Candice & Todd's blog: Spring has sprung

We began break by celebrating Easter.

The Easter Bunny came for a visit. Isabella told us she didn't believe in the Easter Bunny though - that she knew it was us putting candy in the basket. hmmmm..... ??!!

We ALL went to church

(here are some photos in front of the cross).

We took irises to put on the cross.

Flowering the Cross is a Western Christian tradition practiced at the arrival of Easter, in which worshippers place flowers on the bare wooden cross that was used in the Good Friday liturgy, in order to symbolize "the new life that emerges from Jesus’s death on Good Friday".

Then we came home and made lunch. (Todd got up before the sun rose to smoke a ham)

We decorated Easter eggs with a new contraption (I've had my eye on this for a few years!) it was fun & the kids liked it. We packed and the kids & I hit the road.

Last minute, I planned a quick trip for the beginning of the break (since we had some things scheduled at the end). We went to Western North Carolina. We got in sort of late, but the kids had fun in the game room while I checked us in.

The next day, they played putt-putt at the facility. Mercer said he went for a jog in the morning around the lake and the property. I went for a walk around the campus later while they finished another game of putt putt & while they walked back to the game room / go to get free hot chocolate / steamers / etc in the lodge where you check in!

We did a few other things that day too:

- We went to the "original" Mast General store which - on the map was not far away, but because of the very curve-y roads - took about 30 minutes to drive to. The kids were not impressed. Oh well!

Check out this OPERATIONAL post office!! (there's a sign saying NOT to try to open the mail boxes because this is a real post office!)

The thing that I was most "concerned" with is how crooked the top floor was (sloped inward towards the stair) and how NOISY / creaky the floors upstairs are! I'm sure at some point, they will hit some structural issues in the building -- especially with all of the people that go through the store (in Valle Crucis NC)

This historic landmark, in the heart of the state’s first rural historic district, has featured quality goods and traditional clothing since 1883. The community’s post office is still in the corner of the store and a cup of coffee is just 5¢ (on the honor system).

- We went on a hike to a waterfall. I don't have a lot to say about it - but have lots of pictures.

Isabella was a little upset that Mercer went on ahead of us. But she and I held hands and walked and talked. :)

- We also rode an "Alpine Coaster" (which is like an individual roller coaster). The only picture we got of us was on the platform before we got into our individual cars. (bad selfie)

I was NERVOUS at first... I sort of didn't want to go, but I did and am so glad!

It was actually relaxing! Starting with this "glide" up into the woods. It was quiet and smooth -- unlike roller coasters at theme parks.

The photos of the actual coaster are from the web. They recommended NOT having a camera out / glasses / hat / etc.

The Alpine Coaster was their most memorable thing we did! (This I have more to say about, but no photos of our own!) ha.

Isabella and I also did some funny mud masks / locked ourselves in our room (so Mercer didn't make fun of us!)

Um - her unicorn one didn't work out so well!

The next day, we got up and drove to Montreat. Isabella and I went to a church "family" retreat there one weekend last spring (2023). The youth at our church go every summer for a week. Mercer can't ever go to the youth retreat (or the family retreats) because of baseball, so I thought this would be a good way for him to see it -- by scheduling a college tour there.

Little did I know that Montreat is a small town with a college in it. I thought when you drove through these gates (pic from the web) that you were entering the college campus. Nope - that's the town!

There are sort of 2 sides to the community. The part that Isabella and I explored were nestled in and/or adjacent to the grounds of the college, but the college buildings were different than the ones we visited. (The green symbols on this map are the conference center buildings. The blue are the college buildings.)

We were there for HOURS - meeting with an admissions host to give us an intro & answer questions / a coach to have lunch with and discuss the baseball program / a student ambassador to give us a tour / a financial services advisor to talk about the real cost. EEK. it's soooo expensive - about double of what was published online (which was tuition only)... the room, board and books were about double the original price)

One thing that was interesting: 77% of their students are athletes. And there is some level of scholarship for sports. But not a ton.

We wandered around the campus book store and then climbed up a lot of stairs (93, I think) to catch part of a baseball game! (the coach we met left part of the 1st game to come talk to Mercer and he had to dart back because there was a double-header that day)

We did a couple of other things during spring break when we got home -- noting major like appointments for the kids. (so I'm glad we took a mini-trip!) I had a couple of fun things: book club one night + an outing with a friend at the theater on the square another evening.

