April 2024

 

Easter fell on March 31 this year, so technically it shouldn't be included in this April post, but it is close enough!  We celebrated with a gorgeous day and Easter Sunday church service:

In the afternoon, L&L did their annual egg hunt in our yard (sponsored by Mimi!) and we hosted Easter dinner with Mimi, Aunt Molly, and Uncle Dick:

April weekends = rowing regattas.  We traveled to Elizabeth City, NC to watch Luke race only to have it canceled at the last minute due to high winds.  However, it was still a fun weekend, as Bean and Poppy came to their first regatta and we spent the rest of the weekend in Williamsburg with them:

NCRC Youth Team

Meanwhile, Leah was attending the Southeastern District's Middle School Youth Weekend with a group from our church, and we joined them in Colonial Williamsburg:

Millie was thrilled to be included in this weekend of travel, too, and still doesn't quite understand personal space:

Passenger Princesses.

Leah had not one, but two field trips to Carowinds in April.  Mark and I chaperoned the first one, as our middle school band and chorus performed in the Festival of Music.  We had the best group of kids to chaperone, and I rode all the roller coasters with the kids while Mark served as logistics manager/bag holder:

Love these sweet girls and their friendship.

Carowinds is in both North Carolina and South Carolina.  This line goes through the park marking the divide between the 2 states.

It was a great day with these kids, and Leah returned exactly 2 weeks later with the entire 7th grade for their spring field trip to Carowinds.  She told me that we were only allowed to chaperone one of the two days, and I know that she enjoyed not having to pose for my photos on her second field trip!

In other April news for Peanut, she got braces!  Her teeth really were quite straight beforehand, but braces will help line up her bite properly.  She is handling the initial discomfort like a champ and is milking it perfectly with extra ice cream and McFlurries for "comfort".

Luke was the only student in his high school to make All State Band this year, and the 3 day clinic was held at the end of April at UNC-G.  This is a HUGE honor, and Luke was the 4th chair tuba selected for the 9/10 North Carolina All State Band:

And in other big news, Luke celebrated a milestone birthday this month! 

Our baby boy is 16!  Luke was anxious to get his driver's license, but his birthday fell on a Saturday (and the DMV is closed on the weekend), so Mark took him to a walk in appointment at 7:00 a.m. on Monday.  Luke passed his road test, and we now have a licensed driver in the house!  Luke also had his first day of work on his birthday.  He'll be lifeguarding at our town pool this summer, and he had his first work day to set up chairs and clean the pool deck.  Driving and working seem like such grown up things, and he has physically grown and changed so much this year.  We love you, Luke, and can't wait to see what the future holds for you.  Happy 16th birthday to our favorite boy!