2023

2023 was a really great year!  We worked hard and played hard.  We were fortunate to have good health and made some wonderful memories with friends and family.  You really can’t ask for more than that!  Here are the highlights by month:

January - Erin was in the piano ensemble festival at Meredith College, where she performed along with 7 other students at the same time!

February - Chris and Logan visited and toured NCSU, Anna’s school soccer season began, and we went to a Hurricanes game.

March - Erin was accepted into Cardinal Gibbons, Anna’s soccer games started, and Erin performed in the Dance Theater production with HSSOD.

April - Family spring break trip to Puerto Rico, got new car and roof!

May - Erin’s piano recital, 8th grade graduation (plus festivities), Anna’s birthday, and Erin’s friend mother/daughter trip to Virginia!

June - Anna’s last day of school, Anna’s birthday party at the lake, Erin’s dance recitals, family trip to Hilton Head with cousins, Grandma, and Finley, Erin did a dance camp at Gibbons, Anna participated in basketball camp at StMM and volleyball camp at Gibbons, and Erin had freshman orientation.

July - Gina and girls went to Indian Beach, Erin did a choreography dance camp, Anna and Gina went to visit cousins in California, and Erin took driver’s ed.

August - First days of school for everyone (including Freshman Welcome Day for Erin!), Anna’s volleyball season began, and Anna went to western NC for her 8th grade field trip.

September - Erin hosted friend hangout day (rained out lake day) and Bob went to an Eric Church concert in Charlotte.

October - Anna’s volleyball season ended, Erin’s birthday and party, Gina began job at Duke, and Erin got her learner’s permit!

November - Erin’s first dance performances at Gibbons, Anna and Gina went to Great Wolf Lodge with the cousins and Thanksgiving.

December - Erin took midterm exams, Erin went to the Snow Ball dance, and we all had lots of Christmas fun (complete with many family and friend gatherings)!

In addition, Bob had many trips for work (including 2 to Europe, 1 to Australia, and 1 to Brazil), Erin practiced driving, Anna did a lot of pet sitting and babysitting, both girls had very active social lives, and we all enjoyed lots of fun on the boats at Jordan Lake!  It was truly a great year, and we are looking forward to another wonderful one ahead!

December!

December was as wild as always!  We had a fun, busy, and festive month, beginning with Bob returning from his trip to Sao Paulo, his first time in Brazil!  He had a good trip, and said it was very nice (and crowded) there.  The travel there and back was not the smoothest, with each of his 4 flights having some kind of issue, but he got there and back without too much of a delay.  He jumped back into business the next day, setting up the nativity at StMM.  Anna took the placement test at Gibbons on the morning of the 2nd, and then had a fun afternoon/evening participating in the Apex Christmas parade with her friend Bella and some others!  

We had never been to this parade before, and it was lots of fun!  Erin also had her first piano musician's meet up of the school year earlier on Saturday.  

That was a busy day!  We had a shopping trip to Fenton on Sunday, and then Erin read the second reading at the youth mass that evening, and attended youth group after that.  

Bob spent 4 days in New York the next week, and the rest of us were busy with school, piano, volunteering at sleigh rides, haircut, a work meeting, and attending Olivia's winter band concert!  Erin was off of school on Friday the 8th for a remote reading day prior to exams, so we went to the holy day mass together and then she did some studying.  Anna had a fun dinner out and sleepover at Gracie's with a few other friends for Gracie’s birthday on Friday.  Erin and I hit up confession at St. Andrew on Saturday the 9th, and Anna had a marathon babysitting job that evening for about 8 hours.  She made some good money that night!  

We had a fun lunch in Greensboro with the cousins and grandparents for Ben's birthday on Sunday the 10th!  Erin had her midterm exams from the 11th-14th, so it was a wild week with her schedule varying a lot.  She had 1 or 2 exams each morning; two of the days, she didn't have to go in until 10:30am because she didn't have exams for her dance class or for her flex period (study hall).  The nice thing was that she was out by noon each day, so Anna and Rory didn't have to ride up to get her at 3pm like we have been doing most regular days.  It was also nice for her to have the afternoons at home to recover from the exams that morning and also to study for the next day.  

I enjoyed helping review English papers in 8th grade on Monday, and Anna had her last physical therapy appointment for her ankle that afternoon.  It is now considered healed!  Happy 5th birthday to Finley on the 12th.  

The evening of the 14th, Erin and her friend Jeff had dinner here and then went to the Gibbons Snow Ball dance and had a lot of fun!  

