Author: Luke

Rosie is off to second grade! Summer was great in so many ways- we really had fun. However, I love routine (I never thought I would say that?), and getting Rosie back to school with our morning walk to school has been wonderful. She is at a little elementary school just a few blocks away, and we meet her little friend Sydney half way there, and they kick off their morning with a small buzz of excited conversation. Its pretty awesome.

Sweet Sadie

Taylor’s younger brother, Dereck, and his wife Mallory, welcomed their second daughter, Sadie Register last week. SHe is small and adorable, and Rosie (and Mercy) are excited to be big cousins.

Seclusion

When was the last time that you spent some time away? I mean, away from the internet? For me, it is embarrassing to say, but even on vacation, the internet is available. Except for this past weekend. We were quite secluded- which was a lot of fun to not have a phone nearby. Even though Verizon boasts of having coverage everywhere, it doesnt reach this mountain valley property that backs up to a national forest. Except for missing the App State-UNC game on Saturday, it was great to be “unplugged”.

We spent the long weekend with two other families- the Steinwedells and the Peascoes- 15 of us in total. This is a fun group- Joe, Taylor, and Laura worked together at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro (Taylor is no longer at CCL), and the friendships have been around since the beginning. Joe and his wife came to Greensboro from Colorado, and Andy and Laura are both greensboro natives. However, it was the Torres family- Hernan, Catherine, Simon and Sebastien that brought us together. We missed them for sure this weekend.

Two (or three?) years ago, we did a trip together and there were only 5 kids between our families- now there are 9. I can’t readily find pictures from that last trip, but a weekend in a cabin in the mountains together worked great for the kids. This time, the cabin was far more swanky, with a creek out front.

On a rainy Sunday, we took a trip into town to go see some Caverns.

Scott (Jonathan) Phillips finally got married, and Taylor and I were so excited to celebrate his big day. The wedding was in the middle of August, so we also decided to turn it into an extra anniversary trip, and stay an extra day in Boston on Sunday night after the wedding.

The wedding

Taylor and I have so many fun memories with Scott, we were really excited to think of fun things to share to highlight our childhood with him. We haven’t been as close to Scott over the past 10 years, so it is hard to figure out who he kept up with, and who we could look forward to seeing at his big day.

The rehearsal dinner- I haven’t laughed so hard in a few years. Ren Phillips was so, so great to see. It has been 15 years since we were roommates together in Boone, and I have only seen him a few times since he moved to Amsterdam shortly after college. Yet, we picked up and laughed together in a way that my soul truly needed. He is back from Amsterdam for just these few days, and he was ready to pick up right where he left off, and all of us were better off from a night with the Ren that we love.

Ren delivered on a miracle for us. What does that mean? Well, we (Chad, Houston, Taylor, Rachel, Sara Core and I) knew that speeches had to happen. Yet, the wedding was about 75% “new” friends from Ivy League professional connections, and only about 25% “old” friends- the ones that knew him as “Scott” instead of “Jonathan”. Specifically, us “old” friends know about how Scott’s speech at my rehearsal told a story, but left the ending open-ended. His speech 12 years ago was a disaster, and now that his great day was upon us, it was time to get him back- but how could I do so while not being mean, and still honoring his bride? Taylor coached me through it, and, well, just watch for yourself.

The ceremony

Whaleback is a small, “community” ski mountain. “Community” means that it is a non-profit that helps kids learn to ski, and it is visible from the highway just before taking the exit to Dartmouth. Its beautiful, and when Scott moved to Dartmouth, Katie knew that she wanted to make this her ski-mountain. And now that it was time for them to exchange vows, the community-nature of the mountain, and the community-driven nature of both Scott and Katie, made this a special place to have a ceremony. It was really fitting- it matched Scott perfectly. It was simple, outdoors, fun, and brought together the many parts of “community” in the same way that Scott has done his entire life.

