As the name of this post suggests, our family is back in full swing with activities in 2026. Elise recently completed another level of figure skating and is moving up. She’s also preparing for a school trip to Knott’s Berry Farm in April, where her orchestra group will be performing. Enzo is doing another session of Track & Field every Monday evening, and he recently joined his first flag football team, which plays games every weekend. He’s having a blast with both and is already looking forward to another football season immediately following this one. Ava recently visited Disneyland for the first time as part of a school band trip and had an amazing time. Our Spring softball season just got started, so she and I are back out on the field multiple times per week, plus going to the batting cage with the team on Sunday mornings and practicing hitting at home. When you factor in everything else Jessica and I have going on, it’s a lot to keep up with, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Someday these activities will be distant memories, so we’re trying to make the most of them while we can.
Our annual Spring Break trip to Colorado is only about three weeks away, so everyone is getting excited. A friend of mine at work lives in Denver, and we’re coordinating plans to get together sometime that week. There’s a possibility he’ll come up to do some snowmobiling with us, but that depends on the weather. They’ve had record-low snow in the Rockies this year, which is concerning given that several states, including ours, rely on the Colorado River for water. If he doesn’t make it up the mountain, Jess and I will drive down and spend a day in Denver, so it should be fun either way.
Two months after that, Jessica will be graduating from UNLV, which is obviously a big deal for our family. Her mom and Tom, as well as her dad and Debbie, will all be coming out to celebrate and see her walk. I’m glad we’ll be attending the ceremony because it will be great for the kids to experience it and have memories of their mom earning her Master’s degree. We’re in the middle of planning a dinner at a fancy restaurant on the Strip to celebrate. The softball season will still be going on as well, so the family will be able to attend one of our games.
Shortly after that, in June, we’ll be heading up to Washington for Aunt Norma’s 100th birthday. It’s going to be a very busy week, and we can’t wait to see everyone. We recently booked our accommodations. We’ll be staying the first two nights, June 11 and 12, at a house in Everett. Then we’re spending two nights at a hotel in the Bellingham area, followed by two nights at a house in Tacoma. It’s a lot of moving around, but it will allow us to do everything we want and visit with everyone during our time up there.
Up until a few days ago, we didn’t have any other plans scheduled for the summer, but that changed when we received an email from Tom inviting us to visit his family’s cabin in Canada. They’ve had it for years, but it needed work, so he and his siblings have been fixing it up and are excited to start having people visit. It’s located about three hours northwest of Toronto on Lake Huron. Our plan is to fly to Toronto in late July, right between Elise’s birthday and my own, rent a car, and spend a week fishing, speed boating, and exploring the beaches. I hear the water is as crystal clear as the Caribbean, and we think it will be a very memorable experience for our family. We plan to fly home from Toronto in the evening, so when we leave the cabin, we’ll do so early in the morning and have the entire day to explore Toronto together. I’ve been there once on a work trip and loved it, but this should be an even better experience.
The other major travel plan on our distant horizon came up recently while we were out to dinner. Elise asked where I think we should go on our next big international vacation. I had already been thinking about it, but hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, so we decided to talk it through as a family. The timeframe we’re looking at is late May or early June of 2027. The options I suggested were Italy, Japan, Australia, or Mexico. I’m still open to any of those destinations, as well as others, but as we went around the table and took a vote, everyone picked Japan. To be fair, Enzo voted first and initially chose Italy, but once he heard that Super Nintendo World is in Osaka, he quickly changed his mind. For Jess and the girls, Japan was their immediate answer, and just the thought of going there brought Ava to tears. She has been obsessed with the culture, especially anime, for years. I personally loved the idea because I’ve been there once, back in 2019 with friends, and I’ve always wanted to return with my family. It’s still over a year away, so we haven’t started planning the details, but that’s the decision we landed on, and it comes up often in conversation.
In the shorter term, it’s nice to be busy with so many fun activities. The weather is starting to turn; it will be 80 degrees later this week, so we’re getting plenty of fresh air and vitamin D. Every time I get back out to coach on the softball field, I’m reminded how much I love it. It looks like we’re going to have a good team again this season, so I’m hoping we can run it back for another championship. Either way, it’s a blast being out there. That’s about it for now. Looking forward to sharing pictures from our upcoming trip to Colorado.