Friday morning was the 8th grade Christmas bash at school, which was a wild time for sure!  By 3pm that day, everyone was officially finished with school and we could fully move into Christmas celebration mode!  Erin nervously awaited her exam and semester grades, which all came in quickly, and she was happy with the outcome her first semester of high school.  She worked very hard, and we are proud of her! 

Saturday, I had a fun neighbor lady Christmas party at my friend Stephanie's house.  We were busy the next few days finishing shopping, wrapping, baking, and other Christmas fun!  

Anna had a couple of babysitting jobs this week, and Erin had her 15-year old checkup on Wednesday, which went well.  We had a great Christmas lunch with Grandma and Grandpa F. on the 20th at Red Robin; yum!  Anna also slept over at Lyla's that evening.  On the 23rd, Bob and the girls met Grandma A. and Ansley in Asheboro and the girls had a really fun lunch/shopping/church/games sleepover in Concord!  While they were there, Bob and I went to a Wolfpack men’s basketball game, church, and dinner.  

We then met them back in Concord the next morning for Christmas Eve fun!  Everyone enjoyed their presents and the yummy lasagna lunch!

We were back on the road around 3pm or so and ended back up at 7pm Christmas Eve mass, which was really nice.  We even made a stop at the Tierney Elf Party after mass for an hour or so!  That was a busy day!

In between all of that, I have been enjoying my new “temporary” job reviewing scholarship applications for Duke.  It has been great to earn a little money and use my brain for a change!  I spent about 10-15 hours per week on this for about 6 weeks.  Finley was happy when I put his dog bed next to my desk.

We enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing Christmas the next day, complete with presents and food!  

The 26th, Anna had a friend shopping outing at Fenton and we enjoyed a nice visit from Yannis, Sofia, Andreas, and Vasiliki that evening.  We did some winter cleaning and hit Barnes and Noble on the 27th and had two car repairs on the 28th.  Grandma A. came up to visit that day, and we had lots of fun making bowl game food (but less fun watching the actual Pop Tarts bowl game, which did not turn out our way). 

We had a fun dinner at the McGees on the 29th, and Erin had a blast at her Friendsmas on the 30th!  Anna is having Gracie and Bella sleep over on New Year’s Eve, and that will end the month!  

 

Whew!  We are looking forward to a great year to come in 2024!

November

November was great!  We were busy and happy and enjoyed the month!  It was definitely the month of tricky schedules because the kids had different days off throughout the first two weeks.  Erin was off on the 1st, and she drove me to and from All Saint's Day mass that morning!  Anna also started a physical therapy regimen that morning to help strengthen her ankle that she injured during volleyball season.  She's had about 8 sessions and hopefully will be finished by the end of the month.  Erin went back to school Thursday and Friday that week only for Anna to be off for teacher conferences!  We all enjoyed a trip to Reynolds Coliseum for a Wolfpack volleyball game on Friday evening.  Sadly, they didn't win, but we still had a great time.  

We enjoyed a nice dinner at a new (to us) restaurant with Grandma and Grandpa F. on Saturday evening, and had a fun day on Sunday with Bob and Anna visiting the Gibbons open house while Erin and I enjoyed Friendsgiving with her friends at Olivia's house.  Erin and I went to youth group that evening, which wasn't so fun, but we are nearly 25% finished with her two years of classes at this point.  

The week of the 6th was busy for Erin, as she had 3 nights of dance rehearsals and then 3 performances over Friday and Saturday.  It was a good experience for her, and the dance was beautiful!  

Anna was off school on Election Day and made the most of it with a PT appointment and a haircut.  Friday the 10th, Bob, Anna, and I had the pleasure of going to neighbor Kate and Matt's wedding!  It was a beautiful wedding at Sacred Heart Church followed by a fun reception at City Market in Raleigh.  

Saturday, we went to Erin's dance shows and Olivia and her mom also joined us at the evening show, followed by a yummy dinner at Cava and frozen yogurt!  Bob went to California Tuesday-Friday the following week, and we ladies had more of a normal schedule before Thanksgiving break.  Erin and I enjoyed seeing the Carolina Youth Ballet Nutcracker on Friday evening, and the 3 girls all went to see the AFHS production of Clue on Saturday, where Erin's friend Jeff helped with the stage crew.  Anna had Gracie over on Sunday for some hanging out and dinner.  