It was great to see Robin, and Valerie gave SUCH a beautiful speech. There was also dancing, featuring Rachel Lynam:

It was just so much fun. here is another:

And a few pictures from the wedding reception:

The Boston

We tacked on another day to our trip, and did Sunday night in Boston. We met up with our Greensboro friends that moved to Boston just a few months ago (Cathy is from Boston, and moved back home to be closer to her family). We did some walking on the freedom trail, I had my first Lobster Roll (warm and buttered), had the best raw oysters in my life (good gracious, they were delicious), and went on a date-night to an italian restaurant.

Hey-o, while we were in Boston, there was the feast of Madonna (Of course!) celebrating the saint and also asking for protection for the fisherman for the year. It was unexpectedly busy in little Italy in Boston on a Sunday evening.

Taylor and I took Rosie to Carowinds this week.

This trip was a flying success; thanks Taylor for the awesome idea.

We surprised Rosie, and left Mercy behind with Grandma Zippy and Papa Pack (Thanks again for the help!), and had a whole day to have fun. Taylor reached out to her cousin who lived nearby, and we were able to spend the day with Brantley, Brenden, and Aunt Luann.

They are season ticket holders, and this was awesome for couple reasons:

• We didn’t know which rides Rosie was tall enough for. It would be terrible to walk all around the park, and be disappointed to learn that 4’2″ Rosie couldnt do the rides she wanted to do.
• Cousins make everything better.
• Taylor and I didn’t have to make any decisions
• Taylor and I didn’t have to navigate the park via map on a tiny phone screen.

The last time I went was in high school, and sadly, the math says that was about 20 years ago. Back then, there were about 3 or 4 major roller coasters, and I remember having to wait in huge lines to ride any of them, especially the Wayne’s World Hurler, a huge wooden coaster.

Taylor and I really showed our age because though the ride is still there, it lost the “Wayne’s World” branding related to the movie 16 years ago.

The day was so much fun, and we paid dearly for it the day after. I felt like I got in a fight when I woke up Saturday morning. My fitbit said I did 20,000 steps, but it was the rattling around on roller coaster’s that made me feel my age.

12 year anniversary

Happy Anniversary!

It’s been 12 (mostly) amazing years- there have definitely been some hard years during that time, and I just want to keep it real about that.

Though the calendar says it was our anniversary, our plan to celebrate is our upcoming trip to New Hampshire and Boston to see a friend’s wedding in 2 weeks. I have never been that far north before, and am looking forward to seeing that area of the country. If you have any recommendations for what to see or do (or eat) in Boston, pass it on!

Since there isn’t a grand anniversary to really expand on, here are a few more pictures from the past 2 weeks:

Dad is a septuagenarian

Dad, congrats!

We have some fun memories, and often, they still come up in my dreams. Yes, I even had dreams about Merriewold this week.

Work took you to Greensboro a long time ago. You had no idea that it would turn into an awesome home for me and my brothers to call home, and grow up in (and now call home for another generation to grow). For that, I am thankful.

Summer trips to Merriewold were something for any kid to be jealous of. Swimming all day, par 3 golf, fishing, ping pong- it was a dream. Thanks for those happy memories.

Living in Budapest was amazing. Those are some of the happiest days of my life, and that experience still has an impact on the way I view the world.

Divorce sucked. But, God is in control, and Kiyoe popped into the picture. How did you get so lucky with her? Despite things, Matt Jake and I are full-grown men. And none of us are in prison. By the grace of God, you did awesome!

Hope your birthday is amazing. Love you,

-Luke

Staying home

Mercy (1 1/2) goes to an awesome daycare. They have a great playground, give the kids healthy food, and spend lots of time outside.

Last week, a few kids in her class got Covid, so we got some messages about this topic. Because I am bad at reading all of my emails, Taylor keeps me updated about the “need to know” messages like the ones from daycare, so I am adequately informed.

When I picked her up Wednesday, they said Mercy was coughing a little bit after her nap, and had a temperature of 99* (they are a little more on edge about these things this week). Wednesday night, we heard some coughing on the baby monitor, and gave her an at-home covid test.

Since the daycare counts infection “day zero” as the first day she gets a professional covid test, we went and got a covid test on Thursday. The daycare policy states:

“He or she can return to FACP when they have completed a 5 day isolation AND it has been at least 24 hours since they have had a fever without using fever reducing medication. They can then return if they are able to wear a properly fitting mask successfully for the next 5 days with monitoring. NOTE: If they are not able to properly mask for the remaining 5 days they will need to continue to isolate for the full 10 days and return after day 10 of Isolation.”

Friendly Avenue Christian Playschool Covid Policy

Since Mercy cannot wear a mask, start the clock: we will be juggling working from home AND sharing parent duties, and likely not doing a great job at either, for the next 10 days 🙁

Sanity

So the caption of this blog is “proud supporters of fun and failures”, but I haven’t shared many “failures”, so here goes.

Mercy has covid. So, for 10 days, either Taylor or I have to be home with her, and sanity seems to be running short. I know there are various views on Covid, but Rosie has continued to test negative, and neither Taylor nor I have had any symptoms.

I had an idea to pick up Rosie from camp, and do something a little different: while Taylor was out, rather than go home and eat dinner and go to bed, why not go to a park and enjoy a picnic? It seemed like a great idea, but it was a great fail. Mercy convinced me she could sit alone on a picnic table bench (through her many screams), and I reluctantly gave in. And failed.

A few bites into her food, she face planted on the concrete slab the bench was sitting on. It was terrible. She screamed, then I screamed. Then two minutes passed, then she asked to go on the swing. Then we went home. Then she wanted a sandwich…

Several google searches told me there were not any bad symptoms of a concussion, so we carried on. Just enough of a shiner to make dad feel bad, but she went on being Mercy, and hardly missed a beat.

Since we are slowly losing our minds at home quarantining with a 1 year old, we did a few more things to get out of the house:

We went rock climbing, and Rosie did awesome!

We went to a Hanging Rock state park, and swam, since Mercy has to keep distance from people:

A lot is happening. But nothing is really going on.

No vacations this week…nothing spectacular, but I think it’s pretty awesome. Just a fun week at home with my girls.

Rosie had a sleepover with her best friend Sydney, who lives 2 blocks away. We spend 5 days a week at our neighborhood pool. Taylor and I work from home, and shuttle Rosie to and from her various camps (not overnight camps yet this summer, maybe next year?). We also had a fun cookout at my man Houston’s house- he made an awfully good Boston Butt for all of us.

These kinds of weeks are fun. Sometimes it is hard because we set the bar too high– what I mean is Rosie is pretty darn active, so when things slow down, it feels quite dramatic for this seven year old to feel BORED. But thats part of it I guess… I’m awfully proud of my girls 🙂

Here is a random video from before we took Mercy to school one day last week.

Beach week has come and gone.

This year was so much fun. Though Taylor and I got off to a rocky start with a disagreement about how to install the larger carseat for Mercy (turns out I was right!) the trip ended up being great. Our small family had great attitudes, and really enjoyed our time together.

Taylor was busy as a mom, and an awesome daughter. She has infinite patience dealing with Mercy, and doesnt seem to have any limits when it comes to helping her mother as a host by cleaning, and helping everyone she can.

Rosie is an awesome big sister, big cousin, and friend. She had tons of patience dealing with not only a toddler-sister, but also a toddler-cousin, and both of them thought Rosie was the coolest thing in the whole world.

Rosie also had a friend on vacation at the same time, Dottie Kate. We got to visit with her several times, and it was fun getting to know her dad, Hense, throughout the week.

Mercy loves the beach. Though she came last year to beach week, I consider this to be her first REAL year at beach week, because its the first year she can walk. She was wiped out by the end of the week, as its hard to keep up with her big cousin Everley, big sis Rosie, and a household of grown ups all day long.

The food was amazing. Every year the menu for the week remains unchanged:

• Cajun boil on Sunday
• Pork/bbq on Monday
• hamburgers and hot dogs on Tuesday
• Fish Tacos on Wednesday
• Steaks on Thursdays
• Leftovers on Fridays

(did I get that right?)

