Tag Archives: Unity in the Community

Summer 2026

Posted on by
Reply

It was a summer for the Reser record books. We covered many miles over the past 2.5 months while also taking time to enjoy the season here at home. Because after all, no one does summer better than the Inland Northwest.

Summer 2026 was incredible! We traveled a lot while still having plenty of fun in Spokane.

In the past, I have gone back-and-forth between recapping our summers in chronological form and summarizing them according to themes. However, this year I thought I would do a hybrid approach. I will do a brief rundown of what we did followed by a condensed smattering of themes (just five) that defined our summer.

Our summer got started right away with a trip to Mexico to celebrate our 10th anniversary. My parents gave Sloan and Beau a terrific start to their summer as well by letting them stay with them.

Sound good? Let’s go…

Our summer started once Sloan and Beau finished the school year on June 12. From there, things started off with a bang. Sid and I traveled to Cancun to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. The next week the kids attended Catholic Summer Camp. June then concluded with Hoopfest weekend as I served as a court monitor for the 10th time while Sid and the kids volunteered with me once again.

For the third straight year, my family worked together to volunteer at one of the 425 Hoopfest courts. The scorecard depicts the year (2026).

July was busy from the beginning as we opened the month by watching an outdoor movie under the Pavilion at Riverfront Park. Our Fourth of July weekend kicked off with a screening of “Independence Day” in my childhood best friend’s backyard. On the actual holiday we attended the American Heroes Parade in Coeur d’Alene followed by a cookout at my parents’ house and then capped with a fireworks show. A trip to Seattle then ensued that allowed me to mix work with pleasure. I presented at EWU’s Alumni Board meeting and once that concluded our family explored the city, took a ferry to Bellevue, gawked at the gum wall, and attended a Seattle Mariners game.

Happy 250th birthday, America! My family posed for this photo on July 4…it was a great day!

The month of August started in Atlanta for us. Sid and I attended the Engaged Encounter National Convention while my in-laws joined us at the conference hotel and watched the kids. When the convention concluded, we caught more Major League Baseball as we visited Truist Stadium to watch the Atlanta Braves play. We then drove to Myrtle Beach where we spent an incredible week with Sid’s family. Back in Spokane, we celebrated all the wedding anniversaries in my family with a special dinner, spent a day at Q’emlin Park, and had loads of fun during a Sunday at Silverwood.

Sidney and the kids pose for a photo inside The Battery in Atlanta prior to the Braves game.

Wow, I just recapped our summer in three measly paragraphs. That’s pretty good for me, right? But that just covered the major trips and events of the past few months. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the little things that really made Summer 2026 special. These five themes will help put it in perspective…

Neighborhood Fun – I was delighted that Sloan and Beau found neighborhood friends this year and spent the long summer nights outside with them. The neighborhood basketball court was a safe and engaging congregating place for the youth of Elk Meadows as my two kids routinely joined the fun. Because Sloan and Beau go to a different school than most children in the neighborhood, it can be natural to not reach out. I was heartened to see them make new friendships and go outside their comfort zone.

Perhaps not the best photo to share with the kid on top of the basketball hoop, but the general scene is what a lot of summer nights looked like this year. Beau would play at the basketball court with his neighbor friends (Beau is to the direct right of the red bush in the photo).

Camp! – Another way Beau and Sloan went outside their comfort zone this summer was by attending camp. In addition to Catholic Summer Camp, the kids spent three weeks at day camp presented by Spokane Valley Parks & Rec. They went on field trips, played at parks, and swam in pools. One of the “opportunities” they cherished the most was riding in a school bus—something they don’t do as Catholic school students. While enjoying all of this excitement, they met lots of new friends and were surrounded by camp counselors who were positive and terrific role models.

This year the theme at St. Mary’s (Spokane Valley) Catholic Summer Camp was “Cool Kingdom Party: Mary Leads Me Closer to Jesus.” I promise Beau was more excited for camp than how he looked in this photo 😂. Beyond Vacation Bible School, the kids also went for three weeks at Spokane Valley Parks & Rec day camp.

