Summer Break 2021: Week One

We are finally on summer break after the craziest year of my teaching career and by far the strangest school year I hope the boys will ever have! With masks and "work from home" days through remote learning and zoom meetings, we made it through the 2020-2021 school year!  Now to some of my favorite weeks of the entire year..... summer break with uninterrupted time with my boys!  Here is how we spent week one of summer break.....

We celebrated daddy for Father's Day!  We are so thankful for all he does for your family! We were able to eat lunch with the Kennedys, Bakewells and Williams family which made for a fun celebration of all the dads!

That afternoon, the boys wanted to throw water balloons so mommy made it happen while daddy was napping. ;)

We fit in two days to the pool this week... once with the Kennedys and Williamses at the YMCA pool (we went as their guests) and a second day at one of my co-workers' neighborhood pools.  The boys are becoming little fish again in the water!

We also went to one of the summer movie series where they played "Kung Fu Panda" and we ate yummy popcorn and enjoyed soft drinks!  (I forgot to take a picture).  We also celebrated Josh and my birthday.... we grilled out at the Williams' house and the boys helped me make a fun-fetti cake!

We celebrated my birthday.... complete with breakfast in bed (something Zander was determined we were doing)!

Then, we loaded up the car for a drive to Carowinds for the day... what better way to celebrate your birthday than with riding roller coasters and "patiently" waiting to ride the attractions?!  Zander's favorite ride was the Carolina Goldrusher and Maddox's favorite ride was the Woodstock Express!  We had a blast and we are already looking forward to when we can go back as the boys get a little taller and are able to go on more of the big rides!

We stopped for BBQ on the way home.... I had the loaded mac-n-cheese.... complete with a glass of wine!  

We definitely wore ourselves out from the fun day..... everyone slept well that night (Maddox got started with a power nap using the new stuffed animal he won as a pillow on the way home)! ;)

Baseball Camp and M & M time!

Zander attended baseball camp this week with a local minor league team!  He loved hanging out with kids ages 7-13 and spending time with some of the players!  

On Friday night, we were able to go watch the High Point Rockers play.... Zander loved showing us each of the players that he worked with during camp!

I had to finish up work for this school year on Monday and Tuesday.... which meant that on Wednesday through Friday, Maddox and Mommy (M & M) had some uninterrupted time while brother was at baseball camp!  We went to a local park that has putt putt and a train ride.  We also went to the science center with Grammy!  I think Maddox loved the one-on-one time he had with mommy while big brother was busy.   Being the youngest, it is rare for him to have moments alone with mommy so we definitely soaked it all up!

On Saturday, Maddox was able to celebrate one of his best buds, Nash, for his birthday!  He loved the waterslide and water balloons!  

We fit in a trip to the library one afternoon to get some summer books! I am hoping to get into some sort of routine where we spend a little time each day working on some of the skills they learned last year so they are easily remembered when they start back to school in August.... so far this week... it's just been time spent reading our new books together!

A few weeks after I turned 37, I set a goal of running 1,000 miles before my 38th birthday!  My sister and I have probably ran this distance a decade ago when we trained for a couple full marathons but I never documented my mileage then.  Thanks to modern technology and my trusty Garmin watch, I was able to see my goal become a reality!  All outside miles which means I ran in rain, sleet, hot, cold, day and night.... sometimes alone and sometimes with my sister, the boys biking or with Burke!  It is so exciting to attain a goal that I made about a year ago (even with a little time to spare)!  I had to document the last three mile run which got me to the 1,000 mile mark.... complete with Maddox biking and Burke running (while Z was at camp)!  I have the best running buddies!  And if you are wondering if I will keep us this "pace", the answer is no!  I'll be cutting back on the mileage so I can still run a decade from now! ;)  

Last Day of School and Girls' Getaway!

First, a few more pictures from Maddox's preschool graduation.... my friend, Kristen (Mollie's mommy), took pictures of all the graduates and their families that night.  I will mention that three boys in Maddox's class (Nash, Burke and Luke) weren't there for the picture.... hence why it looks like a girl heavy group! ;)

I love what Google did with this photo to make Maddox in his cap and gown stand out from his surroundings!

