Fall 2018

 Fall = football! College gameday, UT, Cowboys.

 

 

 Acutally went to another concert at Nutty Brown instead of just listening from the back deck!

 

High 5.

 

 



All she wanted was a giant ball, and he won one for her. Awww.

 

 



  Great Granny Phyll's fav place, the Dollar Store. Natalie was pumped about the stickers there.

Backspin groupies.

 

A few more ACL tapings!

 

Started a mission to fill this ballpark map up with father/son trips!

Next stop... Houston!

 

Tacos softball. Champs again!!!

  

 But it didn't come without a price this year... 

 

I was guesting on another team that needed players, and when 3B threw it over to me at 1B, I lunged into the baseline just as the runner did. Pretty dumb play on my part. I'm not sure what I was thinking other than to do my best to make the play, ha! (I did pick the ball out of the dirt, and he was out.) But he rammed into my side and something popped in my leg. Had to be assisted off the field and couldn't walk on it! With several ice baths, ibuprofen, and an ankle support brace, I was back out there in no time to play in the championship though!


Natalie started going to an open play session on Fridays at a gymnastics place nearby and loves it! Her fav things are the trampolines and rings. It's her first activity that's just for her, rather than her normal following around of her brother!

 



North Carolina with Dad!

When your dad comes out of retirement for a second time and temporarily moves to a cool area, you've gotta go spend some quality father/daughter time out there!

I spent a long weekend out in the Raleigh/Durham area, and was so impressed with how pretty it is! (I didn't even see all the area has to offer with mountains and beaches a short day trip away...)

I flew in late on Thursday night, and Friday was downtown Raleigh day. There was a Bluegrass music festival going on down there, and that made for a fun event to wander around at for a while. We met up with the Bunings who have been long term friends of my parents.

We stayed there for a few hours and then hiked over to another part of town with some cool bars! Loved this three story one with the most beers of any place I've probably been to. (And I didn't get Coors or Miller Lite!)

Had to stop at Bottles & Cans, right next to his apartment, where we have heard him reference quite a few times!

Bummed that I didn't get many pics today, but we wandered around Durham! The Tobacco District was a hip place and I got to see where the Durham Bulls play! (Loved that movie!) We wandered around there for a bit, had a beer, and then headed toward campus.

I became a groupie with the purchase of this Duke shirt, and we walked around the campus! Really cool architecture and history. Briefly went in the infamous Cameron Indoor Stadium to see many of the glass cased pieces of history, but we didn't wait in line to walk on the court.

Felt fancy hanging around places like this! Stopped in for a view before the football game.

The Duke game was really fun, and the first half of the game actually had some excitement and life to it! They were playing Virginia Tech. Duke had just became ranked in the top 25 (22-23) which was unusual after beating ranked Northwestern and starting the season undefeated. Duke isn't known for having good football teams as far as I'm aware of?! Their rival Virginia Tech had just been knocked out of the top 25, I believe too. Too bad that they couldn't keep it closer in the 2nd half! Lost 31-14. Of course, I'm sounding like the football nerd over here, and it's because I love watching College Gameday for 3 hours every Saturday, ha! The best part was just hanging with my dad, which is something that we don't do enough!

 

I'm not one to get mushy, but I am just so proud of my dad for the person that he is and all that he has accomplished! I've learned so much from him, and it's not always such a bad thing when I'm sometimes told that "I'm just like my dad."  :)



Hook 'em Horns Football

One of the perks of living in a college town is the college sports, and it's a bonus when they're good! We took a family trip to the Texas v TCU game and had the best time!

We made our own adventure before the game when we caved and let a guy bike ride us to through downtown...

Nico met up with his buddy Austin. They were pretty wired and likely sugared up.

  

Back at it again...

Bring on 1st grade and the Preschool 2's class!

Nico had enough energy for a smile before he caught the 6:50 bus to school! He was too cool again to let us take him on the first day, but I'm glad he's confident enough and excited to ride the bus!

 

 

 

"I want to be a DBAT coach throwing BP." Looks like he looks up to David, even though he doesn't show it! So cute that he thought to change into that!

