Cheers to the Weekend: Labor Day Weekend Edition

Hi friends! I am back from a 24-hour trip to one of my favorite places on the planet: Tiger Town! My hub and I snuck away yesterday morning and spent the day walking all over our beloved Clemson campus and tailgating with friends we love. We then headed into Memorial Stadium to cheer on our reigning national champion Tigers as they took on, and took down, Georgia Tech. The stadium was absolutely electric with all of the excited fans, coaches, and players, and we had an absolute BLAST! Football season has arrived, and my Lu Crew couldn't be happier!

So, we are definitely saying CHEERS to that, as well as a few other things as we welcome in this 3-day weekend: 

Safety Patrol. At our elementary school, students are allowed to submit applications to join safety patrol once they are rising 4th and 5th graders. Banks applied last spring and was accepted and so excited! This means, every other week, he is one of the first students to arrive to school in order to proudly wear his safety patrol gear as he opens the car doors of the students arriving via the carpool line. It's the little things... ;) (and of course, his first morning, I just had to drive up to the school to see my boy in action). <3

Fall Sports in full gear. We are in full Fall family sports mode over here, but honestly, I love it! There is just nothing like getting to see my kiddos do what they love and pursue their passions, even if it does mean spending several hours in the car trucking them around. ;) For memory's sake, a look at our current Fall Sports Schedule for my little Lus: 

Monday -      Banks: Tackle football from 6:00-8:00 pm

Tuesday -      Bella: Tap/Ballet from 4:15-5:00 pm

                      Harrison: Flag football from 5:30-6:15

                      Banks: Tackle football from 6:00-8:00 pm

Wednesday - Raleigh: Gymnastics from 3:30-4:30 pm 

Thursday -     Banks: Golf from 4:00-5:00 pm

                      Harrison: Flag football from 5:30-6:15

                      Banks: Tackle football from 6:00-8:00 pm

Friday -          NOTHING!!!!

Saturday -     Banks: Tackle football from 10:00-12:00 pm

  

Whew. But they are happy, which makes me happy! It also makes me happy that PSLs have officially arrived, people! And with that after school, extra curricular craziness, y'all know I grabbed my first of many for the season the morning those glorious PSLs arrived! 

Camp Crestridge photos. I wrote earlier this week about my big, big love for Camp Crestridge. I was so excited to see the camp photos hit my inbox earlier this morning. Here are two of my faves: the first is of the moment Raleigh and I captured the flag during the first night's event, Sock Wars. The second cracks me up because it's my friend, Ashley, being shaving-cream-pied in the face by her sweet daughter, Peyton, and my concerned face as I watch on and know that I am next. Ha! 

And that's all I've got, y'all! Have an awesome Labor Day weekend, and I'll be back next week to share some things I'm loving lately that you may just love, too! *See* y'all then!

Camp Crestridge 2019

Way at the tip-top of a steep, windy hill, tucked deep away in the woods of Black Mountain, North Carolina, lies Chickasaw 12. 

Chickasaw 12, also known as the place where old friendships were deepened and new ones were grown; where squeals of joy were what started early mornings and ended late nights; where cold mountain air swirled through the old, wooden cabin; where mommas and daughters nestled snug into sleeping bags and beneath fleece blankets; where one of the best weekends of my life took shape. 

Chickasaw 12, the little cabin in the woods that served as my home during Camp Crestridge 2019. 

I first heard about Camp Crestridge at this time last year, after seeing the photos and videos shared by a long-time friend after she and her daughter had completed their first mother-daughter camp weekend there. 

"What is this magical place?" I asked her immediately. I knew right away that this was something I wanted for my biggest girl and me. And so, a year ago, plans were made: my daughter, and my friend and her daughter, were registered and ready to go: Camp Crestridge 2019 or bust! We waited and counted down and finally, after a year of waiting, our weekend had arrived:

Last weekend, Raleigh and I headed to Camp Crestridge for the 2019 Mother-Daughter Weekend. And we loved every.single.minute. A glimpse into our weekend away, deep in the heart of Black Mountain, North Carolina:

We picked up our friends and headed out of town right after school on Friday, chatting the entire 2-hour drive, eagerly anticipating what lie ahead. 

