Instagrammin' in December

After a year off of our big holiday trips (Spain in 2014, New Mexico in 2015, and Canada in 2016), we were ready to book another big family vacation over Christmas.  We spent December 21st through 29th in the United Kingdom, exploring London, Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath, and Edinburgh while there.  You'll see a lot of similar pictures from our trip that were taken on my big camera, but there are some in here that were only on my iPhone.  We got first class sleeper chairs on the overnight flight there (heaven!).  The day we went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child I did not have my camera because you can't bring them in to the show.  We went to the British Library before the show and between the two shows (it was 5 hours split over two shows) we had a beautiful Indian dinner at Dishoom (not photographed, but worth mentioning).  We went to Midnight Mass at Westminster Abbey--no photographs allowed during the service, but I did sneak a photo of the ceiling with my phone before it began.  Christmas Day we had Afternoon Tea at the Ritz Carlton.  The blog will be bombarded with collages of our full trip soon.  This is just a teaser!

Also, leading up to our trip, December was pretty busy.  We fit in the Potted Potter show, a funny 90-minute recap of the entire Harry Potter series (a refresher I figured before we were to see Cursed Child while in London).  We also saw Agatha Christie's Mousetrap for a little research for our trip (it's the longest continually-running show in London).  Jack was so bored at that one, though, he spent the entire time pulling out a loose molar that somehow ended up under the seat of the person in front of him... And Ella had some artwork on display and entered into a competition through her Visual Arts class at school.  We unfortunately didn't do a lot of our traditions for Christmas at home (we did decorate, for the record), but fortunately it was Christmas overload in London.  Everything was beautifully decorated and festive. 

Instagrammin' in November

We packed November full of wrapping up sports seasons, family visits, and Jonathan's birthday.

my usta combo team went to states! | we made it to the semifinals. | great football season for jack | he has found a new found love with football. | ella's tennis team made it to the elite 8 in states competition! | congrats to ella on a great season and a varsity letter in tennis as a freshman! | aunt chrissy and uncle chris brought their crew to visit for a weekend and we took them to a hornets basketball game. | kemba walker scored 60 points in that game, but we still lost an exciting one in overtime. | crowder's mountain hike | they made it to the top! | happy 43rd birthday to jonathan! | so nice that his parents came to visit in time for his birthday. | we took jonathan's parents to black mountain for thanksgiving weekend. | started the weekend off at sierra nevada brewing | spent thanksgiving day touring the biltmore, all decked out for christmas | wrapped up our weekend in asheville exploring some downtown breweries

Homecoming

Ella decided at the last minute to go to the Homecoming dance at her high school so we found a pretty dress in her closet and cute heels in mine.  She went with a group of friends and fortunately they had a little photo shoot before the dance (after getting ready at a friend's house) so I got to see them all dressed up and ready for a fun night.  At the dance Ella says they don't play any slow songs, so it's a fun atmosphere for a night of dancing with your friends.  Ella had a great night, but definitely will be looking for a dress early next year so she's ready and feels more comfortable.  I think she looked beautiful and I couldn't be happier that she's partaking in all of the essential high school experiences. 

Instagrammin' in October

October is always one of my favorite months.  The weather's beautiful and I have an excuse to get outside quite a bit with my October 100 challenge, my own tennis team play, and watching lots of Ella's and Jack's sports games/matches.  Ella's month was filled with high school tennis matches and adjusting brilliantly to high school life.  Jack played middle school football (and his first tackle football experience) as well as club soccer.  Jonathan and Ella won their age groups in a 5k race.  Jonathan and I got in a few dates.  And Olive's favorite month is October with all of the walks she gets in.

fall wreath making workshop with my tennis ladies | jack's first middle school football game | maroon 5 | ella's team had a big rivalry match the night i was at the maroon 5 concert. | ladies night out at the concert! | logging some october 100 miles with olive | homecoming pre-dance pictures for ella and her friends | football game day--in his team hoodie | #84 | hit the brixx 5k winners |  day date of brunch and hamilton! | that's a wrap on october 100--thanks olive for helping me get there for the 6th straight year! 

