April Happenings

April brought as a variety of highlights! After our fun spring break traveling, we were back to regular life. 

I went out to lunch with Jenny, my first friend in North Carolina. We try to get together at least 2-3 times a year with her and our mutual friend, Dona. 

I also got together for lunch with Natalia! Always a delight to catch up with her as she is full of fun stories from her life. 

Mark got to hit with a Ukrainian pro tennis player--Kateryna Bondarenko! They are living in North Carolina and so we got to meet her and her husband/coach and her daughters. Mark had a great time playing with her! She is tough! She and her sister won Australian Open doubles in 2008!

And that’s Mark and I, before a tournament match. I still warm him up sometimes...just can’t return his serves... 

Oh yes, it’s not so bad at all because Mark actually won the whole L5 tournament in singles and in doubles! It’s sort of a tradition to play this tournament as the last L5 before switching to playing in the higher age group. 

Alex received his graduation tussle for the Speech and Debate accomplishments. 

This kid is ready to graduate! 

Oh, and Emily Warner and her son Grayson came to visit us all the way from San Diego! It was glorious!!! 

We had such a fun time together and I loved just chatting with her! 

We had to take them to a fancy funnel cake place in Durham, of course:). I know they have funnel cakes in other states...I know. We also took them to a BBQ place but I don’t have pictures. 

And we also went on a field trip to Seagrove, NC which is known as the pottery capital of the world. Emily absolutely loves making pottery and everything relating to pottery. I learned a lot myself! 

Oh yes, and we took her to an Asian restaurant that has a cotton candy machine!!! It was pretty fun to watch the machine make cotton candy for you with a design you pick!!! Reminded us about our Japan times.

Lesson learned--I need to take more pictures that are not related to sports:). We literally anchor our plans with tournaments and regattas. But such is the season of life right now...

Lyana.

Rowing Spring Season 2023 High Point and Dogwood Regattas

This year TRC had a fantastic rowing season! 

It started with High Point Regatta, the race around the duck. 

Alex’s boat got 1st place in this State Championships! 

These kids work so hard, every single day of training. Alex never complains though, he enjoys the challenge.

I am grateful for our volunteer team parents who take these fabulous pictures with quality cameras! 

And Alex loves wearing his fancy sunglasses-hahaha. 

Coming in to the Dogwood regatta in Tennessee, the team knew that the competition is stiff as they had to compete against a larger variety of teams coming from different states. 

Here are some fun pictures during their practice. 

Solidifying plans for the race the following morning. 

Finally, all systems a go! 

They had to do really well to get through the first round to make it to the finals. 

And they did! 

These boys got 5th overall which was quite an accomplishment! 

What a race....

Being part of a team is priceless. It is incredible how much Alex’s rowing journey taught him about life and relationships, friendships, trust and strength. 

We made every effort this spring to make sure that Alex doesn’t miss regattas--trying to fit them in between our spring break plans and his speech and debate commitments. Overall, he managed to be present where it mattered most! Congrats, TRC! 

Lyana. 

It's a rower! It's a model! It's Alex!

 The fun part that comes with senior year is having senior pictures taken.

 Melissa Romans was Alex's photographer for an hour long photo session. 

They decided to get the pictures taken at Lake Wheeler, near where Alex's crew trains. 

Although Alex was thinking maybe he could pick up and carry a boat while wearing a nice outfit, just for the picture, he changed his mind after all. 

But he did admire the boats all neatly organized.

Melissa did a great job helping Alex feel relaxed. 

He did try to portray his serious personality too. 

But most of the time he had a hard time keeping the smile off his face. 

And he has a very handsome smile! 

Eyes on the horizon, reaching as far as one can see! Definitely pass Lake Wheeler.

And then Melissa started to feed him some jokes, of course. 

The way Alex wants to be perceived by his competition. 

He was very proud to show off his socks. 

Future leader of this world. 

Oh, but there is more! Change of the outfit! 

And a no-glasses look just for a variety. 

He looks so much like his like my dad, Volodymyr Klymyuk, it's quite incredible. 

Probably Alex's favorite picture. 

Well, we love this one too! 

Well, hello there, Alex!!! 😁

"I found and oar!"

Model mode activated. 

These belong on a magazine cover. 

Back to the oars... 

One might think oars are quite boring, but Alex would disagree. "So much you can do with them!"

Did you know that this is how tall those oars are??? Alex is over 6' 2''! 

He loved this picture as well. 

He was not a fan of the graduation gown and cap pictures, so we will include just this one picture to proof that he did indeed have these pictures taken in preparation for graduation. 

And this is where Alex is headed!!! It dawned on me that we never made it official on our blog that Alex chose to go to BYU in Utah!!! He found out in mid February that he got accepted and that he was awarded a half tuition scholarship! He is super excited...although he had to turn down UNC-Chapel Hill acceptance (which is a HUGE achievement by all measures). 

Ready to represent himself in this world of adults! 

Yes, Alex, you never know when one might need an oar. Bring it along. 

This photo session looks like so much fun! All these pictures help show so many of Alex's personas and things that he likes. These will definitely be so fun to look back at!