A Winter Pause

Well as predicted, we got a second round of winter weather, and this time it was a surprising 8" of white, fluffy snow! It was quite different than the ice from last week, and it is the most snow Eli and Emmy have ever seen. The flakes started falling early Saturday morning, and they continued coming down for over 12 hours. It was a beautiful scene to watch from the window, and that is exactly what we did on Saturday. It felt like living inside of a snow globe. On Sunday, when the precipitation stopped, we bundled up to play outside. With temperatures still below freezing, we were sure to have on lots of layers. The kids enjoyed making snow angels, throwing snow balls, and going on a walk to the neighborhood park. Sunday church was of course cancelled and so has school this week. When the kids have not been playing outside, we have continued with our remote learning, played the Wii, and baked up some cozy treats. Emmy has been an eager helper any time I am in the kitchen. We have also used some of the time at home to get a jump start on our valentines. Eli chose a class set of race cars, while Emmy wanted to make her own this year. I'm glad we had the snow days to work on them. These last two weeks have brought a welcome pause from the busyness of life. As we begin to add back school, games, practices, and other evening and weekend events, I know I will look back on these days and cherish them for the slowness and togetherness they brought. 

Iced In

Last weekend started with a full schedule of events...and then ended with being snowed in at home. On Friday, the kids and I went to the Snow Ball Dance at their elementary school. Emmy hung out with her girl gang, while Eli, hesitant at first, found several other boys from his class to play tag with. I kept my head on a swivel as I tracked both of them around the dance floor. On Saturday, Eli played in his basketball game that morning, but because of an approaching winter storm, the afternoon games were cancelled, including Emmy's game which was supposed to be at 2PM. The sleet and rain didn't in fact start until much later in the evening, so we continued with our plans of going to the Claytons' for Barrett's 7th birthday party. Eli and Barrett played on the same baseball team in the fall, and we have become close friends with their family since then. Barrett's party had a reptile theme, and a reptile expert brought several cold-blooded animals for the kids to view and hold. Eli wasn't interested in the 'holding' part, but Emmy held the snake and alligator! As we were leaving from the party around 7PM, the precipitation began, and we made it home safely to hunker down for whatever was to come. Church services were cancelled on Sunday, and when we woke up that morning, there was an inch of hard snow covering the ground and surfaces. The kids spent some time outside with the neighborhood kids, but with temperatures in the teens, it was too cold to stay out long. We warmed up with hot chocolate, muffins, and taco soup, while playing the Wii and watching football. With road conditions too dangerous for travel, we have been out of school every day this week, and the days have continued in a loop, more or less: some outside time, some Wii, meals around the kitchen table, and a movie each night. Wednesday was the first Remote Learning Day, so the kids had schoolwork to complete. The same on Thursday and Friday. Boomer went to work on those three days, so I did my best to oversee schoolwork while completing some work of my own. We all survived, mostly with smiles, when Daddy got home in the evenings. The meteorologists are currently calling for another winter storm, which is on its way overnight and in the morning. We'll see if we get a second round of snow or ice this weekend - we may be home for several more days! 

P.S. Although my car isn't getting many miles this week as it stays parked in the driveway, I did get this sticker in the mail from Toyota in recognition of 300,000 miles! What a good car it has been!

Basketball Saturdays

We have two weeks of school under our belt now, and we are back in the routine after the wonderful pause of Christmas break. On the night before school started back, Eli lost his second tooth, so that next morning, as we were getting ourselves ready and out the door, we had the excitement of another Tooth Fairy scavenger hunt. I'm sometimes surprised how much we fit into the hour between 6AM and 7AM! All in all, Emmy and Eli have adjusted back to the early mornings with relative ease, and the selfies with Aunt Megan at lunch have resumed once again. 