Instagrammin' in September

Septembers are too busy for photos!  Luckily someone else took a few of my kid--Jack had a great time on his EYC retreat in the mountains at Awanita.  Ella was unfortunately sick and had to cancel going last minute.  The rest of the month was filled with lots of school, homework, tennis matches, soccer games, and football games.  Yes, football games--Jack made the middle school team!

Instagrammin' in August

It was an iPhone-in' month again.  I guess I took an Instagram sabbatical for all of Summer 2018.  But the photos, the capturing of some moments, are what matter.  And I do have those. 

ella made the tennis team! | happy 13th birthday party to jack! | ella at jack's birthday party | birthday party at urban air | birthday boy | spent his birthday money on a hoverboard #onehappyboy | cirque du soleil show | tournament champs! | first high school tennis match | go ella! | go ak women's tennis! | first day of freshman year of high school for ella | first day of 7th grade for jack | eyc 7th grade boys crew | eyc 9th grade girls crew

Instagrammin' in July

I probably shouldn't call this "Instagrammin'" as most of these pictures probably didn't make it to Instagram.  This is more of an iPhone-pictures-from-July collage.  Life is good in July--we spent most of it on the beach!

our first week in july is spent on hilton head. | spotted a gator on a bike ride. | nonni, papa, and kids at harbour town. | plaid lighthouse. | early morning view | run on the beach with my boy | bike ride to the ruins, the kids' favorite sight on hhi (not) | the beach | bridge in beaufort | harbour town playground | with ivy | beach time with the cousins | the raft | bocce ball | happy 4th! | fireworks on the beach | he does like ice cream! | south beach ice cream | thanks, papa! | back at harbour town | teenagers at gregg russell | gregg russell under the big oak | pretty view of the lighthouse | back in charlotte, erasure concert with carolyn | charlotte knights baseball game | it was 'the office' night--jack's dwight. | notes for ella's tennis tournament | she racked up some wins at the tournament! | fripp island | oh deer! | views from the fripp island beach | beach walk with jonathan | we threw a lot of stranded starfish back into the water. | love how quiet fripp is. | fun and games inside | cousins hanging out | more birds | more deer | beach time at the tip of fripp | one last picture by ella of the deer before we had to drive home for her high school tennis tryouts. | home with olive | while jack and jonathan enjoyed a few more days in fripp (mostly jack, while jonathan had to work a bunch). | crabbing | more crabbing | and an early birthday celebration for our boy 

Fripp Island

At the end of July, Jonathan's parents rented a house on Fripp Island, a small island on the South Carolina coast that is crawling with deer and golf carts.  Unfortunately, we didn't know until after the dates were booked that they overlapped with high school tennis tryouts for Ella, so Ella and I were only able to stay for the first two days of the trip.  We filled those two days with lots of beach time, card games, golf cart rides, crabbing, food, drinks, and laughs.  All of these pictures were from one day--we packed that much in!  Fripp was such a quaint and quiet place to spend focused time together.  Thanks, Nana and PopPop, for such a wonderful time on Fripp!

HHI Week: Beach Portraits

Thank you, Nonni and Papa, for another wonderful week in HHI!

{from oldest to youngest: jake, 16; ella, 14; zane, 13; jack, 12; drew, 11; and ivy, 4}

HHI Week: July 6

Not a single big camera photo of our bike rides this year (and we log 8-11 miles probably a day, all in an 11-bike caravan), but I did capture a hike through the Nature Preserve in Sea Pines.  It's fun to mix it up every year and add a new activity or two.  Beach time every day, however, is a must.

HHI Week: July 5

Our very own private pool at our house is such a fun bonus! 

HHI Week: July 4

Our 4th of July each year on Sea Pines is usually spent like most of our days in HHI, we take a morning bike ride, maybe it's our day to hit up the ice cream shop and Salty Dog store at South Beach (usually a good incentive to get the kids on a long bike ride), head to the beach by 1pm to catch the military plane flyovers, and then we stay out on the beach well until the early evening.  Some downtime at the house includes burgers, hot dogs, and watermelon and the hot dog eating contest aired on ESPN every 4th.  We cap our night off back out on the beach by dark (with all of the kids donning light bracelets and necklaces to ease our search efforts later) to watch some fireworks up and down the beach and across the water off of Tybee Island.  This is truly the best way to enjoy a crowd-free and relaxing 4th of July and still get to see some fireworks. 

