HH Spring 2026

We made it!  Jared and others had been counting down the days till we arrived.  Everyone needed our home away from home to re-charge this year.  

This is our tenth year coming and our host did not forget, we were pleasantly surprised with a nice gift and a note.

Did I mention people needed a recharge?

This really was a much needed vacation, but that didn't mean we didn't have our fair share of fun.

Kite flying was a new activity this year.  Kids had fun flying and entertaining the younger kids on the beach by letting them give flying a try too.

We kept to our normal routine of eating at "Mellow Mushroom" the first night, "It's Greek To Me" and "Aloha Smoothies" two times each.  Then we found a new favorite on our rainy day window shopping adventure an old Irish Pub with covered outdoor seating.

We stayed out late Sunday night to see the stars, then watched some "Rebels".  

The next day Amber took her hand at photography and got some beautiful shots.

Lance caught a shark and two new fish; Weak fish and blue fish. Titus caught stingray and whiting, snd found welk with snail inside. Next night Amber found a welk with a crab inside. This is why we came back in May this year, much better shelling.

Jared continued the tradition of "Watermelon" videos:

1). "They were exhausted from all their snacking....but I got watermelon to keep me from napping". On the ride up.

2). "This is the greatest game I ever played!  He botched at bocce because the ball kept rolling....but I got watermelon to keep me from losing." On the beach.

3). "They fell on the beach because the wind pounded... but I got watermelon to keep me grounded". On windy day at the beach

Kids played a lot of bocce ball per tradition, and made some great sandcastles.  The last day it got rather windy but we all enjoyed that too.

We finished out our vacation of course "Looking Amazing!" as the sun sets on another wonderful vacation.

On the drive home I always ask everyones favorite part of vacation....

L - new fish

J - food and bocce and nine line store 

T -  food, bocce, fishing

A -  sunset photo session

D -  winning exploding kittens

M - all the great shells and chilling on beach

April 2026

Lance got some new fish (Panda Corys and Clown Loaches), the tank now looks complete and the loaches are eating my nemesis the snails!  He learned how to disembowel trucks and jeeps (ie. remove the cab so its suspended above him to work on the rest of the car). Final highlight for Lance was starting TWO baseball teams, his weekend Cardinals team and his weekday Captains team.

Jared worked a lot!  He started editing "Field of Fortune" and was pleased with the filming they got last month.  Cardinals were excited to have him back filming and doing the social media for their games.  

Titus and his long time friend Brogan got together and had fun racing go-carts.  He also started up tennis lessons and tournaments this month (Despite not playing for a while he is playing very well) and was promoted to Chief Master Sergeant this month.  

Final big event was CAP MARSAR.  This was big event up in Virginia at Ft. Pickett.  Titus and I had an adventure driving up (google tried to get us to drive onto a tank firing range - more than once).  When I went to pick him up I was late because the gate we eventual found on way up was closed on Sunday so I had to find another gate.  However, he had a great time and completed almost all the requirements for his Drone Pilot designation.  It was cute to see his friends from Encampment last summer so excited to see him.

Amber had fun with big boy and went on field trip to Horseshoe Nature Preserve with FIAR.  The field trip was actually rather educational as they were taught how to identify plants and then specifically how to identify local plants.  There of course was plenty of running around and play after.  Final big activity was going with Chris and I to the Spring Daze Art show (where we picked up a nice new alcohol water color painting, that looks great in school room), followed by a sleep over with Kimberly.

As a family we were busy as well, with the kids going to a game night (which always means a date night for Chris and I at home), Claire and Allie coming over to dinner to finalize things before Claire housesits for us while were on vacation next month and finally celebrating Frank's BIG 80 Birthday.

March 2026

On March 2nd, after two months of studying, Titus took the FAA 107 - Commercial Drone Pilot Exam.  This is a serious exam in a facility where you can take NOTHING in with you and it's two hours long.  At the end of the exam the proctor handed him a piece of paper upside down, smiled and said congratulations!  When he walked out to the car he tried to look sad but was too thrilled to pull it off.  This is a huge accomplishment; it will allow him to get training in CAP as a search and rescue drone operator and d.v. start making some money doing drone photography.

Speaking of S&R on March 7th CAP had a Emergency Services Day at the Raleigh Jet Port as well.

March 12th was FIAR trip to Hemlock Bluffs.  There were some special wild flowers in bloom and with the help of the docents we were able to go off trail and find some cool salamanders.  At the end of the trip a big storm came in, which was actually rather cool.

The main event, of course, this month is Lance's birthday.  This year he did a variety of things.  He started out March 12th going to his first Hurricanes hockey game with his friends Max and Wade.  Apparently Max's mom has season tickets and they were rather nice seats.  Lance really enjoyed the game.  He also worked in playing some bowling with friends, where he scored a 168.

