A Speedway Christmas

We had the first of our Christmas activities this past Saturday. As has been our tradition for the last few years, Megan and I planned a day of Christmas fun for the cousin crew and for Grammy and Grandpa. Instead of exchanging gifts, we decided we prefer this type of 'experience' rather than presents. Our past activities have included: Disney on Ice (2021), Polar Express at the NC Transportation Museum (2022), and Winter Wonderlights at the Greensboro Science Center (2023). For this year, we went to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for their drive-thru Christmas light show. Beforehand, we had dinner at a delicious barbeque place called Jim 'n Nicks. We got in line at the speedway around 5:30PM, and we had no wait at all. We made our way around the track, through the pit row, and even on parts of the pedestrian concourse. It was a neat experience. Halfway through, there was a Christmas village set up in the infield of the track, with sweet treats, more light displays, and Santa Claus himself. Emmy and Eli weren't shy this year in telling Santa what they wanted: a race track for Eli and an Easy Bake Oven for Emmy. If we weren't in the Christmas spirit already, we certainly were after Saturday. 

Boomer claims that I decorate for Christmas earlier and earlier each year. He's probably not wrong... because this year I decorated about two weeks ago on November 9th. On that Saturday, I seized a small pocket of free time in between birthday parties and basketball evaluations. I had the best little assistant to help me; Emmy was eager to string the lights and hang the ornaments. We have been enjoying the Christmas lights each evening. 

Here are a few other photos from the last two weeks. Now that both kiddos are a year older, we measured their heights. What a visual reminder of how big they are getting! Aunt Megan, Emmy, and Maddox all matched on the Spread Kindness Spirit Day at their school. When we went to the Science Center last Saturday, they had decorations up for their Winter Wonderlights, and the kids posed in front of the oversized polar bear. Last Sunday wrapped up the last night of Awana until the new year. It was pajama night, and afterwards we went out for ice cream. The kids love squeezing into the tiny picnic table at Zack's Treats. On the night of Eli's birthday, both kids were not wanting to get ready for bed, and it was a fight on who would go shower first. Somehow it turned into them taking a bath TOGETHER. Boomer and I told them that now that they were 8 and 5, they were probably too old to be bathing together, but for one more time, we let them do it. Another bonding experience was a few nights later when Emmy and Eli rushed to finish his Tom the Turkey. After picking Eli up from school and seeing the other turkeys already displayed, I remembered that his Tom the Turkey was due the next day, and we had not disguised him yet. At 8PM, we were frantically gluing Fruit Loops to turn Tom into a bowl of cereal. I have to say, for a last minute effort, I think it turned out pretty good. Even though the Christmas spirit is in the air, we certainly will not overlook Thanksgiving; we are eagerly looking forward to the delicious food and the time with family. Boomer especially is excited about Thanksgiving - it is his favorite holiday. He was all festive at work this week when he was serving Thanksgiving lunch at one of the local elementary schools.