Ladd Photos

Of course our road trip would take us through the most extreme heat wave of the summer. But, we pushed through it, spending a few hours walking along OKC’s Bricktown Riverwalk. Some ice cream helped us all cool off before the game.

The OKC Dodgers were having a “Cielo Azul” night, where they wore their alternate uniforms and had Ballet de Folklorico performers in between innings. Our seats were so close, we were practically on the field. Connor ran the bases after OKC crushed the River Cats, 12 to 3.

The landscape was gorgeous on the drive up to Los Alamos.

We spent the first part of the day at the Bradbury Science Museum, learning about how they built and tested the first nuclear bombs. The museum also covered lots of other areas of science that the Los Alamos National Laboratory now works on.

For the rest of the afternoon, we looked at the local critters and beautiful scenery at the Los Alamos Nature Center.

Having to get back on the road, we drove through more beautiful country, stopping at Santa Rosa, NM for dinner. Then it was a dark drive through the night to get to our hotel in Pampa, TX.

We set off today on an 18 day road trip around the entire southern part of the country. We’ll make it all the way to the East Coast before heading along the Gulf Coast to get back home.

The whole day was spent on the road, well over 12 hours. We stopped outside of Yuma to look at the sand dunes, then a little further up the road to stretch our legs and put our hands into the Colorado River. We had dinner in Phoenix then drove the rest of the evening through Arizona’s mountains and into Albuquerque.

Testing out my new zoom lens on unsuspecting subjects.

We visited Powell’s City Of Books for the first time, the largest bookstore in the world. It was massive. Then we wandered around downtown.

My little sister joined us on a trip north to see Mount St. Helens. It is hard for photos to capture the surrealness of a giant mountain missing half of itself.

We got to celebrate this year in Portland, at my older sister’s house. The kids had a blast playing and lighting stuff on fire.

The new Expedition Baja exhibit taught us about our neighbor to the south. Then we said hello to all the animals in the Living Lab.

We had a fun day riding the water slides and floating down the lazy river.

The top high school and college prospects were at Petco Park to show their stuff to the scouts, and the fans got to go watch. The players were really good at interacting with the kids, and my boys got a lot of autographs.

We stopped and smelled the roses in the giant garden across the street from the Fleet. Then we continued on to the Fleet for a fun afternoon of science.

We watched the Angels forget how to swing the bat after a good start in the first inning. They only got two more hits the rest of the game. They lost, with a final score of 4 to 1.

To celebrate the boys’ promotions, we took them out for a fun day of mini golf, laser tag, and bumper boats.

Surviving a middle school career filled with pandemic chaos, Gavin has been promoted from Oak Valley and is ready to start his next chapter in life at Del Norte High School.

He received a Presidential Academic award for his great grades, and we couldn’t be prouder of how well he performed in a very challenging academic environment.

Congratulations Gavin! We love you!

A 6-year journey has come to an end with Connor promoting from Turtleback Elementary. But a new and exciting adventure will begin at Oak Valley Middle School, after summer.

Connor received the Presidential Academic award for his academic performance and was recognized for his safety patrol service.

He was also awarded a medal for running over 100 miles during the school year. He ran 111 miles total, enough to go from San Diego to downtown LA!

We are so proud of you Connor! We love you!