Zander officially finished 2nd grade!  He is so incredibly smart and incredibly kind!  He is known around school for giving the staff members the best hugs and has grown so much this year!  He placed into the AIG (academically intellectually gifted) class which starts in third grade and I continue to be amazed at all he is learning!

Here we are dismissing car riders on the last day!  I love having my boy with me each day!

Zander went with Grammy on Wednesday to the science center to see the new exhibits which include flamingos, pygmy hippos and a serval!  I can't wait to take Maddox next week after I am off from work while Z is at baseball camp!  Zander spent the rest of the week at Grannie's house, being spoiled!  He got to visit Linville Caverns and a splash pad!

I've enjoyed some evenings out with my girlfriends as we wind down the school year.  We went to dinner to celebrate mine and Angie's birthday the other night!  A story came up about how I was going through some of my grandpa's old historical magazines/newspapers and at the bottom were some playboys!  I was shocked and immediately put them in the recycling bin since I have never encountered magazines like that!  My co-workers were shocked I threw them out.... insisting that they were worth money! haha  So we went dumpster diving to retrieve the magazines.  A friend has them in their possession right now... I didn't want to have them with me any longer and I didn't want to be on the news for selling these! haha

I love naptimes with my boys!  This was last weekend... all cuddled up on the couch after church!

Maddox and Emerson had their last day of preschool on Friday.  This was Maddox's last day ever at preschool as he will start kindergarten in the fall! Emmy has one more year for PreK before she joins us at elementary school!  We are all looking forward to summer before we start back into the school routine!  Maddox had some ice cream on the way home to celebrate!

He also has been talking a lot about this "Mario fishy thing" from CVS!  Daddy made all his dreams come true and purchased it this weekend for him!   He is obsessed with any type of stuffed animal.... he has about 30 in his room!

Grammy, Aunt Lindsey and I had a "girls' getaway" (that is actually what the package we purchased is called) this weekend.  This was an idea about two years ago that we finally brought to fruition!  We thought it would be a great way to celebrate mom's 65th birthday and Mother's Day as we typically have a spa day for Mother's Day.  We drove about 30 minutes away to the Grandover Resort.  Our package included lunch vouchers, a spa treatment (massage), a bottle of champagne, a beautiful room for the night and breakfast vouchers!  We had the best food and enjoyed working out in their fitness center, laying by the pool and just having the opportunity to have uninterrupted conversations!  I feel so incredibly blessed to have both of them all of these years as sounding boards for discussing important decisions and for receiving encouragement when it is so desperately needed!  I know we will be doing this again in the future! :) 

PreK Graduation Part 2 and End of Spring Baseball!

We were able to officially celebrate our PreK graduates with a park party on Friday night.  The kids showed some of the things they learned this year and we ate yummy food, complete with celebratory graduation cupcakes!  Mrs. Veigh, Maddox and Zander's PreK teacher, retired this year.  We took time to celebrate her with her last class of preschool!  We are so thankful she waited until after she had Maddox to retire! He has learned so much about God, knows many bible verses, knows the books of the bible, knows letters and numbers, read books this year and even showed how he can read a clock!

At the park, I discovered he has a few admirers in his class.... one that left this note earlier this week in his folder. ;)

This week, we also finished out our spring baseball season!  Maddox got to play on the big field and receive a medal after his final game.  Zander helped as catcher during M's game so I had to capture the brothers on the ball field together!

Zander also finished up this week.  One of the baseball moms snapped some pictures of the boys during practice and within the game this past week!

Cousin Wade sent me this picture of the CD I gave Zack back in 2005!  It prompted me to dig up the first rock CD that Zack gave me at the same time!  These will be antiques one day (or maybe they already are)! haha

We celebrated Memorial Day by visiting the Field of Honor where the boys saw pictures of family members representing the various branches of the military.  It is always a good learning experience and many people were there to honor and remember those that fought for the freedoms we have today.

Yesterday was National Trails Day... which I didn't know was a thing until after we got home and I saw some posts about it.... but we found our own trail and enjoy being outdoors as a family!

Friday happened to be National Donut Day.... and while we waited until Saturday to celebrate after our hike, the donuts tasted just as good a day after their national recognition!

We are ready for summer!  The boys enjoyed playing in our backyard last night while the parents sat in lounge chairs on the back deck watching their fun!  It was a perfect evening!  It won't be long until we have more evenings like this together!!