Followed by the ECD - Literary Ball, which was a great excuse to announce his birthday and embarrass him.  

The movie focus during his birthday week was action thrillers.  He found some real winners, some I'd forgotten about.  As a surprise, we got him seat covers for his car.  He was thrilled.

Then as a special treat, his friend Nathan made it to his birthday dinner.  He and Nathan have been friends for forever and still talk "pirate" in text.  So hard to accept he's now 23.  However, no matter his age he'll always be my baby boy.  So proud of the young man he's become.  He's doing so well in his apprenticeship but he does well at anything he decides to do.  Praying this year will be full of more blessings than he ever imagined.

Then to finish out the his birthday week there was a Game Night/Music Fest at the Blackwoods.

Next was the big event for Jared!  After almost of year of planning it was filming day for "Field of Fortune" his first full length movie.  The hardest part of getting this day to happen was finding a field, it was ironic that the easiest field to get in the end was the famous Durham Bulls Athletic Park.  The actors were a rag-tag group of friends from work, baseball and dance, the beautiful part is how well they all got along and the incredible servants hearts.  People were not sitting idle on their phones they jumped in to help where ever they saw a need, often without even being asked.  It was of course the hottest day on record, which played havoc on equipment and people so the whole film was not completed in one shot as planned.  However, everyone had a marvelous time and he'll finish it in the fall when the weather cools.  One of the key highlights was a friend who'd never played any sports, playing the catcher and another person (we found out after was D2 football player) staging a collision at the plate.  There were concerns the catcher was dead for a moment but thankful just a few scrapes and big smile :-)

On March 23rd FIAR went to a Creamery and back to the Falls we visited earlier in the year (since it was around the corner).  We took a hayride around the farm and sampled the ice cream, kids played at playground for bit then a few us went to walk the trail to the falls and see how it was faring after the recent rains.  It was a really nice day.

The month finished out with Titus attending the Spring RTW.  It was a little cooler this year and Titus was now used to camping.  This year his focus was drones and becoming UAS Technician, the first step to become a S&R drone pilot.  He of course passed the tests and the live action tasks, but most importantly he had a great time.  Hard to believe only a year ago this was his first time camping or going away from home, its been quite a year.

February 2026

This month started out with snow again.  Amber held court to teach the geese about music.

Then began Titus birthday week!!!

He finished out the last month completing his CAP drill test to become a Senior Master Sargent. Civil Air Patrol is a major part of Titus' life and I'm so thankful.  He's taken on so many different roles, from leadership within the squadron, and in community service roles outside the squadron working with mentally disabled adults at the "Coffee House" meet up each month. 

He's also studying hard to get his Commercial Drone Pilot license.  He hopes not only to use it in CAP but also as an income source to help pay for his pilot goals.  

Without Titus I don't think have the outdoor or indoor projects would ever have been started, Titus is the project king.  In addition to the yard improvements mentioned last month, he's recently painted the mud room, started repainting the house trim, working on bath cabinets and hanging TVs as part of larger bonus room re-do.  Everyone needs a Titus.  It's hard to accept he is now 17 but I'm very proud of the young man he is growing into.   One more year....no he'll always be my baby boy no matter how old he is.

By request I have been making a variety of special meals for Chez Titus' birthday week.  For breakfast birthday morning I made pancakes, and thanks to the weather and Lance's jury duty being canceled everyone got to partake in them.  For entertainment, Titus has been introducing us all the world of Marvel and must say it's not too bad.

Cardinals Baseball is getting into the groove and Social Media Manager Jared is on top of it!  Right now he's doing "Player of the week" posts, highlighting one player of the team each week till the season starts.  The guys are really geared up and ready to work to have a successful season this year.  Additionally, this month Jared found out he was able to acquire the Historic Durham Bulls Stadium for the filming of his movie "Field of Dreams" on March 22.  Pray for great weather and incredibly smooth and successful film day.

Mid-month Titus and I went away for the weekend for him to attend the NC CAP Wing Conference.  He volunteered to run the AV during the conference sessions (partially he admitted to keep himself engaged by doing while learning).  He made some new connections, and at the awards banquet his squadron won squadron of the year. 

After the banquet there was a formal dance, another mom and I hung back to "chaperone", which was just an excuse to be in the room watching the kids have a great time.  Boys and a few girls were dancing arms over each other in a circle while the girls chose stand a bit apart from their follies.  I love how kind these kids are to everyone.  Personally, I enjoyed a quiet weekend of reading a book while listening to the olympics in the background and taking turns about the 6 floors over the atrium.  I brought the computer planning to be productive but decided on a break instead.  After the conference he decided to sign-up for the National Emergency Services Academy over the summer, where he hopes to improve his EM skills and drone skills.  Since it will be in Indiana we got his TSA-Precheck since flying is the only logical way to get him there.  Thankfully, a friend from his squadron plans to fly with him and they have a pick-up service to take the cadets to Camp Avery.

