October 2020
2020,  Birthday,  Brayden,  Charlotte,  Family,  Football,  Hanleigh,  October

Fourteen, Fabulous Food, & Football

October has already come and gone and it was a very productive month as far as researching things is concerned. I’ll explain more later. Brayden continued playing field hockey and absolutely loves it. We are going to enroll her in another league that is a little bit more serious and one in which she has to try out.

We continued researching and getting quotes from contractors to remodel our kitchen. If there’s one thing that we don’t take lightly, it is making a serious decision when determining how to spend our money on something, whether it’s a vacation or a remodel or anything. And our kids sometimes have to go through this process with us. For example, we literally spent a total of about three hours between a kitchen design center and an appliance store and took the kids with us. They were patient at first, but I know that was pretty difficult for them to sit and listen to a guy talking about ovens, stoves, wine fridges, dishwashers, and refrigerators. The next time we have to get into that level of detail about something, we will probably spare them the errand. But, at the same time, I think it’s good for them to see all the steps that are needed in order to renovate something.

Trent and I had a couple of really amazing date nights at some restaurants we had yet to try. We went to a relatively new place called Little Mama’s and it was absolutely incredible. Between the burrata mozzarella, huge salads and tasty drinks, we will definitely go back there! We capped off the night at Foxcroft Wine Bar, which tends to be our go-to place for delicious wine after dinner. A couple weeks later, we had another fabulous vdate night. We went to Restoration Hardware’s rooftop restaurant. The ambiance was amazing, but I do have to say that the food was just okay considering the price point. Not too interested in going back there, but the company was perfect. After that, guess what? We went back to Foxcroft Wine Bar!

I met up with Sonia, Tonya, and Heather for a Sunday afternoon late lunch, which was definitely needed. We continued our house research by getting quotes to have all of our windows replaced and our house painted. I think we’ll hold off on the window replacement project, as it was quite pricey and not necessary or something that is going to add value to our house right now. I think we’ll definitely paint it in the relatively near future, though. We continued getting more quotes from contractors on the kitchen and are so ready just to make a decision and get the project started! While I’m not looking forward to being kicked out of my kitchen for a few months, I think of it like this: remodels are a lot like childbirth. It is very painful when going through the process, but once it’s over, you are so excited and happy with the end result, that after a bit of time has passed, you forget about all the pain and want to do it all over again.

I enjoyed an awesome dinner at a local thai restaurant with Kendall. It was super duper shady on the outside, but had some of the most amazing pad thai ever! Our fabulous dog, Myers, celebrated his fourth birthday and we honored him by giving him some delicious doggy ice cream. He was so psyched! Our neighborhood crew got together for a tasty dinner at Poplar, which is uptown. Brayden wrapped up her field hockey season, and Hanleigh continued to meet with her friends for Y Guides. We celebrated Fran’s birthday and Brayden spent an evening with Ash and Maddie at their house.

Brayden turned 14 as well! I honestly don’t know how I have a child already, and that in six months, will be able to take driver’s ed classes! Oh my goodness. I know it’s totally cliché, but time really does fly. We went to dinner with Trent’s parents to Taco Molino and it was delicious, as always. Brayden got some Chacco sandals, clothes, and a few other things. The next day, we we’re lucky enough to spend time with GG and Dadaw! It was so great to finally see them, having not hung out with the both of them since March. We were able to spend an entire hour with them chatting. We are looking forward to seeing them again! For Brayden’s birthday party, she had seven of her closest friends over to hike Crowders mountain and have a slumber party. Between playing this fun game called “Among Us” and having some dance parties, the night lasted until 3:30 a.m. These girls have all been great friends starting way back in kindergarten and I am so proud of them all for the way they handle themselves and how much they value and respect their friendships. Unless I’m totally blind to it, there doesn’t seem to be any drama or cattiness with them. Running low on sleep, the next day, she joined another group of friends to paint pumpkins.

Renée had a group of us over for an awesome night of wine and appetizers. We had so much fun and wish we could have stayed longer on that weeknight. Dad and Christel were so kind and gave us tickets to the Carolina Panthers vs. the Atlanta Falcons game. Even though the Panthers lost, it was a super cool experience! I wasn’t sure how they were going to handle piping in crowd noise or playing loud music and giving the fans that a true game experience. But, I was very pleasantly surprised. We got all hyped up and we’re dancing in the stands and really enjoyed it. It was a night game and we didn’t even get home until around 12:30 a.m. The four of us had a blast! Brayden spent the night at Cora’s house for her birthday, which had the ultimate Harry Potter theme. As always, she pulled out all the stops…from a movie marathon and knee-high socks (representing which house each of the girls were placed into) to flags and matching pillows, it was awesome. Again, another night of staying up till the wee hours of the morning. We capped off the month with the annual Halloween party at Nina and Keith’s house. Brayden went as a annoying tourist, Hanleigh went as a person riding an inflatable T-Rex, and Trent and I went as Bob Ross and a happy tree, respectively.

 Hanleigh-ism:

  • While getting ready to go over to Terry and Fran’s house for an evening, she said, “I just don’t want to watch Dr. Pimple Popper!” I think this stemmed from the last time they were there and that’s what she and Grandpa were watching. Gross!

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