Camps, Celebrations (95!), Pool Parties & Piercings!

After the busy May that we had, June felt way more relaxed. Brayden kicked off the month by hiking Crowders Mountain with her friends as part of the non-profit, “Go Outside”, that her best friend, Melanie, started. It’s a way to encourage people to spend more time being active outdoors and get to know each other. Kendall and I had dinner at Illumination Wines in downtown Fort Mill, which is always absolutely delicious. Brayden took her final ACT test, and I say final because she did so amazing and raised her overall superscore by one point! She is very pleased, as are we, with how well she has done on this test. It was the fourth and final time. Now, we begin to prepare for college applications opening at the beginning of August! Exciting times ahead! 

We had our first official pool party to celebrate Aunt Susan and Aunt Mary visiting, who flew in from Pennsylvania and Idaho, respectively, as well as Terry and Fran. We hadn’t seen Susan or Mary in probably eight years, and it was awesome. They are just the sweetest, most kindest women. That afternoon, we went to Kam’s graduation party. She will be attending the University of Tennessee and became one of Brayden’s great friends from field hockey. The next morning, I drove Hanleigh and Mila to Camp Harrison, but this time, it was for a two-week stent. You may have heard me mention before that this camp is super duper bougie as compared to other camps they have been to before. And even more so now because they have renovated the cabins with artwork in the bathroom stalls, new flooring, and new paint. This year, they were able to choose their activities on the spot (versus ahead of time), which I think went very well. While she was there, I went to Raleigh for a couple nights to begin planning our annual sales kickoff meeting, which will be in Athens, Greece next February. I know, such a tough trip to take. Brayden attended her friend’s (Kira) graduation party, followed by a week-long Sports Career Exploration Camp at Johnson and Wales University in uptown Charlotte. It was such a wonderful opportunity for her to really dive into understanding the sports communications world. Everyday, they had a visitor or went on a field trip to a local sports arena. Her favorite day was when they toured NASCAR and got to see not only where the cars are checked to make sure they adhere to racing standards, but they also toured a behind-the-scenes room where the production takes place during a broadcast. They were also able to sit at a broadcasting desk as well. This camp opened her eyes up to not only sports-related careers in front of the camera, but other options, such as sports analytics and stats. If anything, it’s solidified her interest in this area and I think she feels more confident when applying to colleges that this is where she would like to focus her studies. 

We attended Addy and Brooke’s graduation party, who will be attending ECU and University of Tennessee, respectively. That night, Trent and I had dinner with Amanda and Jackie, who were my college roommates, along with their husbands at Dilworth Tasting Room. I don’t think I had seen Amanda in probably 20 years and she still looked the same. We had an awesome time reminiscing and she brought tons of photos from college. Check out the photo album to see some of those throwbacks…they are hilarious and reminded me of such great times!!! The next day was very special: it was Mimi’s 95th birthday and Aunt Patty had organized a surprise party for her. Mimi’s sister, Nita, and her daughter, Karen, drove in from Indiana and Kentucky and it was a complete surprise…as was the fact that our family, Kyle, Cooper, and Cammy were there. Dad, Christel, Uncle John, and the Bufords rounded it out to make for an amazing afternoon. Check out the video of her being completely surprised. It was awesome. We have excellent longevity genetics in this family. Thank you, Mimi, for everything you have done and for being such a great role model. We love you so much and enjoyed celebrating you! 

The girls got back their report cards for the end of the school year and they both had straight As!!! We are so happy with what great students they are. The next weekend, we celebrated Father’s Day at Sycamore Brewing with Dad, Terry, and Trent (Fran, Mom, and Brayden joined as well). It was awesome to hang out for a few hours and eat some tasty food. We came back to the house and swam for a bit as well. Brayden met up with her friend, Aditi, for some coffee and continued with her 6:00 a.m. field hockey scrimmages, in preparation for official tryouts. These morning workouts entail speed training, weightlifting, and other drills. Brayden and Trent went on a tour of ESPN in Ballantyne, and had an awesome time. They were able to watch a live filming of the Paul Finebaum show and hear the hilarious callers dial in. Brayden brought her high school resume with her and handed it off to the tour facilitator. What she learned in her camp is that it is all about connections. She reached out to that person on LinkedIn so that they could stay in touch as well. I think this would be a great place for her to try to have an internship whenever possible. I had dinner with Aunt Patty and Mimi at Juniper Grill one evening, and we decided that it would be awesome every couple months to get together and have a ladies’ dinner with the three of us, Abby, and my girls. We will definitely work on getting one scheduled! The month continued with even more graduation parties…so many that it’s hard to keep count. I guess it’s a sign of things to come next year, but with even more of them. 

Trent, Brayden, and I participated in a Thursday night run, which was 92°, that left from OMB nearby and did a three-mile out and back. It was fun, but we were glad it was over because it was so hot! The next night, we had dinner with the Bartleys and the Farrells at CharBar, which is always a great time! The next morning, Hanleigh came home from camp. We missed her so much! Two weeks is a long time for her to be gone! When she returned, we had an awesome pool party with the Dunlaps. They brought over all kinds of funny games, like Turd Toss, where you try to throw little baby blown-up poos into a floating toilet. Crude, but it was hilarious. They also brought floating cornhole. We played music, ate amazing food, and laughed a ton. Owen drove Max home in the mid-afternoon and we continued the party with Kendall and Andrew by walking through the woods to OMB and then back home. It was a blast and we can’t wait to do it again! The next day, I took Hanleigh to get her “seconds” (second holes on each of her ears) done. That evening, Trent went with Wyatt and Rob to see the jam band, Goose, at Skyla Credit Union Ampitheater at the Music Factory. They had a blast with all the airplane dancers! 

I flew to Chicago for a couple days for a leadership conference for women in energy. The night before it started, I met up with my cousin, Carrie, who I had not seen in forever. We had a blast catching up and it was so much fun, I didn’t want it to end. I can’t wait to see her again! The conference was great and very empowering for women. There are lots of little nuggets of knowledge that I gleaned and it was also a great opportunity to meet some of my female co-workers, as there were about 10 of us who attended. This conference would even be really great for men to attend to better understand how a positive and uplifting culture can be created in any environment. While I was gone, Brayden saw Inside Out 2 with her friends, John and Ava. We discussed our 2025 catamaran trip and are working on the details for that right now. Trent and I had a date night with Nina and Keith, and another couple at Supperland. We had never been there before and the food was pretty good, although it was extremely expensive. We had a great time! We wrapped up the month with intentions to go to the Pops in the Park early July 4th celebration, but mother nature had other plans and it was canceled. Instead, we came back home after grabbing some dinner to go and watched a movie. That’s our typical M.O. on a Sunday night, so we were perfectly content doing that as we love spending time together, no matter where we are. 

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