Ballfields, Bulldogs, Beach Days, & Broadcasting

September was an awesome month! Hanleigh kicked it off with flag football tryouts. Even though the coach had indicated that she would be on the team, nothing is guaranteed, so she proceeded with tryouts and made the JV team! This is the first year that it is actually a sanction sport in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, which is great! Flag football is gaining so much traction and is growing in popularity! Brayden had a progressive dinner at her sorority’s sisters’ houses, and Hanleigh continued working as a hostess. The weeknight fraternity events ramped up into full gear with a Phi Delta chapter social and a Delta Sig date night. Brayden had a meeting with the hockey production team to get a better grasp on what her role would be during the upcoming season. This is also the time of year where the girls are wooing their potential little sisters, so Brayden went to lunch with Sadie. There was a flag football meeting for the parents and college football season kicked off with Tennessee State at Georgia, Brayden’s first game of the year. Now that she is a sophomore, they don’t get tickets to all of the games, but rather are provided with a package of games which equates to either three or four in total. They left the game a little bit early and a group of them headed to Lake Burton to stay at Abby’s parents’ lake house. Trent went to a Charlotte FC soccer game with some of his F3 friends while I stayed at home and enjoyed dinner, a cocktail, and Netflix by myself while Hanleigh hung out with friends. It was an awesome Labor Day weekend for everyone and we all enjoyed having a day off of work and school. 

Hanleigh had flag football practice each week, Trent had a colonoscopy (hooray!), and I made my way to Ocean Isle Beach for our annual girls’ trip, something I look forward to each year! I arrived there on a Wednesday around lunch and worked the rest of the day. Leslie flew in that night and it was so great for the three of us to be together! The next day, I worked and the rest of the crew showed up: Heather, Tonya, Mel, and Julie. Together again! On Friday, we spent most of the day at the beach and then came back to get ready for the night. We dined at Oyster Rock, which is always so deliciously incredible, especially that sea bass! We went back to the house and I had brought a whole bunch of glow-in-the-dark sticks, so naturally we attached them to our outfits (I had requested the girls bring all black outfits with them in anticipation for the surprise) and went out to the beach and danced. It was very comical! We came back to the house and I had made a Saran Wrap ball, but since it was the first time I had done it, it was a total fail! Instead of using countless individual pieces of Saran Wrap, Trent and I were wrapped the prizes with one long continuous sheet. I don’t think we thought this through because it just took one person to unwrap it and then everything fell out! Lesson learned! The next day, Leslie drove back to Chapel Hill for her 30th high school reunion while the rest of us hopped on a pontoon for four hours. We changed it up a little bit this time and went South! We had so much fun on the boat that I think we only stopped at one place for a cocktail. This has become an annual tradition that we all look forward to! That night, I fixed everyone a yummy dinner and we had our typical kitchen dance party! I look forward to this trip every year. It really is so much fun since I’m with some of my favorite people in the entire world!

While I was at the beach, Brayden continued having amazing opportunities through her sports broadcasting class and interviewed a high school football player named Harrison Luke who is a recruit for Clemson. She is slowly adding to her resume and it’s awesome! She had her Red Rose ball, which is a formal event that only happens once every four years whereby the president wears red and everyone else wears white. UGA played Western Kentucky (Dadaw’s Alma Mater) at home and scored a win! Meanwhile, Trent and Hanleigh had a daddy/daughter date night and went to P.F. Chang’s for dinner. The next morning, Oliver, Hanleigh, Hunter, and her boyfriend went hiking at Crowders Mountain. Brayden had another meeting for hockey and Hanleigh had a flag football match (which they won!) against Myers Park. When I returned from the beach, mom hosted me at her house for a delicious dinner. It was so nice to catch up and I’m really loving these monthly get-togethers that we have! Hanleigh her picture day at school, Brayden had a Beta date night, and Trent hopped on a call with his F3 friends to plan the details around their half marathon in Whitefish, Montana! 

