A Fall Break to Remember: Out West Road Trip (10/20)

 Dear Leah and Logan,

Our Fall Break 2020 took a quick turn when New York City was too ravaged with COVID-19 for us to visit. So with 3 weeks until departure, I switched our flights in the opposite direction, and it became a National Park Road Trip for the ages.

We landed in Las Vegas on Saturday, October 3, 2020, and the second we got our rental car, our adventure began. It started in the Las Vegas strip where we bought $40 worth of M&Ms.

Day 1: M&M Store Las Vegas

On Saturday, October 10,2020, we completed our last hike in Colorado with the Tucker Family, and it ended with a picture that not only will I cherish forever, but also one that was being cheered by all our family and friends:

Day 8: Mount Falcon, Colorado

You both were troopers, and even though our agenda was aggressive and we were in the desert, you both embraced the challenges and appreciated the different terrains of every park we went to.

SUNDAY: We departed Vegas and headed to the Grand Canyon. We took in the sights on the South Rim before dropping into the Canyon on the South Kaibob trail. It was a perfect sunset hike to Ooh Ah point. That night we drove to Page Arizona.  Since we took 100's of amazing pictures, it's incredibly hard to pick the top 3-4 from each place!!

MONDAY: Hike to Horseshoe Bend. Evening Hike in Zion National Park: The Narrows

Horseshoe Bend, Page Arizona

Zion National Park: The Narrows

TUESDAY: Zion National Park: Canyon Overlook Trail where Leah made friends with gophers.  Evening Hike in Bryce Canyon: Sunset Point to Queens Garden (Logan left a present for the queen). Played a little Cobra Kai, too.

Zion National Park: Canyon Overlook Trail

Queens Garden

WEDNESDAY: Bryce Canyon Hikes: Inspiration Point.  Wall Street. Navajo Loop. Drive to Moab Utah. 

THURSDAY: Canyonland National Park Hike: Mesa Arch.  Dead Horse State Park: Dead Horse Point. 

Dead Horse Point

Canyonlands: Mesa Arch

Arches NP: Delicate Arch

FRIDAY:  Took a break from hiking and road horses at Hauer Ranch...and then we drove to Denver, Colorado.

SATURDAY:  Final Hike with the Tuckers: Mount Falcon, Colorado

There are very few families and groups that would have even attempted this road trip...but WE knocked it out!  And I'll say it again: Never ever stop traveling the world and seeing new things!!  Make a list of 100 things you want to see, and you go see every single one of them!!  (Feel free to invite your dad along!)

Love,

Dad

All the Fall Things, 2019

Dear Leah and Logan,

(I have no idea why this blog is chronologically out of place!!!)

First Day of School, Fall '19

This fall was nothing short of crazy with everything we had going on. Birthday parties, and sports, and horseback riding lessons, and living with Amanda and Dylan- there was never a dull moment.

After a 2-year run at etc's Li'l Ninja, you both decided to give it a break. I'll always be super grateful for what that class did for not only your strength and speed, but also your confidence.

The school year started in August, and Leah you got Mr. DeMario and Logan got Miss Owens.  Leah, you had a rough first week because you weren't crazy about having a male teacher, but it didn't take long for you to warm up to him. He had a strong math background and quickly saw how good
you were with numbers.


Shortly after school started, I took you guys on my favorite waterfall hike in Tennessee: Cummins Falls. You guys were champs with the hike and loved every minute of swimming by

the waterfall.

Logan, we switched you over to Murfreesboro Soccer Club for your soccer league, and the competition was quite superior to the YMCA. You got on a really good team, and a couple of the kids on the team were able to push you to a be a better player.


Leah, you had a solid few months with Lucky Fox Farms riding lessons. All of the instructors push you every single week to be a better rider and challenge you with different horses and skillsets.

Halloween brought along pumpkin carving and costumes, but then it was 30 degrees the night of trick or treating. Leah was about to check out after 20 minutes, but then she found Caprice and the world

was right again. Leah, everyone was super impressed with your Pennywise make-up that you did yourself.

