5/12/2019

The boys had fun at Tia Kristel’s house celebrating Mother’s Day and Connor’s birthday.

6/3/2019

Gavin wrapped up his clarinet career with his final performance of the year. I think the band really improved since their first concert.

6/5/2019

Connor’s performance took us all around the globe this year. The kids dressed up in the cultural attire of their ancestors and sang songs from around the world.

6/11/2019

It feels like just yesterday that we were dropping off our little “Bub” Gavin at kindergarten. But he’s not so little anymore and is ready to go conquer Oak Valley Middle School.

We couldn’t be more proud of Gavin. He got a Presidential Outstanding Academics award, a Reading Olympics Silver award (for reading 5000 pages and running 75 miles), and was discharged from Safety Patrol as a Staff Sergeant.

Most importantly, Gavin is a good kid with a big heart, who is trying his hardest everyday to grow into an amazing human.

We love you Gavin! Congratulations!

8/1/2019

Guaranteed Rate Field is the 11th MLB stadium we have visited as a family. It was a nice stadium, good parking and well laid out.

We had a great game, the tickets were super cheap, even on the field level, and our seats were in the shade. The boys and I even got up on the giant video scoreboard during the “Kids Cam”!

Unfortunately, the White Sox didn’t have as good of game as we did. The Mets shut them out with a score of 4 to 0.

The boys getting their pitch speeds:

8/4/2019

I actually wasn’t a big fan of Wrigley Field, which was small and many of the seats had obstructed views. We had some of the highest seats in the stadium, and it still cost a fortune.

But, the Cubs fans made up for the stadium’s deficiencies. It was a sold out crowd that watched and cheered for every pitch. When the Cubs beat the Brewers, the atmosphere was electric.

Afterward the game, we visited the Cubs’ World Series trophy.

12/25/2020

We had a shelter-at-home Christmas, so we missed hanging out with all the family. The boys still enjoyed opening their presents.

A few videos of them opening gifts:

12/13/2021

The band got to show off all the hard work they have been doing to learn to play their instruments. Connor sounded great.

Connor playing a few songs:

5/23/2022

Connor and the rest of the band have really improved since their first concert. Great job Connor!

5 songs from the concert:

6/22/2023

The Canadians let us into their country without issue, and we were on our way to Niagara Falls. Once we got there, we looked at the falls from the Canadian side, and then crossed over Rainbow Bridge and back into the US, where Niagara Falls is a state park.

Our favorite experience was riding on the Maid of the Mist boat, which basically drove straight into Horseshoe Falls. The power of the water falling around us was unbelievable. We also hiked up to the edge of American Falls, getting drenched again, and walked around the tops of Bridal Veil and Horseshoe Falls.

We drove into Buffalo for dinner, stopping by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House on the way. After dinner, we drove around downtown Buffalo, before entering Canada again and heading to Toronto.

The view from the observation platform:

A video of us going into Horseshoe Falls:

American Falls:

6/24/2023

I taught the boys about the Jacquard Loom and how it was an inspiration for the first programmable computers. We also learned about the extreme limits of the human body, explored a rainforest and coral reef, and played with a bunch of hands-on science experiments.

Skipping rocks into Lake Ontario to finish our evening: