Happy Halloween!

As we turn the calendar to November, we closed out October with the celebration of Maddox's birthday, a trip to the pumpkin patch, and of course, Halloween. Lots of candy and sweets have been consumed!

End of Fall Ball

The fall sports season has come to an end. The Ignite girls wrapped up their fourth and final tournament in King on October 24th at the Top Gun Halloween Havoc. We have found that the 10U field is large, and each tournament this fall has had a double-digit number of teams. This one was no different with 19 total teams. The girls played hard all day in close match-ups, losing 3-6 and 3-4 in pool play. They did win their first bracket game with a score of 5-4, but then lost in the semi-final game 2-5. Despite a losing record, the girls have so much to be proud of. This small team of 4th Graders battled against much bigger and more experienced players all season. Emmy played her heart out at 1st Base, and she led the team in hits and on-base percentage. There's a chance that Emmy may play one more tournament in November with our friends at the Cardinals, but we are very proud of how she has handled her first travel season in the player-pitch divison. On the Saturday of Emmy's last tournament, Eli also had a tournament, so like many other weekends this fall, we divided up and I added a second gate band to my wrist for the day. Eli's team played well, going 3-0 in a MLB-themed Saturday Night Lights. The prize rings had MLB Hall-of-Famers, of which Eli traded for Shohei Ohtani. A few days later, Eli's team had a Halloween-themed practice with costumes, pizza, and trick-or-treating, and then in their final tournament, a Friday Night Lights, on October 30th they outscored their opponents 55-5. It has been so fun watching these little ball players put on a strong performance every time they take the field. The fall travel season for both kids has been lots of fun!

The kids' Little League seasons have also come to an end. In one game at Walnut Cove, Emmy took a turn at catcher, which of course had to be documented in photos. No doubt she is most comfortable at 1st Base, but she suited up and did a great job blocking and framing the ball. At the final game for both of the kids' teams, they played in their costumes, since it was Halloween. Boomer borrowed a silly hot dog costume, which got a lot of laughs from everyone. He gave each girl a softball zipper pouch, with other softball goodies inside and a personalized note. One hard part of the season has been the passing of Smith's dad and Boomer's assistant coach, Neal. The girls wore sunflowers on their helmets in memory of him. While it has been a winning season, it has certainly been marked by an incredible loss, and we miss Coach Neal. 

My slightly over-the-top husband kept track of the kids' stats from this year, and all together they played an impressive total of 158 games in 2026. As busy as the weeks were and as tired as my body feels, I wouldn't trade a single late night, packed weekend, or dinner in the car. We are looking forward to a break for the winter, but I know we will be itching to get back out there in the spring. 

A Maine Wedding

Fall is here! The temperature has dropped; the leaves have changed; and the days are shorter. This past weekend, Megan and I traveled to Maine for our cousin Kaitlyn's wedding, and the beauty of fall was on full display. It was the first time either of us had been to Maine, and we enjoyed as much of the state as we could while there. We took two days off work and began our travels on Thursday, the 15th. We had a smooth flight out of Greensboro, with a short layover in Philadephia, before arriving in Bangor around 5PM. Our Aunt Glenda picked us up at the airport, and after a quick outfit change, we dashed over to the town of Castine, where we joined the rest of the family for dinner at the charming Pentagoet Inn. Our cousin Casey is good friends with the owners of the Inn, and they treated us to a private room with a delicious dinner and drinks. I had the shrimp over polenta. It was so special to be reunited with our family. With the twelve of us from four different states, we were all together for the first time in many years. 

On Friday, we left the AirBnB in Stockton Springs around 8AM and had a caravan of four vehicles for the journey to Acadia National Park. It took about an hour to drive to the park, and we walked around near Thundering Hole and then got popovers and blueberry soda (two Maine specialities) at the Jordan Lake restaurant. After leaving Acadia, we stopped in Bar Harbor. We had lobster rolls, clam chowder, and lobster bisque from Stewmans, right on the waterfront. Meg and I even got to hold a live lobster! We walked around the quaint coastal town for a little bit after lunch. Even though there was a steady drizzle of rain and a chilly wind, everyone was in good spirits, but also ready to be indoors. We changed our clothes and went to the Belvedere for the rehearsal dinner that evening. Casey and Ryan's beautiful home, the Belvedere, was the venue for the weekend, and it was a stunning location that showcased all the things you would imagine in Maine. From the top lookout, which is the architectual design called a "belvedere' and hence inspired the name, you can see the water where the ship captain's wife Mary Staple would watch for her husband to return home in the mid-to-late 1800s. The rehearsal dinner was in the Belvedere's BARn. I wasn't a fan of the oysters, but I tried them anyways. When in Maine!

On Saturday, Meg and I were on hand to assist with the wedding prep. We helped with table set-up in the tent and any other tasks that were needed. My cousin Kaitlyn and her groom Ian chose a camp theme, a nod to Kaitlyn's job as a park ranger and to both of their love of the outdoors. There were a lot of special touches that Kaitlyn designed herself. The ceremony began at 5PM, and I was given the job of recording on a handheld camcorder that Kaitlyn had purchased. No pressure! Hopefully I got some good footage. I filmed the ceremony, the cocktail hour, the reception, and the after-party in the BARn. It was a beautiful wedding, and I'm so glad that Megan and I could be there together. The sister time was extra special. 

While the moms were away, life carried on in Kernersville with the dads and grandparents shuttling kids to all their various events and sports. For the Kennedy kids, over the four day span of my absence, there were 6 ball games, student council campaigning, a fall festival, and a chicken stew. It looks like they had a fun time and managed to carry on without me :)