We arrived and were informed of our cabin assignment while the amazing staff took all of our bags and sleeping bags and pillows up to our picturesque dwelling for the weekend. We crossed our fingers that any other bunkmates we'd be paired with would mesh well with our crew. And, well....we hit the jackpot! We became fast friends with our bunkmates and the six of us - three mommas and our three girls - were inseparable all weekend. 

Friday started with a bang: After unpacking and settling in, we headed to the dining hall for our first meal of the weekend: a tasty chicken dinner! We were then informed that we would all, as in the hundreds of mommas and daughters there that weekend, be participating in a little something called "Sock Wars" for an hour following dinner. We quickly learned that this would be a super fun, super competitive, super awesome game that is basically a mix between Capture the Flag and Dodgeball (only the "dodgeballs" were tube socks filled with sawdust and tied at the end). This was, hands down, one of my favorite events of the entire weekend! I will NEVER forget holding hands with Raleigh as we squealed and giggled while running all over the camp - and then sprinting as fast as we could when we captured the first flag and scored 50 points for our team! It was a night I will never forget, one that concluded with worship and prayer (during which Raleigh wrapped her sweet arm around my shoulders as we sang our hearts out over our love for Jesus) and then shrieks of joy as our trio of girls ran wild around our cabin after a little late night fruit topped with chocolate fondue. 

We awoke Saturday, dressed, and headed back to the dining hall for breakfast, which was immediately followed by more worship and then a special meeting of the mommas (while the girls played more games elsewhere), wherein we learned about abiding in Jesus and passing it along to our girls. We were able to break off into small groups and encourage each other and learn from each other and it was just beautiful. And then? Well, then came the "Morning of Chaos." And it was a BLAST!!!

Each cabin (there were 30+ cabins filled with mommas and daughters!) had a bucket filled with slips of paper, each of which had a task on it we all had to complete together. And when I say "task," I mean things like "Daughters, fill a pie pan with shaving cream and pie your mom in the face with it;" "Moms, paint your daughter's face and clothes with paint;" "Everybody go down the giant slip and slide together;" "Daughters, style your mom's hair...using only shaving cream;" etc. You get the gist: It was wet and wild and chaotic and crazy and messy and SO.MUCH.FUN. This was one of my other favorite memories from the weekend. We were covered from head to toe in paint and shaving cream and soaking wet by the time it all went down and all laughing hysterically. We loved it! 

After quick showers and lunch (tacos - so good!), we had the rest of the day to do any activities we wanted: there was a giant swing and archery; a humoungous slide, zipline, and the "blob," each of which ended in the lake; there were crafts and shopping; and so much more. We stayed with our new friends and just soaked in each other's company. It was, in a word, awesome. 

We cleaned back up and headed back out for the last dinner of the weekend: hotdogs and hamburgers served at the camp pool party! We ate and the girls swam, and it was so much fun. Finally, we headed back for a little more worship before another memory I will never forget: Mother-Daughter time. We were each told to find a little corner of the camp to spend one-on-one time with our daughter. We had been instructed to write our daughter a letter ahead of time and then share it with her during this special time. I will always remember this time with my Rals. We both cried and hugged and talked and shared, and it was just awesome. 

Finally, we headed back towards our cabin for some fireside s'mores. In addition to the traditional s'mores, we could also make Reece's Cup S'mores, and I now know I wasn't living my best life until I had one (and by one, I mean more than one) Reece's Cup S'mores. Why I waited until my late 30s to have one, I will never know. Thank you, Camp Crestridge, for introducing me to this delightful treat. ;) 

After a little more squealing and jumping and playing, it was lights out. We awoke on our last morning for one more breakfast before hitting the road to head back home, although not before heartfelt goodbyes with our new friends and plans being made for a mid-year reunion. 