Ted’s steaks are pretty top-notch. In fact, I havent been to a restaurant yet that can top the steaks the way that he prepares them. Maybe that’s also because I don’t often order the steaks that cost the much at a restaurant?

Breakdowns (the car kind)

In 2013, we got a chunk of money from our tax return, and used it to buy a 2009 Toyota Camry. Its a great car.

I have been changing the oil in it, adding engine cleaner fuel additive, changing wiper blades, air filters, radiator fluid, batteries, etc. on that car since the beginning. It really hasnt had any problems at all.

The downside of doing exclusively self-maintenance on a car, is that you can miss the “other things”.

In this case, Taylor was waiting to pickup her groceries for about 20 minutes or so, and when leaving the parking lot, noticed that something wasnt right. She pulled off before getting to the main road, and the car wouldnt start after that. It wasnt the battery, since that was changed 2 months ago. Luckily, a female mechanic stopped by, and made a few recommendations.

Because Taylor was leaving town on a work trip the next day, and I work from home, we just left the car in the parking lot for 2 days.

When it finally came time for a tow, I called and got the truck to come. Just a few minutes before he arrived, I tried one time to start the car, and it started right up. Maybe the car just needed a break?

The next day, still unsure what the issue was, and since Taylor was returning at midnight to the airport without a car, I used my lunch break to drop the “functional” car at the airport for my bride, and took an Uber home, so she wouldnt have to.

The car seemed fine, until it wasn’t. I picked up Rosie from her summer camp, and figured maybe it is the alternator? I left the car running while I picked up Rosie, and 10 minutes later, it was still fine.

A few blocks down the road, it wasn’t fine. The thermostat dropped all the way to nothing. There were no smells or anything, so I told Rosie, who was in the back seat:

Uh oh. As soon as this car stops, it is not going to start again. Let me see if I can get to a car shop or safe parking lot”

-Luke, in the midst of a breakdown.

By the grace of God, we made it through the red lights (this isnt the BEST side of town, per se) and took a right-turn into a jiffy lube type place. They said we needed oil, coolant, and we should be fine.

Awesome. Problem solved, and at $79 because I use synthetic oil, this is a great deal to fix a car. Rosie was a little frazzled, but we were safe as we headed to Mercy’s daycare while Taylor was out of town.

The problem was not solved. 1/2 way between the oil place and the day care, which is only about 1.5 miles away, the thermostat went all the way to the top, then dropped to nothing. Rosie knew the drill. We took as many right-turns as possible, not knowing if the car would start after coming to a stop, and with the daycare closing in 10 minutes.

I had 2 girls in a parking lot, and no functioning car. However, all is not lost. There are some great benefits from being born and raised in Greensboro, and this is a perfect example of how knowling lots of people can really save your butt. As I was calling my mom for an emegency pick-up, a good friend pulled up in her minivan to pick up her own 3 girls from the same daycare. Laura Peascoe, you are awesome.

We quickly moved the car seats to her minivan (safety first!) and made it safely home.

The car was towed, and the good people at Randall’s tire found the problem and fixed it: a broken radiator. Despite no leaks under the car or smells of radiator fluid, somehow it broke. $1300 is the going rate for that kind of fix these days.

So, will there be a new car coming soon? My goal is something fun to jump around town in, and kind-of manly because I am surrounded by girls. Also, I am a bit inspired (and slightly jealous) of my brother Matt’s yellow CJ-5. Maybe something like this could foot the bill?

Rumor has it

Last week, Rosie and I went to the public library. It was fun- they had a great scavenger hunt to find the sea creatures hidden around the library, and Rosie is exceptionally observant. She nailed the scavenger hunt.
When it came to getting a book, her teacher recommended a few items. It is sad to say, she is now jumping into chapter books, and leaving those oversized children’s books behind.

The book that she picked was a biography on Benjamin Franklin. Rumor has it from years ago that grammy- my dad’s mom- said that our family is related to Benjamin Franklin somewhere up the family tree.

