Glade Valley & Camp Cheerio

 

The weekend before Kade left for sleepaway camp, we returned to the same mountain house as last year—still in love with that screen porch!

We passed on a mountain hike and opted instead for a scenic walk around downtown Mt. Airy - home of Andy Griffith and all things Mayberry! 

Before our window shopping, we fueled up at Angry Troll Brewing for lunch. 

Brock loved this old-fashioned type candy store where you only pay for the weight of the candy in the bag! 

We filled up on those Andes mints! 

Kade started feeling a little too hot, so he and Brent headed back to the truck to cool off. Brock and I ducked into an antique store, but the only thing he was interested in was the old money. Makes sense - I wouldn't be interested in old furniture and the like at his age! 

One Dollar bill from 1934

The street really was a blast from the past! So cute!

We did not notice it at first, but guitars installed every block or so and painted so differently!

The Bank of Mount Airy built in 1923!

Spotted another guitar! So pretty with the flowers!

I stopped in the Visitors Center to grab a few brochures for my scrapbook, and when Brock found out they were all "free", he suddenly became super 'helpful' and started scooping up extras like we were stocking up for an apocalypse!

Back on the porch where I may have taken an afternoon nap sitting in one of these adirondack chairs. 

After dinner Moose received his $9 boutique cookie from one of the posh pet shops! 

Each night Brent and I brought blankets and pillows outside to stargaze before the clouds rolled in. It really is amazing how much you can see without all the light pollution!

Alas, it was time to pack up and head to Elkin for our Cracker Barrel brunch! 

We arrived about an hour early for check-in and we were already behind the sign! 

I could tell Kade was feeling a little more anxious now that the day had arrived, so we left Brent and Brock (and Moose) and I took him on a mini-tour of the camp. You're allowed to walk around prior to check-in - just can't enter any of the buildings.

Look at that amazing view Kade gets all week! 

I showed Kade the upper field where the rappelling tower is located, back down to the lower field, and around behind his cabin to see the riflery range. We were headed around the Dining Hall back to the car when a little rainstorm started. We hid under a tree and watched the swarm of Counselors singing, welcoming everyone to Cheerio! 

I ran through a typical day at Cheerio and just as I finished, the rain stopped enough for us to walk back to our vehicle. Kade was feeling much more hyped about his stay. 

Trunk delivered, bed made (thankfully bottom bunk!), and medicine transferred - all that was left was to take a picture under his cabin name and say our goodbyes! 

Brent and Moose headed home direct from Cheerio, while Brock and I went south to meet Brian and Asher in Statesville. Brock was set up to have his own kind of fun, spending the week with Uncle Brian, Aunt Nancy and his cousins! 

We are so grateful to Brian and Nancy for giving us the chance to take our very first kid-free "getaway" - after 12 and a half years! I think I've told just about anyone who'll listen, but it really was a long time coming. We missed our boys, of course, but we also needed (and deserved!) some time to just be a couple again.

We had a very nice stay-cation - went out to dinner at the Angus Barn and Colletta, spent an interesting and eventful day on the boat (boat needed a little help steering back to the dock), and did some skeet shooting at Deep River Sporting Clays. That was a hot day - very happy we rented the golf cart! 

Brent is so good!

Meanwhile, Kade was having his own sorts of fun at Cheerio!

Kade and his team at one of the Evening Activities!

Kade had a great time at Cheerio - even mailed us a letter home telling us of all his favorite things! Love that he is REALLY excited about returning next year! 

Summer Camps & Things

The boys got to do so many cool and amazing things this summer! We found some awesome summer camps to sign them up for! Brock attended one week of NC State's baseball camp - a half day camp organized and run by THE North Carolina State baseball head coach - Coach Avent - with current baseball players!

We even have a guest author providing some more detailed information below the next picture!  

This is Brock. After I went to the summer swimming I went to a NC state baseball camp. It was fun and helped me get better. On the last day of the camp, I got to get the coach to sign one of my baseballs. Then I got almost every player to sign my 2nd ball and the coach too. THE END 

Here is Coach Avent giving the players a little pep talk at the end of the last day of camp. 

