the new house in Rugby, and visiting the Prairie Village Museum for a great talk on the Friedel/Fritel family history. 
 
As a special treat we went to "Horse and Animal Camp" and the Brossart Farm.

Trains parked near (but not on!) Grandpa's farm



One of the hopper cars with a sweater on top was 'open' so Doug ventured in


After Andrea and Steve presented Friedel/Fritel history, we toured the Prairie Village Museum


Doug pretends to be the milk car worker on the trains


While 'in town' we stopped - kids climbed the monument


Canola field with windmills in background



 
Fritel horse camp made everybody a cowboy



Out on the trail/road




There were cats, dogs, chickens, rabbits, and horses. The dog in the background was detained for eating baby rabbits.


Next Up - Killdeer

Stop #2 was Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Kelly's farm. Kids loved hanging out with their cousins, collecting eggs, driving the golf cart, playing golf, and going to the show at Madora.

Stopped at the Garrison Dam Fish Hatchery - Julia is 'eating' fish food (we fed fish by cleaning up the floor)


Golfing with Grace ... and oil fields in the background



Show at Medora ... always entertaining!

Medora - TR was the host




On to Mandan

Grandpa and Grandma (and Aunt Anna) attended the German's from Russia conference in Mandan (near Bismark). We hung out with cousins Claire, Lydia, and Cecilia at the Science Museum, trampoline park, and spent hours in the swimming pool.
Julia got the determination award at the Science Museum and the trampoline park.

We learned the economics of farming in different ND zones


Doug and Sara lit the full set of lights using the generator




Julia persisted, but finally gave up. Lucky Lidia got her helicopter in the basket on the 2nd try


Kids (and Doug) spent a lot of time at the pool. We managed to break literally EVERY rule that was posted in the pool area.

Pool rules. Or should I say guidelines.



Awesome 2-story slide went outside and back in (RJ ran up about 100 stories worth of steps)


An early celebration of Grandpa's 80th birthday



Dancing at the Germans from Russia event


pic-

Before leaving, we hung out at the ND State Fair with Grandma and Grandpa



Got our picture taken with Daryl before the pig race



Julia persisted again - and casted her lure through the fish target ... Doug was not so lucky.


Bonus Vacation

Due to the Delta Airlines debacle caused by the CrowdStrike outage, our flight from Minneapolis to DCA was cancelled 10 minutes before delayed boarding. So ... we rented a really expensive car, drove to Aunt Anna's house (cousins were not there), and stayed in Buffalo, MN for 2 more days.

Doug worked at Anna's for most of the 2 days, but we got out for some Kayaking on the lake



Doug and Julia prepare to launch, RJ had to paddle the 4 miles by himself


Sunday, July 7, 2024

July 4 Week in Whitetail

Sara took kids to Whitetail during the week of July 4th. Doug joined them on July 4th and did his best to work from Whitetail on July 5th (Friday).

Each day had it's own adventure. All days had trips to the pool.

July 1st

Sara and kids hiked up the mountain ... weather was superb!





July 2nd

Trip to Food Lion for weekly provisions



Trip to the movies!

July 3rd

RJ and Caleb discover bouldering.

July 4th

Early morning trip to the blue mountain bike trails.

Trip to the top was hot

"High Tide" at the pool


Hockey coach Mark, wife Jen, and Henry (#22) along with Brad/Becky/Carter joined us for bouldering, pool with Smidge/Marcus and friends, dinner, solo stoves, desert (hamburger cake),  


RJ and Caleb bouldering - there were several different challenges - and lots of lingo


Two burger cakes ... but slightly different ... everybody needed 2 pieces for a 'taste test'


No big fireworks, just some sparklers and a fountain this year


July 6th

Golfing trip ... but no pictures. Sara's class helped. Doug's patience was mediocre.

July 7th

RJ and Doug decided to do a wild-cat tubing trip along the Conococheague River. Trip was done mid-day (should have done it in the morning to avoid sun), distance was 3.5 miles (a bit too long), and the last 1/4 mile was a lot of swimming to Williamsport, PA boat launch ramp. We saw lots of fish, birds, and only 2 people. Quite relaxing.

After the tubing trip the kids made their first trip to Wild and Wonderful West VA.

Water temp from inlets was COLD ... like 60 degrees on a 90 degree day


Scenery was amazing, but the trip took 3 hours for 3.5 mile float



Heading to pool for a final night swim on the last night (Doug already started driving back)