A fellow former manager from Deloitte became a photographer herself in her post-Deloitte life—she is amazing and a true artist with light. Once I saw her work, I knew I had to book us for our next family portraits. I was quick to snatch up a mini session as soon as she released some fall dates. I highly recommend Carrie Howland Photography!
I love October! I spent a lot of time outdoors, logging my October 100 miles per usual, but we also enjoyed a long weekend in Asheville this month.
olive always helps me get through my miles in october. | at beatty | our nephew jake traveled to nearby fort mill for a band competition. | we got to see the rest of the crosson clan for a visit, too. | another beatty hike, but this time with jonathan | and olive, of course | we clean up nice for our family portraits. | squirrel nut park | another beautiful fall day for a hike | with the whole fam this time | we went horseback riding in the mountains outside asheville | over a river and through the woods | in the slight rain | and my horse tried to wipe me off on a tree the entire time. | next stop, brewery hopping in downtown asheville | olive joined us for this bit. | plus, vortex donuts | our weekend was planned around a soccer game of jack’s in asheville. | brrrr—it was chilly! | beautiful hike at catawba falls | we clean up nice again for a dinner out in asheville | at curaté | and home and snuggling with olive by 8pm on this snowy night in october in asheville | snow-capped mountains the next day | one last hike before we head home—this time above Montreat for some spectacular views | halloween! | ella was maleficent. | jack was jason. | and olive was a panther…reluctantly (it’s more of a muscle tee—i guess she needs a medium!).
Aruba was so amazing, it’s worth double posting. Like I said, most of the pics in my Aruba post were iPhone pics, so it makes sense that most of them made it on to Instagram as well. Our September highlights were a trip for Jonathan and me to Aruba and then a trip for the kids to Awanita, a youth group retreat to the NC mountains. This was Jack’s first year on the retreat—he was very excited about the mud pit.
Aaaah, Aruba. Jonathan won his company’s President’s Cup Award this year—he’s been eligible so few years because his department kind of gets grouped in with all of the corporate/home office employees, this was such a special recognition for him. And, I love these kinds of awards, because I get to reap the rewards, too. These trips are the absolute ideal vacations for Jonathan—it’s an all-expenses paid excused absence from work. The company CEO and VP of Sales, plus several of the sales reps from Jonathan’s region, were on the trip as well, so he never felt like he was missing anything at work, or that he’d return to a big inbox full of work. This year’s President Cup trip was to Aruba…but, I’m sure you’ve already guessed that. I had never been to the Caribbean, so this was bonus for me. My parents came up to watch the kids and Jonathan and I left for an amazing 5-day weekend trip to Aruba.
We stayed at The Ritz-Carlton Aruba and, if that wasn’t luxury enough, we were treated to torchlit gourmet dinners on the beach, small group day trips (we went kayaking and snorkeling with underwater sea scooters and then we rode ATVs around the island to a natural pool), beach- and poolside waiters always there to take a drink or ceviche order, a sunset catamaran cruise, and presents in our room each night (thank goodness Jonathan had room in his suitcase for that YETI cooler). Aruba definitely lived up to its motto—it was certainly One Happy Island for us. And what a great way to help Jonathan and I celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary. Can you believe the color of the sea there??? These are mostly iPhone pics.
Ella started 8th grade and Jack started 6th at the end of August—two middle schoolers! Ella’s starting some high school courses this year with Math 1 and Spanish 1. Jack is going to try his hand at the bass clarinet in band.
Charlotte was pretty close to the Path of Totality for the solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, but since Charlotte would get a 98.4% view of the eclipse we decided to avoid the crowds and view the eclipse locally with friends. Longtime friends Baden, Ilse, and mom Ivy hosted a eclipse viewing party for us, complete with eclipse-themed snacks. Armed with our eclipse glasses, we stepped outside periodically to see the different stages of the eclipse. There was a strange glow of dusk for an hour or so outside on either side of the eclipse peaking for us around 2:40pm. The glasses were strange because you could literally not see anything with them on until you looked up into the sky and could see just that sliver of sun. The most comfortable way to check on the progression of the eclipse was to look down at the dappled light—the shadows were shaped like the eclipse. I know the experience was much more extreme, with darkness for 3 minutes, for those in the Path of Totality, but what we saw was pretty cool, too. It was definitely a memorable experience and fun to share with good friends. Thanks for hosting us, Tauchers!
We made the most of what was left of summer in August!
busch gardens with nonni and papa! | loving a sunny day at the park after lots of rain from tropical storm emily! | up close with the cheetah—that was a fun ride, too! | ella and jack did all of the coasters! | mama gorilla | tennis at nonni and papa’s club | jack trying out one of his birthday presents | ella doing some artwork in nonni’s studio | and jack | happy 12th birthday to jackaroo! | make a wish! | thinking… | i guess it’s a good one. | excited to visit the usta national campus in orlando | my tennis playing buddies | sweeping the court post play | bedtime stories with harper and hudson | cousin love | aunt jacqui, uncle randy, harper, and hudson took us to wekiwa springs. | the water was cold but beautiful—i took lots of pictures. | nana and poppop joined us in orlando! | uncle randy and his birthday skateboard | hudson trying it out | long-legged ella | happy 40th birthday to uncle randy! | live rocky horror picture show stage act at the brewery | cheers to nana and poppop | and jacqui | finally home with my pup and she tears her dew claw | poor girl had to wear a cone of shame for a week. | and she tore a piece off of it, so with the duct tape she looks like the dog from mars now. | new haircuts for school coming up | getting his award from coach dave | jack’s team won the pre-season tournament | watching the total eclipse with friends baden and ilse (funny—we started the summer with them and now we’re ending it with them) | eclipse watching | cool eclipse shadows | one final hurrah for summer—a trip to the quarry (again, lots of pictures) | end of summer tradition of ice cream at bruster’s | and, the first day of school—back at the same school, 6th grade and 8th grade!
