Nashville Visit with Grammy & Grandpa

 

We planned a fun little getaway to Nashville over the boys’ three-day Columbus Day weekend in October. After a quick flight and picking up our rental car, we were off to see Grammy and Grandpa! It had been a while since Brent and Kade last saw them back in March 2023, so we were excited to spend some much-needed time together.

Rain kept us cooped up in the house for most of Saturday, but when the clouds finally gave us a break, we made a dash downtown to visit one of Nashville’s most unexpected sights - the Parthenon!

Nashville has its very own full-scale replica of the famous Parthenon in Athens, Greece! Located in Centennial Park, this impressive landmark is a pretty amazing sight to stumble upon in the middle of Tennessee. It was the perfect excuse to get out of the house, stretch our legs, and squeeze in a little sightseeing between rain showers.

We just missed the cutoff for getting inside the Parthenon since we arrived after closing time, but even seeing the outside was well worth the stop! The architecture was so impressive, and it looked like they were setting up for an event that evening. It would make an amazing wedding venue with those grand columns and architectural details!

The next morning, we kicked off the day with a hearty Cracker Barrel breakfast - pancakes for everyone! Then we headed south for our day's adventure. 

We first stopped at the cemetery before visiting Grammy's childhood home. It was a chance for Brent and his parents to share a little history with the boys - showing who helped shape our family. This is Brent's grandparents final resting places, along with several aunts and uncles.

We squeezed in another family visit, stopping by to see one of Brent’s aunts and meet one of his cousins before continuing on to Brentwood for a little celebrity sightseeing - Dolly Parton’s home!

Located less than 30 minutes south of Nashville, Dolly’s primary residence sits on a gorgeous 63-acre property. While we couldn’t see much from the road, it was still fun to pass by and take in the surroundings. Several bouquets of flowers had been left at the front gate.

Cones along the road because of the many visitors she still receives. 

More grandparent time!

Sunday night called for some good old-fashioned Southern barbecue, so we headed to Edley’s! The barbecue definitely hit the spot, but I have to say, some of the sides had a little more kick than I was expecting. Kade added that his french fries were really good and not spicy at all!

The next day we were up early to head to the airport for our flight home. The plan was for us to be home around noon and still have half the day for the boys to get ready for another busy school week. 

Unfortunately RDU had different plans - a cut line to the Control Tower grounded planes for 20 minutes, casting a ripple effect - eventually fully cancelling out flight completely. Southwest had us rebooked on a flight the following day - with a layover in Baltimore. Nope, we rented another car and headed east. 

It was a long drive - google had us drive into Virginia for the fastest route home as I-40 was still a mess. Eleven hours later, we arrived at RDU airport to pick up our vehicle and drop off the rental and THEN finally head home. It was a long day. 

All in all, it was such a wonderful trip, even if our travel plans took a bit of a turn on the last day! 

More than anything, I’m so grateful Brock and Kade got some much-needed quality time with Grammy and Grandpa. There’s just something special about the time grandparents and grandchildren spend together. I hope the boys look back fondly on this trip and the time they got to spend with Grammy and Grandpa. I’m just glad we were able to make the visit happen for the boys and for my husband.

Cape Lookout Fishing with a Guide

Brent is the guest author for this post! :) 

 

I have been following this guide for about 2 years on YouTube. Nolan fishes a lot of the same places that I fish and I decided that I would reach out to hire him as a guide. He mentors you on your own boat using your own equipment. We picked a good day, headed out on the water, and went fishing!

Nolan first showed me where to catch the bait near Harker's Island - the secret bait spot. I have been practicing throwing the net in the yard for the last several months - starting with a 7 foot net, then an 8 foot, and finally a 10 foot net - which is what we used to catch enough bait fish to fill my live well. 

First big catch - a 25lb King Mackerel (above and below picture). 

We then caught a few Spanish Mackerel before catching a Gag Grouper. We released it live because it's not in season. 

We also caught one Bonito - gave it to Nolan for him to use as bait. Vanessa was tracking me on the Sat phone - points were not exactly accurate. 

We hooked a big fish, thinking it was another King Mackerel, but after a 10 minute fight and 2 laps around the boat, I reeled in a 34" long Cobia - 2" shy of a keeper. It would have been a nice meal!

Then we were back on the Spanish - caught about fourteen Spanish Mackerel. This one (below picture) was one of the largest - citation size. 

Gorgeous day! 

Our completed fishing journey - circling Shackleford Banks. 

When I arrived home, Kade wanted to pose with the fish - he was longer!

Pictures of the king in front of the boat. 

Had to let Moose smell it. 

Kade wanted to hold the fish too - grabbed some of my mechanic gloves to lift it. 

If you'd like to see more of my fishing journey - check out Nolan's video featuring me and my boat!