I started my temporary job that weekend as well, where I am reading scholarship applications for Duke.  It is fun so far and hopefully I am doing a good enough job of rating them!  Erin and I had a piano lesson on Monday the 20th for our duet, and she had her regular lesson later that afternoon.  Hopefully her fingers were not tired after all of that piano playing!  Anna and I headed to Concord on Tuesday for a super fun 24 hours at Great Wolf Lodge with the cousins.  

Wednesday afternoon, after we were waterparked out, we went to Grandma and Grandpa A.'s for a fun and yummy taco bar, game night, and pie baking!  Erin and Bob handled a carpet measurement appointment at home on Wednesday, and then she drove them to Concord on Thursday morning.  We all had a really great Thanksgiving with lots of fun and delicious food!  We all had a great time and headed back that evening.  

Friday, we met up with Liz and David for a Mexican dinner.  Saturday, we went to a fun tailgate party for the Michigan/Ohio State game with friends the Kavanaghs and then watched our Wolfpack beat the Heels that night!

Sunday, we woke up to the sound of water running, which is never good.  Bob found the source of the problem in the crawl space.  The previous owners had spliced into a water line to add a spicket in the garage, and had only glued it together, which was not to code.  The very nice and prompt Cary Plumbing came out within a few hours and fixed it right up for us.  They'll come back on the 29th to replace the pressure regulator.  So, it ended up not being too big of a deal.  We started putting Christmas stuff up Sunday afternoon and evening, too.

Bob left that afternoon for his first-ever trip to South America - Sao Paulo!  After some drama with the first flight being delayed, being driven across the tarmac in a Jaguar in Houston to make the second flight, and then the second plane having mechanical issues that required them to all deplane and wait at the gate for a few hours, he made it to Sao Paulo on Monday morning.  He is hoping to see a little bit of the city while he is there for a relatively quick work trip (he flies back Thursday night).  

The rest of this week should be fairly routine.  We are all feeling the Christmas rush upon us!  It's going to a fun and festive month ahead!

October! (Erin wrote)

October was, as always, very busy!  Bob began the month with a week in New York combined with a trip to London.  We ladies had a nice weekend to kick off fall, with Anna doing a shopping outing with Sarah and Morgan in the Holly Springs shopping center, ending the day by going to youth Mass and confirmation prep afterwards for the Way. Erin likes it, but Gina doesn't. On Monday the 2nd, Anna had to babysit her frequent babysitting customers, Charlie and Jones, following with a home game on Tuesday against St. Michael's and at Our Lady of Lourdes on Thursday the 5th. Erin finished up her first quarter of high school on that following Friday and she is doing well in all of her classes, especially Math II Honors and Biology (her hardest classes). Then, Erin and Gina went to Miracle League on Saturday with her confirmation prep group, and that was a ton of fun!

The following week, Erin had Monday off, which was a good day to check out North Hills for her friend outing for her birthday! Then, Gina hosted her monthly book club at our house and as always, it was a ton of fun. Erin had to go to Gibbons early on the 10th to take the PSAT for the first time. They require all 9th, 10th and 11th graders to take it at Gibbons as a way to practice for the big SAT. Then, Erin went on her first freshman retreat at Gibbons on the 11th and she told us that there wasn't a ton of faith involved, mostly community building to get to know people in her high school class. She still had fun, though! On the 12th, it was Anna's last home volleyball game and they recognized all of the eighth graders that day with flowers. 

Saturday the 14th, Erin was originally going to take Jeff on the boat for a few hours that afternoon, so it ended up hanging at our house with a ton of board game time! It was still so much fun! Then, Erin got to read at the youth Mass on the 15th and she did a great job! Then, Bob was in New York the following week. Anna had to finish her volleyball season with two away games, and babysat Charlie and Jones again on Monday evening and Friday when she was off school due to a teacher workday! Gina, Anna and her friend Lyla got to see the new, 3-hour Taylor Swift movie in Holly Springs! 

While they were at the movie, Erin and Bob got to relax at home and went out to eat. We had a nice, fun weekend to get ready for Erin's birthday, and Erin successfully finished her behind-the-wheel portion of drivers education! She had a fun friend outing at North Hills on Saturday after driving.  We then did the annual Buddy Walk with the family, following with a yummy Mexican lunch afterwards on Sunday! You can read all about her awesome birthday celebration here! 

