Bridal Shower, Football, Temple Trip, and Window Repair

Kaleb rushing on the left

Several things happened today.  Wendy drove to Idaho Falls to attend a bridal shower for Greg McNabb's fiance, Sierra Ricks.  They will be getting married in September.  I replaced a broken window in the downstairs family room, which was actually easier than anticipated.  I met up with Kevin at the Portneuf Wellness Complex to watch Kaleb play a football game.  His team is named the Seahawks.  Kaleb had suffered a buckle fracture on his pinkie finger in practice, and we didn't think he would be playing today.  He decided that he was feeling better, and so he ended up playing most of the game on both offense and defense.  He is on the front line, and he was able to rush the quarterback several times, and twice he made defensive tackles for a loss.  His team won the game 31-0.  A bit lopsided, but Kaleb played hard against some large linemen on the other team.  Jeffrey went with the Young Men and Young Women to do baptisms at the temple in Idaho Falls.  This time, as a Priest, he was able to perform the baptisms, which I thought was a very good experience for him, and he enjoyed that.

The window was broken by an errant lacrosse ball.

Cooper and Beckham had both ran inside to tell me,

"It wasn't us this time!"

Keep Idaho Red Rally

Jeffrey and I went to a Republican rally at the Portneuf Wellness Center amphitheater.  Jeffrey wasn't thrilled about going, but I forced the issue.  It was not very well attended, even though there were some big names speaking.  The Idaho governor, Brad Little, and the Lieutenant Governor both spoke.  The keynote speaker was Robert O'Brien who was the National Security Advisor for Donald Trump.  It was interesting to hear the speeches, although I was disappointed that Mr. O'Brien didn't share more personal experiences.  We ate some BBQ pulled pork sandwiches and drank lemonade while we listened.

Megan and Kids Fly East

Hill Air Force Base Museum

Marching Band Performance and Fritts Family Visit

Our Final Day

 

A Hike, Gettysburg, and BBQ

Liberty Reservoir

Ashley, Caz, Scout and I went for a short hike this morning from a trail head not far from their home to the edge of Liberty Reservoir, a large lake surrounded by forest.  In the afternoon, all of us went to Gettysburg, which is about a 45 minute drive from Caz and Ashley's home.  I was very impressed by it.  We went to the visitor's center and watched a short movie, viewed the cyclorama painting of Pickett's Charge, and walked through the museum.  We drove to Cemetery Ridge and looked out from the Copse of Trees across the fields to Seminary Ridge.  We tried to imagine ourselves as Union soldiers watching as a line of Confederate soldiers a mile wide and consisting of 12,000 men would have charged across the fields towards us.  The High Water Mark was the location where the Union stopped the advancing Confederate army and turned the tide of the war.  After our visit to Gettysburg we drove to The Bus Stop where we met up with Ryan and ate a BBQ dinner with ice cream for dessert.  It was a nice day.

Orioles vs. Rays

We spent most of the day today relaxing at Caz and Ashley's home.  At 5:30 p.m. we drove to Baltimore to attend a baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays.  The sky was overcast and the temperature was mild which made for fantastic weather to watch a game.  We each received a bobble head of the Oriole Bird mascot as we walked into the gate.  They were celebrating that the Bird was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame.  The first few innings were fun to watch, and in the third inning the Orioles pulled ahead 3-2.  Then in the fifth inning the Rays scored two runs, and then in the eighth inning the Rays put the game away with a grand slam home run that put them up 9-3.  The final score was 12-3, but we stayed until the end of the game anyway.  It was about 10:30 p.m. when we started back home.  We all ate stadium food, and Wendy and I both said we need to not eat when we get back to Idaho.

