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.

2024 Year in Review

January - Vero Beach

The annual family DVC trip was at Vero Beach again this year, but this time we stayed in a Beach Cottage. We enjoyed the extra space, especially the more than adequate sized table for playing Wingspan. We were slightly disappointed that the pool area was closed most of our trip, but we did manage a round of mini golf before it closed for renovations (played the tournament and Rhea then claimed the trophy as her toy). During the week, we took several nature hikes off of the nearby Jungle Trail, visited the McKee Botanical Gardens, and did the Zora Neale Hurston Dust Trails Heritage Trail.

On the way home from Vero Beach, we reached 100,000 miles on the truck.

February - Park Day w/ Nora

Nora and I enjoyed a park day including a picnic lunch, the story walk, and ice cream.

March - Pi Day and Walks w/ Nora

In March, Nora and I celebrated Pi Day with pie during our afterschool Wingspan game. Also, Nora and I discovered some interesting things on a nearby trail on our walks.

March - Local Sightseeing

My godmother visited for a week and we did some local sightseeing including Brookgreen Gardens, Hopsewee Plantation, and mini golf.

April - Park Outing

Another park outing with Nora and this time we found the ice cream truck.

May - Truck Towed

The truck would not start when we were scheduled to take it for body work repair. It could not be jumped, so we had to have it towed. At least it happened with enough time for it to get repaired before our scheduled summer road trip.

June - Stanley

Dad retired at the beginning of June and he planned to have at least a week before we started Mik's 30th birthday road trip, however, we ended up changing up the plan and squeeze in a trip to North Dakota before starting Mik's road trip (we left Mom and Mik in Chicago while Dad and I went to North Dakota). The purpose of the North Dakota trip was to visit Medora, but we managed to squeeze in a slight detour through Stanley (okay, so it is not exactly a slight detour...but an extra 6 hours is nothing when it means you get a Whirla Whip).

June - North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

The reason for our trip to North Dakota was to attend the North Dakota Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony where Mom's Uncle was inducted in the Legacy Award category.

While in Medora, Dad and I also visited the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and played the Little Bully Pulpit Mini Golf course.

June - Enchanted Highway

As we headed back to Chicago to pick up Mik and begin his 30th birthday road trip, we took another detour and explored the Enchanted Highway.

Along the drive between Chicago and North Dakota and back to Chicago, we also visited several world largest sculptures - Prairie Chicken, Holstein Cow (Salem Sue), Buffalo, and Sandhill Crane.

June - Route 66

Our original plan for Mik's 30th birthday road trip was Myrtle Beach to Tucson to Disneyland to Chicago to Myrtle Beach. On the Disneyland to Chicago part, we planned to do some Route 66 things. With the change of plans to visit North Dakota, we ended up eliminating most of the plans after Disneyland as Mik wanted to go straight home. Of course, he still wanted to visit Pops 66 in Oklahoma (on the way to Tucson and on the way home!). We also ended up stopping at Cozy Dog Drive In in Illinois.

June - Tucson for Mik's 30th

Mik choose Tucson as where he wanted to celebrate his 30th birthday. We enjoyed visiting some of our favorite places from when we lived there including peanut butter mochas from Epic Cafe (Cafe Maggie now...), fry bread at San Xavier del Bac, daily eegee's, and traditional Sunday breakfast at Bruegger's. Dad and I also visited Sabino Canyon and Tumacacori National Historical Park.

June - Disneyland

Disneyland was Mik's other destination he choose for his 30th birthday trip. We did not so much enjoy staying at the Disneyland Hotel DVC, but we did enjoy the parks and dinner at Blue Bayou.

2024 Our Koffee Trail

On our road trip this summer we started trying to go to local coffee shops instead of always Starbucks. We ended up visiting 17 different coffeeshops across 9 states and the District of Columbia.

July - Cottage

Dad and I went to the cottage for the 4th of July, which ended up including a water pump and tank replacement project when the well stopped working.

July - DC

Dad and I went to DC to pack up and move the storage unit to Myrtle Beach. We also visited Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens for the Lotus and Water Lily Festival and played Pixar Golf.

