Happy birthday Adro!

We celebrated a day early because Evey and I have a short trip to Louisville on her actual birthday.

The kids took her shopping and then to lunch at Free State (while I took part in a fantasy draft at Rick's) then they came and picked me up… and off we went to the casino!

We stayed for a good stretch… I hit four sevens then Adrianne hit four deuces on a game where deuces pay out better… I think that was a $200 hit right there. We left in the black, even with the bar tab.

An amazing drive-thru dinner at Jack in the Box concluded our fun birthday celebration.

Happy birthday Adro! 

(Random aside… the food game at the Rick's draft is LEGIT. Smoked wings, some kinda Cajun dish, turkey sliders, bacon-wrapped lil smokies, pizza, donuts, someone even brought a coffee maker!) 

Can you believe

That this girl is a senior in high school? 

This photo is from November 2015. I remember the room, the bunk bed, the smell of her hair when she got out of the bath. I remember that glo-worm!

Where has the time gone?  

(And whatever happened to Crocky the crocodile? He was pretty cool.)

It’s time to BeReal

I enjoy posting to BeReal mostly because I get to see what Evey is up to at that moment (you can't see other people's BeReal unless you post your own) but sometimes I'll get a fun one, like this time when me and Bub were eating lunch together on a summer day.

Rick & Julie visit the HOJ

I've wanted to do this for a long time and a few weekends ago we had Rick and Julie Younger over for dinner! 

Evey and I grilled burgers on the Blackstone… with bacon, grilled onions and mushrooms as toppings available. Grilled buns, too.

It was fun to show Rick how I've put some of his bar memorabilia to good use in the HOJ. Evey and Boyd don't know/understand Rick very well, but he loves our kids very much… he's watched them grow up from afar both from my phone, and when they happen to be by the bar. 

But then again, does anyone really understand Rick? Maybe just Julie. 

And yes, Adro got the bunny ears treatment from Rick, as is tradition whenever Rick's in a photo with more than one other person! 

Watch out for Mittens!

The cat likes hanging out at the HOJ almost as much as I do! 

This shot was a few weekends ago when we were getting amazing weather… this summer has been unexpectedly pleasant, actually.

Taco chilling in the background. 

First day of school!

 Evey is a senior and Boyd is a seventh grader! 

Father & son

Summer 2024, grabbing a cheeseburger after work. 

Ages 12 and 47. 

We talked about Godzilla and the new Xbox game he's playing. 

Summer camp out 2024

Made possible by the Taco!

It was different loading this up as opposed to the truck… but removing the third row + folding up another chair made for a ton of cabin space. I brought practically the exact same load as normal.

Perry Lake wasn't fishing friendly but we still had fun. The kids biked a long trail. And we grilled burgers, stargazed and played Monopoly. Evey won. 

Great trip! 

Mexican Fiesta volunteers

On Saturday Adrianne, Boyd and Judy volunteered at the Mexican Fiesta... their job was to serve sodas to the people. Boyd reports that it wasn't a whole lot of fun reaching into the tubs of ice over and over to fetch the different flavors... but they got the job done.

I showed up in time to eat food and chitchat with Father John. That was my contribution to a successful Mexican Fiesta!

Introducing THE TACO!

 It's been a busy summer... I've been on the road for three straight weeks... seriously:

* One week in South Padre for family vacation

* The next week in central PA and then Cleveland for work

* The next week in North Carolina for the U.S. Open and client meetings

So! I've not been posting much at all... apologies. I'm back now and happy to be in Kansas with the family.

Big news! I got new wheels. Diana called maybe two months ago and told us that she thought Alan would like it if we had his Tahoe. I've been in that car many times over the years and I was SHOCKED to learn this... and grateful, because the truck is getting up there...

Coincidentally, the truck died about two weeks later. It needs some major work and it isn't logical to put that kind of money into the 1999 Ram.

So anyway, these are my new wheels. I call it the Taco, because it's close to Tahoe and in honor of the taco I lost somewhere in the truck in 2017. Again, grateful to inherit this from my father-in-law... what a gift! It's a 2011... has a third row... and a working speedometer, volume nob and CD player (all things the truck lacked!)

A couple more photos from First Communion

 

Don't worry; I bought Boyd new shoes on Monday!

Boyd's first communion

 Yeah, that just happened. It was impressive. Boyd was super-enthused! Total ham up there.

Congrats Boyd — good job. You're now more Catholic than your dad. But not as Catholic as your mom. (But still not as tall as your dad... but maybe as tall as your mom.)

Evey’s First Confirmation

I think that's what it's called… she just did the next level in the Catholic Church so she is super qualified as a catholic… and now she can do anything at church! She can sing in the choir or open the door, that's how qualified she is, she can now put the numbers up in the board and let people know what songs we're singing and she can escort crying babies to the crying room, if she deems them too big of crybabies, she can shut that right down.

Ok I don't really know what just happened but I'm proud of Evey and she got us all this photo with this religious figure who gets to wear red like the Imperial Royal Guard in the Star Wars films! So you know that it's a big deal! 

Congrats Evey great job! 

Eclipse 4/8/24

Don't worry, I'm gonna burn that pile on Friday!

Do worry, that cat could attack at any moment! 

Boyd’s 6th grade choir performance

Good news! He did not black out!

Bend those knees, son! I taught him well.

Oh the performance was… great. I don't think Boyd is too into choir, that's just a guess… he does have good taste in music, though.

Boyd is on the top row, fourth from far left.