Thursday was our monthly Ladies Luncheon Out with ladies from church, and this month we ate at 321 Crossroads. Mallory and Clara said they had eaten there several times with Emmy & Pawpaw, but I had never been. I opted for the Special of the Day – the Miss Piggy Pizza :-). It was pulled pork with roasted peaches & some kinds of cheese I had never had, and it was delicious.

That evening June had invited me to go to Food Truck Thursday with her in town – one of her very good friends was working in one of the food trucks. There was a good turnout, and June saw the dance teacher she had when she was in 9th grade and took dancing at school. They had a fun reconnecting time, and we saw other friends to chat with, too. Good times.

Yesterday when I got to their house to pick Clara up to take her to school – the rest of the family was off moving Mallory into her dorm at USC – she was dressed in their new once-a-month ROTC attire. She said she doesn’t really like it, but I thought it looked pretty sharp.

Then that afternoon my friend Evie and I went to the Cinemark in Charlotte to see the movie, The Hiding Place. It was a film of a play, and was so, so good. I can remember when that book came out, but cannot remember ever reading it. I will definitely be remedying that soon. The theater is one where they have a grill. We ordered our lunch and got a buzzer, and when it went off we went to the door to pick up our tray of food. It was very cool, and now Clara can’t wait to go check out the Cinemark Bistro 🙂

Yesterday we were at the golf course in Tega Cay, in the brutal heat, to watch Clara play in her first match of her sophomore year. I got this picture of this absolutely bizarre hole on that course. I’m always afraid one of the girls is going to start rolling down that hill when they are walking down with their clubs, but so far it hasn’t happened. Yesterday, though, it was so hot the coaches let the girls be carted, which was a huge help. It’s not very clear, so you may not be able to pick them out, but you can barely see the girls’ heads at this end of the fairway, at the bottom of the hill.

Mallory leaves for Columbia Wednesday, so she was here for one of Clara’s match – the first school match she’s ever been able to watch, since they have been playing together all of Clara’s high school career. I got this picture of them afterwards.

Clover has been having concerts in the park this summer, and for the first time Friday night Jeff & I got over there. We saw the band Diamonds and Whiskey, and they were really good. Jeff had heard one of the vocalists as a solo act a couple of times before, but this was the first time with this band. They played a good variety of music, including some original songs that I really liked, and it was perfect for a family time in the park. Here are a couple of pictures.

He still has to add the ramp and the loft inside, but the shed is fully painted. I think Jeff did a great job.

Thursday I met Sherri in Pineville & we went on to Mint Hill to see Diane and the kids for the morning. It was such a fun day, & I had such a good time visiting that I forgot to take many pictures at all. I did get this one of precious Callie and Mia working on a puzzle.

Then that evening, after I came home & took a nap, I went & picked Adam up for our end-of-summer get together – at Hickory Tavern (his choice.) It was so much fun just having some one-on-one time to catch up before all the craziness of the fall schedule kicks in. I cannot believe this baby is going to high school this year.

Clover Schools started back for the new year on Tuesday, and we got a surprise visit from Clara that afternoon, when she had to stop by here to change on her way to golf practice. She was loving school after one day 🙂

The rose garden was not at its prime when we were there, as one of the employees there had told us, but they did have some beautiful hydrangeas going around the sides of the garden.

We had been looking for the shaggy dog most of the day, and we finally found someone to show it to us before we headed back to the car. Just a great day.

After we visited the Trolls and that end of the garden, we spent some time in the other areas. This is part of the Japanese Garden. So lovely and peaceful.

We also loved the Rainforest Room, but it was not what we expected. It was filled with high elevation rainforest plants, so it was very cool in there (which was nice, I have to admit 🙂 ). So many interesting plants I had never seen before.

Also loved the Orangery, filled not just with citrus plants, but all kinds of spices. I’d never seen anything quite like that.