September/October

September kicked off with a trip to Grandpa's for Labor Day weekend.  I took only one picture the entire time, but Leah relaxing on the beach sums up this great end of summer getaway.  We love Litchfield Beach!

We soaked up the last summer weather by getting out the baby pool for Millie.  The human kids spent so much time at our community pool this summer, and our fluffy one enjoyed a day splashing in her pool at home with her sister!

We went to Boone to watch Maya play in her first season on the App State volley ball team.  She is amazing, and was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year.  SO proud of her, and we're thrilled that she is in NC for college!

We also went to family weekend at Camp Linn Haven with lots of friends from our church in September.  It rained the entire time, which meant lots of cozy fires, playing games and cards, and hanging out on porches visiting.  We all enjoyed our first time staying in the cabins at Linn Haven, but I neglected to take a single photo all weekend!  

September meant a new season of 6th grade band.  Leah and Asher (our across the street neighbor) both started this year playing trumpet, and they cracked me up practicing on our porch.  It sure was a "joyful noise!"

We stayed busy on Sept/Oct weekends with Leah's soccer games and Luke's band competitions.  I'll post a separate marching band post, but here are a few cute pics of Leah's soccer team:

I also had a second surgery in September, and recovered well and in time to enjoy a weekend with my NC girls.  We intended to walk the Women's Only 5K together, and although Hurricane Ian ruined those plans, even the power being out couldn't stop us from gathering! 

We got away the next day for a Mom's Night at the Grandover Resort.  These women carried me through this hard year with so much love, and it was good for our souls to celebrate together with lovely meals, spa time, and lots of laughs:

Fall is Marching Band season, and we spent Friday nights at football games and Saturdays at band competitions.  Here we are on the hill watching our NW Viking Band compete:

Our school/band hosts a massive competition each year called Fall Festival where dozens of bands come to perform.  Everyone volunteers to make this event a success and Luke was elated to be at the panini station again, preparing food for the judges.  This kid has found his calling with gourmet sandwiches!

Grandpa came to visit for Halloween weekend and we made s'mores on our new screened porch fire pit:

Leah carved her jack o' lantern and decided to wear one of Luke's previous year costumes.  She's really too cute to be a scary Grim Reaper in my opinion:

Halloween is especially fun when your Harry Potter costume coordinates with your amazing homeroom/science teacher's costume.  Just two wizards performing magic in the hallway here:

And that's a quick recap of our busy September and October this year!

Back to School: 6th and 9th Grade Edition

It's a new season of life as the kids started middle school and high school this fall!  

How do we have a 6th and 9th grader in our house?!

Both kids were excited to start school and are having a great year so far.  Here are first day of school pics for L&L:

I can't wait to see what BIG things they do this year!

August

August brought a celebration of 19 years of marriage (and cancer remission!) with a special vacation.  Mark and I stayed at the luxurious Inn at the Biltmore for one night in Asheville, where we visited a brewery, dined al fresco at a restaurant in Antler Hill Village, and walked through the Biltmore gardens.  We had s'mores outside, lounged in the Adirondack chairs overlooking the property, and enjoyed a fancy buffet breakfast.  It was just lovely.

The next day, we continued on to one of our favorite places in the world: The Old Edwards Inn, in Highlands, NC.  We first visited the Old Edwards Inn on our 10th anniversary, and have been talking about going back ever since.  

Mark has been dreaming about this pool/grotto for almost 10 years, and our return visit did not disappoint!

We had the cutest little cottage, complete with a porch and wooded patio area, and we had the most restorative, wonderful time.  We went hiking the next day to see some of the many, nearby waterfalls, and it was beautiful.  I kept exclaiming to Mark how grateful I was to feel GOOD (I was a little over 3 weeks out from my mastectomy), and there were whole chunks of time that I didn't think about cancer at all.  What a gift!

Bridal Veil Falls

Dry Falls (Mark in the white shirt on the left side)

We also had a fun family adventure in August when we visited the National Whitewater Center in Charlotte.  This was such a cool place, with over 1300 acres of outdoor activities, including rock climbing, zip lines, water sports, and ropes courses.  This facility is the training course for the U.S. Olympic team, and my crew had a blast whitewater rafting for the first time.  They chose the course with the Level 3 rapids, which was a little more intense than the family starter course:

The kids loved the rock climbing features and were strong climbers, making their way to the tops of the walls:

Another favorite was Deep Water Solo, which is a form of rock climbing that utilizes falling into a deep pool of water vs. using traditional climbing equipment.  The walls are 20-45 feet high, and once you reach the top, you jump/fall into the pool below.  It was so much fun to watch Mark, Leah, and Luke do this:

Back on land, the kids tried a variety of ropes course and ziplined.  There was SO much to do at the White Water Center, and it was a full day of physical activity and outdoor recreation:

Leah Ziplining.

Our friends at church surprised us by painting this parking spot with a pink ribbon on the day of my surgery.  A couple weeks later, we had an outdoor picnic after worship and I posed with my victorious sign!

There were also Open Houses for both kids at their new schools.  One high schooler who shall not be named refused to let me take his photo, but our middle school child is thankfully still agreeable:

Luke spent 3 of his last weeks of summer at band camp, returning to the incredible Northwest Guilford Viking Marching Band that he loved so much last fall:

As we gear up for the start of the new school year, we are thankful for so many of these fun August adventures!