HHI Week: July 3

Beautiful weather and fun waves this year out on the beach at HHI.  And way too many kids who are starting to look pretty grown up...

HHI Week: July 2

2018 marks our sixth straight summer spending a week in the same house in Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island with my extended family.  Thank you to my parents for bringing us all together every year for a week of relaxed fun in such a beautiful setting.  I value this time with my parents, my sister and her family, and my own family and I greatly cherish the cousin time my own kids get year after year.  I recently read a quote that really stuck with me, something I see every year in the memories Ella and Jack are building with their cousins.  “A cousin is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.” — Marion C. Garretty

Instagrammin’ in June

First, I have to come clean.  Very few of these actually made it to Instagram.  I kind of took an Instagram break over the summer…actually, not kind of—I completely took the summer off.  Once I get behind, I just can’t seem to catch up because I always feel the need to edit my iPhone pics (with Snapseed app and/or Afterlight app) and I’m a little OCD about posting chronologically.  So, usually a big event (like Ella’s 8th grade graduation) holds me up and I just can’t post anything else until I’ve posted that…it’s just a vicious cycle and I can just never get back on track.  That said, these iPhone images are the ones I would’ve been posted had I not been on the aforementioned Instagram sabbatical. 

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s talk June!  Ella wrapped up middle school (sniff sniff) and Jack wrapped up his bass clarinet career (that didn’t take long).  The kids also had a few camps this month, swam with the neighborhood swim team, and we all headed to HHI!

ella and jack both swam on the scr swim team this summer. | 8th grade celebration | jack’s last band concert | 8th grade graduation! with friend kylie | nonni and papa came in to town for graduation | justine and ella | jack’s last day of 6th grade | and, jack’s front teeth met the blunt end of a broomstick…no more smiling while watching friends play broomstick hockey again… | dropped ella and friend julia off at wake forest tennis camp | dropped jack off with a few friends at davidson soccer camp | jack in the dorms | checking out the campus | i broke my first string, like ever.  i hit with a lot of topspin so i’m not sure why it took me so long. | jack had a great week at camp. | and ella enjoyed a great week at tennis camp. | a beautiful night in beaufort before heading to hudson’s and HHI with nonni and papa the next day

Instagrammin’ in May

In May we spent a great weekend down in Greenville for a soccer tournament with Jack’s soccer team.  Olive joined us—and just spent one night in a local kennel—and we got to all enjoy some time exploring the beautiful Falls Park on the Reedy in downtown Greenville.  We also just happened to be in the area at the same time as Jonathan’s Aunt Claire and Uncle Al (who live up in Pennsylvania).  They joined us to watch one of Jack’s games and then took us out to lunch…and I’m kicking myself because I don’t have any photos from our time with them.  Aunt Claire had brought both kids very thoughtful gifts, too.  All in all, it was a great weekend.  Jack’s team never lost a game, but just missed playing in the final by one goal. 

Ella and Jack also both went on a retreat at a beach house with EYC near the end of the month—these are the pictures I grab off of the EYC Facebook page when I’m checking to see my kids’ smiles while they’re away. 

And, in other news, Ella’s still playing a lot of tennis (with friend Julia) and Olive continues to be cute. 

Instagrammin’ in April

April kicked off with a pretty quiet Spring Break—Ella and I went on a little girls’ trip while Jack hung out with friends—but was ripe with activity the rest of the month.