Dutch Market, Korean BBQ, and Birthday Cake

This morning we went to the Dutch Market and spent some time browsing their food choices and furniture, including some rocking chairs that Wendy and I really liked.  Maybe we will get two of those for our future front patio.  Wendy found a Red Velvet Cheesecake that we had Happy Birthday Wendy! written on.  In the afternoon we met up with Ryan, who had just driven across country from Pocatello, for Korean BBQ at the Iron Age Restaurant.  That was the first time I've experienced that type of restaurant where you cook your own meat on a grill in the middle of the table.  This evening we celebrated Wendy's birthday with her cake.  We did that tonight because tomorrow we plan to be at the baseball game.

Philadelphia and Independence National Park

We drove from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to Philadelphia this morning.  We stopped at the Philadelphia Airport to pick up Kevin who had flown in on an overnight flight.  Then we found a tight parking space in downtown Philadelphia.  Thanks Caz for getting the passenger van into a parking lot.  We walked to Independence National Park.  We started by visiting the Liberty Bell.  It is placed in front of windows looking towards Independence Hall.  That was very cool.  We walked through the Carpenter's Hall where the First Continental Congress met.  We visited the American Revolutionary War Museum and saw George Washington's War Tent.  That was awesome.  We toured Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed and where the Constitution was written.  We were all getting tired by this point, but we went to lunch at Sonny's for Cheese Steak sandwiches.  We stopped in at the Benjamin Franklin ghost home exhibit on Market Street.  Wendy, Kevin, Kaleb, and I walked to the visitor's center to find a souvenir spoon for Wendy.  We drove from Philadelphia to Caz and Ashley's home in Maryland.  We ordered Papa Murphy's for dinner and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Bethany Beach

Today the weather didn't fully cooperate with us.  It was rainy and windy.  We started by trying to go back to Rehoboth Beach, and we only stayed for about 30 minutes.  The rain just got to be too much.  We returned to the condo to relax and eat lunch.  We opted for Chick-fil-A.  After regrouping we decided to take on another trip to the beach, but this time we drove to Bethany Beach.  The boardwalk was smaller, but really nice.  The wind was whipping up the waves, but without the rain we stayed longer.  We played with football and ZipChip that Caz had brought.  Now I want a ZipChip.  We tried to brave the waves, and eventually I did get all wet by a wave, but while the water was warm, it felt cold to stand wet in the wind.  After cleaning up a little we stopped for dinner in Bethany at a seafood restaurant called, Off The Hook.  After dinner we returned to the condo and watched The Parent Trap before going to bed.

Rehoboth Beach and Boardwalk

 This morning I flew from Pocatello to Salt Lake City.  There I met up with Tyler, Jaylen, and Baylor, and we all flew from Salt Lake City to Baltimore.  The flight went well, and we arrived around 4:00 p.m.  Caz, Ashley, Wendy and Kaleb met us at the airport with a passenger van they had rented, and we drove from the airport to our condo near Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.  After unpacking we drove to the beach.  It was a nice night and not too crowded.  We walked around the beach and the boardwalk.  We shared some fries drizzled with vinegar and some salt water taffy.  The kids bought ice cream cones, and Wendy and I bought a funnel cake.  The boardwalk had midway games and rides.  Kaleb tried one of the midway games and came in third.

Jeffrey Starts Band Camp

 

Jeffrey flew home on Sunday, August 1, but he had a little trouble along the way.  We originally had scheduled him to leave Baltimore at 7:00 a.m. but Delta cancelled the morning flight and put him on the evening flight from BWI to SLC.  This meant that he would get into Pocatello on the last flight arriving at 11:30 p.m.  Unfortunately, after arriving at his gate in Baltimore he learned that his flight from Salt Lake City to Pocatello was cancelled.  We hurried and switched him over to the Salt Lake City to Idaho Falls flight, which he was able to make.  I drove to Idaho Falls and picked him up, and we got home about 1:00 a.m.  He had to go straight to bed in order to get up at 6:30 a.m. to get ready for his first day at band camp.  For the next two weeks he will be learning three movements, learning how to march and play at the same time.  He will practice Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  The video clip is a computer simulation of the second movement.  Their theme this year is Go West!