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.

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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.