ella and i headed down to charleston to watch the volvo car open for two days.  it’s a wta tournament with top players, but jack wasn’t interested in going. | ella with genie bouchard practicing behind her  | ella with madison keys practicing behind her and lindsey davenport behind madison | getting autograph from madison keys | we went to vco with my friend yvette and her daughter gabby.  gabby made ella an autograph book and both girls got signatures from just about every player we saw.  i love this tournament because the players are so accessible, especially on the practice courts (here getting autograph from grand slam doubles winner andrea hlavackova). | the girls with us open finalist madison keys | the girls with gold medalist and grand slam doubles winner bethanie-mattek sands | julia goerges in the big stadium | the girls with lauren davis | watching indian wells winner naomi osaka in the smaller stadium | caroline garcia on the practice court | we watched bethanie-mattek sands in her first competitive doubles match back after her dramatic leg injury the previous year at wimbledon.  they won and it was very emotional. | watching two-time wimbledon champion petra kvitova play in the big stadium | the girls with ashleigh barty (love her!) | our crew—this is one of my favorite events and i can’t wait to go back next year (unfortunately for ella, it doesn’t fall during spring break in 2019) | the plan was just for jack to hang out at home while jonathan worked when ella and i were out of town, but he was lucky enough to be invited on a day trip to the riverbanks zoo in columbia. | koen’s mom invited jack along and i think it made his spring break. | ropes course | friends | still getting pictures on the elephant statue | spring break family activity—we made it out of the escape room with about 8 minutes to spare! | it’s confirmation weekend! | ella’s statement of faith artwork | and presentation | mrs. shaw was ella’s thoughtful and caring confirmation mentor. | with friend kylie shaw | 8th grade eyc crew | she’s been confirmed!  with bishop sam | the sje confirmation class | all dressed up for confirmation sunday | another 8th grader rite of passage—8th graders’ trip to washington, dc | ella ran the mile for the track team again this year. | she placed at several meets and helped her girls team win conference champs this season! | piano recital—ella | and jack.  they both did great.

Instagrammin’ in March

March was a busy month, especially for Ella.

ella was on the planning committee for the fill the bowl event this year.  the teens participated in a 30-hour famine, slept in a cardboard box village on the church lawn, did service projects in the community, and raised over $50k for the lunch project.  #goella | for character day, jack dressed up as dwight schrute, coordinated with his social studies teacher who is also an office fan (i think he looks more like jim dressed as dwight). | happy 14th birthday to ella!  she’s growing up!  she even registered for high school the previous week…sniff, sniff… | an edited photo and a composite piece of artwork ella completed in her media arts class this semester

Instagrammin’ in February

Fed Cup!  The United States women’s team (the defending champs of 2017 Fed Cup) played its 2018 first round tie versus the Netherlands in Asheville this February, so Ella and I got tickets to go.  When we purchased the tickets in the fall we did not know which WTA players would be representing the USA, but during the Australian Open they announced the team—Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Coco Vandeweghe, and Lauren Davis.  Serena Williams gave birth to her daughter Olympia in September, so Fed Cup was her official return to tennis—and we were there to see it!  We also got to see adorable Olympia and Serena’s charming husband.  And it was lovely to see Venus supporting Serena.  I admire the close and supportive relationship they have maintained throughout their competitive careers.  Venus and Serena haven’t done Fed Cup in years and I totally think Venus did it because Serena wanted a lower pressure place to get her feet wet back in tennis. The whole experience felt pretty epic for us.  We drove up just for the day, enjoying brunch in downtown Asheville before spending the afternoon watching Venus Williams and Coco Vandeweghe play the first two singles matches of the tie. 

My only other picture from February is of Ella’s beautiful smile to mark the end of her orthodontia work.  Her name was on the “Braces Off Today” board but it’s a little anticlimactic when you just stop wearing your Invisalign.  Still, pretty teeth and the end of an era (that started in 2nd grade) is something to smile about.

Instagrammin’ in January

January was a pretty quiet month.  I like it like that.

we finished our puzzle from the crossons—it was a tough one! | snow day! | olive loves the snow! | jack subbed for a team two age groups up in a tournament and did awesome. | the size difference was jarring, though (see last photo).

Instagrammin’ in December

We were out and about in December, but no major trip this year.

ugly christmas sweater gingerbread cookies | ugly christmas sweater brewery hopping with friends | keep pounding! | watching the panthers take on the vikings | a family that cheers together… | go panthers! | big win for the cardiac cats | les miserables | taking my girl to one of my favorite shows | supporting another charlotte team | go hornets! | christmas eve traditions | church and then dinner at p.f. chang’s with the miners | and driving to look at the house decked out christmas lights | family trip to the movies for star wars the last jedi | back at noda brewing | jonathan’s new ugly christmas sweater came a day late for our brewery hopping night. | hot pistol is my fave, while jonathan still prefers ipa’s and stouts. | ski weekend for jonathan, jack, and ella | they tried out the black diamonds at appalachian ski mountain. | happy new year! | celebrating with our favorite families again this year—the browns, shaws, hulls, and broadways