In other news, the Upwards basketball season is officially underway. The first game was on Saturday, the 11th, and Eli's team had the very first game of the day at 8:30AM, with Emmy's team playing the very last game of the day at 2PM. All of our Saturdays will pretty much follow this same schedule until the end of February. It's an unlucky draw with such a big gap of time in between. We were pretty spoiled in the past with both kids' games being closer together and before lunchtime. But we are making it work. Boomer has come out of referee retirement and has been volunteering in that gap of time by officiating a few of the other games (not our own kids' of course!) Just before that first game, we had to dig out his referee jersey and dust off his whistle. I'm amazed by how he plays the role of parent, coach, and referee so effortlessly! Now with two weeks completed, Eli's Kangaroos are 1-1. They have played well, with a bit of comical relief and confusion mixed in. He has scored several baskets and has showed his usual joy and enthusiasm for anything sports related. Emmy's team, the Sun, had tough luck with three of their players missing the first game. The remaining five players had to play the whole time, matching up with an opposing team that had the full squad of 9. The Sun played hard and were pretty red-faced after each period. The girls hustled the whole time and showed a lot of heart, especially our Emmy. The game ended in a tie 18-18. In the game yesterday, the Sun won 38-18, and their current record is 1-0-1. If you're looking for the Kennedys on any of the upcoming Saturdays, you'll find us in the TBC gym! And we are loving it!

A few other things for the month so far, we celebrated Sarah's 40th birthday; Awana resumed on Sunday evenings; and we went to a trampoline party for Emmy's teammate and friend Austin. January has been a fun month so far!

A Water Park & a Football Game

The new year is off to an exciting start! We have packed a lot of fun into the first three days of 2026. We rang in the new year once again at the Houstons' with the Williamses and the Whites. I've lost count how many years we have had this tradition of celebrating the new year together. As in years passed, Zack made his low country boil, and we all chowed down on the delicious food. Zander organized a ping pong tournament, complete with a bracket for the kids and the adults. There were only a few tears from the youngest Kennedy, when he was beaten by his big sister. Around 8:30PM, we counted down to the new year using a Youtube clip from Sydney, Australia, and we all toasted to 2026. Happy New Year!

On New Year's Day, we hit the road around 11AM heading toward Concord and Great Wolf Lodge. We stopped along the way at Waffle House in Salisbury. Given that it was a holiday, several restaurants were closed, but thank goodness for the Waffle House; we can always count on them to be open. We arrived at Great Wolf Lodge a little after 1PM, and to our surprise, our room was already ready. We got our wolf ears and our bracelets and headed to the room to change into our bathing suits. With our one-night stay, we were able to use the water park on the day we checked in and on the day we checked out, and between the two days, we spent about 10 hours total going down all the slides, splashing in the wave pool, standing below the big bucket in Fort Mackenzie, and playing basketball in Chinook Cove. We did it all! The kids were the perfect age for enjoying all the rides and thrills. A crowd favorite was River Canyon Run, which we could all ride together in one big tube. Daddy's favorite ride was the Mountain Edge Raceway, which you rode down on your belly on individual mats. The most exciting ride was the Howlin' Tornado, and both days, the kiddos got their bravery up to the do ride one time. It's similar to River Canyon Run with a single tube for four people, but it has a big drop into a spinning drain. We all had to catch our breath after that one. Around 7:30PM on the first day, we headed to the room for showers and pjs, and then we went down to the Main Lobby for storytime and the dance party. When we got back to the room around 9PM, it didn't take long until we were all asleep. After more time in the water park on Friday, we left Great Wolf Lodge around 3PM. We stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at Talkin' Tacos and then checked in to our hotel in downtown Charlotte. Even though the kids were excited for another hotel, we enforced a little bit of rest time before setting out into the city around 7PM. Our hotel was within walking distance of Bank of America Stadium, and we met up with our friends Matt and Virginia Olson just outside the gates. Kickoff was at 8PM, and our group of six was excited to cheer on the Deacs as they took on Mississippi State in the Duke's Mayo Bowl. We watched the 1st Quarter from our seats, which just so happened to be in a MSU section! In the 2nd Quarter, we moved to a section with black and gold and watched the rest of the game there. It was an exciting game, and Wake led for most of it. In the last few minutes, MSU came within 3 points, and we thought for sure we were in for heartbreak. But luckily, Wake held strong and pulled off a 43-29 victory. Go Deacs! We arrived back at our hotel around midnight, with two very tired kiddos and two tired adults too. From a water park to a football game - what a full day! We came back to Kernersville today and have been enjoying the time at home. With school starting back again on Monday, we are preparing for the return to routine and schedules. We are sad to see the Christmas break end, but we have loved 2026 already!