At the very end of break, we went to a dinner/movie as a family which is becoming rarer and rarer as prices go up and up!

Break seemed to stretch out one more day (sort of). Our first day back to school was a total eclipse in parts of the country -- a partial eclipse in our part of the county. The local school system next to us had a half-day of school the 1st day back. (Our school system rarely takes a day or a half day off -- but -- it was excused if a parent didn't want their child at school.) My classes were 2/3 - 1/2 full. And - I sort of used it like a "catch up" day for those who were there. In fact, as soon as I was able to leave my school - I went to pick up Isabella early from her school so we could watch / witness the partial eclipse. (This photo shows was coming through the trees onto the sidewalk.)

Here's NASA's photo of the totality found online... which is pretty amazing!!

The rest of the photos are mine (of the partial from our part of the country)

(Mercer had baseball practice - at the indoor facility so he didn't get to see any of it - in fact - most after-school activities were cancelled because of the eclipse)

Isabella and I had the glasses that we could look at the sun (which looked like different moon phases)... but we also tried something different this time than what we did last year during the partial eclipse -- we use a colander (spaghetti strainer) to watch the changing pattern.

It was actually pretty cool! I would recommend this method for sure!

The rest of the week, we really got back into the swing of things!

I had an event Wednesday night at the nearby college for the architecture competition. The entries were amazing! (so professional looking!) Although none of my students "placed" this year, I still went / it was good seeing some people from the industry that I know as well as seeing the work. (It inspires me to get more technology into their work.... which I introduced one program earlier - SketchUp - so they could use in the competition. We just need to figure out the rendering stuff to make it look realistic.) This was my favorite. Just wow.

Isabella had a performance Thursday night at her school. It was called "evening of the arts" - a chorus performance by each grade level + a display of a piece of their artwork.

After the 5th grade performance, we also got a "sneak peek" of another performance she and a mixed choir from her school was putting on later that week.

Saturday, we had the actual (final) choir performance mentioned above AND we had Mercer's last day of Marietta High School baseball. It was a busy day!

Thankfully, both had drop-offs at the high school (one for rehearsals and one to catch the bus to the game which was held at a nearby school).

Todd and I were able to go to BOTH events the same day as "final" milestones of the weeks of before-school choir practices and months of after-school baseball practices. (Yes - we are in the thick of it with kid's activities!!)

We're glad that Mercer got some play-time in this last game - a one-game tournament for the level they were in for the high school district. He did well for the little bit that he got to play. He had a beautiful hit to the fence to get a double during his 1st at-bat that game.

He was in left field for a couple of innings too. They did not win the tournament game, but it was a beautiful day to be out watching some baseball.

Here are Mercer's stats from the season: He finished the season with a .375 batting avg, .500 on-base %, .750 slugging %, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 6 runs scored and 7 RBIs. He only got to pitch in 2 games and gave up 1 earned run in 4 1/3rd innings.

There are a couple of weeks off and then his travel team starts up again! In this "break" he has started some new exercises and smoothie routine that he/ Todd want him to continue into the travel season & through the summer.

Isabella had a milestone this past week: we celebrated her 11th adoption day!

We took her to get hibachi (unfortunately the new restaurant near us doesn't have the chefs prepare at the table / with the fire & the show, but now we know!).

It was still good and she liked her Japanese soda + the tempura (fried) ice cream.

We gave her some gifts too - a bullet point (dot) journal + a mini Polaroid camera with accessories. She picked out both / asked for them both.

(At least got her what she wanted... but we were able to surprise her with the extra accessories & a carrying case for the camera!)

We also got to celebrate her achievement at her horse show this past weekend: She got 1st place in horsemanship in her group!

She had to learn a new routine on a horse (Glory) that is a bit hard-to-handle.

The comments from the judge said she was a confident rider, but she did need to learn to control her horse more. Eesh!

There were a couple of other things in between: campus clean-up for the church in honor of Earth Day, planting our garden for the season, and a camp-out for Mercer with the youth (this event - he got lots of rain)... thankfully the weather held out so I could plant our garden and we could clean for Earth Day.

Todd's busy at work - they're also interviewing for some new employees, as they have lost a couple this year! (which is major for his small firm!). He's happy the Mets are on a roll though!

I am counting down (5 weeks!) 'til the end of school.

Here's a sweet picture of Isabella releasing the last butterfly that hatched from last summer/fall's chrysalises...