October 13, 2024

Falling into Fall

It has been a busy couple of weeks for all of us.  I've had a couple 100+ hour weeks which means Alex has been doing all of the kid activities in addition to his normal commitments. 
      
Alex, the kids and his parents went to a Charlotte FC soccer game last weekend and had amazing seats.  They all had a great time.  Charlotte FC got a win too!
      
     
I wasn't able to come home at all over the weekend so Alex brought the kids to see me at work.  We had a picnic at my favorite spot for a fantastic view of Uptown.
     
      
Halloween donuts!
       
We saw our first Northern Lights last week!
        
The kids had their first Scout Cuboree this weekend.  We camped with their pack in Midland, North Carolina.  It was a beautiful weekend and we had a great time.  The kids learned about fire safety, went fishing, climbed, had target practice and played with their friends.  We heard all sorts of owls and coyotes at night!
     
    
    
Ready to fish!
      
        
Harper caught a fish!
     
     
     
        
The kids did a water relay to "put out a fire".
    
    
    
The scouts made crafts out of leather.
     
The kids climbed this tower!
      
Ethan had target practice.
     
    
Harper and Amelia stayed in a tent together the first night.  Harper was too afraid of spiders to stay there the second night and slept with us instead.
    
     
We had a nice time getting to know the other parents in our pack.
     
     
    
There were tons of smores and desserts.
        
Our pack hosted the weekend and put on a program Saturday night.  Several of the packs did skits.
       
    
Harper was a part of a flag retiring ceremony. 
     
After we got home from camping, I met my mom and her sisters to celebrate Lis' retirement.  We had an afternoon tea at the Ballantyne hotel.  It was special and fun!  
    
        
     
          

September 29, 2024

Enjoying the Outdoors

Alex is in Boston this weekend visiting his friend Eric, so I had the kids to myself!  The kids had off from school on Friday because of Hurricane Helene, but were stuck inside doing school work with us all day.  They definitely needed some fun activities to do this weekend, but their soccer games were canceled because of the storm.  I instead took them to Carowinds on Saturday and to the White Water Center on Sunday.  We just heard that school is canceled for Monday as well.  I am on call so the wonderful Scheer Grandparents will have them for the next couple of days.
     
Carowinds
       
Harper brought Amelia so we could have an even number of riders.
    
     
We started in Camp Snoopy to warm up to the rides.
    
    
Camp Snoopy definitely feels too small for our kids now!
    
    
The park was having a Trick or Treat event so the kids were able to get candy!
     
     
    
    
     
Ethan was too nervous to ride this one.  It was the girls favorite!
    
    
   
      
    
     
    
     
The kids got little pumpkins!
    
Ethan rode this one.  It was definitely scary!
    
They picked Amelia for a jellybean tasting contest.
    
    
The swings are always a hit!
    
    
  
    
      
    
My babies!
    
We met Kate and her kids at the White Water Center.  The kids played on this playground for a couple hours.
    
     
     
   
After the playground, I took the kids over to do a 100ft jump.  Not only did they do it once, they did it three times!!!  My legs could only handle climbing up to the top twice.  It was a pretty scary jump.  We were well above the tree line.  I feel like Ethan could have handled any of the rides at Carowinds after this.
      
    
    
    
    
We are definitely loving these White Water Center passes.