Pools – The summer was hot so thank goodness for water! I think Sloan and Beau spent more time in the pool this year than any previous summer. From the hotel pools to the county pools to the camp pools to the private pools, it was a good thing that our kids had more than one swimsuit. The culmination of all this swimming came during our theme park trip when we hit up Silverwood’s water park, Boulder Beach. It was here that Beau swam like a fish and showed what the summer in the pool did for his once-weak swimming skills.

Sidney, Sloan, Beau, and cousins splash in the pool during a humid afternoon during our Myrtle Beach trip.

Faith – Fr. Mike Kwiatkowski once told my kids that “We can’t take a vacation from God during summer because he doesn’t take one from us.” We tried our best to follow this guidance. While on the road this summer we attended mass at two different parishes (St. Cecilia – Bainbridge Island, St. John the Evangelist – Atlanta) and one that we used to call our own (St. Andrew – Myrtle Beach). We also spent plenty of time at our home parish but things looked just a little different. After worshipping at a sunrise mass he presided over and attending a special going-away party in his honor, Fr. Jeff Lewis left for his next assignment at the end of June. Fr. Curtis Seidel then took over pastorship of St. Mary on July 1. The transition has been seamless and we are encouraged and impressed by the talents that Fr. Seidel has brought to the table (or perhaps altar? 😂). 

Members of our Young Adult/Young Family group gather around Fr. Jeff Lewis during a going-away party for him in June.

Events – We tried to venture out into the community as much as possible this summer. Our family attended events such as Unity in the Community, Millwood Daze, Summer on the Ave., Cops & Kids, and YMCA Healthy Kids Day. What became plainly obvious is that Spokane is an awesome place to live and raise a family. Speaking of Spokane, I must mention the four Spokane Indians games we attended throughout the summer as another way that we got to connect with this awesome community.

Beau, Sloan, and I pose in a photo booth at the 2026 Spokane YMCA Healthy Kids Day. The “Get the party started” sign was appropriate as this event kicked off our summer in mid-June.

————————-

What can I say? It was another amazing summer. Thanks to Sidney, Sloan, and Beau for packing it to the brim and creating memories that I will always cherish. Although it is always sad to say goodbye to summer, there is comfort in the fact that autumn in the Inland Northwest is just as spectacular. Stay tuned. Don’t Blink.

Cop Car Thursday Rundown

Posted on by
Reply

Happy Saturday Eve Eve, my friends. It is Thursday and that means I am at liberty to quickly offer up five random topics. I hope tonight’s menu is to your liking…

Beau Cop – We attended the Unity in the Community event in downtown Spokane this past weekend. Beau couldn’t resist the opportunity to jump into a Spokane Police vehicle. I took a photo and sent it to family members. My dad responded in the “most dad” way he could: Remind Beau it is preferable to ride in the front seat of a police car as opposed to riding in the back!

Beau takes command in the driver’s seat of a Spokane Police vehicle during the 2026 Unity in the Community event.

Karaoke – I am not a karaoke performer myself but I do enjoy watching others, including loved ones, belt it out. After the Reser family anniversary dinner on Saturday night, Sidney and I went out with my sister and brother-in-law to a dive bar. Both Sid and Jay took turns with the microphone. My wife did a great rendition of “Alright” by Darius Rucker.

Sidney sings “Alight” by Darius Rucker at the Lariat Inn in Mead, WA. Karaoke can be a lot of fun (just as long as I am not singing).

Leavenworth Memories – Because we took other vacations this summer, we won’t return to Leavenworth after visiting the past two years. I can’t recommend this vacation more. If you want a wholesome family experience at a really affordable price, you probably still have time to book at the Enzian Inn before the summer disappears. I wrote summaries of both our 2024 trip and our 2025 trip.

This is a photo of my family in Leavenworth in 2025. I highly recommend this vacation.

