2025 Year in Review

January 2025 - Conway Riverwalk

In early January, we took a family outing to the Conway Riverwalk while the Christmas decorations were still up.

January 2025 - Snow in Myrtle Beach

We got a good amount of snow in Myrtle Beach a few days before our annual WDW trip. And yes, Dad drove me over to Nora's for homeschooling because I was not allowing a Snow Day right before vacation.

January 2025 - Annual WDW Trip

As I added the photopass to my annual pass, I thought it would be fun to make sure we did a group photo in each park this trip. I'm glad we did and I'd say we do it again next year, but Mik is going again and not sure I can convince him to do a group photo at every park.

Highlights of the trip includes the Festival of the Arts at EPCOT, Dad and I playing the Ducktales app game in EPCOT, and going to Tom Sawyer Island before it closed permanently.

March 2025 - Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie Field Trip

In March. Dad and I took Nora on a field trip to Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie to go with studying the Civil War in Social Studies.

March 2025 - Pi Day

April 2025 - Illinois

I flew out to Illinois to join Mom and Dad and celebrate Grandma Wasiak's 90th birthday. While in Illinois, Dad and I went to the Grand Opening of the Chicago Harry Potter Store.

Dad and I also went out to Governors State University, where Grandma Kjos taught, because I wanted to get a hoodie. We also walked around some of the sculpture garden. For lunch, we ended up finding a Polish restaurant.

April 2025 - IKEA North Carolina Day Trip #2

In April, Dad and I went to IKEA twice to get bookcases. On the way back the second time, we stopped at Peaches n' Cream and two murals on the North Carolina Musician Murals Trail.

April 2025 - Heroes & Villains at South Carolina State Museum

At the end of April, we went to Columbia to attend the D23 Preview of the Heroes & Villains exhibit at the South Carolina State Museum. We also enjoyed some of the other exhibits at the museum.

April 2025 - Strawberry Picking

Dad, Josh, Nora, and I went strawberry picking.

May/June 2025 - Arizona & California Road Trip

We took a road trip to Arizona and California. At the first rest stop in Arizona, Dad decided to go off roading with Mik for a photo and ended up with two flat tires on Mik's wheelchair. The wheelchair place couldn't fix it for weeks, but we found bike shops that could. Now Mik carries spares and a repair kit in his wheelchair bag.

While in Arizona we drove through Saguaro National Park Rincon Mountain District, went to Barrio Brewery, hiked in Sabino Canyon, visited Tohono Chul Park, enjoyed many eegee's, and went to a Nationals @ Diamondbacks game. In California, Mik really enjoyed our visit to the USS Midway.

Summer 2025 - Bowling

We got back into doing some bowling this summer going most weeks when we were all home. We found Mik's ramp did not work with his current wheelchair and got him a new one that he likes much more.

June 2025 - Tupelo, MS

Mom, Dad, and I spent a morning exploring Tupelo on our way to Tulsa. We visited Elvis' Birthplace, Tupelo Fairpark, and Greatest Hits Music & Books.

June 2025 - Route 66 Fest

Mom, Dad, and I went to Tulsa for the Route 66 Fest. We also did some of the Route 66 things between Tulsa and Pops. Next fall Dad and I are going to do Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica.

June 2025 - Nashville

On our way home from Tulsa, we spent a few days in Nashville. We toured the Grand Ole Opry House, went to Ole Red, and got Goo Goo Clusters.

July 2025 - Cottage

Mom, Dad, Nora, and I drove up to the cottage for the 4th of July. While there we visited the Bonine House and snuck in some learning on summer vacation. On the way home, we happened upon Neil Armstrong's hometown (Wapakoneta, OH) when we stopped there for a Our Koffee Trail stop.

September 2025 - Coffee Wars

Uncle Mik and Aunt Susy visited us. Dad and Uncle Mik brewed coffee their different ways to taste test the differences.

September 2025 - Cottage

Dad and I closed up the cottage and discovered Simonton Lake Drive-In.

November 2025 - LEGO Artemis SLS

I got myself the LEGO Artemis SLS on Black Friday last year. Early November, I decided I should finally build it before it had been a whole year.

November 2025 - DC/Virginia

Mom and Dad were planning to go to DC to close on Knot Rocket Science and Mik and I decided to go with so that we could go see Chip play at the Birchmere. We also went to see Season's Greenings at the US Botanic Gardens and went on a tour of the Capitol.

December 2025 - Chicago

From DC, we went to Chicago for Grandpa Wasiak's funeral. While in Chicago, we also went to the Harry Potter Store. We also enjoyed there was snow, but not so much that it was so cold that I couldn't build a snowman.

December 2025 - Goo Goo Clusters

From Chicago, we headed down to Florida On the way, we went through Nashville. Mom and I quickly got some Goo Goo Clusters while Dad and Mik went around the block.

December 2025 - Ocmulgee Mounds NHP.

Also on our way down to Florida, we visited Ocmulgee Mounds NHP.

December 2025 - Orlando

While in Orlando, Dad and I enjoyed spending a day at the new Epic Universe theme park.

We visited EPCOT many times. We really enjoyed the Cookie Stroll and ended up with three spatulas because we ended up trying enough cookies to fill three books.

Mom, Mik, and I also enjoyed the Joffrey’s Holiday Coffee Challenge for WDW Annual Passholders.

December 2025 - Christmas

While we did not get around to putting the ornaments on the tree this year, we did at least get it up. We also put out Mik's village and some outdoor lights and decorations. This year's pierogi making was the most intense ever and we ended up with 312 (and yes, our new garage freezer is officially called the pierogi freezer).

2025 Homeschool

Homeschooling Nora this year (ending 4th grade, beginning 5th grade) included many science experiments and some social studies projects.

2025 Mini Golf Adventures

This year we mini golfed in 4 different states completing 10 courses across 8 locations. Our favorite was Professor Hacker's Lost Treasure Golf.

2025 Our Koffee Trail

This year we at least 39 different coffeeshops across 18 states. My favorite find was Winan's in Wapakoneta, OH as they offer several flavored Decaf whole beans for brewing at home (their blueberry is my favorite). There are many Winan's locations across Ohio, but it has quickly become a tradition to stop in Wapakoneta on Cottage trips. Our other top stops were Rustic Roast (Conway, SC), Cork & Bean (Oak Lawn, IL), Strange Brew (Tupelo, MS), The Coffee House on Cherry Street (Tulsa, OK), and Streetcar Espresso (Ashburn, GA).

2025 Settling Into New Home

After a year in our new home, there is still a lot of organizing to do. This year we got rid of the carpet upstairs and in Mik's bedroom. We also got most of the things up on the walls. After many different bases over the years, I think we finally have the dining room table top that Grandpa Kjos made set up in a way that will last (found an old entertainment center for base and two chairs at Habitat ReStore and got benches at IKEA). We put bookcases in my office, the entertainment room, and living room. We also added some old license plates to the the Chevy garden bench.