Category Archives: Summer

4 Years

Lucy’s spring was jam-packed, as she took her first trip to Great Wolf Lodge near Charlotte with her friend Sam. She spent Mother’s Day picking strawberries (a Flinn family tradition).

A school year’s worth of Thursday night dance lessons culminated in her class’ recital at Rolesville High School. Her class danced one ballet number and one tap number and both were received with great applause. Lucy’s school classmate and neighbor Elizabeth came to show her support.

Just in time for summer Lucy got her first big girl haircut, getting several inches cut off. In lieu of visiting Chautauqua for the Fourth of July, Lucy spent the holiday with friends and family in Maryland swimming, celebrating, and making s’mores. In between trips we visited the sunflower fields and Dix Park. Her next trip came later in July during her first visit to Ocean Isle Beach, about three hours from home. Proximity to the beach was a big plus for Lucy, but her hands-down favorite part of the week was the golf cart that we used!

At the beach and at the Wendell Falls pool Lucy put into practice the swimming skills that she’s been learning at the lessons she takes every Sunday. By the end of the summer she was confident in jumping into the deep end of the pool, swimming out to touch the lane divider, and coming back to the wall.

Early August brought Lucy’s first day of school in the Dragonflies class at Central Baptist. She also began playing Tiny Basketball twice a week with friends and classmates at the Wendell Community Center and taking weekly gymnastics classes at Knightdale Gymnastics.

In the fall Lucy supported her dad playing music locally in Wendell, visited Hillridge Farms to buy “Choo-Choo” the pumpkin, and successfully made her first trip to the dentist. With October came the Flinns’ yearly trip to the mountains, this time to Blowing Rock and the famed Tweetsie Railroad. Lucy loved the steam-driven train ride, but her favorite part was the “Tweetsie Twister.”

As Lucy’s fourth birthday neared, she decided on a Star Wars-Frozen “mashup” theme for her party, with Elsa and Yoda on hand to delight her friends and family with stories, sing-a-longs, and face-painting. In lieu of gifts she collected food bank donations, collecting enough food for 65 meals! She also had a smaller party on her actual birthday at Wine and Beer 101 in downtown Wendell, this time with her best friends.

3 Years

Lucy had a very busy and exciting summer, as she moved into her new house in Wendell Falls. (Her one request was pink walls for her room.)Our annual Mother’s Day tradition continued with strawberry picking at Vollmer Farm, and Lucy again visited Coach and Grandma on Lake Chautauqua for the Fourth of July. She even got to ride a miniature horse!

Lucy spent the month of July with her daddy, and they spent lots of time at the community pool and the Wendell public library. She loves Wendell Falls’ community cafe and its specialty, grilled cheese and potato chips. At the end of July she got to spend a couple days at Wrightsville Beach before her first day at her new preschool, Central Baptist, in Wendell.

In August Lucy watched the eclipse at the Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh and began taking two classes every Thursday–soccer at school and ballet/tap at Heather’s Dance in Knightdale. Unsurprisingly, she loves both!

September saw Lucy spending time with Mimi while her parents went to Charleston for a long weekend, and in October the whole family went to Mt. Airy in western North Carolina for mommy’s birthday weekend. As her third birthday neared, Lucy returned to Vollmer Farm’s pumpkin patch to play in the corn and catch an outdoor screening of The Lion King.

Two Years

As Lucy’s two-year birthday neared, she had plenty of opportunities to practice the “Happy Birthday” song at school and for her Mommy’s birthday. (Other songs in Lucy’s growing repertoire are the ABCs, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” and “Rock-a-Bye Baby.”)Since she began going to Harps Mill Creative School in August, Lucy’s been picking out her own clothes (sometimes) and counting the stairs as she goes up and down, often going all the way to 15!Lucy’s other “firsts” included her first bus ride, her first time in a movie theater, her first time at the zoo, and her first fall festival at school. She also had a few notable “seconds” as well—she went to her second Durham Bulls game, visited her new favorite hangout Jumpin’ Jojo’s for the second time, and saw her Daddy play music at Ravenscroft’s annual Fall Festival.Taking a bus ride to the Destination Dix Festival.Seeing Minions in the movie theater.Checking out the animals at the zoo.Fall Festival at school.Watching a Durham Bulls game over Labor Day weekend.Jumping at Jumpin’ Jojo’s.Watching Daddy perform at Ravenscroft.

As fall progressed she spent a weekend with her Mimi and Pop-Pop and enjoyed her new activity tower (thanks Grandma and Coach!), which she uses to help her parents cook and color.

Bald Head Island 2016

Lucy spent the first week of August with her parents and grandparents on Bald Head Island, off the coast of North Carolina.She spent the week shuttling back-and-forth from the beach to the pool, and loved both–she built lots of “cakes” (sandcastles) and spent time in “the raining” (splash pad).

She saw her first live alligator, flew her first kite, and even drove a golf cart (although it wasn’t moving at the time).