I told this to Rosie, and she got excited. So, I did what any good parent would do, and started a 2 week free trial on ancestry.com, and started to look back to see if it was true. After 2 cram sessions, I can report: it isnt false, but it isn’t true (yet) either. Maybe I can make the connection sometime before next week. Currently, I found lots of folks from MA from the 1600s.

Cheer camp

Rosie has it made- she has so much fun packed into the summer it is hard to keep up. Last week, she did cheer camp.

Taylor was a cheerleader- since, forever. She started young, and cheered through college. And since Rosie idolizes Tay (in a pretty awesome way. They are super cute), it was inevitable that she would cheer one day. In the past, Taylor has said to her, “you are still a bit young. Let’s wait until after 1st grade.”

that time is now!

my take? There are lots of sports to choose from. If you take a step back from sports, there are lots of activities to choose from- like music or dance or art as well. So why cheerleading? Do I really want to be a “cheer dad” and go down the road of watching cheer performances at competitions for the next 10-15 years? They are so loud, and there is so much makeup. Soccer is a great sport you know…

But the answer is YES. If she likes it, I am into it; but if I could pick, I’d rather be a soccer dad.

Anywho, Rosie loved it. Her favorite part was spending time with her cousin Amelia, and at the end of the week, they had a performance to share.

And the video:

Summatime shananigans

Our neighbors- the Swaregens- live 2 blocks away. We met them 2 years ago, right in the midst of covid lockdowns when we were out for a family walk. We went on lots of family walks in those days, because what else? This girl and her dad were about 75 yards away, and lo and behold, this little girl with red hair was also wearing a unicorn themed bike helmet! The two girls were instand best friends, and they even had the same (virtual) kindergarten teacher at that time.

We later learned that her dad also went to Page High School (my alma mater) and was a year ahead, and he went to Appalachian State.

The parents have become friends of ours, and had us over for dinner on Saturday night for some southern bbq, and…well, this happened:

Then, it was the parent’s turn:

(The good parts)

Something was skipped back in February, and I wanted to take a minute to go back and share about our trip to Colorado.

Why Colorado?

Last year (in 2021) for Rosies delayed birthday gift, her and I went on a day- trip to go skiing in the mountains of North Carolina, and it went AWESOME. I did a blog- post about it, feel free to take a gander.

So this year, we got a chance to take skiing to the next level, by going out West to ski and celebrate uncle Jake’s 40th birthday.

The Logans packed up, and went to Fraser, CO!

Arrived in a blizzard

Car rentals are hard to come by, and expensive. For this trip, since it worked well for me in a trip in the past, I used a car from Turo to get us to our destination. The car was on the less expensive side, and it had a few years on it, but I wanted to make sure that it had four wheel drive just in case there was any snow. And sure enough, there was. While driving from the airport to Fraser (normally a 1:45 minute drive or so), we got the chance to turn it into a 3+ hour drive, over the 17,000 ft peak. It was terrifying, though I couldnt let the passengers in the car know exactly how scary it was. But, we made it safe and sound to meet uncle Jake.

Tubing and skiing, oh my

Matt and Evan weren’t due to arrive until later, so we got an extra 1/2 day on the mountain to make due with. We talked about skiing an extra day, but the best option was to get our trip started out with some TUBING! It was awesome, and surprisingly fast. You guys know Im a nerd, so I used the feature on my watch to record the run, and clocked 23 mph. It was awesome!

We got 2 days on the mountain, and by the end of day 2, Rosie was officially better than me. She was fearless, and would run through a brick wall to try and keep up with her (much cooler) big cousins. She crushed it.

This was my first trip skiing out west, and I just couldnt get over how beautiful it was. The pictures don’t do it justice, so I took a few short videos of our runs in 4k video.

It was a blast. A few other things happened that I am not going to get into now, but here are some pics that were highlights of our trip:

Unfortunately, I write these posts as a “first draft” on Monday mornings, before the kids wake up. Looks like they are waking up, and though there was a lot more fun that could be shared, here is where I must end for the day.

Every year we are lucky enough to have a family beach trip with Taylor’s family at Ocean Isle beach in North Carolina. It is an awesome week, and the family has grown so much that this year we will need two houses for the very first time.

