Month: July 2023

Last year we started a family tradition: A long weekend trip with just our small family. It worked out great, so we did it again this year; this time, not the beach, but the mountains. During the hottest week on record.

Question: What the heck are you supposed to do in Asheville?

Answer: Text a friend with kids who lives there, and do almost everything they recommend.

First stop on Thursday evening: A couple breweries near downtown. Burial Beer is amazing. And, the two car-cabs to climb on were a hit for Mercy.

Because it was over 90 degrees and humid and I was pushing a stroller, and Rosie didn’t feel like walking, we started with the brewery that was the LOWEST elevation and decided to go from there.

At the top of the hill- as high as we wanted to go anyways- we did get to stop at my favorite destination: the Wicked Weed Brewery.

It was funny how Rosie has really been into the song “Eye of the tiger” recently, you know, the song famous from the Rocky movies.

So, this is my blog, and I wanted to post a real-life picture of me at the top of Baltimore blvd after pushing a stroller with both Rosie and Mercy, with very low pressure in the tires:

There was an epic battle that went into a few rounds of overtime trying to get the youngest daughter to sleep. She had a strong amount of fight in her, but after almost 2 hours, everyone slept just ok.

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The Biltmore

Not gonna lie, ya’ll, it was HOT. But, this was my big ask for the trip.

I take it you have seen pics of this place before. It is where the movie Richie Rich was filmed; you know, the Disney movie about a kid who is richer than Gates and Bezos combined.

Anyways, what struck me the most was how BIG it was. Sure, this doesn’t look too big from the image- but that main door? It’s about 20 feet wide. So the SCALE is just MASSIVE.

We had a lot of fun seeing the gardens; it really was amazing. In the shade, it wasn’t too bad. Eye of the tiger, baby…

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There’s more

There were plenty more places to see downtown, but no-no; this workhorse needed a break. I seriously didn’t feel right after pushing our bob stroller around, and carting up and down those stairs that day.

We did a quick recharge in the hotel room, and even though many people have talked about going to this place, we had never actually been to the Sierra Nevada Brewery before. It didn’t disappoint.

Now that the kids were fully recharged, they were ready to: get stuck on the elevator.

Even before ordering my first drink, Taylor and I took the elevator upstairs on the two-floor world headquarters and brewery. Rosie was pushing the stroller simply because she wanted to- and learned a valuable lesson: elevator doors close if you aren’t exiting the elevator carriage. And so it did; with Mercy and Rosie inside.

They ended up going back downstairs. I sprinted down the stairs 3 steps at a time. And found a very calm, cool and collected Rosie standing with the stroller and her little sister- eyes big like she had seen a ghost- but not crying. There was hugging. And we all learned a lesson that day.

The rest of the brewery was amazing. I didn’t get enough pics to really do it just. It took a lot of re-hydrating to get back to normal after the Biltmore that morning.

Asheville has a drum circle. What does that even mean? Taylor kept talking about wanting to do- and sure, I had heard of it, but what the heck was it?

Well, we found it. All I can say is, remember to take showers and use shampoo on a regular basis:

We stayed with Nick and Lindsey the third night. They have been in the area about 5 years and live in West Asheville (it was her recommendations from the weekend that we followed). It was tons of fun seeing them. They were good friends of ours in College, and she is Taylor’s best friend since middle-school days. It is pretty solid to see Rosie make fast-friends with their daughter now as they behaved more like teenagers than little kids- in a good way- just chit-chatting and telling stories.

Oh wait, there was one more brewery: Highlands Brewery. Not as epic as Sierra Nevada, but pretty high on the list. They had an outdoor place for kids, beach volleyball, frisbee golf, and lots of other cool stuff. This post is getting pretty long, so time to wrap it up.

Once again, I was a little too wrapped up to get any good pics. Mercy was potty training, so this was a common thread throughout the weekend. Taylor, you are amazing in the patience you had for it.

Lindsey was a great host. I bonded with their younger one as we talked about Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Now I want to buy that game).

The next morning, our family was really dragging on some low energy tanks, we did a quick walk and had some breakfast from a bakery down the street from their house.

The kids were awesome together. It was sad to leave, but our potty-training mission would likely be more successful if we took it back to Greensboro.

And, as soon as we got back to Greensboro, this happened:

Rosie accidentally locked Mercy in her room. These doorknobs are about 60 years old, so they don’t play nicely. The windows were locked, so the only option was to take apart the doorknob. She was rescued before a single tear was shed.