July/August - Paris 2024 Olympics

Mik and I enjoyed some French food while watching the Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony. For the closing ceremony, I made Olympic flag pizza.

Fall 2024 - 4th Grade Homeschooling

The last couple year's Nora has mostly been doing an online curriculum, but we started to find it lacking. 4th grade started a little rocky as we worked with a paper based curriculum and continued the online before settling on preferring the paper curriculum. We have particularly enjoyed the various science projects. Realizing I could put the presentations on the TV (or my second monitor) has also been very helpful.

September - DC

Dad and I went to see Mickey Guyton on her first headlining tour. We also played mini golf at East Potomac Miniature Golf, saw "Mister Lincoln" at Ford's Theatre, and saw the new Johnny Cash statue at the Capitol.

October - DC

We went back to DC the next weekend to attend Mom's Uncle Lloyd's interment at Arlington National Cemetery.  As Josh, Nora, and Rhea had never been to D.C. before, we also enjoyed some of the D.C. tourist things including going to the top of the Washington Monument, Smithsonian museums, and the Capitol.

November - Ripley's Crazy Golf

For Nora's birthday, we did Ripley's Crazy Golf, which was definitely crazy!

November - Mik Baclofen Pump Replacement

Mik had his baclofen pump replacement surgery. He is on his 4th pump now (battery life is about 5 years). This time he had to go to Florence, SC for replacement. He came home same day as he did with the last replacement, but this time the pump ended up not working and Mik had to go back for a second surgery (via ambulance from Myrtle Beach hospital to Florence) to fix the catheter connection. Dad stayed with him in Florence for the few days he stayed after second surgery to ensure pump was working and he readjusted to the baclofen after going through withdrawal.

December - Moving and Christmas Decor

With Dad retiring this year, we had been planning to get a new home in Myrtle Beach with a little more space (and a garage) as Mom and Dad decided to make this their resident state (splitting time between here, Chicago, and cottage). Originally, we planned to wait until they sold their boat, but the right house came on the market and we were able to make it work and get Mik and my old house put up for sale, too. Of course, first thing hung in the new home was Mom's Apple and Orange painting I stole when I went to college. Most of the stuff has not been unpacked, yet, as we are getting the carpet replaced with laminate in January, but Dad has done the decor in the kitchen including the insulators, Disney figures, and Dumbo popcorn buckets.

December - Christmas Decor

As December has been mostly about moving and not much unpacking, we did not manage to be able to put up the Christmas tree, but Kirsten got us a little one as a housewarming gift. Also, we did get the stockings up by the fireplace (previous owner left almost all their furniture and fireplace was part of what we kept). Dad also put up the Nativity outside on Christmas Eve.

December - Christmas Lights

While we did not put up our own lights this year, I did enjoy getting to go to Brookgreen Gardens Nights of Thousand Candles. We also went to the Great Christmas Light Show again this year.

December - Piergoi & Lefse

Dad and I made piergoi for a family dinner the Sunday before Christmas We made some blueberry at Nora's request. We made them for her a few years ago as she did not used to like mashed potatoes, but now she does and she took one bite of the blueberry and then only ate the potato and cheese ones. Kirsten, Nora, and I also made lefse for the holidays, which worked out really well this year and we actually turned all the mashed potatoes into lefse (we usually make up a whole box of potato flakes and there ends up being leftover potatoes).

December - DC/Chip

With the move, we did not plan to go to Chip's show at The Birchmere this year. Before Christmas, Dad was going to go to DC to move his clothes and other things off the boat to Myrtle Beach, but he only ended up with time to go one day and come back the next. When Dad decided to instead for a long weekend after Christmas, I asked to go with so we could go see Chip's annual show. Mik choose to stay home and enjoy some time with the house to himself. Mom and I also visited the U.S. Botanic Gardens to see the annual train exhibit.

2024 Wingspan/Wrymspan

Throughout the year, we continued to have many Wingspan Sundays at Kirsten's. Nora and I also play most school day afternoons. Dad and I got our own set of Wingspan and accessories now that we have an entertainment room in the new house, so hoping for even more Wingspan in 2025. We also tried out Wyrmspan and played it some (mostly Nora and me), but we kind of forgot about it after a few months.