July 2023

Happy July!  July is my absolute favorite month of the year and I enjoy the hot weather, the icy cocktails and the not-having-to-go-to-work part.  Here's what the fam was up to this month:

This year marks the 40th anniversary of McMenamins, so we met the Beardmores at the waterfront location and celebrated with burgers and brews.  The company, food and view were absolutely fantastic.

Here are some photos from the Rakoz Annual 4th of July Party.  The weather was over 90 degrees, but it didn't stop Teague from bbq'ing lots of hot dogs, sausages, and pork.  

Teague, Dylan, Presley and I (Maddox had no interest) headed over to Ridgefield one evening to watch a AAA baseball game between the Ridgefield Raptors and the Portland Pickles.  It was hot when we arrived but chilly at the end due to the sun going down and the wind out there.  Regardless, we had great seats behind home plate in the 2nd row and we all were very invested in the game.  It went into extra innings and it was a fun outing.

Summertime typically brings invitations to the Beardmores for cocktails outside.  Amber is THE BEST mixologist in the world and I'm always up for whatever she's pouring.

Dylan has been busy this summer with morning workouts and making it a point to hang out with his friends whenever he can.  I admire him for jumping on public transportation to meet up with a teammate for extra football practice or heading over to the mall.

Oh Vinny, where do I begin?  Maddox was out with some of his friends around 9pm one night when they decided to go to a neighborhood park.  Because it was close to sundown, the park entrance was closed, so he entered through the exit.....right over the spikes commonly known as 'severe tire damage.'  Ugh.  Teague wasn't home so I made the decision to have him drive the 3 miles straight home (which would prove to be the wrong decision).  Vinny sat at home during the laborious process of researching options for new tires.  As the car was completely undrivable, we scheduled a mobile tire service to come to us which was a tremendous help.  Unfortunately the rims were ruined from Maddox driving home so we needed new rims/wheels and we also learned that an alignment was needed.  This project was very tedious and costly, but we finally got Vinny back on the road.

After all the drama and cost of getting Vinny ready for the road with new tires, new wheels and a fresh alignment, 24 hours later Maddox called to let me know that one of the tires had "popped" and was flat.  I told him to stay put and rushed over to asses the damage.  This made me pretty nervous that the tires were faulty.  He had 4 or 5 friends around and we were able to inflate the tire up to pressure and drive over to Les Schwab where they patched the fresh hole in the tire for $21.  That is the cheapest expense Vinny has incurred so far this month!

Happy 7/11 Free Slurpee Day!

As I was walking my (very suburban) neighborhood one morning, I came upon this...

Can you spot it??  

This is not the type of neighborhood to have this type of wildlife, but it was amazing to see.  We had a bit of a standoff before he scampered off toward a nearby creek.

After waiting for months (due to schedule conflicts), Dylan finally has his driving learner's permit!  He's very excited to get on the road.

His driving school began this month which involves him joining a Zoom instruction from the computer in his room each Monday-Thursday for 4 weeks from 12pm-2pm.  It is a huge commitment that cramps his summer plans, but he doesn't want to put it off any longer.

He learned to drive initially on my SUV for a few weeks, did a couple of laps with Teague's gigantic truck, then transitioned over to Vinny.  He definitely feels more comfortable in his own car and he loves to drive whenever he can.  He's doing pretty good so far.

On my birthday, Dylan, Presley and I headed to Paradise Point Park to spend the super warm day on the Lewis River.  It was a great afternoon where the kids played football, Dylan jumped off the rock, and Presley had the hilarious experience of having a fish jump onto the paddleboard with her and flop around until she pushed it off with the paddle.

Teague and I joined the Beardmores at the McMenamins Brew Fest at the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse for the 2nd year in a row.  It's our new tradition and we made the most of the crazy heat by keeping ourselves hydrated with delicious cider and beer.

Amber and her boys joined me, Dylan and Presley at Wild Waves Waterpark.  I only took these 2 photos, but you better believe that we all had an absolute amazing time.

At least once a summer I make a point to meet up with Angie, one of my absolute favorite people.  We have been friends for over 25 years and enjoy getting together outside and ending up at Happy Hour. 

One day after morning workout, Dylan discovered a fallen hornets nest in the driveway between my car and the garage door.  I quickly placed this clear bowl over the nest until Teague could get home and help figure out how to deal with it.  It had between 50-100 hornets on it. Yuck!

That's it for July.  One event that I neglected to photograph was Presley's 1st basketball camp at Union High School.  I also didn't take many photos of Maddox.  He is enjoying his last summer as a student by working very little, driving to meet up with his friends for hours, and staying up all night playing video games.  He will definitely have a tough transition when school starts back up!

Thanks for reading.  See you next month!