Mommas, go. Take your daughters. They are little for only so long, and this weekend and this place is just special. And, should you choose to go next year, know that you will find this Momma, and my Raleigh Jane, running wild, throwing socks, covered in paint, splashing through creeks, and having a ball, together, throughout the trails of Black Mountain. Camp Crestridge, we'll see you again in 2020. Thank you for the beautiful time with my beautiful girl. <3

Cheers to the Weekend, School's Back in Session Edition

Yeehaw! We have made it through our first week of school relatively unscathed and are welcoming in the weekend with open arms. A few things we are saying CHEERS to before Raleigh and I hit the road for Mother-Daughter Camp (hooray!) : 

Father-Son Camp. Last weekend, the Lu Crew fellas headed out for the weekend to the F3 Father-Son Camp and had an absolute blast. There was rock climbing and giant water sliding and BB gunning and frisbee playing and ropes course-ing and fishing and exercising. There was sharing a cabin with great friends and watching fireworks and eating good food and staying up late. There was good guy time, and my guys loved every minute. 

Girls weekend. Meanwhile, the Lu ladies hung back at home and had ourselves a lovely little girls weekend. We had a movie night/slumber party Friday, donut breakfast, play date and back-to-school pool party, and hair braiding lesson on Saturday, and relaxation and school prep Sunday. In short, we had a blast together, just us girls. 

Bohemian baby shower. Before the weekend kicked off, though, four other girlfriends and I hosted a baby shower for our sweet friend, who is expecting twin daughters. We loved celebrating the addition of pink to her family and the double blessings who will be making their debut soon. <3 <3 

 

Fall sports. Whelp, along with the start of school comes Fall sports! In addition to golf, Banks is also playing tackle football this year, and it is no joke! He now has practices four days a week :0 , but he is SO excited. He's been waiting years for this day to arrive. Harrison will also be taking the football field in his first season of flag football, which gets underway next week. 

Meanwhile, Raleigh has opted back into gymnastics, which starts in a few weeks, and Bella had her FIRST EVER DANCE CLASS earlier this week!!! She is in a combo tap/ballet class, and ohmydearLord. I can hardly handle the cuteness. 

Back-to-school. Oh yeah, I guess I should share our back-to-school photos to kick off the school year, huh? I am so, so, so proud of how well my kiddos did bright and early Monday morning, especially my sweet kindergartener. To my surprise, Harrison did not have one ounce of anxiety. I thought for sure he'd be nervous, but he was so excited to walk into his new school. And then, as we were walking him to his class, his big brother put his arm around him and I just about lost it. These boys and their bond are something else. <3

Changes for Bels. Over the last six months, Bella was placed on a VERY strict diet per her holistic doctor, based on some elevations we saw in blood, urine, and stool samples. Basically, we needed to clean out her gut and reduce the impact of certain food sensitivities. For those who have ever done the Whole 30, imagine doing that, as a 3-year-old, for six months straight, but even in a more restrictive form: no dairy, no gluten, no soyt, no refined sugar, no corn products, no legumes...you get the point. God bless my baby girl. She took it in stride like only she can, but if I'm being honest, it was really, really hard and really, really stressful...for me. :/ But, she did it and we were very compliant with the doctor's requests. Well, six months has passed and she was just given the all-clear to add just about everything back into her diet, save any dairy products. And while I still hope to keep her on a cleaner diet with reduced gluten and sugar, it has certainly been easier to plan meals over the last week. :) Bella has some new supplements, and we are experimenting with a trial of some holistic therapies; so, we would appreciate all prayers for health and progress for our girl. Thank you in advance. 

In other news, I went to book club last week and came home to my baby girl in a big girl bed! Daddy FOR THE WIN! She is loving being in her big girl bed and has done a super job with it (aside from that one morning she got up and decided to dump the cat's food allllllll over the bathroom). Other than that, all good. ;) 

And that's it for now, y'all! Raleigh and I are headed to the mountains of North Carolina for the weekend, and we cannot WAIT! We've been waiting for this weekend to arrive for a year now, and the time has come for some great girl fun! Y'all have an awesome weekend, and I'll be back next week. :)