Instagrammin' in June

June kicked off an awesome summer!

we loved getting picks of the crossons on their epic cross-country trip! | fun day in south end walking the rail trail--great way to celebrate father's day! | love others. | do good. | ! | magic carpet ride | look at my handsome boy. | getting her driving hours! | clemson football camp with his team | ella and i spent a lovely evening in greenville, sc before picking jack up at clemson. | we explored the campus before getting jack. | moving out of the dorms. | vbs! | ella's turn for camp--wake forest tennis camp | some mini golf with my boy | another summer of swim team for ella and jack | a lovely evening in beaufort, sc before heading to hilton head the next day

Instagrammin' in May

May saw the end of track and soccer seasons, the beginning of 7v7 football for Jack, EYC retreats, and puppy haircuts.

jack playing 7v7 football | long distance track girls--it was a great season for ella with the 16th-fastest two-mile time in the region! | another soccer season comes to an end | jack got braces! | jack had a great time at the jr. eyc beach retreat. | the bulls--jack's 7v7 team | at a tournament | ella had an awesome sr. eyc beach retreat--and, of course, she got herself in more pictures. | sweet olive's brindle comes out when she gets groomed.

Chimney Rock

After spending a few days at the start of the kids' spring break up in Durham--exploring its lovely downtown, taking in a show, and checking out the campuses of Duke, UNC, and NC State (neither Jonathan nor I are NC natives like our kids, so we figured now that Ella is a high school sophomore it was time to start getting to know NC universities)--we decided to continue the idea of seeing a little more of our own state for our vacation.  We headed to the mountains for a day at Chimney Rock State Park to see the iconic North Carolina monolith, hike some trails, and take in the views of Lake Lure and Hickory Nut Gorge.  A bonus for this adventure was definitely that sweet Olive was able to join us and, also, this is a sight Ella and Jack hadn't even heard of here in NC.  You know I love my research before trips, so I did make us all watch The Last of the Mohicans before going, although, I might've been the only one to really pay attention.

No elevator for us (not an option when you bring a dog and I'm sure we wouldn't have taken it anyway) so we trekked up the Outcroppings Trail (known as the "Ultimate Stairmaster") which includes 494 steps up to the Chimney.  After taking in the views on top of the Chimney (I'll admit, I found being up there quite daunting), we continued up via the Exclamation Point trail to make it to the highest peak in the park (2,480 feet above sea level, and one of the views from The Last of the Mohicans), exploring the Opera Box and seeing Devil's Head on the way. 

Not ready for our day to end, we continued our hike on the Skyline Trail which went up and down hill, over a creek, and finally to the top of a waterfall.  We hiked all the way back to the bottom of Chimney Rock the way we came in.  My calves were literally quivering by the time we made it down to the bottom of the stairs--and I wasn't the only one!

Instagrammin' in April

April is one of my favorite months--the flowers are blooming, I get usually get to go on a few trips, and, of course, it's my birthday month!

sweet olive | belinda bencic at an unseasonably cold volvo open wta tournament (it snowed on our drive down to charleston!) | danielle collins | us and danielle collins | us and bethanie mattek-sands!!! | caroline wozniacki | big stadium match--i love the volvo open! | spring break trip to durham, nc | checked out duke campus while we were there. | and took in a durham bulls game | bulls win! | got to see the bull eyes light up and nose smoke. | also explored the beautiful unc chapel hill campus. | blooming for spring | unc was ella's favorite campus visit. | final campus stop was at nc state | real reason for our durham visit, and a surprise for the kids--michael carbonaro live show (from the carbonaro effect) | another spring break adventure--chimney rock (a first for the kids) | and sweet olive got to join for this part.

Instagrammin' in March

March brought us the start of high school track season for Ella (Ella ran the 3200M event all season), the Fill the Bowl event for both Ella and Jack this year, and Ella's birthday!  Ella turned 15 on March 21st and got her learner's permit the very next week.

Instagrammin' in February

A highlight for February was a girls weekend in Asheville to see Fed Cup play.  Ella and I had enjoyed watching Fed Cup play last February so much that we decided we needed to stay for both days of play this year.  This year's Team USA included Madison Keys, Sofia Kenin, and Danielle Collins and the Fed Cup match was against Team Australia (Ashleigh Barty played 3 of the 5 matches!).  It was also a huge surprise to us that Billie Jean King, leading the opening ceremonies each day as well as being honored for her Fed Cup team play, as well as Gladys Knight were both part there.  We drove up to Asheville Saturday morning, enjoying a delicious brunch at The Market Place (same as last year) before heading to watch the day's first match.  A few of my tennis friends joined us for the weekend, too--Yvette, Brandy, and Ellen.  We stayed at the Aloft hotel in downtown Asheville and it was great to be able to walk around downtown (and already have hotel parking near the U.S. Cellular Center where Fed Cup took place) and come and go as we pleased.  After enjoying the Aloft rooftop patio views, we ventured out to Wicked Weed for a few beers (root beer for Ella) and dinner, lucky to snag a table there.  On Sunday, we enjoyed lunch at White Duck Taco before the day's Fed Cup matches.  I hope Ella and I can find many other excuses for getaways together--tennis is always a good one and I love that she shares my joy in watching women's professional tennis live.

Other highlights in February: good light on Olive; a heart spotted on one of our walks; and, Ella and Jack both received Superiors for their judged piano performances at the NC Music Federation Festival.

Happy New Year!

We wouldn't miss our annual New Year's Eve party with great friends the Hulls, Browns, Shaws, and Broadways so we specifically planned our trip to make it back from the UK in time.  It truly is the best way to kick off each new year.  We celebrated the start of 2019 at the Shaws' house and, even with the jet lag, made it to the ball drop.  I am so thankful to have these wonderful families in our lives and love that our kids have known each of them either all or nearly all of their lives.  We hit the jackpot with this crew.  Here's to 2019!