After the Buddy Walk, Bob left to go to California until Wednesday the 25th. Gina had to get the Pilot's windshield fixed for the second time on Tuesday after a rock incident on Sunday.  We got the car in April, and it already has over 13,000 miles!  Anna celebrated the end of the volleyball season (and potentially her volleyball career) with her team on Tuesday.  Gina went to a meeting on Thursday for her new job at Duke and learned a lot. Anna watched neighbor dogs Tornado and Scout for a few days. Then, there was the StMM trunk or treat at school (including a wild time at our house after school while Anna and 5 friends got ready for the dance), and they had a fun time at their middle school Halloween dance!

While they were dancing their hearts out, Erin and Gina went to the last Gibbons home football game of the season, and Erin had fun with her friends! Then we had a nice weekend relaxing and doing some chores. Bob and Gina had a great afternoon on the lake on Saturday! We plan to carve pumpkins on Monday.  Then, it's off for getting candy, dressing up in costumes and trick or treating! Erin is going to trick or treat with Olivia in 12 Oaks in their duo costumes, and Anna is planning to trick or treat somewhere close in our neighborhood. It will definitely be a spooky and scary one!

October was a really fun and busy month, as always.  Everything went smoothly, and we are excited to now have a 15 year old in the house!  We are looking forward to a beautiful, somewhat quieter, and more days off of school in November!

Erin is 15!

Erin Michelle turns 15 today!  She has had a fun birthday weekend, starting with a friend gathering on Saturday, then a family day on Sunday, and now her actual birthday today complete with lots of wishes.  For the friend party, she wanted to do something similar to what her friend Vera did this summer, which was to meet up at an outdoor shopping area and have a meal.  Since two of her new friends from Gibbons live north/east of Raleigh, she chose to meet at North Hills.  We shuttled the 3 friends from our side of town up there, met up, and everyone completed the scavenger hunt that Erin had prepared for them.  We took a break mid-hunt for some shopping at the bookstore, then had dinner at Pieology (pizza) and cupcakes after the game was over.  After dinner, they hung out at the green area and played a couple of games.  I think it was a success, and everyone seemed to have fun! 

Sunday, we met up with the Summers and Grandma and Grandpa A. at the Buddy Walk!  We enjoyed seeing the "new" downtown Kannapolis and the Cannon Ballers stadium.  The walk was a lot of fun, and there was a great turnout on the beautiful day!  After the walk, we all had lunch at El Vallarta (complete with a waiter robot) and the girls managed to sneak in a quick shopping trip at the Carolina Mall.  What a fun day!

Today, she started out her day with the requested Dunkin' Donuts breakfast, then a regular day at school (it's an "A" day, which means she has dance, Spanish, Theology, and English, which are her easier and more fun classes).  She requested Chinese food for dinner (no cooking!), and a relaxing evening at home.  We walked Finley together after dinner, which is something that she always enjoys.

What's new with Erin?  I think the biggest thing is learning to drive.  While this is terrifying in one way, she has done a fantastic job with it so far!  She took the 30-hour classroom part in July, then completed the last of the three 2-hour driving sessions with the instructor on Saturday.  The teacher said that she did a great job and is ready to go!  We have an appointment scheduled on Friday morning for her to get her permit.  Fingers crossed that the written test goes well!

Other than driving, she has had an exciting year, finishing up middle school and starting high school.  After spending eight years at one school in a class of about 75 kids, high school (with a freshman class of 400 kids) has been a huge change for her.  She's had to learn the layout of a new school, a new schedule, and has experienced lots of new things like her first retreat, the PSAT, football games, clubs, and much more!  She has really done wonderfully with all of these changes, and we are so proud of her.  She's continuing her piano lessons outside of school, but she decided that taking the dance elective at school was enough dance, so she is not dancing at HSSOD any more.  I think it's been good for her to have more time at home in the evenings to adjust to the high school workload.  

She's stuck with her 3 best friends from StMM, and they've also made many new friends at Gibbons.  She has Olivia, Vera and Elena from StMM, as well as Sophie, Mady, Maria and many more that she's gotten to know over the past few months from different Catholic middle schools in the area.  She has gotten involved in the dance program and two clubs (Franciscan Youth International, a faith/service club and Service Beakers, a science education/service club).  She remains very serious about her classes and grades, but she's also enjoying a few new freedoms in high school, including a class period called Flex every other day where she can study, socialize, exercise, or get a snack.  Flex is great!  She likes being able to have her phone with her all day, and she is doing great with communicating with teachers and managing class announcements, assignments, and schedules herself.

