Between the breaks - October

Once break was over -- we went right back to the normal schedule of work, school, and extracurricular activities.  

The first weekend back, we went to a football game at the local high school.  They were having "spirit night" for our elementary school (which is just a couple of blocks away) and the kids got to go down on the field.

The next morning, I had a "sustainability" event at church that I helped to organize - called Creation Fest.  Since the beginning of the year, I have been working with people at our church to get an energy audit done... we had a lecture series on Creation Care (taking care of God's earth)... and we formed a Green Team.  We had an internal event where we educated church members about recycling, about energy efficiency and about getting rid of the styrofoam cups / containers that the church uses.  There is a little bit of momentum going and generally it is well-received.  The event in early October was our first (annual) outward / community event.  It was not heavily attended by the public - but we did get some foot traffic from people going to the Marietta farmer's market and from a foot-race that was going by our church.  The vendors seemed to be happy overall... and each made connections with other vendors / were glad to be there.  Hopefully they will return next year when this event is bigger and better!! 

We have a little bit of a hook on getting good vendors: someone on our Green Team who asked that they be there.  A woman who is on our church committee is the daughter of a trail-blazer / game-changer in the sustainability community nationally.  It certainly helps that she can ask vendors to be there and they will help us out at our little event!

Actually, the following weekend was the "big" sustainability event that our family goes to each year down at Serenbe that is hosted by this woman and her well-known family.  Unfortunately, Todd and Mercer were not able to go because they had a baseball game in a tournament that Mercer was in that same day.... but Isabella and I still ventured down for the afternoon.  I love going to this event because I see people I used to work with and volunteer with from my old sustainability community.  Plus there are free activities, beverages and food trucks.  

This year, they did not do the tethered balloon rides (which we were never able to partake in anyways because our kids were too little)... but they did carnival rides instead.  They were a little rickety and scary, but, Isabella didn't mind -- except a little bit for the height of the ferris wheel.   Isabella was smitten with one of the daughters of a former co-worker.  We kept running into her and her friends at various spots around the festival.  She rode a ride with Isabella which made our little girl's day!

Isabella only got to pet horses instead of ride this year.  We waited in line twice, but there was something that happened to the usual family that brought horses, so the substitute horse vendor was late and had fewer horses to ride.  Despite her disappointment in not being able to ride this year she did really well and listened.  (whew!)  I do hope that next year, we can all go as a family - for it is wonderful event on a beautiful farm. 

  

Mercer's "fall travel league" for baseball ended in October officially.  We never did intend for there to be 2 sports going on at one time... but this just sort of happened.  In the end, we are glad that it did, though.  He was ready to quit baseball after a couple of tough seasons (last fall / this spring), so we signed him up for fall soccer instead. 



He had grown as a baseball player, but was playing with some other kids who were newer to the sport and there were just a lot of errors, missed plays and losses.  Lots of losses.  It was hard for him to keep up a positive attitude throughout the seasons.  He ended up playing (a little bit) during the summer All-Stars for the league competing against other local leagues including some of my previous students.  Mercer didn't get a lot of play-time, honestly, and still wasn't that stoked to be playing ball -- except they did have a win or two and it fueled his spirit a bit.



Overall, there was a good rapport with the team so the coach thought about continuing and also trying something out new for our league -- a tournament team or a travel team.  He arranged for there to be one day out on the field that there were no conflicts so the boys who were playing fall-league baseball could meet up and practice. 

The league was behind it - as they are interested in expanding their brand.  So, the "East Marietta Spikes" were formed.  There were some tournament games that the boys held their own... and they even won a handful of games throughout the fall.  One of the things that I liked that the coach said "we belong in these tournaments."  The rules were different... even different equipment was used by the other teams (we learned about big-barrel bats).  The Spikes never did win a tournament, but GOOD baseball was being played and the boys were having fun.   By default, this team will start back up in the spring, so he will be rejoining the camaraderie of the Spikes... until next year's All-Stars.... (Assuming he makes it + if he is picked up for the travel /tournament team again.)

Mercer enjoyed soccer.  Several of the parents came up to us to tell us how impressed they were that this was Mercer's 1st year playing... that he developed so much over one season.... to talk about how much his foot-work had improved.  It was nice to hear, of course, but mostly - it was GREAT to see him happy and smiling as he would play!! 

