St. John, Signs, Sleepovers, & Slalom!

August is one for the books as far as activity and exciting rites of passage! To kick things off, August 1st was the date that college applications opened and talk about a reality check! We have been prepping for this day for 18 years and applications are no joke as compared to when when we applied for college. It’s definitely a barrier to entry in terms of the whole process. You have to really want to go to college to spend all the time on the essays, the questions, putting together a resume, getting your references, taking all the tests, etc. and Brayden is handling it very well. I have told her that the last four years of hard work will pay off when she starts getting all of these acceptance letters and that the two months of gathering all of this information in order to submit amazing applications is just a blip in time and is temporary. She just needs to take it one day at a time, one essay at a time (and she has 14 to write!). Stay tuned as the next few months will be super duper exciting as we submit and get acceptance letters (manifesting!) back from these amazing universities! 

Meanwhile, field hockey tryouts began and Brayden made the varsity team as a center midfielder, a position she knows well. She was also voted to serve as a Captain on the team! So awesome! On my 47th birthday, Becky and Matt Malone drove down to help kick off some celebrations. A large group of us went to dinner at Postino at the Ballantyne Bowl. It was the first time we had been there and it was absolutely delicious. I love that places like this are so close to us and within walking distance. The next morning, the three of us flew to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands to begin a week of celebrating Becky’s 50th birthday a few months early. The Triple B’s, Matt, her mom and stepdad, would all converge in the islands for some great food, amazing cocktails, incredible views, and really fun activities. It began with the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John, where I always feel at home looking across the open water at the gorgeous catamarans sailing about between the green mountainous Islands. While we waited for our house to be ready, we did what any natural person would do: go to the nearest bar (in this case, High Tide) and get a painkiller. Shelly met up with us there and then we proceeded to pick up our Bronco rental car (and SUV is definitely preferred on this island) and head to our gorgeous, cliffside home overlooking Great Cruz Bay. The rest of the crew arrived in the mid-afternoon and we settled in with a tasty dinner.

The next day, I had arranged for a private boat charter through Island Roots to circumnavigate St. John and stop along the way to snorkel, swim, and have lunch. We saw some awesome marine life including stingrays and beautiful fish. Kerri even faced her fear and went swimming in the ocean! We are so proud of you!  Talk about a birthday present for Becky! Part of the boat ride included some very bumpy waves, and it was absolutely hilarious watching Momo get completely doused at the back of the boat. She took it all in stride and was laughing like crazy. We had lunch at Lime Out, which is a very unique floating taco boat that serves delicious food, and amazing cocktails and a very creative way…they place your order in a floating raft and push it out to you where you are sitting in another raft that is anchored to the boat. Such a creative idea and such a place fun place to party! After the boat trip, it was time for an early dinner, so we walked over to the Beach Bar and hung out for a bit. The next day, I went scuba diving and while the coral wasn’t the most vibrant, I was finally able to see a spotted eagle ray, something I have not seen in over 31 years of diving. It moved me so much, that I actually teared up inside of my mask. They are so graceful and beautiful and it was so close. Check out the video! I just wish Brayden was with me to see it. Next time! The next night, we hired private chefs to fix us dinner and had a black-and-white theme night. We knew something was suspicious with Becky and Matt as far as the evening was concerned and we wrote down a whole list of ideas that we thought it could be. Only one of them was correct, which was a surprise wedding vow renewal that was officiated by her mom. It was absolutely beautiful and the vows they wrote were very moving. Afterward, our reception was the deliciously prepared meal by the chefs. The evening was so special! 

The next day, Becky, Matt, Heather, and I went on a long hike for a few hours. It was definitely a workout, but it led us to a beautiful beach and along the way we saw so much wildlife: deer (that got very close), huge spiders, very large hermit, crabs, termite mounds, etc. We even walked to a waterfall where there were petroglyphs (I didn’t even know what those were until then). We rewarded ourselves after the long hike with a painkillers at the Windmill Bar that overlooked the most amazing view. We also could see the top of Kenny Chesney’s house! Later that afternoon, most of us headed to Trunk Bay, a very popular beach, where we chilled out for a bit and I went snorkeling. Becky and I spotted an octopus moving from rock to rock, which was enthralling and super cool to watch. That night, we went and had drinks at the wine bar, followed by dinner at Morgan’s Mango, which may be one of the top 10 meals I’ve ever had in my entire life. I can’t wait to go back! That night, we capped the evening off with our requisite Triple B’s kitchen utensil dance off. If you know you know. The next day, after more snorkeling, we headed back to the Windmill Bar, where we got caught in a rainstorm. The rest of the day was spent relaxing by the pool. On Thursday, I flew back home. Becky, thank you so much for including us in your milestone birthday festivities. It was an absolutely incredible trip and I’m so thankful for the Triple B’s!