Arthur the King – Last Friday was family movie night at our house and we watched “Arthur the King.” Released in 2024, it stars Mark Wahlberg (huge fan!) as a disgraced adventure racer who recruits three hesitant team members to join him for one final shot at glory. The twist is that a fourth “teammate,” a dog named Arthur, joins the squad once at the race site in the Dominican Republic. I am not a big dog person, but this movie hit the mark (no pun intended) while teaching me about adventure racing. Most important of all, it kept Sloan and Beau engaged. If you are looking for a film that the whole family can watch and that teaches a good lesson about humility, I recommend streaming “Arthur the King” on Netflix.

It will be worth your family’s time to watch “Arthur the King.”

Have Some Lemonade – I have worked in higher education for 17 years now. The best hands-on lesson I have ever witnessed during that time occurred during my stint with Coastal Carolina University. In 2015, a management professor divided his students into small teams and sent them out to Prince Lawn (the student gathering spot/green space on campus) to see who could make the most money selling lemonade. The tactics these students came up with were beyond creative. From blended lemonade to self-serve lemonade to teal lemonade to invitation-only lemonade, it was so fun visiting the different stands and chatting with them about their business plans. As I reflect on National Lemonade Day, this memory from CCU is what comes to mind first.

The lemonade competition took place back in 2015 and it was a lot of fun to see what the different teams did. This particular team offered incentives for those who purchased their lemonade. If you bought some, they placed it in a re-usable cup for you to keep.

——————–

Try to take time this evening to remember the many families in Spokane who had their homes destroyed in the fires. With the event now a couple weeks in the rearview mirror it can be easy to forget those who lost everything. Thanks for reading and have a fantastic weekend. Don’t Blink.

Face Painting Pains

Posted on by
Reply

Our family attends a lot of community events. I love to take the kids out on a Saturday morning to whatever festival or celebration is taking place in beautiful Spokane. If you attend enough of these events, you won’t be surprised to encounter some of the given attractions such as kettle corn, prize spinners, photo booths, and chalk art.

Uh oh, I missed one. Actually, no, I didn’t, I just wanted to save it for last for dramatic effect. After all, it is what this blog post is about.

I am talking about face painting!

A photo of Sloan after she got her face painted at the Spokane County Interstate Fair in 2021.

My kids are crazy about face painting. They will apply the full court press on me to get their faces painted and if it is free, I will usually relent. But daddy, why would you put up any hesitation at all? Well, let me give you a couple reasons…

– The wait can be brutal. A long line plus the love/care that a lot of these artists put forth while doing their craft can be a big time suck.

– It is hard enough for me to keep my hands at my side, let alone my children. They are always touching their faces and if they have face paint applied it seems like the tendency to touch their cheeks increases tenfold. Not a big fan of smeared face paint and stained fingers.

– It is Murphy’s Law at its finest. If Beau doesn’t get his face painted, he most definitely won’t fall asleep in the car on the ride home. IF he does get his face painted, he will fall asleep the second we pull into the driveway. When the latter occurs it creates a dilemma of whether we place him in his bed peacefully so the paint will rub off on his pillow OR attempt to wipe it off while he is sleeping and risk waking him up (which always happens).

– Speaking of wiping off face paint art, sometimes it can be really hard, even if my kid isn’t sleeping while I try to do it.

I mentioned that Sloan and Beau got their faces painted the past two weekends. On Aug. 17, we attended the Unity in the Community event at Riverfront Park. There was a booth sponsored by the Filipino American Northwest Association and they had a professional face painter who was painting the faces of kids for no charge.

Beau getting his face painted at the Unity in the Community event.

Then this past Saturday we encountered another free face painting booth. We attended Millwood Daze and found ourselves at the West Valley High School Senior All-Nighter table. Although the artists weren’t professionals (they were just high school seniors trying to score some donations), they did a wonderful job.

After getting his face painted the prior weekend, he once again got his face painted this past Saturday at the Millwood Daze event.

Although letting my children get their faces painted isn’t my favorite thing in the world, I do appreciate the joy it brings them and the attention they receive from the artists. Now if only Beau wouldn’t fall asleep with a fully painted face. Don’t Blink.