July 2025

         As I’m finally sitting down for the monthly memoirs and it is late August, it is pretty evident that we have been busy adapting to life with a high schooler along with getting Sarah back to school.  But those are all things that occurred in August, so let us see what I can remember from July. 

 

            We traveled 3 times in July and our first trip was over July 4th weekend where we went to South Haven, MI.  It was our first time there and we enjoyed 2 days at the beach with good weather along with a fun downtown area we walked around for dinner, ice cream and the girls found some shirts they bought.  The 2nd trip was our annual trip to Beachmo in St. Joseph, MI where we had a good time catching up with family, playing euchre and celebrating my mom’s 75th birthday. 

 

            The last trip of the month had us traveling to Grand Lake, CO.  We flew out on a Tuesday and after a small delay and a 2.5-hour drive from the airport, we arrived at 11PM to our cabin.  The first morning, Sarah and I went to the grocery store for a few things before we drove to go rafting down the Colorado river.  The trip was a few hours and we went through a few class 2 and 3 rapids, but mostly enjoyed floating down the river and jumping off some rocks into the river.  We enjoyed Grand Lake Pizza that evening and everyone fell asleep after a few games of Uno.  The next day, we got up early and drove into Rocky Mountain National Park and drove to Alpine Visitor Center which was 11,800 feet elevation.  We completed the Ute trail (8-mile) that had us above the tree line and we went down to a lake before hiking back.  We barely made it back before a storm arrived and we saw a little snow.  As we drove back, we stopped at the Grand Lake Lodge and had an appetizer and a beer, as the view is fantastic and called “America’s front porch.”  We went to Sagebrush BBQ that night for dinner and the girls got some ice cream.  The last full day in Grand Park, we hiked Cascade falls (7 miles), and the trailhead was nearby the town.  This area was devastated by the wild fires in 2020, but the falls was a great spot to sit and relax before hiking back.  We went to Rockies for dinner that evening and then left town the next morning to head toward the hotel and stop at Winter Park to enjoyed some of their summer activities.  We had fun on the alpine slide, the gondola ride, the climbing wall and played around of putt-putt.  Unfortunately, our flight was delayed 3 hours on the way home, so we got home at 3AM and everyone was moving a little slow on Sunday.  We laid low, picked up Timber and got ready for the week ahead. 

 

Sarah’s Things of the Month

            Sarah’s softball season continued as she was part of the all-star team that got a chance to play 2 games in the state tournament before being eliminated.  It was a fun experience to play in such a cool stadium against some very good teams.  Sarah also attended the CKS girls’ basketball camp.  She and I also made our annual stop at the local farmers market where all Sarah really wants is a breakfast sandwich that seems to cost more each year!  Sarah spent a week at CYO camp where she got a chance to share a cabin with many of her friends and do all the activities she has come to love every year. 

 

Allison’s Thing of the Month

             Allison has continued to participate in the volleyball and basketball workouts all of July.  Without having summer school classes like she did in June; this made her schedule a little easier to handle.  She also had her last IGB tournament of this season and they played well in their last outing.  Allison also had some oral surgery to have a wisdom tooth pulled to help her teeth come in so she can get ready for braces. 

 

A few more items from this month:

• We went to a Fever game on July 3rd to watch them play the Aces and they won.  
• Olivia and Ava were visiting Randy and Anna for a week, so Anna brought them down for a day to spend with Allison and Sarah so they enjoyed volleyball, Legos and just hanging out. 
• For Debbie’s birthday, she and I went out to dinner with the O’Rourkes.  Allison helped us pick out some new clothes from Athleta since Sarah was at camp that week. 
• I played my annual round of golf with some guys from church at Fort Ben and then went out for lunch and beers afterwards. 
• Debbie helped organize the used uniform sale again for the school.