Summer Trip to Huntersville

Brock and I left out of Raleigh early one Friday and headed down to Huntersville to catch the boat out on Lake Norman! Brian and Nancy had reserved an afternoon slot on their boat - which was a lovely way to spend an evening! We drove the boat over to the North Harbor Club for dinner - they have slips where you can park your boat while you eat - so boujie!

Someone didn't like having their picture taken!

We had fun out on the water dodging storms and judging house prices from the view of the lake. Maddox kept Brock on his toes with questions - and continuously checked in with his parents on the depth of the lake. 

After returning to their house and getting cleaned up, it was time for bed. A true cousin sleepover in the same bed. They were too cute! Big grins!

The next morning Brian and I took the bigger boys off to the playground. This is a cute little playground over by their old house. 

They are so high up!!

I think running around on this hot morning and the veeerrry early wake-up exhausted these two boys! They both relaxed on this swing for awhile as Uncle Brian retold Camp Cheerio stories (to ease Brock's mind about his upcoming overnight trip). 

While Maddox took his nap, I thought Brock could finally have some alone time with Asher. He was very unsure of what TO DO with this little human. 

Little video of Brock holding Asher. 

Uncle Brian holding his two boys!

Brock was exhausted after a long weekend playing with his cousins!

And I'm going to take this time to add a few beautiful pictures of Asher's newborn shoot. 

Summer Swim Part II

Another swim meet, another request for lightning bolts! On this Tuesday evening, we headed into Fuquay-Varina for a meet at Clubworx. 

Kade had a LOT of energy that night - some of it was directed at swim, most was running all around the pool chasing other kids and running away from adults. Alas, overall, he did pretty good that night - earning several third place ribbons - the first for his 15 yard Freestyle with a time of 17:57.

Here is he showing off his dive stance!

He was in the finals for backstroke that night and pulled in another 3rd place finish with a time of 21:21 for 15 yards. Watch the cute video!

Brock cleaned up on this night too. Started his night messing with the boy next to him who said he was going to win the race - I think Brent may have stirred up a little friendly competition. 

He did great! Brock placed first in his 25yard Freestyle with a time of 15:02. Look at that entry - lane 4 with blue swim cap (and correct hand/head position)!

Brock was also in the finals race for 25y Backstroke, placing first with a time of 19:89 and placing first for 25y Butterfly with a time of 16:68. He loves those blue ribbons!

On the next swim meet, back at Lifetime on Tuesday July 19, only Brock and Brent attended as Kade and I were out with Covid.  Back to meters, so very confusing to compare which was Brock's fastest time. He did pull a 17:06 for his 25m Free - down :03 seconds from his very first summer swim meet. Unfortunately, there are many ways human error can mess with this time - so it's not quite exact as swimming at the Triangle Aquatic Center.... nevertheless, he placed first!

Great video of Brock swimming 25m breaststroke. He placed first with a time of 24:12. 

He also placed First for his 25m Butterfly with a time of 19:34. 

The real fun happened at the 100m Free Relay. Brock is usually stationed as anchor and is very competitive. He gets frustrated when his teammates are not competing to "his" ability. In the video, you see him clap his hands and say "we lost" right before he jumps in to swim. He put that fire to good use - and added a turbo to his freestyle, catching up, then passing, the other team to win for Lifetime!

Kade and I quarantining in our master bedroom - Kade said he had so much fun with just me. How special. What a fun way to spend a week in our summer - nope!

4th of July 2022

Started our Independence Day with a morning walk through downtown Apex for their "Olde Fashioned Fourth of July." 

Brock tried his arm at the fireman's dunk tank, but his aim wasn't quite as spot on for the bullseye. 

We gave up there and made our way over to the carnival games instead. After one practice round, Kade got his stars in this game! He mastered the game on the left - figuring out if he rolled it hard enough, it would bounce off the back board and land in the target zone! 

The boys needed to cool off with some Kona Ice!

And loved this version of Cornhole against the bad guys at the police tent. I had to remind Brock this is underhand. 

We needed to head home to cool off properly! Time to bring out the slip-n-slide!

After throwing on long pajama pants and bug spray, we headed down to our pool's parking lot for fireworks! 

Summer Swim Part I

First Summer swim meet was held Tuesday, June 14th against the Regency Riptides! Very first summer swim season for Kade! Cut-off is June 1st for Summer Swim, so because he has a June birthday, Kade swam with the 6 & unders. 

After a few relays from the bigger kids (6 & unders don't do relays), Kade swam his 14m Free at 14:31, earning second place! His time for backstroke was 17:60 (swimming 2nd heat), but unfortunately earned his first and only DQ this season on his breast stroke. 

Kade is in lane 3 - spending the longest time underwater of all the competitors. 

Brock's turn!

Brock swam 25m Free at 17:09, securing a second place finish behind the Regency boy - his buddy, Garrett, from baseball actually! Backstroke is his least favorite stroke (even though he's still really good at it), so he swims 2nd heat - backstroke time 22:87.  

He placed first in Breaststroke and Butterfly, with a time of 24:57 and 19:13, respectively. 

Here's Brock's breaststroke win!

So nice to be back with his old teammates! 

Brock lined up on Lane 3. 

We missed the next meet because we were at the beach, but picked back up for June 28th's swim meet at Dutchman Downs - our first away meet since 2019! Now this pool is different - a yard pool.  

Kade swam really well - placing first in Freestyle with a 15:50 time for 15 yards, 21:40 for Backstroke (2nd heat) and 23:06, placing Third for 15 yard Breast. 

Brock was ready - swimming against another old baseball teammate! This time, he secured his First place Freestyle win with 15:47 for 25yards. 

Brock with the blue swim cap in the middle, Baseball buddy Max to his left

Brock swam second heat for 25y Back (20:03), placed first for 25y Breast (21:19), placed first for 25y Butterfly (17:90) and was the anchor for the 100y medley relay with a team time of 1:31:54 for 100y. 

There was a lot of downtime and tried to make it fun by bringing beyblades and legos for the boys to play with. 

The next meet we were back at Lifetime! July 5th we went against Woodcreek. The request for this meet were lightning bolts down all the boys' backs!

Kade had a GREAT night! He started the night with Freestyle, placing Fourth with an 18:28 (14m), but shortly made up for that, winning his 14m Breaststroke with a time of 23:85, for a blue ribbon! Look at him looking around at his competition!

He was also needed in the 7-8 year old 100m Freestyle Relay (because they didn't have enough boys to swim) and helped secure 3rd place for Lifetime! He really gave it his all!!

More boys and more lightning bolts. 

Brock was ready, but he had some mighty competition this night. He placed first with his 25m Free at 17:13! 

Competition was stiff and beat out Brock in Breaststroke and Butterfly - he did well enough to earn second place in both (23:22 in Breast and 18:66 in Butterfly).