Hello, Summer!

Memorial Day Weekend was the perfect kick-off to the summer season! It has been four years since I have had the summer off, and I forgot the anticipation and excitement that comes with this weekend. With the extra day off on Monday and only a handful of school days left, it was easy to slip into that summer state of mind. 

After work on Friday, we packed up for the weekend and hit the road. Before going to the lake, we first went to my nieces' dance recital in Thomasville. Adelynn and Kessley danced in several different numbers, and all of the dancers were just so cute. There was even a 2 and under class, which had me thinking about Emmy and what she might me interested in doing. Sports, dance, band, chorus, piano. I hope that there will be something that she comes to love during her childhood and teenage years. It's been fun to watch my nieces and nephews get involved with different things, and I want that for Emmy, too. After the dance recital, we got to the lake pretty late, so it was straight to bed. Emmy fell asleep during the car ride there but luckily made an easy transition to her pack-n-play. We spent most of Saturday and Sunday outside, either on the porch, the dock, or on the boat. Emmy had fun riding on the boat and splashing in the baby pool. On the first boat ride, she wasn't too happy being restrained in the life jacket, but as soon as the boat took off, she loved looking around and feeling the wind on her face. In my rush on Friday afternoon, I forgot to pack Emmy's bathing suit! I remembered the swimmy diapers, regular diapers, overnight diapers, the butt paste, extra outfits, pajamas, rice cereal, sippy cup...but no bathing suit. Luckily she was able to borrow one of her cousins' - It sure came in handy having so many Kennedy girls in one house! With Trivett and the four girls, there were five kiddos under the age of 7. They all got along really well! Emmy and Ellison had their own jabbering conversations; Trivett was such a big help with retrieving things and keeping all the girls entertained; some kids took naps, some didn't. It was certainly a full house, but we all had so much fun. I'm kicking myself now for not getting a family picture. Hopefully we will all be together again over July 4th for a picture!

 

On Wednesday evening, Forbush had their Graduation, marking the end of Boomer's second year as Principal. Like last year, the ceremony was held at Wait Chapel on the Wake Forest University campus, and I was so proud watching him give his charge to the graduates. The ceremony was at 5PM, and it took careful coordination and help from Grammy and Grandpa for us to make it there on time. I was thankful for the extra laps and extra hands to keep Emmy entertained. Even though the ceremony was a fairly brief 1.5 hours, it was still a little long for Emmy. She and I spent most of the time outside or in the chapel lobby. Texting back and forth with my Dad, we were able to make it back inside for Boomer's speech and then headed back outside again. Emmy made friends with Lyla, the daughter of a FHS teacher, and we two moms supervised as our squirmy toddlers climbed and explored. After the ceremony ended, we snapped a few photos and ended the evening with dinner at Olive Garden, which seems to be a tradition since that is where we went last year! It is hard to believe that another school year is coming to an end. Congratulations to the Forbush Class of 2018!

Seeing all the graduates in their red cap and gowns reminds me of my own graduation. This year marks 14 years since I graduated from high school! 

We celebrated another special graduation this past week - Zander's graduation from preschool! It is so hard to believe that he will start Kindergarten in August. He and his classmates did such a good job reciting bible verses, singing songs, and counting (to 100!). Similar to the Forbush graduation, it was a little difficult for Emmy to stay still through the ceremony. We tried all the tricks: reading, puffs, quiet toys, but we didn't even make it through the first 30 minutes. Emmy and I spent most of the ceremony outside or in the vestibule area, which luckily had clear glass so we could still watch. We are so proud of Zander! What a big boy!

A few more pictures from our weekend: Boomer and I went to a wedding Saturday evening for one of his Glenn YoungLife guys, and Emmy and Maddox were matching at church on Sunday. 

As we are on the cusp of summer, there are a lot of things on our bucket list. I am happy to say that we did a pretty good job of checking off our list last year: 

Like last summer, I hope there will be lots of walks around the neighborhood, dinners outside, and play dates with friends. We also have plans for more baseball and the beach. It's going to be a great summer!