All in all, Erin is awesome!  We are very proud of her, and we are excited for her future! 

September!

September was very busy!  We are fully back into the school year, and it's even beginning to feel like fall most days!  We started out the month with welcoming Anna home from her 4-day 8th grade field trip to the Green River Preserve way out in western NC.  She had good weather (they only had a little rain from a tropical storm) and a wonderful time!  They did a lot of hiking and some water/lake activities.  She came home super tired and with a lot of stinky laundry!  On the 2nd, we had a really fun visit from the Summer cousins including a trip to the pool and a girls' shopping trip!  Sunday, Bob, Erin, and I (and Finley) enjoyed some boat time while Anna went to the trampoline park with the Mitchells.  

We took in a Sunday evening mass at the cathedral, which was very nice.  Anna went to an optional volleyball practice on Monday, and we mostly relaxed the rest of that day.  

I got to catch up with two friends from WAY back in our St. Andrew's moms group days on the 5th, which I enjoyed very much!  I went to Back to School Night at Gibbons on the 7th and really enjoyed getting to meet Erin's teachers and experience the crowded hallways of high school!  Erin had a fun field trip to the art museum with her dance class that morning as well.  Friday, I finally got to help in the StMM cafeteria for the first time this year, which was great, and Anna played her third of three volleyball games that week.  It was a busy week back to the grind for her!  

Saturday was the long-awaited and much-anticipated friend boat day for Erin, but sadly it was very stormy, and even the NC State football game had a long weather delay.  So, instead, the friends came to our house and played games, took a walk, and ate.  They still seemed to have a good time.  

The following week was more of the same, including Back to School night for StMM on Wednesday, and Bob's trip to Sydney that began on Thursday.  This time, he took a weekend side trip to Tasmania before working the following week.  Even though his planned air tour was canceled due to wind, he still enjoyed seeing the city of Hobart, going to church, and hiking down Mt. Wellington.  Not many people can say that they have been to Tasmania, but Bob can!

Erin's first session of The Way (youth group requirement for Confirmation) started on the 17th.  It has been wrought with drama, but we are giving it a go and hoping it all goes well.  She will attend 12 sessions of that on Sunday nights this year, and 12 more next year.  We ladies were busy this week with school and activities while Bob was gone.  It all went smoothly, except that Erin got sick with a cold/fever on Thursday.  She only missed one day of school because they had a teacher workday on Friday, but she also had to miss the homecoming dance on Thursday and the homecoming football game on Friday.  The football game was very wet due to tropical storm Ophelia, but Anna and I still went and enjoyed the tailgate (but we left right after the game started).  We had to reschedule Erin's first day of driving with the instructor on Friday, but she was better in time to do Sunday's session.  We were all nervous, but she did great!  She drove the whole time in neighborhoods and on two-lane roads, practiced parking, and it sounds like she did a really good job.  Way to go, Erin!  Due to the instructor's schedule, she won't drive again until October 20th, then the 21st, and will take her permit test on the 27th.

Anna began her 2-week cat sitting job for the neighbor cats on the 23rd (big money!).  Bob made it back to the states on Saturday but detoured to Charlotte for the Eric Church concert on Sunday night with Chris, Leslie, 2 of their friends, and our neighbor friend Kevin.  They had lots of fun!  He got back to Holly Springs on Monday morning.  The rest of that week was more of the usual, complete with 2 volleyball games.  I got to volunteer at the Gibbons school store for the first time on the 27th, and I enjoyed that very much!  After that, I had signed up for an hour of Adoration in the chapel, which was also really nice.  

High school has been a big change, but it seems like it's all going well, and Erin is doing a great job both in classes and with trying to get involved.  She's joined the FYI club (Franciscan Youth International) that does local service projects, as well as a science club that teaches at middle schools in the area.  She tried a dance club, but decided that it wasn't for her.  Her dance elective also has some opportunities outside of school; she's completing the honors option for the class which involves attending some extra classes before school, attending a dance event, and creating a presentation about college dance programs.  Erin really enjoys the freedom at high school and being able to hang out with friends before and after school.  Speaking of high school, Anna has started her Gibbons application for next year, and she will have her visit day on Friday the 29th.  She's very excited about that!

Otherwise, we've been enjoying watching Gibbons football and our Wolfpack as well.  Both are having pretty good seasons so far.  We are hoping to get out on the lake this Saturday before it cools down much more.  Bob will head out on his combo New York/London trip on Sunday, then he's got a couple more domestic trips planned in October.  It's a busy fall, but all good things!  Bring on October, complete with #15 for Erin!