Now, only 1 more month of summer…

How about you guys? What are you doing this summer? What are your favorite things to do in Asheville? Leave a comment below; you don’t have to enter a website, even though it asks for one.

Rosie went to her first overnight camp a few weeks ago. Some people have asked, “Is she nervous?”, or “How are you feeling about it?” or “Do you think she is ready?”

For Rosie, the answer is a resounding, “She was born for this.” What I mean by that is that she is going to crush it. She is the kind of kid that gets excited about crafts, loves to try new things, loves to make new friends, and thrives by being around other people.

Contrast that with my demeanor at 8 going to summer camp: Not super outgoing, thought crafts were lame, didn’t enjoy group sports, and didn’t exactly love being away from my room for a week.

She went to camp willow springs, which is about 2 hours away. This is a camp for kids Rosie’s age, and they have a sister camp, camp willow RUN, for teenagers. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Evan was a counselor there.

Rosie went with her best friend, Meryl.

The camp seemed great. Taylor went for drop off, and I went for pickup. It was about 2 hours away, and the process was super quick: Drive 2 hours, get your kids, drive two hours back.

The ride back was pretty great. Normally excited kids talking and singing really loudly in the back seat have a short lifespan in our car.

not this time.

Her and Meryl sang their camp songs and told stories for about 30 minutes, lowered their volume (on their own choosing) and talked for about 30 minutes, complained for about 15 minutes, and then slept. It was great.

Mercy really missed her big sis. When we went to pick up Mercy from school that Friday, Rosie jumped out of the car so excited to see her little sis. Mercy, in true fashion, walked right past her. Rosie’s head sunk (she still smiled though), as she walked back to the car.

A few seconds later, Mercy grabs Rosie’s arm and pulls her close. We may never understand that child.

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Country Concert

What was your favorite concert? What band would you pay top-dollar to see, past or present? These are the questions we asked lots of people over the week just getting excited to go to a concert.

Taylor found out about this show from our babysitter, River, and luckily our friends Andy and Laura were free that Thursday night.

It has been a few years since my last concert- maybe the Avett Brothers, NYE 2019? And this was my very first country concert.

Thomas Rhett at the Greensboro Coliseum was a lot of fun- better than I expected. Taylor had a blast. And thanks Zippy for babysitting and making the night happen.

This group in front of us- about 8 late teens if I had to guess, included two people who were going a bit WILD in the first part of the show. I am talking hair swinging, head banging, jumping up and down for each song.

They crashed and burned early though and were sitting by the second half of the show, much to my delight.

This was the little tribute I recorded for Rosie, a familiar song for her:

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This and that.

We also went to see Taylor’s cousin, Cobe for his engagement party. It was a lot of fun, and we got to see all of the work the Haney’s did to their new house.

We stayed the night with Taylor’s other cousin, Brooke, in Raleigh. The cousins had a blast- Rosie has a rocking life with family and friends around every corner.

Anyways, sometimes people ask what I write about on this blog? And the answer is simple: I look at the pictures from the past week, and write about the things we have pictures for,

Unfortunately I don’t have many pics from the engagement party, or pics from the night with Brooke, so I couldn’t write much about them. Maybe next time?

There are 290 pictures in the shared family album for beach week this year. Let’s try to make sense of it and all the other fun things from the week, including some epic putt-putt against the core family, and a raging pool-party for the Hamilton Lakes swim team.

What the heck is beach week anyways?

That might be the more important question to ask. Every year since Taylor was small, her and her moms-side of the family would go to the same beach in North Carolina, Ocean Isle Beach. This is part of the crowd in 2005. Looking fresh Kenna!

Anyways, while the Logan’s did our annual trips to spend the summers at Merriewald, this was where you could find the Register/Haney family.

The past 5 or so years, it has worked best to do family beach week during July 4th week.

A day at the beach.

Have you seen those pictures of the bumbling dads on vacation with the zinc-based, super-white sunscreen on their nose? Beach week is the opposite of that. It is serious.

A typical day (with kids) starts around 7. The kids will be lazy around the house and eat some breakfast: lucky charms, fruit snacks, sugar packets, or anything else sweet that they can get their hands on.

After breakfast, Taylor or I will go on a run, or take the kids to the new “splash pad” park, about 1/2 mile away.

