IHOP & Back to Campus Life

One of Savannah's bucket list items for this summer was to eat at IHOP.  Well, they barely made it, since she literally moved into school today.  But, these three had quite the "fine dining" experience for a Saturday morning breakfast at IHOP. :)

And, sadly, we moved Savannah into her dorm today.  It's quite a bit smaller than her room from last year, but somehow I'm sure she'll make it work (and be grateful that as the RAM she still has her own room, geesh, I can't imagine sharing those tiny rooms!). We enjoyed dinner at Bunz before heading back to Charlotte.  I was so sad to leave her room in such disarray, but she has some time to get settled before her suite mates move in . . and we had to get back because Preston has early soccer practice tomorrow!
 

Museum of Illusions

We've wanted to check out the Museum of Illusions uptown for a while, but it's pricey and we never really had a good reason to go... until a mystery shop became available!  The kids and I enjoyed a fun afternoon checking out all their attractions; it was a great distraction while waiting for the soccer rosters to be posted!

It was pretty cool to experience, but I would never pay full price to go!  We did have a fun afternoon together and as we were leaving the roster was posted!  Preston made the PHS Varsity team!  Woo hoo!

 

Turks & Caicos Summer Adventure

We flew out on Thursday for a MUCH needed break in Turks & Caicos! Of course, Preston had to make a stop in the cockpit when we arrived.  Below is a big photo dump with a few explanations . . . it was a great vacation; just what we all needed before school and soccer restarts!

It didn't take us long to hit the sun

 

No clue what day this was, but a wedge of salad was not stopping this hangry teenage boy from enjoying lunch.

Snorkelling was probably one of their favorite things!

At the legal drinking age, this girl was not so sure about her first real strawberry daiquiri

Silent disco

An early birthday treat for me

These two lived on virgin strawberry daiquiris!

 . . and fro yo!

We could barely still fit in the same chair four years later!

Not even an Ameriotto sour was appealing . . so glad we've figured out alcohol tastes nasty all around!

But what was NOT disappointing was their first REAL taste of steak! YUMMM

And just like that, our trip was sadly over.  We grabbed lunch at the resort to eat in the airport, and before we knew it, we were back home to the chaos!

Kids Working From Home

 

Savannah's summer job was virtual 3 days a week this summer.  She enjoyed the flexibility for sure, but also liked going into the office and taking advantage of their free meals. :)

This kid did lots of his own work from home this summer!  He is always researching and looking for ways to improve his car.  The latest project was removing each tire and spray painting the rusted rims.  It's actually pretty amazing how they turned out.  

Preston's Birthday Beach Trip

 For a couple of years now, Preston has mourned the loss of having a birthday party.  I mean summer gets so busy, and he's not exactly a kid anymore, but finally we struck a compromise and decided we would make a quick trip to the beach and he could bring some friends.  It was quite the feat deciding which friends to bring, but he chose a fantastic group!  So we left Friday at lunch and headed to Hilton Head.  The boys wasted no time hitting the beach as soon as we arrived.

I was shocked when they all got up early the next morning to go for a run.  In the heat.  At the beach.  On vacation!!!  I think Paxton ran the farthest, clocking in with 8 miles, while the other boys ran a good distance too.  Did I mention this group of friends were all athletes, that apparently take summer training seriously.  Anyway, after their workout, we had breakfast and hit the beach for the entire day.

One quick family photo before packing it up to head back to the condo. 

After everyone showered and had dinner, we headed to Coligny for some browsing.  Savannah and I realized we were twinning so we had to take a picture. :)

Sunday came all too quickly and we loaded up to head home.  Dave stayed back with the boys so they could enjoy a few more hours on the beach, while Savannah and I opted for shopping at the outlets on the way home.  It was such a fun weekend and reminded me once again how thankful I am that both kids have hand picked such great friends.

Preston's *Best* Summer Day

 

According to Preston, today was the absolute best day of summer so far!

He loves being on the lake so much . . .  add in some of his favorite frinds and it's a day made in Heaven!

He spent the day at Lake Wylie with some of his friends from church on Corbin's dad's boat and loved every second.  So thankful for this little group of good kids who enjoy each other so much.

Celebrating BIG!

Tonight we went out to celebrate with these two kiddos.  Preston's AP scores were released today . . .  and he scored a 5 on all three exams!!  Whoop whoop!!  That's the highest possible score, so he is thrilled to add 3 more college classes to his transcript.  Savannah has been anxiously awaiting her parking lottery from UNC to come out, and she found out today that she has the closest possible parking spot to her dorm!  Needless to say, I have two happy kiddos tonight; certainly worthy of Jeni's ice cream!