August!

August was a great month with the end of summer and getting back into the school routine!  We girls had a blast on the 1st at Fantasy Lake, a new inflatable water park at a man-made lake north of here.  It was a former granite quarry, and the water was super clear and refreshing.  The water park was loads of fun, too!  

Anna enjoyed seeing the Barbie movie with friends on Wednesday the 2nd, and Erin had a tiring but great day at Gibbons on the 3rd for academic onboarding, where they got their laptops and were oriented to policies and procedures.  Friday the 4th, she enjoyed dinner and a show with her friend Jeff and got to see a few of her piano friends onstage!  She had a blast with more friends on Saturday for Vera's birthday party at Fenton, and then again on Sunday with friends doing gem mining and a lunch out in Apex.  This girl is a social butterfly!

Anna helped with new family orientation on Monday the 7th and went to Defy, Chick Fila, and Target with a few friends on Tuesday.  Erin was back with her friends on Wednesday, swimming at Tripp's pool.  On Thursday the 10th, Anna went to an 8th grade meetup at Defy while I had a fun evening playing music bingo with some of my cafeteria buddies.  We had a blast at the lake on the 12th with Sarah and Rory, and Sunday afternoon was our last-ever Back to School Mass at StMM!  

This year will be full of "lasts", but we are all excited and looking ahead to high school!  We had a yummy pizza dinner at Mellow Mushroom with the McGees after the mass.

Monday the 14th was Erin's first day of school!  Technically, the whole school started the next day; Monday was only for freshmen to attend (Freshman Welcome Day).  It began with a super fun parade in the parking lot with the drum line, cheerleaders, and hundreds of older students cheering for the freshmen as they arrived.  It was super fun and really helped calm some nerves!  

Erin had a great day - she met with her advisory (a group of 12 students and 1 teacher who will meet twice a week for the entire 4 years they're at Gibbons) and then got to go to each of her 8 classes and meet the teachers.  She felt much  more at ease after that day.  

While she was at school, Anna had a fun time at Lyla's.  I enjoyed my monthly book club that evening as well!  Tuesday was Erin's first real day with a normal schedule (except for an all-school mass for the holy day).  They have "A" and "B" days where they alternate 4 classes per day for the entire year.  On "A" days, she has dance, Spanish, Theology, and English.  On "B" days, she has flex (study hall), Math, Biology, and Freshman Seminar (in lieu of social studies; they help them acclimate to the school, develop study habits, and learn how to manage their time wisely).  

While Erin was at school, Anna and I went to mass at StMM and then she went back to Lyla's for awhile.  Bob and the Knights grilled a yummy lunch for the StMM teachers on Wednesday while Anna went to her last weekly babysitting day for Charlie and Jones.  She really worked hard this summer and earned a lot of money through pet sitting and babysitting!  

Thursday was Anna's first day of school!  While it was less exciting than Erin's, we are hoping that she has a great last year at the school she's been at since kindergarten.  

Bob enjoyed some boat time with friends on Friday afternoon.  Erin had a blast at her first high school football game as a student on Friday night, including an exciting touchdown in the final minute to win the game! 

The 4 of us plus Finley had a nice morning out on the lake on Saturday.  

Monday the 21st began our first full week of both schools, and we have so far been doing well with  navigating driving to two places, both of which are at least 20 minutes away!  Thanks to our awesome StMM carpool and Bob helping, nobody has had to be too early or late yet.  Fingers crossed!  Anna and Lyla did a little volleyball conditioning at the Apex Community Center after school on Monday, which must have worked because both of them made the varsity volleyball team after tryouts on Thursday and Friday!  Yay!  We are super excited for a really fun volleyball season! 

Erin has signed up for at least 3 clubs and has gone to interest meetings for each one.  Two are for dance and one is a service club, and she's super excited about the opportunities with all of them!  She's also doing a short field trip for her dance elective class on September 7th which sounds really fun as well.  In addition, she is going on a freshman retreat one day in October.  She is really getting into the high school scene and is definitely enjoying it!  

The rest of the week was spent getting in the swing of things, plus volleyball tryouts!  On Saturday, Anna had Meredith and Grace sleep over and they had a blast!  Erin and I went to cheer for her friend Vera at her first club soccer game of the season on Sunday.  It was a hot and tough game, but Vera did a great job.  Bob left Monday for 4 days in Boulder for work.  Anna also left bright and early on Tuesday morning for her 8th grade field trip to Cedar Mountain, NC for 4 days of hiking and nature!  Other than the hurricane coming (ha ha), it will be a blast!  

