NCSU Sophomore Year Move-In Day!

It's hard to believe that summer is already coming to a close, and it's move in day at NCSU for Abby already! For her sophomore year, she is so excited to be living in an on-campus apartment with 3 of her friends! However, a bigger space means a lot more stuff, so the whole family helped this year!

We were the garbage and recycling crew...

Emily was the kitchen organizer...

Ben was the keeper of the living room chair after his job of hauling stuff up from the car...

When we left, there was still a lot for Abby to do to set up her space, but she was up for the challenge!

She sent some updated pictures of her room, and it's so pretty that it makes me want to stay there!

She had a great first week, and shared with me her little project she's working on for herself... This is the very beginning of her very own avocado tree that will produce fruit in about 10-15 years! College students are also pretty creative, as she used plackers to hold it up since they didn't have any toothpicks! This girl is going places!

We hope you have an AWESOME year this year, Abby! We miss you already... Go Pack!!!!

 

Summer Fun

Summer has flown by at the Beach house, as we've been busy with working teenagers, hanging with friends, and enjoying some family time together.

Abby spent the summer working at American Eagle/Aerie:

Emily is NEVER home anymore, as she's either skating, hanging out with friends, or back on the ice teaching classes as "Coach Emily". The kids LOVE her, and she absolutely loves her job and skating community! She's even had a few social media shoutouts for the rink!

Fun at summer concerts!

One of her good skating friends even took her to Carowinds amusement park one day and Emily braved ALL the roller coasters for the first time and LOVED them!

This summer has even been too hot to go to the pool, but Brian and I made it there once at least!
We need to do better next summer...

I've enjoyed a few special hangouts with friends this summer too...

The girls' bathroom has become a full-service salon for the neighborhood girls who want Emily to dye their hair... If coaching ice skating doesn't become a lifelong thing, she might have a career as a hair stylist someday- she's really good at it!

Abby is also an awesome salon assistant!

Forth of July in the neighborhood was great as always!

Ozzy and Luna both celebrated their birthdays this summer (6 & 5 years old), and while we may have forgotten about the days a bit and didn't get many pictures, they were celebrated as always... 

Petco and special treats to pick out for the win!

Ozzy's favorite treat is ice cubes, so we got him some dog ice cube trays! Best present ever!

Hope y'all had wonderful summers too! I'm ready for some cooler weather though!

Emily's skating competition

Emily has fully embraced her ice skating this year, with practices almost every day, coaching classes several days a week, and participating in several competitions! She's already taken home one 3rd place, one 2nd place, and two 1st place medals, with more to come! She's so beautiful on the ice and so much fun to watch!

I absolutely love the community of friends she's made at the rink, and it was so sweet to see them show up to watch her competitions (even though they had to sneak in because she was too nervous to have anyone there)! Keep up the amazing work Emily, and I hope you never lose your love for all you've learned there! I can't wait to see what you learn next on the ice!

Ben's 8th Grade Graduation

I can't believe I'm saying this, but this "little" guy of mine is headed to high school in the fall! Where has all the time gone??? We loved celebrating him at his moving-up ceremony, and he loved getting his long awaited graduation present!

This was the last year for the past 15 years that I've been getting the kids teacher's messages for them at the end of each school year. That was a LONG project, but all three of them LOVED getting their books, reading all the messages from past teachers, and laughing about the funny memories that have come up. Oh the places they will go for sure!!!!

I wasn't surprised that Ben remembered some of his teachers and had forgotten about others!

He definitely loved all the messages though!

He also got some new swag for the new high school he will be going to!

Congratulations Ben on an amazing job in elementary and middle school, and we're so excited to watch you grow even more in the next 4 years (but don't grow TOO much more because you're already taller than all of us)!