Brock's signed baseball! We put it in an acrylic baseball box for safe keeping!

This post is not specifically in order - earlier in June, Brock attended a Snapology camp - all about Robotics. He said his favorite thing to make was a real working roller coaster! 

Kade was back at Taekwondo this summer - 5 total weeks - Jedi Academy, Zombie Survival, Video Game, Hogwarts, and Survivor Challenge - which Kade had the honor of being selected as a group leader! 

Pictures are from the last day of Hogwarts camp and all the kiddos are playing Quidditch on their "brooms."

Brock and Kade finished their Barnes & Noble summer reading logs and turned them in for a free book!

Brock also attended the Holly Springs Salamanders 3-day baseball camp. We truly love this camp as they include lunch for the campers every day! 

They also include a free ticket to the home baseball game that week - which Brock attended this year with Papa. Unfortunately this camp and the NC State baseball game will have to be Brock's last as they only go up to 12 years old!!

Switching sports, I signed Brock and Kade both up for Coerver's soccer camp in Apex. Outside camps are okay if they are half days, so we thought. The Wednesday of camp it was slated to rain - and rain it did! We ended up with almost 5 inches of rain in a two-day period. Brent went to "rescue" them from camp an hour early and they were soaked even with rain jackets! Thankfully it was all dry again by Friday for them to wear their uniforms!

We'll add this here too. Brent’s neighbor threw down a challenge—help take down a leaning tree. He was pumped, ready to fire up his chainsaw and unleash the power of the Ram!

The rope was attached to the truck to guide its fall - so it would not hit our other neighbor's mailbox! 

Last picture - this is what a lot of the boys' summer days looked like. Lots of Roblox time - together! 

Brock's Summer Swim 2025

Hot weather brings another season of Summer Swim! Some of these boys have been swimming together since 2019!

We kicked off the season in early June - before school even ended - for the Blue & White Intrasquad meet. This is a meter pool, but I converted his times to yards to match the times at the other pools throughout the summer. 

After his signature "tighten the goggles", he was ready for action! 

His two buddies, Chase & William, were not able to make it that day, so it was a bit of a Brock show. You can really tell the difference between year-round swimmers and not. Start of summer swim, Brock completed a 28.93 yard Freestyle. 

Backstroke is not his event, but he is SO good at it - swam just to get a time to post. 

He showed the other boys how it’s done in breaststroke and butterfly, and just like that, we were fired up and ready for some real competition at our usual summer swim meet the next week!  Brock kicked off the summer with a 40.57y in breaststroke and a 34.69y in butterfly. 

I love this comparison picture one of our friends did of our kids through the years! Brock is the boy on the right with his goggles on his forehead in the old picture! 

Now an actual competition! 

Video below is Brock doing Freestyle on June 24th. It was ridiculously hot that day, hovering around 99 degrees and still hot and humid by the time the race started at 6pm.  He secured first place even after adding time for a finish of 29.55y. 

Brock missed the next meet due to our trip to Connecticut. He returned and secured first place ribbons in both Breaststroke (39.52y) and Butterfly (32.77y) on July 8th. Here are the videos to prove it! 

After a few away meets, we were back at Lifetime on July 15th! 

Once again, he’s in a league of his own when it comes to breaststroke—he makes it look effortlessly smooth! Finished with an impressive 38.99y (or 43.33 meters).

Lined up for his favorite stroke - Butterfly! (Brock is on Block #3)

Look at that arm extension and head placement!

Feet together!

Beautiful underwater! 

Big strong arms and shoulders pulling him to the finish line! 

Brent was excited - you can hear it in his voice on the video! Brock secured first place with 32.02y (or 35.58 m). 

Proud athlete and prouder Dad! 

One of the teammates was out for an ear infection, so stepped in as the group leader! The boys all loved the team chant!

Summer swim seemed to fly by this year! Lifetime did amazing and was actually undefeated! The team won every single meet - Brock earned them many a points and earned himself many blue (a few red) ribbons!! Congratulations Marlins! 

Two 7th place Medals and One 8th place Medal