When I came back from that trip, there was a special item delivered to Brayden’s high school: her senior yard sign! I surprised her when she came home from school that day with it already in the yard and she just commented how it feels really weird. I couldn’t agree more. You blink and just like that, your first born is 18 years old! Crazy. She had a varsity field hockey play day at Queens and also picked up her senior parking pass and spent a few days painting it (a senior tradition). Kyle celebrated his 45th birthday, Hanleigh turned 14 and we went to The Office for her birthday dinner. The next night, she had a pool party, followed by a slumber party with all of her besties and good girlfriends. I made some snacks for some of the moms that hung around for a little bit as well. I think there was around eight teenagers that spent the night that evening, so when I woke up the next day to make them breakfast, there were little bodies all over the bonus room sleeping. It was pretty cute. Brayden went with her four pack to see Zach Bryan in concert, where they had floor seats. She said it was one of the best concerts she had been to. I know they had a blast. Trent and I celebrated our 23-year anniversary with massages at the Ballantyne Spa, followed by poolside lunch and drinks. 

Someone who is like a daughter to us, Emilia Mazzola, headed off to Clemson to begin her freshman year. It kind of felt like it was my own kid going off to college, and is also surreal because that will be us in one year. Leslie , Joe, and Chase are now adjusting to a new normal and I’m sure that day was extremely hard for them. However, she is completely thriving there and absolutely loves it. Brayden had a scrimmage at Latin, Trent attended weekly mental toughness calls with a group of guy friends, and I had a consult with an allergist about getting food and chemical allergy testing done, so I have that coming up in October. In other college-related news, we spent an evening with a Scholarship Gold counselor, who looked over all the work that Brayden has we’ve done related to college applications and research, and gave us some great advice and feedback about how to successfully navigate the process. It was definitely money well spent. Kendall and I had our monthly dinner at The Garrison in downtown Pineville, Brayden went to a joint birthday party for Emory and Katie, and another one of my dear friends, Julie, took her daughter to ECU as a freshman. Exciting times for so many! 

We traveled to Cary for a quick 24-hour field hockey tournament, which was fun, even though we didn’t get as many wins as we would have hoped for. It was really nice to get to know some of the other parents better, though. When we came back, we threw our stuff down and then headed out to a family dinner at Taco Boy, which was delicious. The next night, Tonya and I celebrated Heather’s birthday with her at 131 Main for drinks and dinner. Brayden had a game in Greensboro against Grimsley, and Aunt Patty celebrated her birthday! I had an amazing dinner with Julie at Yama and she gave me some great career advice as well, that I still need to heed. We went to Hanleigh’s open house for eighth grade, which apparently is more of a social activity than actually learning about your classes (see and be seen). She has a pretty good schedule this year and I’m interested to see how much more knowledgeable she becomes with learning Spanish. Brayden had another field hockey game against Country Day, and Trent’s parents took Hanleigh to lunch and back-to-school shopping one afternoon as part of her birthday gift. Thanks, Grandma & Grandpa!

We spent a fun Thursday evening at the amphitheater nearby and enjoyed dancing to an 80s cover band called Cassette Rewind. It was so much fun and we had a big crew there to enjoy it all. The next night, Hanleigh and I met up with Kippen and Ray for dinner at Legion Brewery, followed by more back-to-school shopping. The girls were relatively successful, which I will chalk up as a win considering that mall is super bougie. Brayden went to the Friday night football game against Providence uptown at Legion Memorial Stadium. I’m sure that game was super duper exciting, even though they didn’t win. That’s a pretty big venue to play in for high school. We capped off the summer with a cousin pool party where the Bufords, Kyle, Cammy, Erin, Bobby, and Cooper came over for a late lunch and some silliness in the pool. It was awesome and we can’t wait to do this again! The first day of school was a reality check in terms of the early wake-up call for the girls, but they are excited and already thriving with their classes and their friend groups. It’s so nice to sit back and watch them evolve and interact with others. Trent dropped his parents off at the airport for their annual month-long trip to California, NC State kicked off their football season against Western Carolina with a win, and we concluded the month with a fabulous weekend at Lake Tillery with Aunt Patty, Uncle John, and the rest of the family. It was hilarious watching all of the cousins wear silly wigs while they staffed the Snack Shack. The highlight of the weekend was definitely the fact that both Brayden and Hanleigh learned how to slalom ski. Our hearts were full and we are so proud of them!!!

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