Nana spent the weekend watching Hanleigh while Trent and I made our way down to the AOii Parents’ Weekend! We hadn’t seen Brayden in seven weeks, which was way too long! We had an early dinner at Marker 7 and then Brayden left to produce another Friday night high school football game while Trent and I made our way to 40 Watt, which had been rented out for the night for the sorority weekend. There was an amazing ’80s band named Spank that played and they were incredible! We danced for a while! After that, our kid/parent posse made a very quick pit stop to Sake Mama and then proceeded to General’s (“Gen’s”) to round out that evening. Brayden met us there and Trent and I stayed up until around midnight, but we were so exhausted that we headed back to the hotel. The next morning, we met up at the sorority house where they had a bunch of vendors selling their wares and got to do another tour of the house post move-in. The house looked amazing now that everyone is in their groove and settled. We made our way to Paloma Park to watch the UGA vs. Arkansas and NC State vs. Vanderbilt games (we won’t talk about the Wolfpack game. If you know you know.). After hanging out at Paloma Park for a very long time, we decided the best thing for us to do was to take a long walk to ATH BNB The Rushmore where Hannah’s parents were staying to chill out for a bit. Then, we made our way over to Fully Loaded Pizza for a delicious dinner with a big group of the parents and kids. Everyone was exhausted from the long day of partying, that we all went our separate ways and crashed. The next morning, we took Brayden to our favorite breakfast place, Farm Cart, then came back to the sorority house where she opened her birthday gifts a bit early. We gave her new PJs that have margaritas all over them, and a Cotopaxi backpack. She loved both of them so much! We then took her car to get washed and totally cleaned while she studied, then came back to the house and said our “see you laters” before hitting the road and heading back to Charlotte. Driving away is never easy, but it’s not quite as brutal as that first time. I’m definitely sad for a little while once we leave her, but then I quickly set my countdown clock for the next time that we will see her! 

While we were gone, Hanleigh and her friends got all dressed up and went to see Treaty Oak Revival in concert! When I asked her how the concert was, she told me it was awesome and that she got beer all over her. For those of you who aren’t familiar, they sing a song called “Boomtown” where everyone throws their drinks up in the air all at once and throughout the song. Needless to say, you will end up getting soaked. That happened to us when we saw them in Greenville earlier this year! Hanleigh and Oliver played a round of Putt-Putt where he asked her to his homecoming by giving her a sign that said “I love HAN. Don’t make me go SOLO to HOCO.” You’ve got to love it when someone embraces a Star Wars theme!

I had my monthly facial with Amy, and Brayden officially had her hockey camera operator internship training. This will be such a cool experience for her and a great resume builder! She also attended her sorority depinning ceremony, which I believe is part of the formal process that happens before the incoming pledge class is initiated. Trent and I attended Hanleigh’s high school curriculum night where we learned more about each of her classes and what the expectations are of the teachers. This is the first year that she is taking an AP class, so we are excited to see how that goes! Brayden took a walk with with Libby Gray, her roommate from last year. It’s great that they still keep in touch! And for my birthday, Trent and I attended a lovely and absolutely delicious Stag’s Leap wine dinner at Foxcroft Food and Wine in Dilworth. The way these wine dinners work is that a very well-educated sommelier walks around the restaurant and explains in great detail the wines that everyone is about to sample. Unfortunately for us, there was a table near us full of extremely rude people that were talking the entire time, making it difficult to hear. So, I asked that we be moved to another table. This made the night much more enjoyable! We left with our bellies full and a delicious bottle of Sauvignon Blanc that we purchased. 

Brayden attended an ATO chapter event, Hanleigh worked, and Brayden had another round of Friday night lights broadcasting coverage. I was excited to see Hanleigh play a doubleheader one morning at West Charlotte against Myers Park and Palisades, but unfortunately those games were canceled due to the field being unplayable, even though her team was told that it would be ready to go. Although, this change of plans did make Hanleigh’s day more open for getting ready for her homecoming. She had a bunch of girls over to our house in the morning to assemble their bouquets and boutonnieres, then went to another friend’s house to get ready. Later that day, we all went to Firethorne Country Club where the kids took a bunch of photos, and then headed off to dinner at Positano. Meanwhile, Trent and I scooted off to gnaw on some delicious food at Cabo Fish Taco. 

Brayden attended the Oklahoma vs. Georgia game and then had her first official hockey game where she operated the cameras. She is loving it! It also doesn’t hurt that she really enjoys watching hockey! I had an amazing massage at Urbana, utilizing a gift card that I received (my love language is spa treatments!), and then later made some dinner for family down the street where the wife is battling from breast cancer. She is very inspiring and her attitude is so incredibly positive, which will definitely keep her healthy for life! I firmly believe that a positive attitude is everything!!! I capped off the month having dinner with Julie at the New York Butcher Shoppe and Wine Bar, a small place that has amazing food and wine!

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