So, it was a very busy and fun month!  We are so excited for Erin as she begins her high school adventure and for Anna at her last year at StMM!

July! (Erin wrote)

 Erin typed the blog this month! Thanks, Erin! 

July was a packed month with so many fun trips, hard work, and some relaxation time as well! On the 1st, all of the Callaway's painted the bonus room a different color! We are chose to paint it from light green to light gray, and it looks stunning!! We got it completed in one day, which was awesome! 

On the 2nd, we did a morning speedboat with the McGee ladies from 9-1pm, which was a ton of fun! We swam for a while, then Anna and Josie went tubing on our old tube for a long time as well! Then, we had some additional McGee girl fun on July 4th! We went to our neighborhood pool while Bob cooked steak and chicken on the grill, and made additional sides. Olivia and Erin also practiced and performed 2 piano/flute duets: "Ophelia" and "Let Her Go", which were so beautiful! The Callaway girls headed out Wednesday afternoon to Mrs. Karen's condo at Indian Beach! There were two main parts in "The Ocean Club" (where Mrs. Karen's condo was) and we went to the pool for a while in the part that her condo was not in, as well as the beach, and we toured Beaufort for a little bit on Thursday! 

On Friday the 7th, Erin and Gina swam in the sound near our condo we stayed in, and ate lunch. After that, we left Indian Beach in the afternoon, and made it back around 4:30pm for dinner, Erin and Anna going to meet the Weir cats, and adjusting back to our normal routine. Saturday was a big day for Erin and her friends! They went to conquer an escape room in North Raleigh, had dinner at a local brewery in the area, and got froyo afterwards at Sweet Frog! 

Anna and Bob went to help his friend with a computer thing, then went to Mass at 5 while Gina and Erin were at the hangout! Erin and Gina then watched Olivia play the flute at the 11 o' clock Mass on Sunday. Erin had choreography camp at the dance school the following week, then Anna and Gina were off and having fun in California from July 12-16th!! You can read all about their amazing family time in Southern California here. 

While Anna and Gina were in California, Erin finished up her dance camp, Bob and Erin went to Mass at 5pm and did some church stuff, and made pork carnitas for when the Cali girls came back on Sunday evening! On the week of July 17th, Erin had drivers ed! It was Monday-Friday each day from 8:30-2:30 pm, for 6 hours each day to make the 30 hours needed for the classroom portion of driver's ed. There was a local driving school located in Holly Springs, so a proximate drive back and forth. She got to do it with Ella in our neighborhood, along with a few others that she knew there too! While Erin was learning so hard about how to drive, Anna had to babysit two younger boys in the neighborhood on Wednesday, and Anna and Gina helped at a new kindergarten event on the playground, as well as selling used uniforms. Anna finished out her week with Morgan coming over on Friday, then all of us went to a very hot, but fun Salamanders baseball game on Friday night! We had a morning boat reserved on Saturday morning for all of us to recharge and relax at the lake! 

The week of July 24th was a more relaxing week to end the month on a good note, including seeing all of the cousins in Concord on Thursday the 27th! It was a ton of fun, with some crafts, yummy taco lunch, and Five Crowns. We really had a great time seeing everybody! 

We mostly relaxed on Friday-Sunday, and Bob went to New York for work, not fun on the 31st, and ended the month with Erin having her last ballet class at HSSOD before transferring to Cardinal Gibbons for dance classes and other opportunities. Erin said that dance inside and outside of school was going to be too much for her, but had so many teachers throughout the years. Don't worry, she'll keep doing piano and fun clubs at school for her extracurriculars! 

     

California Trip!

Anna and I had the most wonderful time in California this past week!  We had planned a trip for just the two of us because the days that worked out the best were days that Erin had already scheduled a dance camp (and she had drivers' ed starting the day after we got back, as well).  This way, also, we could stay at the cousins' house and keep it easy.  So, we left out of Raleigh around 8am on Wednesday, July 12th, and had a smooth and on-time arrival at LAX.  We found the rental car place without any problems and hopped in our car (a Genesis sedan that was very nice) for a short drive to a shopping area that Anna had researched ahead of time.  Since Dale and Maria were working that day, we were not in a big hurry to get to their house.  This place was called "The Point" and is technically in El Segundo, CA, not far from the airport.  

