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! 

Preston's 10th Birthday

On April 22nd, Preston turned 10 years old! We were thankful to be able to have a normal celebration, after the past two birthdays had to be celebrated with Covid related precautions. We were able to celebrate his "Earth Day Birthday" with his friends at school. We brought cupcakes and his friends made him cards and shared some special well wishes for him. It was so nice! Later that day, he continued his celebration by opening presents and having a big party with his neighborhood friends and family.

Preston is a great kid. He is an avid reader and loves to play with his friends. He loves being one of the big kids in his neighborhood friend group and is a great leader and friend. He enjoys telling riddles and jokes. He likes to play video games and enjoys collecting and trading Pokemon cards. He is especially sweet and cuddly and he enjoys his special time with me or Carl. We love Preston so very much and we are looking forward to the upcoming year. I am sure it will be full of fun and new adventures!