St. Paschal's EduCare

We are now in the second half of Thursday Rundowns for 2025. I hope you have enjoyed this year’s posts thus far and if you haven’t—I doubt you will like this one 😉. Alright, let’s get started.

Moving Moment – On Independence Day morning, I took my kids to the Coeur d’Alene American Heroes Parade that is held every Fourth of July. With the parade occurring just five days after the ambush attack on firefighters just outside of town, you figured the community would use the event to honor the two individuals who lost their lives. Did they ever. The parade’s opening was dedicated to John Morrison and Frank Harwood. Two riderless horses representing the lives of Morrison and Harwood led the procession with firetrucks and firefighters following close behind.

Two riderless horses pass from our vantage point at the Coeur d’Alene American Heroes Parade.

Backdrop Photos Back – With the arrival of summer, Sloan and Beau returned to St. Paschal’s Educare, a daycare center we have enrolled our kids at the past few years. Everything from the hours to the food to the values instilled are great, but what I really enjoy are the monthly photos they take of the kids in front of fun backdrops. The classic Fourth of July backdrop from last year returned this week. I always get a kick out of the faces that Beau makes. Thanks, St. Paschal’s!

I love the monthly photos that the staff at St. Paschal’s EduCare take of my kids.

Frozen S’mores – While we are still on the topic of Independence Day, I wanted to tell you about the dessert Sidney made for my parents’ Fourth of July cookout. She brought frozen s’mores to the party! She got the idea from a friend and then replicated them perfectly for Friday. The dessert is refreshing with an interesting frozen texture. Chocolate pudding, marshmallow crème, cream cheese, and cool whip form the layers of goodness stuffed between the two graham crackers. There is still plenty of time to make these for your next summer BBQ so tap here if you want the recipe.

Sidney holding a plate of her s’mores dessert.

$5 Meal Deal – The latest trend is for Fast food restaurants to offer some type of meal for $5. After years of increasing prices and shrinkflation, I think we all deserve it. But the university I work at has actually offered a similar deal way before fast food restaurants embraced it. Earlier this week, I forgot my lunch at home so I went to EWU’s PUB (the student center) for the $5 meal day that is offered daily. For just 20 quarters, I got a cheeseburger, tater tots, and a 24 oz. drink. What a treat!

This was my lunch on Monday…EWU’s $5 meal deal.

Memorable Photo Shoot – On this date in 2016, I wrote about a photo shoot that ended up being worth every penny. While on our honeymoon, the DreamArt Photography rep stationed in our resort sold us on a private photo session to commemorate our time in Cancun. I went back and forth on whether to bite the bullet, but I thought the shoot would ultimately be a timeless souvenir. I am so glad we did it. The photos turned out great at the time and I love them even more now. In fact, I might love them a little too much—one of the photos is still my profile photo (yeah, I should probably change that).

I loved how our honeymoon photos turned out.

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That will do it for now. Please pray for the repose of the soul of Rob Heacock. He died unexpectedly this past weekend. I got to know Rob through my involvement with our St. Mary Knights of Columbus Council and was saddened to hear of his passing. Don’t Blink.

Happy Thursday, friends! It is peak summertime and I hope you are enjoying every second of it. Let’s begin tonight’s rundown…

Ice Cold – Is the Reser family the only ones out there who throw ice? One of our longstanding traditions is to empty the cooler at the end of the day and then proceed to practice our aim. The other day I overturned the cooler in our own backyard and as the kids and I started to chuck ice, Sid asked, “Did you do that when you were young or something?” You bet! We are the best at cheap entertainment!

We got to do some ice throwing at my parents’ house on the Fourth of July.

Soda Machine Update – I have documented the magical soda machines on the side of the road here in Spokane and raved about the inexpensive prices. Sadly, a couple weeks ago I broke the news that the sodas would increase in price on July 6. At the time I didn’t know what the price increase would be but I now have that info. Beau and I paid a visit to the machines last week and the prices doubled. The 12 oz. cans increased from $.25 to $.50 and the 20 oz. bottles jumped from $.50 to $1. This is a pretty significant hike and it definitely takes some of the mystique away from the machines.

As Beau tries to steal a soda from the machine on the right, you can see that the machines have the new prices clearly displayed on them.

National French Fry Day – Today is National French Fry Day and because of that I must bring back the beloved French Fry chart that ranks and explains the different varieties of my wife’s favorite food. More than 7 years ago, I wrote about this chart and asked two questions: 1. Why aren’t spicy fries on the list? AND 2. Why are tater tots on the list? I wrote a lot more so you will just have to read the blog post but besides a couple of questionable calls on this chart, I sure think it is a thing of beauty.

This list ranking french fries is pretty cool.

Latest Beau Daycare Photos – St. Paschal’s Childcare recently sent home the prints from Beau’s latest photoshoot and once again they are so cute. Our son’s daycare went with an ocean theme this month and I had a hard time choosing which one to include in this post. I ended up opting for the the below image of him holding the lifesaver although the shots of him without the prop are adorable too.

Ahoy, Beau!

Capone – I have been on an Al Capone kick lately. Last week I finished a lengthy biography on the notorious gangster and I followed that up with watching “The Untouchables.” The film is from 1987 and it stars Robert De Niro as Capone and Kevin Costner as Eliot Ness, a government agent and arch nemesis of Capone. The movie is historical fiction at best but it was fun to see two blockbuster actors star in a movie that was made when I was 1. There is also a shootout scene with a baby stroller that will put you on the edge of your seat. If the movie appeals to you at all, you can catch it on Paramount+.