First Day of School - Middle School Edition

 

This year both kiddos are at the same school! One time drop-off and one time pick-up, which is nice because there is no longer a bus option for us for this school! The boys are Martin Mustangs!

We had some big feelings about heading to Martin over the summer. This would be a new school for both of them and most of Kade's friends were headed to Carnage. 

The Thursday before school started, Kade attended a 6th grade orientation which helped ease a little bit of the worries. Brock received an invitation from the 8th Grade Assistant Principal who personally helped walk his schedule the following day. 

We were all up bright and early Monday morning, leaving the house at 6:45 for school arrival. Surprisingly, both boys jumped right out of bed and were eager to get through their morning routines and head off to school!

A successful dropoff and smiles when we picked them up later that day! It even continued for the full week! 

This will be an interesting year - the boys have some pretty cool electives in store for them, including TWO elective classes that they will be in TOGETHER! 

Brock has a semester long "Exploring Financial Literacy", "Advanced Chess", "Brain Games" and "The Old Ball Game" (exploring the history and social impact of baseball) to name a few highlights!

Kade was lucky to be enrolled in the yearlong "Beginning Spanish", "Robotics" and "Math Art" and his core Math 7 Plus class is filled only with fellow 6th graders. 

Here's to a great 8th grade and 6th grade School Year!!

Last Week of Summer

While Kade was at Wrestling camp, Brock asked if we could go on a hike. I thought August was a bit too warm for hiking, but agreed on the 1.6 mile trail at Hemlock Bluffs. 

It was very peaceful - and always happy when my oldest wants to actually do something with me!

Kade had some exciting news to share. He was named Wrestler of the Month for his Fundamentals class!

We made the most of the last Sunday of summer with a perfect day on Jordan Lake with Big Mabel! 

After watching the boys get towed around, we found a cove for all of us to swim. Can you believe when Brent pulled up the anchor, he pulled up a huge freshwater clam too?!?

We spent the rest of Sunday resting and getting ready for our big day the following morning.

Huntersville Visit & Camp Cheerio

 

The whole family was able to spend the weekend with our Huntersville family! Brian and Nancy reserved a lake day for us and we made the most of it! 

Kade got right to work lounging away!

As did his Dad! 

We were able to spend a good amount of time playing in the water while anchored up alongside an island before the rains rolled in. They we high-tailed it away while everyone scrambled for cover under beach towels - me included! 

The boat sure is peaceful and put almost all of them to sleep!

With bad storms still on the forecast, we opted to turn in the boat and drive up to our intended destination. 

All the boys! 

And one of just these two! 

.....So we could try to replicate this old picture - they do grow! Brock & Maddox from July 2022 to August 2026! 

We said our farewells to Brock as he was staying with his cousins for the week and Brent and I drove Kade up to Camp Cheerio. It felt strange to do this with only one vehicle and no Moose (Moose was home with a dog-sitter)! After Kade was all settled in to the Tuscarora cabin, Brent and I made our way back to Apex for a kid-free week!

We thoroughly enjoyed our time last year, so first on our agenda was skeet shooting at Deep River Sporting Clays - complete with golf cart rental, of course. 

I wrote to Kade every night (through the camp's online portal) and told him we were going skeet shooting - when we finally received his letters in the mail, he asked why we "always" go skeet shooting every time he goes to camp?! Because my husband loves it - look at that happy face!!

We spent some extra time with Moose - he was extra clingy to both of us after a dog-sitting weekend and his whole family not being there. We took him for walks downtown Apex after dark - the photo isn't the best due to lack of lighting, but Moose was excited to check out the dog hydrant by the fire station! Sadly, this longtime fixture of downtown Apex, built in the 1950's, is no longer an active fire station. 

Once we wrapped up a few days of work, we had our Adults-only Boat Day!!

We (okay, mostly I) talk about this photo all the time! It was taken from Brent's old boat and we decided to try to recreate it. The angle was a little off, which gave us a big shadow, but I’d say it still turned out pretty well!

Summer 2009 vs Summer 2026

And for the full present-day photo! (I took it from the water VERY carefully holding my phone with two hands!)

Meanwhile, I know Brock and Kade were having great times at their respective places! Brock was thoroughly enjoying cousin time, baseball camp - and even a water park day! 

Picking up the boys was a puzzle. Brock was in Charlotte and Kade in the mountains and Moose had to stay home. I volunteered to drive - staying over at Brian and Nancy's Friday night so I could be closer to Camp Cheerio for the 8:30am pickup on Saturday. 

I didn't mind one bit - I got to see these two cuties again!! 

Even though I had to get Brock up early (and early Brock is grump Brock), I was treated to some pretty cool scenery and unexpected, yet absolutely extraordinary flying objects!  

I think Kade had a great time at Camp this year! 

Kade the Christmas tree?

Just a little bit foggy?