While we were at the conference Lance and Amber had another date. This time they went out to eat first and then to the rodeo where Lance's friend was on the drill team.

Since it was on Thursday nights (Jared works and Titus has CAP) only Lance attended "Four Lessons and a Dance" this month, where he learned Polka, Cha-Cha and Tango.  He got Plurp and Big Red running smooth, including some fun new fog lights for Plurp.  He also earned a new name at Octane as "The Mechanic" when he showed up on lunch in uniform to do some at bats (he was only one to get a hit off the pitcher that day).

FIAR had a fun and educational trip the Morehead Planetarium and Science Show this month. So nice that Amber has this group of friends to hang with a couple times a month.  Then on Saturday she spent all day with her best friend Kimberly for Kimberly's birthday.

Amber and Thor have really progressed this month.  At her last lesson they actual jumped a small course at a nice steady pace.  Gianna said they did "REALLY REALLY GREAT!".  So thankful that arrangement is working out so well.

January 2026

We started out the New Year a little different this year.  We went to the posh Southpoint Mall to window shop and of course hit the new releases at the Lego Store.  This was only our second time visiting the mall since we moved here and it was just as pleasant.  We found a gem in Macy's (where we parked). Apparently they have a Clearance outlet section there.  We managed to find a dress shirt Titus needed for the formal dance that weekend for prices nearly as good as Goodwill.  He also bought a neat leather jacket for only a few bucks.  While the boys went upstairs to look for ties, Amber and I looked for a dress for her to wear to the formal.  As you can see the boys were in full attendance for the show (and not too happy about how beautiful she looked, means more protection work for them :-)). 

Then we wandered through the rest of the mall, hit the food court for lunch and boys made a dent in the Lego Store inventory.  All-in-all a very pleasant day.

Titus joined the colorguard team for the Civil Air Patrol this month.  He preformed at a couple different NC State basketball games looking rather dapper of course.

January 3rd was the ECD formal or "Candlelight Ball" this year.  Not only did Amber attend for the first time this year, but so did her best friend Kimberly (which of course ment a sleepover as well).  The girls managed a couple of those this month.  

January 6th was a FIAR trip the Chinese Lantern Festival in Cary.  Wow had it expanded since we last went about 10 years ago!  The lights were absolutely beautiful and the performers top notch, the group favorite was the hat jugglers. We also learned everyones "animals":  Chris and Jared are "Rooster", Lance "Sheep", Titus "Ox" and I was a "Pig".

January 10th was lot of socializing for the boys.  Lance met up with his baseball team to hit some baseballs.  Then met up with his brothers at two different friend open-houses that day.

January 11th Titus and I met with a flight instructor at FightGuest to get his Student Pilot Certificate.  We had a great meeting learned a lot and are seriously considering the school as a path to getting his Commercial License.

January 16th Titus and Lance went to their first Hockey game at NC State and had a great time cheering on their friend in the band and watching the game.

January 17th Lance and Titus (nicknamed "Unicorn") went down to BlackOps near Ft. Bragg to play airsoft with their friend Daniel.  Best time I think they've ever had down there.

January 22nd Titus finished up Cyber Patriot Competition for this half of the year, making it to Gold League.  

Janruay 22nd was also my birthday.  I had a very nice week being queen of the entertainment choices (much to boys chagrin).  Chris and I even found a nice new casual Italian restaurant to eat lunch at that day (We'll have to take Jared there for his birthday to try the Calzones).

January 29th we went on a field trip with FIAR to the State Capitol.  Our docent shared different stories from our last visit years ago which was very much enjoyed.  After we had lunch together, Amber and I did a side trip to replace Lance's broken mug from the History Museum's gift shop.

The month finished out with two weekends of snow where the kids got to finally use the sledding hill Titus has spent a lot of time clearing and preparing during the previous weeks with - Dad (lots of moving and burning of debris), Khan (expert disorganizer) and Lance's help.  Titus even carved stairs into side of the hill to make it easier to get back up and Alexander brought his professional tools to take down a couple of the larger trees that required climbing.  

Kimberly came for a sleepover to enjoy the snow the second weekend while the boys went to a Square Dance.  Most ironic was that the caller backed out the morning of the dance and Ms. Emily called Jared to see if he could call the dance.  So Jared cram learned how to call four different square dances and mixed in four ECD dances he knew (no idea how he learns things like that so quick).  They also lost the band, so some regulars of the group stepped up to play.  Amazingly, according to multiple accounts, it was the best dance ever.

Additionally, throughout the month Amber had a modified riding schedule due to weather and her saddle having to be send in for a fix, but we made the best of it doing lots of ground work and managed to keep them moving forward in their skills.

Last big news was Jared being promoted to Assistant Manager at work.  Who knows maybe someday he'll own the store.