They won some games, lost some games and went to the championship - but did not win any of those.  That's OK.... after the season ended, he told us that he wanted to play again next fall.  He wants to do baseball in the spring... soccer in the fall and basketball in the winter.  (oy - the shoes alone for the 3 different sports are going to set us back a bit!)  :) 

Basketball is about to start, actually.  He already had tryouts.  He says he knows the coach already too -- that the coach talked to him at this after-school thing he goes too called "Rise-Up" at school.  It's a church-based activity that takes place once a month.  We asked him - as a 5th grader - if he wanted to do this on his own or with his sister.  He said alone!  ha.  (It's the 1st year that this club is taking place at his school... Isabella can join next year when Mercer has moved on to the 6th grade.)

Speaking of 6th grade.  I have been worried sick about M moving up... seeing how out-of-control some of the kids are at my school where I'm teaching.  He still has a sweetness and innocence about him that I don't see much of at my middle school.  But - Todd and I went to a parent night at his new school - just for 6th graders... and I feel SO MUCH better.  It still seems a little bit more elementary-school like than my middle school.  And - the principal talked about how few discipline referrals there are...  whereas at my school there are a lot.  So.... fingers crossed he will have a great experience there.  in the mean-time... just need to soak in a little more of the quaint little elementary school where he is going for the next 6 months!! 

He is getting more grown, though.  Check out these pictures of him at the pumpkin patch we visited in October on a nice fall day.  (He wanted the long hair, but has since changed his mind and cut it all off.)  Isabella is looking quite a bit older too - not as much of the baby-face as before. <sigh>

We picked out pumpkins, ate pumpkin rolls (favorite quote about pumpkin stuff - Isabella said that she would do ANYTHING for cream cheese and pumpkin bread), and we took a hay ride through the farm.  There are these weird animatronic pumpkin people.  We all thought they were pretty cheesy... here's the face that Isabella made when she saw them.  :) 

After that, we visited a nearby sunflower farm that we saw last year / wanted to check out.  Not much to do.... but wander through / look at flowers (and get an up-close look at some pollinators). 

Pretty scenic, none-the-less.

We stopped by a Halloween store on our way back. Isabella had some fun trying on different masks.  We opted for store-bought costumes this year... just no time to make them or shop at various consignment stores to piece something together. 

Isabella wanted to be a ghost and scare people. She has no idea that she's a character from the Scream movie.   Mercer went as Chewbacca from Star Wars and wore an inflatable animal called a Porg on his shoulder.

Here is the newest member of our neighborhood.  Isn't this precious?!  

This year, Mercer jumped into the cleaning of the pumpkins himself... but it seemed that Todd had to take over the pumpkin carving for both of the kids.  Here's a picture of them lit up at night.  

This takes us through the end of October... more fall activities will show up in the next post for November.  

September Break

 We started out with a bit of work at the beginning of break.  There was some clean-up in the back yard we needed to do + some clean-out of the garage.  "Bagster" was filled and picked up a couple of days later.  Felt good to see the junk go away.

We found some fun things along the way from college and high school including this photo of Todd his roommate took, this fish print which we designed for tee-shirts which are now ragged and gone, my thesis project documents, a cool set of vellum drawings Todd did + a few other gems.

We also prepped for a visit from Rose Marie... cleaning inside the house a bit as well.   (Although didn't get as far along on this area as hoped.)  Thankfully she is not upset if things aren't perfect!  

We picked her up at the airport.  The first thing Mercer noticed:  he's taller than her.  I wanted to snap a photo with his smug look on his face right there at the airport, but the expression was gone in a moment.  

On her first night with us, the entertainment was "fluffy" slime-making - so the house smelled like shaving cream!  

The next day, we packed up the rental van and headed to the North Carolina mountains.  Mom drove over from central North Carolina and met us.  We stayed in a little 1920's renovated cottage for a few days that had a bit of an artistic flair, a fire-pit, a yurt and lots of porches with outside seating.  

Unfortunately, it rained the entire time we were there - so we did not get to really enjoy the porches or the fire-pit.  But - we had a good time none-the-less.  

