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!!

soccer and strawberries

Auntie Janne and Hannah came to see Lexie play soccer and while I didn't get a single picture of the game, I did get some of the spectators!

After soccer we went to Patterson Farms to pick strawberries- the girls loved going up and down the rows picking the biggest ones they could find.

Such a sweet strawberry lover!

So many strawberries!!

It was fun being able to share with the experience with Auntie Janne and Hannah.

- Patterson Farms -

After we picked a couple gallons of strawberries, the girls wanted to ride the cow train.  I was impressed at how extensive the train ride was-- they were gone for almost ten minutes!!

Post-strawberry pickin' ice cream.

The little girls loved the playground and did NOT want to leave!

april randoms-- food edition

We went to the Grand Opening of Two Scoops Lake Norman and the kids got a kick out of the two scoop cones!

- Lunch date with just the girls at Firestorm Pizza -

We love having a fire and dinner with our neighbors when the weather is nice!

Lunch at Costco and "Geostrom" for pizza and movie night.

We went to the soft opening at Tacos 4 Life-- officially my new favorite tacos in North Carolina!!

Lunch date at Pei Wei-- we were so excited to find one only 30 minutes from our house!!

Ninety's is right by Pei Wei so we HAD to stop there after lunch!

We try and go to lunch once a week to try out new restaurants - it's much cheaper to go when the big kids are all in school!  This week's lunch date was at the newly opened Davidson Ice House with a stop at Whit's Frozen Custard afterwards.

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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