Key West - Summer 2022

We went to Key West for our big summer vacation. As always, it was lots of fun. We did many of our favorite things, including going out on Captain Rio's boat and catching lots of lizards. We also did several new things, such as lobstering and going to the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. 

This trip was different than most, as Evan spent almost all of his time fishing. We didn't see him too much, but he had fun with his buddy Hudson, as well as with several new friends that he met while we were there. They caught lots of sharks, as well as some big fish. They also enjoyed catching yellowtail snappers and then cooking them for a fresh caught lunch. 

Evan is so interested in fishing, that he now travels with his own gear. 

We spent a lot of time at the botanical gardens, since it is shady and Preston can catch a lot of lizards there. Thankfully, I can enjoy the flowers while Preston searches for lizards.

Preston is so good at catching lizards! 

We were in Key West for Hemingway Days. Carl and I participated in the 5K race. It was super hot, despite being at night. There were lots of tourists and locals cheering us on, which was super fun.

We had a great time on Captain Rio's boat. We spent most of our time fishing. Rio found us a great spot and we got lots of keepers. Carl and Preston also did some snorkeling. 

Evan spent lots of time fishing. Here are a couple of the pictures he shared with me. He caught a large barracuda, as well as several sharks. 

We took Preston to the aquarium, as it is one of his favorite activities. The touch tank is still his favorite part of the aquarium. The aquarium is expanding, so hopefully on our next trip, we there will be even more cool creatures to see.

Gary was in town for mini lobster season and took Evan and Carl out for lobstering. They had a great time and came back with several lobsters.

Preston and I visited the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory for the first time. I wasn't expecting it to be very exciting, but it was super fun. There were lots of different butterflies flying around the beautiful indoor garden. It was really magical!

We celebrated Carl's birthday with dinner at the outdoor pizza restaurant and a yummy cookie cake. 

We spent lots of time in the pool, since Key West is always very hot in the summer. 

Carl and I were able to go out for several date nights. We ate at many of our favorite restaurants, enjoyed drinks at The Tipsy Rooster, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset sail. 

Since Evan spent lots of time fishing, we took Preston on several adventures. Carl and Preston went out snorkeling and Preston and I went parasailing. 

We had a great final day in Key West and dined at Salute with Bonnie Mom. 

Key West is such a beautiful place. We are looking forward to visiting again soon. 

Swim and Dive - Summer 2022

We had the most amazing swim and dive season this summer. The boys and their teammates worked incredibly hard. Our team was undefeated in the regular season, which included our first ever win against Big Spring! We placed third at City Meet, but were quite close to the second place team with our final score. 

Evan placed first in each dual meet and placed second at City Meet. He also won the high point award for the dive team. He placed third in his individual race at City Meet, which was the 100 IM. He also won medals on two of his relays. 

Preston worked incredibly hard this summer and was often told that he was very focused at practice and worked hard. He was always trying to improve and took many individual swim lessons from Brandt. He had two relays qualify at City Meet and he helped his team win two medals. He was so happy! The best part of the season was that he earned a coaches award!

 

Lake Cumberland

We were very fortunate that Robbie and Donna let us use their beautiful lake house on Lake Cumberland for a few days this summer. We rented a pontoon boat and we enjoyed riding around the lake, fishing, and tubing. Carl and Evan also got to water ski. It was Evan's first time water skiing and he did so well! He also tried wakeboarding and was very successful was that too! We spent lots of time at the dock, where we swam around the cove. The restaurant at the marina had reopened after the fire and we enjoyed riding over for dinner and ice cream. 

School is Out for the Summer

Evan and Preston finished the 2021-2022 school just before Memorial Day. Overall, it was a good year, despite having to do some remote learning when schools had to close when lots of staff contracted Covid and had to quarantine. Thankfully that didn't last long and most of the school year was spent in the school buildings. 

Evan finished his middle school years and is headed to Ballard this fall. It is so strange for me and Carl, as that is where we went to high school and it is where we met back in 1996! 

Preston completed third grade with Mrs. Spivak and he had a really good year. He learned to love reading and enjoyed being in class with lots of his friends. He is headed into Mrs. Brock's advanced program class at Chancey this fall. 

Girls' Trip - Savannah and Tybee Island

We haven't had a typical girls' trip in a couple of years and this year was no exception. We tried to organize a trip with lots of our friends, but it ended up just being me and Terri. While, I was bummed that we were not able to get more people to go, it turned out to be an amazing trip. It was very relaxing and I would not have changed anything about it. 

We visited Savannah on the first day and took a trolley tour around the city. It was very pretty and we enjoyed Forsyth Park and walking along River Street. We ate lunch on a balcony overlooking the river and enjoyed browsing in little boutiques. 

In the afternoon, we went to Tybee Island, where we rented a condo. It was really nice and overlooked the ocean. We spent the next few days reading, walking along the beach, chatting, and eating at some amazing local restaurants. We also got to visit with Heather, who was able to come to Tybee for dinner and relaxing on the beach. 

It was really nice to have time with my best girl friend and I enjoyed getting to go on a laid back vacation. I was still very excited to return home to all my boys, who I missed very much. 

Derby Days

The Kentucky Derby and all of the usual festivities were pretty much back to normal this year! It was so nice to be able to go to Thunder of Louisville and the Fest-a-Ville events that we had missed out on the previous two years. 

We started the Derby celebration with Thunder of Louisville. We usually get to watch from someplace in the Humana building, but it was closed this year. We were fortunate that Carl's friend Arti invited us to watch from their downtown apartment. We spent the day doing carnival rides, watching the air show and watched to fireworks that night. 

Evan was able to do lots of pull ups. He even did more than one of the newer soldiers that tried!

The balcony at Arti's place overlooked Preston Street. Preston thought that was super cool.

The Great Steamboat Race and Fest-a Ville was lots of fun. The Belle of Louisville won! Preston enjoyed more carnival rides and games. 

We went to Thurby this year, which was a first for me. We met up with some friends and had a great time watching the races, hearing live music, and enjoying good food and drinks. 

We hosted our first Derby party at our new house this year. In addition to our usual guests, we also had lots of our new neighbors join us. One funny thing is that only one person placed a winning bet for the actual Derby race and it was five year old, Carter! The horse that won, Rich Strike, went of at 80-1 odds!