I had literal cravings for some gourmet mexican food that Todd and I had more than 10 years ago - so we went out to eat there (sorry to the grandmas for "demanding" the food that Todd and I had such a great experience with years before). Ha!  

The main attraction in Asheville was for us to go to the Biltmore Estate while Chihuly's glass sculptures were there.  These first two photos are not ours, of course, rather professional shots -- but -- a nice documentation of the images we want to remember. 

As mentioned - it was rainy - but we were watching the weather and decided to go through the gardens before touring the home.   This turned out to be a good move, as we only had a tiny bit of drizzle on us.  It did pour down rain, but we were inside the house at the time.  

Does the fish look familiar?  More ornate than the one that we shot a photo of in Savannah years ago and made tee-shirts of.  Thought it was kind of cool that we came across the image earlier in the week and then found another fish downspout at Biltmore later in the week! 

Isabella was funny - taking photos in the conservatory - holding up dozens of visitors while she knelt on the ground with my phone aiming up at the ceiling (with super focus and her tongue sticking out of her mouth!)   Several visitors had to say how cute it was... and how they were impressed that a young child was interested in the glass.  Here's the shot of Mercer "towering over" Rose Marie.  (not really - but he's still proud that he's a bit taller!)

Todd and I have seen Chihuly a number of times.  There are a lot of the same things in various exhibits:  glass stakes in the ground, chandeliers, "floating" balls, sculptures on a stand.  One of my favorite things was something new:  these balls in the boat.  Such a lovely arrangement!!

We ate lunch at the cafe that was located in the stables after walking the gardens... as seen - they are pretty gorgeous stables!   (brick floors, heavy timber trusses, cool mechanisms to open a bank of windows all at once)  Lunch was just the fuel needed to continue with the tour inside the home.

My mom has been to the Biltmore before, but Todd's mom had not.  Todd and I have been before as well - so we were "ok" racing through the house keeping up with the kids who were not that into it. The kids did pretty good considering that it was a very adult thing to do, so they were rewarded with ice cream that afternoon.  "The grandmas" were able to walk through together at their own pace so that worked out well for each of them.  

Here are a couple of shots of the outside of the stable and surrounding area.  Still pretty nice, though!

Todd and I went to the Biltmore Village - still on the estate property so we could visit the winery afterward while the "grandmas" went to the museum and to a coffee shop.  We took the kids to a playground that was on-site in the Village after that so they could run around and blow off some steam.  


There were a couple of additional Chihuly installations in the Village - outside of the estate and gardens, so that was an unexpected bonus.

It was a long, long day.  We picked up pizza to take back to the cottage and played Left-Right-Center dice game 'til it was time to crash.   
































The following morning, my mom headed home while Todd, his mom, the kids and I ventured back into downtown Asheville.(Yes - the playground was wet - but they didn't care!)

We visited the Grove Park Inn quickly (we were wondering if there's any stake to the claim of the Inn based on the Groves family lineage - ha!)  We also visited the galleries that are adjacent to the Inn and met up with a friend to chat for awhile.  After that, we visited one of Todd's projects before driving home.

There are SOOOO many pictures from the Biltmore.  At every angle was a photo-worthy view.  (hence the # of photos from this "short" trip) 

Once back in Atlanta, we started to getting back to normal... Mercer and I worked on cub scout stuff.  He also had a baseball scrimmage that Rose Marie was able to attend.  That evening, we ate dinner on "Uncle Orie's" boat as the sun was setting on Lake Altoona.  After dinner, we cruised around the lake a bit more and looked at the stars.  

The final day of break, Todd had a church dedication so I took Rose Marie to the airport.  Feeling the need to do something "kiddish" -- I took ours to a cool playground I've been wanting to visit in town after the airport... on our way home.  


































Mercer also requested to have a "Mercer Fun Day" so Todd took him and a friend bowling / to play video games after we got back from the playground.  (Todd snapped a photo after he made a strike! What a great final achievement of his fall break!)

The break wasn't necessarily relaxing - but it was productive.  

- The cleaning of the yard / garage / general clean-up for our guest needed to happen.  
- The packing and driving for our trip to Asheville was quick and a bit of work, but we are glad we went.  
- There wasn't anything "huge" that we did over the week, but we did make some nice memories with members of 3 different generations of our little family unit!