end of the season soccer

After listening to Lexie beg to play soccer for a couple of years, we finally let her play rec soccer and she just wrapped up the first season.  The last weekend of the season is their big tournament so she had a game Friday evening, Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon-- a full weekend of soccer!

In their last game she started out as goalie and did a great job making sure that the ball never made it into the goal!

She moved up to forward (her fave place to be) for the rest of the game.

She shoots.... she scores!!!

For it being her first season, she's been surprisingly good at footwork-- and isn't afraid to go after the ball.

She shoots... she scores again!!

And again!!!  She had an awesome first season and is looking forward to continuing to play!

carowinds with the gaubs

We took Auntie Janne and Hannah to Carowinds for the first time and now even Hannah is a season passholder just like us (ok, fine, it's the free Pre-K Pass, but still, she's a passholder nonetheless!).  The little girls had to sit out for the first ride of the day and stood around pouting since they were too short.

We had our usual Panda Express for lunch... and recreated scenes from "Lady and the Tramp"

So excited to see Snoopy!

The little girls finally got to go on a ride-- the swings!

Like our kids, Hannah loved Pig Pen's Mud Buggies!

And her first time on a roller coaster was a success!!

To celebrate Ben's birthday weekend, we ordered the World's Largest Funnel Cake-- and even with two extra people, we STILL couldn't finish it!

The little girls fell asleep for awhile and I pushed them around while everyone else went on the big rides.  Hannah wanted a picture with Uncle Jacob since their shirts coordinated!

The little girls convinced Dad/Uncle Jacob to buy them cotton candy since they couldn't go on many rides-- he's such a pushover!

And we wrapped up a fun day at Carowinds with a spin on the horsies!  Can't wait until we can take them again!

happy birthday ben: cupcakes and firepit

Hannah's favorite thing to do at our house is make cupcakes and it's always the first thing she asks about when she gets here!  We went to the store and picked out cake mix and frosting and came home and the little girls set to work.  I'm sure they'll be making them on their own in no time!

Cupcake decorating and tasting!

Jacob and the kids built a new firepit in the backyard so we were excited to try it out while Auntie Janne and Hannah were here!

We roasted hotdogs for dinner...

... and s'mores for dessert!

And spent the evening celebrating sweet Ben's ELEVENTH birthday!!

spring at carowinds

We love having season passes to Carowinds since it means that we can go often-- especially in the spring and fall when the weather is nice!

Everyone's favorite ride in Camp Snoopy: Pig Pen's Mud Buggies!

FINALLY a coaster that Ellie is tall enough to ride!

- the horsies -

Lexie wanted to go on this headache inducing ride over and over and over, and went until she ran out of people to ride with.

- the Albaeck sweethearts -

On our way home from Carowinds, we stopped at Ninety's to try their over-the-top milkshakes-- and they were delicious!!

spring break mini vacay: cape fear cruisin' and one tree hill

On the last day of our mini vacay, we walked down the Wilmington Riverwalk from our hotel towards downtown, stopping to look at both the US Coast Guard Cutter Diligence VI and the Battleship USS North Carolina.

- the Albaeck sweethearts and the Cape Fear River -

As diehard One Tree Hill fans (the adults, not the kids!), we made sure to check out the "Naley" bench at the Riverwalk.

We did a river cruise aboard the Capt. J. N. Maffitt and learned about the history of Wilmington and the Cape Fear River as well as their importance today.

Continuing through Wilmington on food, we had a delicious lunch at Beer Barrio before heading back to the hotel to pick up the van.

On our way out of town we did a quick One Tree Hill driving tour.

Top: Clothes Over Bros storefront, Peyton Sawyer's house, Brooke Davis' house

Bottom: Lucas Scott's house, Haley James' house

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spring break mini vacay: kure, carolina and wrightsville beaches

We started the day at the NC Aquarium- Fort Fisher, about a half hour south of our hotel in Wilmington.

The kids love checking out the alligator exhibit-- especially seeing Luna, the albino alligator!

Fun at the aquarium!

We walked around outside the aquarium for a bit-- the kids thought the giant frogs were fun to "ride" and we spotted a family of seven (!!) turtles on a log.

On our way back north, we stopped at Carolina Beach for donuts from the legendary Britt's Donut Shop-- we actually planned out our days according to the Britt's opening schedule so that we could make sure to have their delicious, hot from the fryer donuts!  And they did not disappoint-- so make sure to go if you're ever in CB!!  And since we were there, we stopped at the Fudgeboat for some fudge to go!

- We spent the afternoon playing at Wrightsville Beach -

- Sweet Ellie -

Nick found a little crab and he and Ellie had a blast playing with it for awhile.

These kids could spend hours at the beach-- and they did!  They played and played and played... until it got too windy and cold and we headed back to Wilmington for dinner (pizza!) and bed.

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spring break mini vacay: hockey and easter

Thanks to the generosity of WWP, we were able to attend a Carolina Hurricanes game in Raleigh!  Since the game was a couple of hours away and ended late at night, we opted to stay in a hotel nearby for the night.

Which meant that we celebrated Easter in a hotel room-- a first for us!!  Luckily, the Easter Bunny knew where to find us and the kids woke up to full Easter baskets and eggs to hunt for.

- Checking out their baskets -

Looking for Easter eggs!

Since we were staying in the Raleigh area, we attended the Easter service at the beautiful Duke University Chapel.

How we kept Ellie entertained before church!

We stopped for a quick lunch at Smithfield's Chicken and BBQ on our way to the BEACH!

- the Albaeck sweethearts -

We spent Easter evening wandering around Wrightsville Beach and wrapped it up with a delicious dinner at Tower 7.

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