Yuletide in Yadkinville

The first Saturday in December is proving to be one of our favorite traditions of the holiday season. Last year I named the post "Yuletide in Yadkin County," since Boomer and I joked it would be a good title for a picture-perfect Hallmark movie, and it turns out that the town of Yadkinville actually uses that name - "Yuletide in Yadkinville!" Like last year, we began the morning around 8:30AM at the United Methodist Church for the Rotary Pancake Breakfast. The kids met Santa, along with the Grinch, Cindy Lou Who, and Max. When Santa asked what the kids wanted for Christmas, Emmy was still undecided, but the top item right now is a microphone for karaoke. Eli asked for a drone, to which Santa asked if a remote-controlled helicopter would suffice, and Eli was very enthusiastic about that idea. After the breakfast, we walked to our spot along the parade route, which just so happens to be outside of Milk & Honey, where Mommy got a latte to sip on during the parade. The kids got a haul of candy from all of the floats, tractors, and fire trucks. It was enough to fill an entire grocery bag! The parade ended around 11AM, and then we went to the Shiloh General Store for lunch and some baked goods. We left Yadkin County around 1PM to return to Winston, where the fun continued with another Santa visit. We have been going to this Santa for many years, and he has experienced all the range of emotions from the Kennedy kids and their cousins. This year was the most successful year yet; there were great smiles from all four of them. Emmy and Eli gave the same answers as they did earlier in the day, so perhaps it is safe to go shopping now that the gifts are locked in. We stopped in at home briefly, and the kids surveyed their candy. Then we were off again for our final event of the day: the Huffs' annual Christmas party. There was a third Santa there, and I hope to have photos to share soon. What a day to kickoff the Christmas season! 

The days before and after our Hallmark Saturday were packed full of fun, too. On Thursday afternoon, the kids and I went over to the Bremers' house to make cookies. The kids made silly, colorful creations...and snuck a lot of toppings too. Then on Friday, we had a "un-snow" day. The meteorologists were pretty convincing in their prediction for snow, and so many of the districts cancelled school. Emmy made a list with her high hopes for the day. Unfortunately, when we woke up Friday morning, there was no white stuff in sight. Boomer still had a conference to attend (and present at!) in Greensboro, so the kids and I set off to spend a couple of hours at the Science Center. We enjoyed the indoor exhibits, where we were dry and warm. To finish off the weekend, after church today, we met Emmy's friend Natalie at the movies to see Zootopia 2. Eli tagged along and loved the reclining seats and popcorn. While we were at the movies, Boomer surprised the kids by putting lights on the front porch. They have been begging for lights, since practically all the other homes in our cul-de-sac have them, and so now it feels like we are really ready for the Christmas season. As I am writing this, they are calling for another snow system to hit our area in the morning - I suppose we will see if they are right this time!

Happy Thanksgiving 2025

Over the last five days, we have been able to see so much of our family, and it is a blessing to celebrate another Thanksgiving holiday together. For most of the break, we were on the road. We rented a car for our travels, and funny enough, it was a Chevy Malibu, just like my very first car. And pretty close to the same color too! We altered our usual plans of going straight to Woodstock and instead spent the first two days in Alexandria visiting Carlin, Matt, and baby Asher. The trip to Virginia took a little over 5 hours. Luckily both kids are enthusiastic travelers, and they stayed occupied in the backseat with coloring books, games, and some screen time. Emmy especially enjoyed looking for different states on license plates. We did have to make a quick pit stop on the side of US-29, when there wasn't a closer bathroom for a bladder that couldn't wait. We arrived in Alexandria and checked into our hotel around 4PM. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Alexandria Carlyle, which was a short walk to the Ellises' apartment, as well as to lots of restaurants and shopping. Once we joined up with the rest of the family, we headed to dinner at Atlas Brew Works. It happened to be Bingo night, and while we ate our pizza, the kids enjoyed playing two rounds of Bingo, even though they were not successful in winning. We returned to the apartment and had cake to celebrate the three birthdays: Emmy, Eli, and Carlin. It was around 8:30PM when we got back to the hotel for bedtime, and despite all the sugar in their system, the kids were quick to fall asleep (...and so were the adults!)

On Thanksgiving morning, we had breakfast down in the hotel lobby, while watching the Macy's Day Parade in the background. Then we headed to the Gaylord Resort & Convention Center, located in the National Harbor, where Carlin had purchased tickets for the annual Ice Village exhibit. I had packed our winter clothing specifically for the activity, and luckily they provided special parkas for an extra layer of warmth as we walked through the village, where the temperature was a frigid 9 degrees. Everything within sight was made of ice. Large and small sculptures, it was truly impressive. There was one section with an ice slide, and the kids enjoyed going down several times. I even went down once! We walked around the hotel afterwards, where there were Christmas displays and a gingerbread house. After leaving the hotel, we went back to the Ellises' apartment for the rest of the afternoon. We had tacos and wings for our Thanksgiving meal and watched football on into the evening. It was a fun Thanksgiving in Alexandria! 

On Friday morning, we took our time checking out of the hotel and made our way to Table Talk, a nearby diner that Carlin recommended. We ordered entirely way too much food: waffles, pancakes, biscuits & gravy, home fries, eggs, and bacon. It was enough of a meal to last us until the family dinner in Woodstock later that evening. The drive from Alexandria was a little under 2 hours, and we saw some flurries along the way. We gathered with the family at the Kennedy barn around 6PM. At some point, a headcount was taken, and we believe there were 52 people in attendance this year. After the meal, we took photos of each of the generations, starting with Boomer's parents and his siblings, then all the grandchildren, and finally the great-grandchildren. It sure was something to see how the group has grown over the years. 

We returned to Kernersville on Saturday and headed straight to the Houstons' for our final Thanksgiving meal. Zack once again deep-fried a turkey, along with some chicken wings, and Meg and Mom made the sides. Since we are always coming from the road, I get off easy with not having to bring anything...but I do try to contribute with the clean-up afterwards. We ate around 3PM and then watched football while enjoying dessert. 

We are closing out the month of November with hearts full of gratitude and thanksgiving. It was a wonderful break. This evening we have settled back in at home. We added the kids' new heights to our family ruler. They are very excited for the upcoming festivities for Christmas and have written back to the Deacon in hopes that he will visit again this year.