This year, we decided to include our own family trip to the beach as well- just the 4 of us, to the beach, for 4 days. Taylor found the perfect place for us. One lesson learned from our Christmas trip to Washington DC is that (unfortunately) we have outgrown the single-room option while traveling. Though it is cheaper, the poor quality of sleep and the way we have to be silent around Mercy’s nap schedule when sharing a room just aren’t worth while. So this two bedroom condo in Kingston Plantation was perfect.

Besides our room, the overall size of Kingston Plantation included several large condo buildings, dozens (if not hundreds) of townhouses/duplexes, pools, a gym, a spa, etc.

We spent most of our hotel time at the pool. Taylor and I joke that Mercy keeps trying to injure herself- by jumping in the pool (she can’t swim), jumping on the table, jumping off a balcony, etc. Rosie could live in a swimming pool- she just needs someone to entertain her. Taylor’s summary is “we have one kid we are trying to keep alive, and another kid we are trying to entertain.”

The first night we did barefoot landing. It was great- way better than we expected, with many updated restaurants, stores, music, etc. Plus, Mercy had space to run around, which is a huge plus for us in this weird period of life with a 1 year old and a 7 year old.

The second night we did Broadway at the Beach. THIS- is the heart of myrtle beach. What I mean by that is this is where the riff-raff, and all of the stereotypes about Myrtle Beach being commercialized and run-down can live. The board walk there is falling apart. The people watching was insane- you want a dress code? You are not gonna find it there. Cotton candy, dipping dots, and air-brushed memories really make this place shine. We loved it.

June is awesome. Rosie is on her first week of spring break, and is busy with swim practice. For her age group, swim team only lasts 5 or 6 weeks, but those weeks are intense.

Running

One of my new years resolutions was to run a 1/2 marathon (the other goal was to grow a hydrangea), and the only way I am going to do that is if I am signed up and committed to doing a race. So way back in January, I looked up some races around May/June in the area and settled on this one: the “Downhill at Dawn” 1/2 marathon in Black Mountain, 20 minutes east of Asheville.

I called my buddy Leo, who is running and has been my friend since high school, and he also committed to the race.

The course is a friendly, low-grade downhill race starting at the conference center at the top of the mountain, and ending in a church parking lot at the bottom of the mountain. My goal was to finish between 1:45 and 1:50, and I did- with an official time of 1:50 and some change. If you are really a nerd, here is the detailed analysis on Strava

Even though Leo and I both read the same website, neither of us had any idea that the race was a Christian ministry based 1/2 marathon. This isnt a problem per se, but we just werent ready for it. A few things stood out:

• The race offered discounted rates on rooms. We stayed, not knowing that the rooms were in a retreat center
• the rooms had no tvs
• the conference center had no beer
• Billy Graham

I didn’t realize, but Leo laughed a lot. Apparantly, I have a reputation of being a Bible thumper to Leo and his wife, Kelli. When Leo shared about the race, Kelli said to Leo, “I’ll bet Luke signed you up to stay at a Billy Graham hotel.” And sure enough, this place was founded by none other:

Recitals

Rosie had her first dance recital this past weekend. “It was the best few minutes of my life” were her exact words after we picked her up in the lobby.

Growing up with Matt and Jake, this was also my first recital as well, and it was a whole affair. Rosie got to wear makeup, Taylor did her hair, and she just looked so grown up. Amelia and Lila also danced, and here are their videos as well.

Robbery?

Well, kind of. Our home has a strange layout- where it would be just as easy to go to the front door as it would to go to the back door, so we have a camera that is mounted with a floodlight from the corner of the house to view the comings-and-goings of our house. It is also helpful when we are out of town.

Part of my morning routine it to look at the camera and see all of the critters that move around at night- mostly possums, cats, foxes, and rabbits are around.

BUT- then I saw these two clips. It is not too exciting- he was there, and walked down the driveway two minutes later, at 3:45 am. All he did was go through the car, but fortunately there was nothing to take.