Then, it should be close to lunch time. We feed the kids peanut butter jelly sandwiches, which they will refuse to eat, so we give them more sugar packets to hold them over until dinner, while the rest of us eat honey-baked ham on a sandwich, or other leftovers. They always taste better at the beach.

By now it is time to pack the cooler, and head down to the ocean. But don’t forget the wagon, umbrellas, bag for garbage, sunscreen, children’s sunscreen, beach toys, towels, flip flops, shoes for the kids (yes, both of them), snacks for the kids, cash, goggles, an abundance of beverages, koozie, chairs for everyone, swim-diapers, a book, and check with your wife to see if there is anything else needed. It is about 200 yards to the beach. My advice for a newcomer? Don’t mess this part up. This is the proving grounds.

Now that the stressful part is over, it is time for a drink. Or 19 drinks, depending on what you want out of the day.

On an unrelated note, here is a picture of Taylor’s grandma with her grandsons:

This year we are getting to a sweet spot: Rosie is old enough to swim mostly by herself. Mercy is not a small baby, and is getting pretty fun, and it was really a blast getting to hang with them.

Rosie was into the boogie board this year. She still wants me to watch her do all of the awesome things, and even though sometimes it is easier to engage in conversations with grown-ups and ignore Rosie’s requests, in a few years, she won’t be asking me to watch her boogie board anymore.

Mercy needed a nap most days. She tried to skip her nap and play with her cousins; it almost worked the first day, but she’s not quite ready to cut them out entirely. So, Taylor and I alternated days going back with her.

During the afternoon, the kids are getting a little hot and ready for some frozen sugar packets, so the italian-ice guy is always a hit:

A little before 5 is time to start planning to head back to the house. At this point it is best to just get into the right mindset for this: you are not a dad. you are a pack mule for the next 20 minutes. You feel no pain and there is no stopping for things like sand in your eyes.

Time to get the kids washed down, rinse the sand off, and shower and get ready for dinner. We eat like kings during beach week. Taylor’s dad, Ted, sets the bar pretty high when it comes to grilling steaks, and this is always the highlight of the week. If you ask Taylor, she can give you the rundown of the meals we eat each night of the week. This, too, is tradition. I will say, it is nice that each family cooks 1 meal during the week, so it is much easier to spread out this responsibility to many people.

In years past, we went to restaurants, but with kids, it’s just easier to stay in. Ocean Isle beach doesn’t have many restaurants, and during the summer, after the 20-25 minute drive to Calabash, the restaurants there are slammed anyways.

Its not the exact same every day though

Things are changing so much from year-to year, it is impossible to say what we do regularly now. But each part is pretty fun. This year, we brought the girls’ scooters:

Also a highlight during beach week is the July 4th parade on the island. This year, we were a bit proactive and brought decorations to put our golf-cart in the parade.

Props to Taylor on this one. She did it all.

This year we did take a few days at the pool. If you are squinting your eyes to see if I look different in this pic, stop, because this one isn’t me, but I did think it was a good pick of uncle D:

Also Rosie is getting to an awesome age now to do some fun things. My good-buddy Houston was also at OIB the same week as us, so Rosie and I got to go play putt-putt with them at Myrtle Beach one day. MB is about 30 minutes to an hour away, depending on what part of the beach you want to go to. But, they do have some epic putt-putt courses.

Why go to just putt putt when you can go to a putt-putt/candy/arcade/ice-cream spot? Honestly, it was pretty awesome. Here are Houston’s kids on the 12th hole:

Not really sure of the context of this next one:

If you were a normal person, you may ask, “Luke, why didn’t you get a picture of you and all of the Core family?”. Well, over the past 30 years, I’m not sure how many pictures I have together with Houston, but it is a lot. So, I didn’t add another this time around.

Unfortunately, Houston beat me by 1 stroke this year. What. A. Bummer.

Also, the fireworks at the beach were awesome. Cameras on phones are getting awesome: I have never been able to capture pics/videos of fireworks that come out right:

Pool Party

Whew, that last part was a lot. But, it would be a shame to not include this special part of the week. Rosie has been on the swim team at our neighborhood pool, and at the end of the year, they do a pretty epic party. They came in 2nd place in the city, and if I was a kid, this would be how I would want to celebrate:

Ok, it would be fun to elaborate on more, but that is all for now. 🙂