Hanging Out, Hiking, & Hockey

February started off with our newest family member, Mr. Myers Turkleton Jones, being able to meet and play with other dogs. He finally received all his shots and met his girlfriend, Maxie Farrell, for a short playdate. The two of them hit it off right away and we are looking forward to many more playdates. Next, I think we have to get him some sort of license in order for him to go to the dog parks and meet other friends. We went to Nina & Keith’s annual Super Bowl party and had a great time, as always. It was great to see everyone and there was so much tasty food that everyone had leftovers for days. No complaints here!

I brought both girls lunch at school during the week. This is always a very interesting experience. Basically, the first 10 minutes is considered “quiet”, yet there is still a somewhat-loud lull of elementary school-aged children chatting. If you talk during that period, you face the wrath of the cafeteria monitor and she rules that room just like you would imagine…lots of yelling and reprimanding. Half of me wants to shout, “geez, lady, let kids be kids” while the other half of me is restrained and knows that if the kids are talking, they can’t eat. If they can’t eat, they will be whiny later in the day and not be interested in learning…all of which will lead to unhappy teachers, and no one wants that. So, I keep my mouth shut and watch her instill fear in the eyes of the kids because the consequence is silent lunch (queue evil music). Might as well be ostracized. It’s a very interesting phenomenon and I love observing the interaction in person. Hilarious!

We attended the annual Valentine’s Day dance, which is basically hundreds of kids running rampant in the gym all jacked up on cupcakes and juice boxes while the Boosterthon DJ plays all the jams that us “old” parents are too lame to know. It’s a reality check when your six-year old daughter knows the words (and moves) to “Juju on that Beat” and is doing them in a beautiful dress. After the dance, we rallied up for a spontaneous dinner with the Mayers and a few others at Blackfinn. It made for an awesome night! The next day, we met up with GG & Dadaw, Aunt Patty, Uncle John, Abby, the boys and my cousin, Lindsay, for lunch. It was great to catch up with everyone and hear about Lindsay’s wedding plans.

I went on a work trip to Houston, TX in mid-February to scout out the hotel in which we’ll have our annual users’ conference. This was the brand new Marriott Marquis in downtown and was very nice. They even have a Texas-shaped lazy river on the rooftop! Trent and I enjoyed a Friday night out with some of his closest F3 (workout) buddies at Oggi and it was delicious. I can’t wait to go back. I would literally order everything off that menu, especially the salads. YUM! The next morning, we all drove to Durham for what would be an incredible 24-hour party with the Mazzolas and the Lowes. We hadn’t seen our BFFs, Les & Joe, since the Disney cruise in October, so it was so great to see them. Carol & Craven were the best hosts and their house is absolutely beautiful! We can’t wait to hang out with them on spring break, too! We stayed up late catching up and laughing like crazy. These are what memories are made of.

Hanleigh had her first field trip to Publix where they learned about eating healthy, got to touch lobsters, and spoke with people that worked in the store. She really loved trying all the samples, too! Trent was supposed to go skiing one weekend, but Mother Nature had 70-degree temperatures in mind, so he and Keith played tennis instead while I took the girls to Crowders Mountain with Kendall and the boys for a morning hike and picnic. We reached the “summit” after a couple of miles uphill (and a few “my legs won’t go any further” moans) and all the kids were so proud of themselves. We celebrated with a delicious lunch while taking in the view of downtown Charlotte in the distance. Once Myers gets more trained, we will definitely take him there and go on more hikes! It was crowded, but now I understand why! The month concluded with a fun F3 outing to a Charlotte Checkers game (the kids made it on the jumbotron!) and a Y Guides bowling event.

Brayden-ism

• When putting her hair up one morning, she said, “Ok, that is enough hairspray. I don’t want to smell like a grandma.”

Hanleigh-ism

• She was in an inquisitive mood one day and said, “How come all grandpas wear plaid hats? Well, except my grandpas.”
• This one was after a day of school: “Uggh, I’m so tired and selfish!”

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