We checked out a few stores and had a yummy lunch there.  Then we made a quick coffee stop nearby and drove the rest of the way to Rancho Mission Viejo, about 50 minutes away.  I was very proud of myself for navigating the roads there (we were not able to sync our phones to the car, so we rigged up the directions straight from the phone), but really it was not bad at all.  The traffic on Wednesday was much worse than the return trip on Sunday morning, but both were manageable.  We could use the HOV lanes since there were 2 of us in the vehicle.

After getting to their house, we had a fun time hanging out with Cole and Cooper, as well as Olive and Glow, for awhile!  We played some hide and seek, got a house tour of their beautiful new house that we had not seen, and hung out inside and outside.  Once everyone else got home, we went to a yummy Mexican dinner at Morena's near their house.  Then we made a quick stop at Rite Aid for ice cream and then back to their house.  Thursday morning, Dale made a yummy pancake breakfast, then the kids and I went to a couple of parks right near their house.  

Cole was excited that the zipline was working that day, since sometimes it's broken.  The parks there are wonderful!  After that, Cole, Anna, and I went to the San Clemente Outlets for a little shopping.  It was fun to check out a new place.

We also had lunch at Panera there and then stopped at Target on the way back.  Then it was back to the house to hit the pool with Dale and Cooper too!  They took us to the new Lagoon pool in the newer section of the neighborhood, and it was HUGE!  We had a blast there and were surprised at how cold the water was compared to our pools here.  

They said that only recently has the sun really been out and the air warmer.  Then, it was back to their house for a yummy sausage and pasta dinner and then a walk/scooter ride to the sports park nearby for some playground time while Dale, Cole, and Cole's friend practiced baseball on the field.  

We stopped and cooked s'mores at the neighborhood fire pit behind their house on the way home.  

Friday was Disneyland day!!!  We were up early and out the door by 7am to make the park opening at 8am.  Everyone except Dale and Vinny went that day.  We had no issues parking, and they were happy to see the tram running from the parking deck to the park entrances.  The tram was not running the last time that they went in 2021, and they had to walk a long way to/from the park.  

We got right in and hit the rides!  I think the rides we rode were (probably not in this order): Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, cars (Autopia), Matterhorn, Teacups, It's a Small World, Big Thunder Mountain, Chip and Dale roller coaster, and Astro Orbiter again.  We also saw the Lion King show and the parade!  We ate pretzels, pizza for lunch, frozen lemonades, popcorn, and frozen ice cream bites (and Cole got a giant pickle).  The kids each got a souvenir.  It was hot but bearable, and it was nice in the shade.  We stayed until about 5pm and really had a wonderful day.  

When we got back, we took a break and then Dale grilled some really good chicken on the grill.  After dinner, the kids watched a few shows and the adults enjoyed the beautiful weather on the patio.

Saturday, we were up and all went to watch Cole's first of two baseball tryouts that day.  He did a really great job!  From there, the girls and Cooper went to Cooper's tae kwon do class, which was definitely a workout!  He was awesome!  The 4 of us got smoothies after all that work.  Then it was back to the house for a quick change and to meet up with the other guys, and then we all headed to the beach!  We had subs in the car on the way and found a parking spot at Doheny State Beach without too much trouble.  It was a little hazy, which I think is perfect to not be right in the hot sun.  Turns out that the water was pretty cold, but I was able to walk to a surf shop nearby and rent Anna a wetsuit, so she was able to boogie board with Cole, Cooper, and Maria!  

We had a blast at the beach.  After 2-3 hours, we went home so Cole could go to his second tryout of the day while Anna and I went to church (Holy Trinity, just 10 minutes away).  Then we all went to watch the end of Cole's tryout and then on to Pizza Port in San Clemente for dinner, which was super crowded but super delicious!  Then it was back to the house to pack and go to bed.

Sunday we were up and out of the house by 6am and had smooth sailing back to LAX, gassed up and dropped off the car, and had no wait at security.  So, we waited for awhile because I had thought we'd have at least one holdup, but we did not.  The flight was delayed about 30 minutes for a maintenance issue, but we were not very late landing.  We got home around 7:45pm.  I would fly direct to LAX anytime - it was busy, but we had no issues, and it was only about 30 more minutes' driving than flying out of John Wayne with a connection, so I think this was faster overall.  Anna was SAD to leave, but we had such a wonderful time and really enjoyed seeing the people and the places!  Thank you, Ambrosini cousins!