We also did a giant camping trip with the Fontanetta and Graham families. We went down near the AirForce base and Woods Reservoir, where we had 3 awesome lakefront cabins. The weather treated us to 2 days of monsoon rain, but that didn't stop everyone from having fun.
Leah had her birthday party at Urban air, which has proven to be our favorite. A few school friends came along with the Chiltons.

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Last but not least: the 3 of us knocked out a Tough Mudder Race. We were all surprised that the kids race was a full race....and the mud, of course, was everywhere.

Not bad for 3 quick months!! I continue to stay impressed with how busy we stay...it sure keeps life interesting!!

Love,

Dad

Logan's 8th Birthday

Dear Leah and Logan,

The location we setup for Logan's 8th birthday ended up being quite the hit...for both of you.  We rented out the Patterson Park pool, and each of you was able to invite a gaggle of friends to the party.



We went with the Fortnite theme, but all of the kids were so caught up with the pool and waterslide, they didn't really want to come out of the pool for anything else!

I have a feeling that pool will be the location for several more birthday.

Another great event you both to got to enjoy with your friends.

Happy Birthday, Logan!

Love, Dad

COVID-19, Spring '2020

Dear Leah and Logan,

Spring 2020 might prove to be the strangest 3-month period of you're entire lives. But if it's not, I cringe to think about what the future might hold.

As the year 2020 started, a new virus (COVID-19) slowly crept into our lives. One by one, major events started getting cancelled, including March Madness, which is my personal 3-week holiday every year. In the middle of all that, school got postponed. First it was 3 weeks. Then it was extended to 2 months, and before we knew it: the rest of the year was cancelled.

The effects of COVID-19 went well beyond school, though. Logan, your entire spring soccer season was cancelled- right along with Leah's horse lessons.  'Social Distancing' became a thing where every person on the entire planet was advised to stay 6 feet away from other people at all times. Restaurants went to take-out only, and the whole world was wearing masks. All live sports on TV simply went away.

The second school was cancelled was the moment that I (Dad) instantly became a stay-at-home home-schooling teacher. Not to mention the fact that I had to play teacher while figuring out to work from home.  Let the fun begin!

Last Day of COVID-19 School May 27, 2020

Bring in my dry-erase whiteboard.  I think both of you would admit that I was pretty committed to my new teacher role the first month. Daily math problems. Mixing up the assignments and challenges. Empowering you to do research.  After a month, I was really missing your teachers (Miss Owns and Mr. DeMario).

The official school year ended in May the same way COVID-19 started: at home. So we did a school year photo-op and remained hopeful for a normal start of school this fall.

Looking back, I honestly consider the time invaluble. Several weeks of being an 'at-home' dad with the both of you...all the while, us trying to figure out the 'new' or 'temporary' world. That may never happen again. We learned new things...we ate a ton of take-out and delivery food. We played chess. We challenged each other in math. We watched Tik-Tok. We watched You-Tube. We watched Netflix. We did tons and tons of video calls. We stayed up way too late and slept in way too much. Not all terrible things...and better yet: We survived!

Love you both! Maybe we'll have a normal(ish) summer!

Dad
6/1/2020

Michigan & Cabin Summer 2019

Dear Leah and Logan,

We made our annual July trip to Weidman, Michigan, and once again- it didn't disappoint. This time, Aunt Dee Dee and Uncle Mike brought Lily and Jeffery so you had some kids to play with.  The trip included:

• Archery tournaments
• Learning to shoot the .22 (Logan's Christmas present from Uncle Mike)
• Michigan Adventure with Grandma
• A trip to lake Michigan to see Uncle Ralph and Aunt Margaret (and their private beach)
• 5 trips to Cool Dips
• Fishing
• Charades Contest
• and lots of time with Gigi and others.

Lots of highlights from this trip...such as getting Grandma on Shivering Timbers. Based on her picture, that might be the last roller coaster she ever gets on.  But Leah also road Thunderhawk twice all by herself. Then she almost crashed a giant goose in the middle of the pond :)

The rest of the story can be explained with our pictures.

Love you both,

Dad

Cool Dips

Lake Michigan Model Shoot