 

Natalie was all smiles for her first day of her FIRST school! She's in the 2's class at Mt Olive Lutheran and going for two half days each week. I was teary eyed today about this one!

I love the checked boxes below, cheerful and talkative!

 

 

She continued to get seriously excited every time she got to go to school for the first few months!...

 

 

Torch Lake 2018

It was another summer vacation to remember as we continued to build on recently established traditions and create new ones on Torch Lake!

 

 

Girls sat together and so did boys, and this one here couldn't have been more pumped about the planes...

 

 

...until the plane started.

 

Then, she didn't want to stay in her seat and wearing the seatbelt became a battle. Because she was one month over age 2, she could not sit in my lap. The back and forth battle escalated into a 10 min temper tantrum where she even got down on the floor. It was mortifying!! Ha! This picture of her with her seatbelt and looking so innocent almost makes me cringe. :)  Gotta love her.

 

Side note: the boys' airplane experience was flawless. Of course.

 

 

We arrived in the middle of the afternoon with plenty of time to celebrate this guy's 61st!! Happy birthday, Dad! In typical selfness Dad fashion, he didn't really ask to do much to celebrate his special day. He was all for letting the kids run around and settle in after traveling. We ordered pizza and sang Happy Birthday, and he got his Angel food cake.

 

 

Birthday boy #2 usually goes wild from the moment he wakes up when he knows it's HIS birthday! Nico requested to go tubing and have a boat day after decorating his cake with grandpa!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 7th birthday to my favorite little guy.

 

 

We decided that every summer trip, we will try to create a tentative list of activities to repeat and then some new ones to try. Cherry picking made the list from last year.

 

 

 

 

Natalie was mostly pumped about the donut to start but finished strong with some participation. Looking stylish in her cherry dress.

 

 

 

Nico was determined to get the most.

 

 

Tubing was a new excursions that we tried! We picked the so-called shorter route that was supposed to take us two hours or less. We were nervous about being stuck with a cranky two year old for too long if she wasn't a fan of this!

 

  

 

 

 
Little did we know, the darn ride took our group FOUR hours. It cracks me up to think about, in hind sight, as we would often wave at people passing us down the river, but we never really realized how much slower our pace was! Also, some of the initial part of the trip was delayed as we were yelling at Nico to get back in his tube that he would jump out of. Other times, we played magical chairs tubes, as Nico would want to be closer to a certain person, so we would try to rearrange the tube order. We had our moments where we questioned our sanity (luckily we did bring a cooler full of beer...), but as a whole, it was a really fun experience once we all settled in!

Next up, Harbor Days!! Def one of the highlights that will always be on the list! Such a cute small town event that we all can enjoy! We rode plenty of rides and came back with souvenirs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David and I snuck away for an Elk Rapids date night and made sure to stop by Cellar 152 for a glass of wine, followed by dinner reservations at Siren Hall. Their cioppino is a hit with us!

 

 

We channeled our inner kids and went on some rides by ourselves at the carnival afterwards.

 

 

 

Visiting the Old Mission Peninsula was a fun, new adventure this year as we made up our own little winery tour! Just the drive there and back could have been an outing with the beautiful views.



 

 

 

 
We stopped by one of the markets to pick up some food for dinner that night and came across this little setup next door with live music and a bar. Pit stop!

   
And no trip is complete without............... the Sandbar!!

Here's an overhead shot that I grabbed off of social media from one of the days we were there.

 

Natalie took her turn to steer us around and was all smiles!

 

 

We traveled down here 3-4 times during the trip, mostly on the week days to avoid the crazies, and enjoyed playing catch, snacking, listening to music, people watching, walking around...

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  
We all know the reason that she is getting in the water right now...

 

 

 

When we wanted a lighter day with less planned activities, we headed to the next town over to let the kids run around a park and then had a drink at a 2nd Short's Brewery location!

 

 

 

Finishing up the trip with one of the classic dinner spots.

 

 

 

 

The kids were treated to some ice cream a time or two with grandma and grandpa, so David and I could get a few minutes of quiet time on the dock!

   

 

And that's a wrap! It may only be for a week and a half each year, but I'm so thankful for being able to be a part of all of this! Love to my family.