One Family's Journey

Well, I survived two weeks of bachelorhood while Lori and the kids trekked back east to visit family and spend a week at Appalachian Youth Camp. I rarely cooked for myself and depended on my skills of appearing as pathetic as possible to weasel dinner invites out of friends. It worked. So, thanks to Marc and Talisha; Royce and Tammy; and Doran and Diane for the delicious meals. Oh, yes, and Melissa Roskam for the outstanding cheesy potatoes (she came over to the Ritcheys, too). As much as I enjoyed the culinary delights of Wendys, Taco Bell, and the ilk I was SO ready for Lori and the kids to come home.

They had a great time hanging out with siblings, parents, and cousins on the visit. They flew into Indianapolis, spent a day in Cincinnati, and then traveled to Pennsylvania to spend a long weekend with Mom and Dad Frederick. They dined like kings, feasting on scrapple, Philly cheesesteaks, east coast pizza,while enjoying cultural favorites like Italian ices. Yeah, all this while I was eating chicken nuggets from McDs. Here are a few pictures from the visit:

Lori, the kids, and Nanny and Pop-Pop.

Lori, Char, and Dave pose with Mom and Dad. Dad's hoping to get this photo shoot over as soon as possible while Dave tries to see how far away he can get from Char while still staying in the picture.

The grand kids and Nanny and Pop-pop Frederick. Back row: David, Alicia, Ankie, and Christy. Just so you know, I told David back in the day that if he made those weird faces that it would stay that way. You can see what happened...

Trey gets swatted by Ank. Ankie is Trey's new hero. They hung out quite a bit.

Kass enjoyed a little 3-wheelin'. She's got her game face on.

Running the break. Reminscent of Nash and Stoudemire (that's for Trey).

The red hat ladies captured by roving paparazzi (read: Char). I enjoyed Lori's retelling of the sales clerk's explanation of what the red hat craze was all about. She told them that it was a fad that was way too old for them. Since, Char was wearing her covering she inferred that she (Char) probably wouldn't be interested since it was a "social club" and that's probably something she wouldn't want to be a part of. "Covering discrimination".

Lori and the kids left on Tuesday for AYC. I'm on the youth camp board, but due to a scheduling conflict couldn't make it this year. I was pretty bummed. This is one of the highlights of my summer. Nothing beats making fun of my cousin Ray Mac all week while trading insults with Tony and Abby. I also missed directing the AYC choir. They are incredible! The best music groups I've worked with have been found in Roxbury, PA every July. Lori spent the week helping Char with the Kidz Adventure portion of the camp. My kids loved hanging out with the Frederick and McCrary cousins all week. From what I hear it was a great week. Jeff Keaton was the evangelist and they had some incredible worship services with many, many teens giving their lives to Christ. Awesome! Every evening they have an afterglow and due to a rainstorm they had to host an X-games-type competition in the tabernacle after one of the services. Kassady told me about it and said, "They rode skateboards and bikes in the church, and Dad, that just isn't right!" Trying to synthesize her church-behavior training with what she just witnessed was a little difficult.

The Hawaiian luau was a great success and quite the hit with my kids. They loved hanging out with the "big" kids and doing the hula, the limbo, and pineapple bowling. Fortunately, the authentic Hawaiian Hut was available for a photo op.

Cheers to everyone!

Trey tubin' down the water slide. Definitely, the highlight of camp!

Kass can do anything her big brother does. Don't believe it? Just ask her.

After AYC, they drove back to Cincinnati, getting in about 11:30 PM. Kassady and Christy decided to stay up and watch a Disney movie and didn't fall asleep until after 1:00 AM. I called Lori after our concert on Friday and was shocked when Kass got on the phone. She's her mother's daughter, that's for sure.

On Saturday, the fam went to see a Reds game at Great American Ballpark. Yes, I was a little jealous. Trey is a huge Reds fan (I've trained him well) and he felt like he was coming home to Mecca. There was a rain delay, so the players didn't come out for batting practice. Which meant that he didn't get their autographs. He did get Gapper, the mascot, to sign his hat, though, so it was all good. Trey called to tell me that his favorite player Ken Griffey, Jr. blasted homerun 607 in his quest to pass Sammy Sosa on the all-time homers list. You have to understand that Trey is a walking sports encyclopedia, and he's been obsessed with Griffey's progress. I tried to explain that there was a good chance that Griffey wouldn't hit one out at his game, but his faith endured. Of course, less than a week later (yesterday to be exact) Griffey got traded to the White Sox. I'm glad Trey was able to be there for one his final games in a Reds uniform.

Trey thought he'd died and gone to heaven. Great American Ballpark! Cincinnati Reds! Ken Griffey, Jr.!

Trey nearly wet himself with excitement when Griffey belted home run number number 607. He was there. Here's the swing...

...and, the butt-slap from his teammate. Trey and I are still Griffey fans even though he was traded to the White Sox less than a week later.

Sunday afternoon, found the Waggoner fam headed to Frankfort, Indiana to meet up with my family. Mom and Dad picked them up in Indianapolis and brought them on in to Mamma and Pappa's house. I hated hearing about all the great food they were eating. Mamma is one of the greatest cooks this world has ever known. Her Sunday dinners are legendary. So, yeah, I was pretty homesick. Bobby, his kids, Alyssa, Alyssa's son Josh, Mom & Dad, Sharilyn, and Mamma and Pappa grilled out on Tuesday night (I had a frozen pizza) and had a great time together.

These women are SO much alike: Mamma and Kassady. They're both independent, opinionated, mouthy, and loyal as can be. And I love 'em both!

The kids and uncle Bob gang up on Sharilyn for a ticklefest.

One task I was always dragged into as a kid was husking corn and then silking it so we could have corn on the cob. I used to hate it! That and breaking beans. Man, if only I could go back in time...

Trey and Kassady got a taste of gardening. They enjoyed it. Of course, when Bobby and I had to do it we were working with several thousand bushels of corn (or so it seemed). It was usually a 3 or 4-day ordeal. But, I'm telling you, nothing tastes as good as the corn out of Mamma and Pappa's garden!


Dylan, Jillian, Josh (Dylan's buddy), Kassady, and Trey. What a bunch of posers!

These are the steps leading up to the attic of Pappa's barn. There have been more kids that have fallen off of those steps across the years. Most of the accidents were caused by shoves from well-meaning cousins or siblings. At least the ones involving me and Bobby. Fortunately, the kids survived. It's about 145 degrees up in that attic, but that was the coolest place to hang out. I'll bet the only things up there to this day are some croquet mallets and wickets. And, maybe a shuffleboard disc or two.

Absence did make the heart grow fonder. I missed my family so much. Finally, Wednesday evening found Lori, Trey, and Kassady home in Idaho where they belong. And, I ate well.