21 Months

As Lucy inches closer to her second birthday, she’s growing up (and more independent) right in front of our eyes. She’s always on the move–running, jumping, and climbing–and when we can get her to sit still for a few minutes at a time, she enjoys reading books (the “If You Give…” series is a big hit) and watching TV (she loves a Nickelodeon show called Bubble Guppies and a PBS program called Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood).

Lucy has become quite the little parrot, repeating just about everything anyone around her says, so we have to be extra careful. On the plus side, she’s learning her numbers and can sometimes count to ten on her own. She got her own frequent-flyer account this summer as she flew back-and-forth to California and New York (a total of eight flights in two weeks), and enjoyed her time on planes, making sure everyone knew that they go “up, up, up!”

Her favorite foods are pizza, avocado, and strawberries, and she loves her unicorn backpack, tea parties, and coloring. We often find her singing and dancing, and she’s a non-stop bundle of energy.

Hanging out at the park.Goofing off with Coach and Grandma.Water table fun with Sam.First trip to the trampoline park. Tea (and milk time) with Bear.You can never have too much avocado.Lucy attempting to help organize her closet.Lucy’s 1st rainbow.Our annual Mother’s Day trip to Vollmer Farm to go strawberry picking.Lucy & Daddy at Friday Night on White in Wake Forest.First trip to Jumpin’ Jojo’s. Fun times at the Got To Be NC Festival. Big girl backpack.
Lucy & ReidVisiting Ravenscroft and Daddy’s advisory group.Hanging out with Mommy and Mimi.Water play with James.Sylvie & LucyFirst time bowling.Enjoying Jet’s Pizza.Celebrating Avery’s baptism.

4th

Lucy spent her second Fourth of July at her grandparents’ house on Lake Chautauqua in western New York with her extended family.She was fortunate enough to get a front-row seat for the parade in Mayville, and was the guest of honor (and pulled by her aunt Christine) in the parade around Shorelands.Lucy enjoyed the fireworks (which she called “boom boom boom”) over the lake and got to play with the Delsandro kids in grandma and coach’s backyard.She also enjoyed a trip to Midway State Park where so rode the train and carousel. Later in the day she took a ride on coach’s sailboat. On her last night in New York, Lucy ate at Guppy’s, a Flinn family favorite. She’s already stockpiling patriotic outfits for next year!

LA Trip

Lucy flew across the country at the end of June to visit all her new friends in Los Angeles.

She stayed at Uncle Mitch’s house where she read lots of books and swam every day in what is now officially “Lucy’s Pool.”

She hung out in Santa Monica with Vanessa at her candy store A Real Treat Candy Boutique and dipped her toes in the Pacific Ocean (which was a little cold for her East Coast sensibilities). She preferred playing in the sand and on the playground.

Lucy finally met Rosie Shafran and Cary Pedante and had a lot of fun in Cary’s backyard. She especially loved the Pedantes’ hammock!

She also met Gia and Rocco Donatelli, and was only a little intimidated by her showbiz-famous friends.

Eleven Months

At 11 months, Lucy’s defining traits are her curiosity and her related inability to sit still (even for an 11-month picture). She’s always getting into something, be it a bowl of puffed-rice snacks or the bathtub.

She enjoys going on outings, and this month she made her first trips to Cary’s Koka Booth amphitheater and Durham for a Bulls game (she made it through five full innings, but the cheers for home runs were a little loud for her little ears).

Lucy also enjoys the numerous parks in north Raleigh–especially the swings–and even met her friend James for a Wednesday playdate.

While at home, she’s fascinated by the washing machine but she’s not a big fan of shoes… when we can even get them on her feet, they don’t stay on for very long. She’s standing up all the time with assistance, and it won’t be long before she’s walking!

Ten Months

As Lucy’s tenth month rolled around, she took a return trip to Wrightsville Beach, and this time it was a little warmer and she could play in the surf (and sand).

The end of July saw visits from lots of new people, as Lucy was introduced to a number of her parents’ friends.

She enjoys shopping, and has made her first forays to Barnes & Noble and Target (where she’s now big enough to ride in the cart!).

Now that Daddy is back to school Lucy spends her days sharing a nanny with her good friend Sam.

While her favorite storytime at the public library is on hiatus for the month, she still gets her daily allowance of bubbles, which she loves.

Nine Months

Lucy’s list of “firsts” continued to grow as she reached her nine-month birthday: first time on a swing, first time visiting Maryland, first time riding in a golf cart, and first time dressing up as a cow for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich for her daddy.

Lucy met her great grandma Arlene and much of the Perkins clan in June, and celebrated her daddy’s first Father’s Day (which was also on Pop-Pop’s birthday).

Lucy also attended the Marbles children’s museum for the first time (she loved it) and enjoys her time spent in the pool, trying to beat the North Carolina summer heat. At her nine-month checkup she weighed 18 pounds 14 ounces and measured 26 inches tall. She’s growing and crawling nonstop!