Easter & Spring Break 2026

We were so excited for Savannah to be home for Easter weekend!  She was able to come home on Wednesday evening in time for dinner.  We had 5 days with her, including Easter Sunday, before she had to head back to campus.

With such a short time when Savannah was home, and Preston's new injury (sprained ankle at the last track practice before the track was finished), there wasn't much we could do, so we tried our best to find a few fun things to do around town.  Plus, Preston had SIX homes to watch over break, so it wasn't like we could venture far for long!  BUT we made the best of it.  First stop was Costco for lunch and, of course, the samples.  I had a mystery shop scheduled anyway, so it worked out perfectly for the kids to go with me and enjoy lunch.

Saturday I decided to do some yard work in preparation for the new mulch to be spread.  I had been trying for weeks to get the darn gas trimmer started and just couldn't get it to work.  It took Preston seconds and this is how he shows up around front! LOL  It was hot and messy work, but felt so good to have tamed the shrubs!

We ventured out for icecream at Jeni's one night and decided to all share a free pint.  Unfortunately, it was too frozen and was no match for a plastic spoon, so we ended up going back home to enjoy it.

Saturday afternoon we decided to use the gift card Dave had to a local escape room.  It was super fun and we did much better this time, although I wish the guide hadn't given us so many clues! We still had a ton of time left, but she was just super generous in giving unsolicited clues.  Dave also had a gift card to Olive Garden from his awesome office staff, so we opted for take-out to enjoy at home.

Easter Sunday was packed at church! It was super sweet to have us all together at the 8am service.

After Dave finished with his class, the kids went on their annual hunt for their hidden Easter baskets.  Savannah actually found hers first (the gift with the basket was so big that there weren't many good places to hide it).

Even Dave had a hidden treat from the Easter bunny!

We enjoyed some of our favorites for a late lunch and had cookie cake too.  The day ended all too soon, but not before we had the long-awaited egg hunt (with candy and money at Preston's request).  Unfortunately, it rained ALL day so we had to modify the hunt and do it inside, but the kids didn't seem to mind, and actually, it was probably safer for Preston to eliminate the outdoor running with his ankle situation. What a special day to celebrate our Risen Savior!

Preston spent the rest of his Spring break flying a couple of days and caring for animals, a pool, and flowers all over the neighborhood.  I think all in all he watched 1 cat, 4 dogs, 1 snake, some fish, cleaned a pool filter daily, and watered lots of flowers . . and made just shy of $900!!!  He also worked at Harris Teeter a couple of days and ventured to Carowinds one afternoon after flight.  He was certainly busy and thankful for some time off from school (but he also did a TON of homework to get ahead)!  So now we are on the countdown to school being out, Savannah being home, and our family vacation!!!

Recovering and Running . . .

Unfortunately, Preston came down with the flu last week.  What started as allergies ended with him in bed for two days with a super high fever!  Thankfully, he bounced back pretty quickly, but still isnt' 100% and has a lingering cough that he just can't shake.  After trying to play in a soccer game this past Monday and not being able to run very much, I made the decision to pull him from the rest of soccer practices and games for the week to give his body time to rest and recover.  However, I lost the battle with letting him run in the track meet this weekend. So, this morning he ran the relay medley and 4x100 as well at the meet in Weddington.  It wasn't his best performance, but I think it did his soul good to be part of the team today.  Now we are just praying he can shake this crazy cough soon and be back to all things normal!

Savannah's Spring Break in Hungary

This was a long-awaited adventure for Savannah.  She applied and was accepted to travel with the UNC business school to Budapest for Spring break . . then she applied and was granted some scholarship money to make it a doable adventure (well, I haven't seen her credit card bill, but at least the trip portion was more affordable LOL).  Her flight out was at 9pm Friday with a connection in London, where she just happened to meet up with her life-long bestie Anna Kate, who was traveling back from Spring break in London.  Who would have guessed these two would connect at 5am in the London airport?!?

 The messages and pictures have been VERY lacking, but she says they are busy.  From what I can tell by stalking her on life360 there has been little sleep and lots of activity.  Dave found this on Instagram and it's about the best I have until she returns.  Praying for continued fun, safety, and uneventful flights home.  We are all excited to see her and are praying that we can still go pick her up from the airport.  Preston has been down with the flu all week, so just praying he is not contagious by Saturday so we can go get our girl in the Durham airport!

Catching up on all Things Sports

 Preston has been insanely busy with school track and club soccer.  His body is truly taking a beating . . . but he is loving being part of both teams.  Most days he leaves for school at 6:30am for school, has track practice right after school, and then heads to club practice before coming home to do homework.  

Track meet at Marvin

Soccer in Holly Springs, 2.5 hours away!

So much running and activity means there has to be muscle recovery in the icebath weekly!  I'm just praying we make it to summer with this sports and school schedule!

More House Issues . . .

 

Preston woke me up at 1am and said we had no water pressure and that he heard a loud bang.  Long story short, a water connector piece busted to the main, so water literally flooded the street for 12 hours before the city finally had a crew out to repair the damage.  You can see the massive hole they had to dig.  It was no fun being without water for a day!  But when the water did come back on, apparently some sediment was stuck in several faucets, so the city had to send a plumber to repair those and totally replace Savannah's faucet . . which was another 10 days before that could be done.  THEN, the pressure was off, so they came back out and jacked it up to an unsafe level, but assured me it was "fine".  I went to Lowe's and bought a gauge to test it myself; it was over 90psi, but it should have been less than 70psi!  So, guess what, the plumber had to come back out!  And now you can see the beauty of our yard.  Unfortunately, this wasn't the burnt part that they dug up, so now we have black, brown, yellow, orange, and some green in our front lawn. UGH!

Just a Kid Doing What He Loves . . .

With Preston's insanely busy schedule, it's super rare that he can find time to fly AND that the weather is cooperative . . but today was a perfect afternoon for flight!  He left for the airport right after school and had a blast getting some hours in today.  These pictures of the sun setting are pretty amazing too. :)

He was able to maneuver both the take-off and landing by himself, which he was quite proud of.   Unfortunately, there was a major accident on 485 when he was heading home, so the return trip back home took over 90 minutes, but he didn't seem to mind after such a great flight.  Just thankful our kid has found a passion and has something to look forward to!

Let It Snow!!!

Well . . . we finally got a massive snow that the kids will remember!  It snowed at least 10" at our house Saturday night, but the official Charlotte measurement was 11"!  It was so beautiful to see, and especially nice that we didn't have to worry so much about losing power this weekend.  Preston enjoyed some sledding, making snow angels, and even tried to make a 3D print of a snowball maker, but unfortunately, this wasn't the best snow for snowballs.  It was super light and fluffy so he tried to use the blower to clean the sidewalk off too.  Thankfully, our driveway gets direct sun and melted pretty quickly, but school was still out for three entire days!  Needless to say, we were all getting a bit antsy . . . I think now that we've seen good snow, we're ALL ready for Spring!