Summer Break 2019: Week 1

The summer has officially started! My last Teacher Workday was last Wednesday, and I packed up my room and turned over my keys for the next six weeks. 

Even before the last school day, we got to work on the 2019 Summer To-Do List. Boomer told me that my list this year is a bit "optimistic", so I wanted to get started right away. With careful planning, I think we can do it all! We started with first tackling "Setting up the Nursery" and "Lunch at Deli on Main." Setting up the nursery will take multiple days this summer I'm sure, but I feel really good about the progress so far. Phase 1 was de-cluttering, which Boomer did on a previous weekend. As a result of his work, the task of emptying the room was a bit easier. Boomer was insistent about keeping his "mega-desk" as he affectionately calls it. Even though he isn't doing quite as much work on it these days now that he is finished with graduate school, his office and the desk are the closest things he has to a man cave. I was willing to make that concession, although it was quite a job to disassemble the desk and maneuver it through the doors and hallway. The new nursery is now mostly empty except for the Wake Forest photos on the wall and a small computer desk that we plan to take to Goodwill. It is a tight squeeze in the now office-guest room...but Boomer got to keep his desk! :)

After organizing the new office slash guest room, we went to lunch at Deli on Main. It is a cute local restaurant in our downtown that we have driven and walked by several times but have never been inside. Since they only serve lunch 10AM - 3PM, it has been tricky to go during the times that they are open. I ordered the chicken salad croissant with a side of potato salad, and Boomer had a club sandwich with potato chips. Emmy's favorite part of her grilled cheese kid's meal was the scoop of strawberry ice cream that came with it!

Even though a Dash game was not on the Summer To-Do List, I told Boomer that any previous summer items could be applied to the current summer. He was on board, especially since it was baseball! From his work with the YoungLife Golf Tournament in May, Boomer was given free tickets for the Carolina Plan (unlimited hot dogs, hamburgers, and soda). What a nice treat! It was a beautiful night for baseball after several days of rain, and we got to enjoy extra baseball from a double header that got rescheduled. We invited along our friends Jason and Tiffany, which regrettably I did not get a picture of. By the time they arrived, we had already put down three hot dogs between the two of us! 

This past weekend, we celebrated a belated Mother's Day with our annual mother-daughter spa day. For the last three years, Mom, Megan, and I have gone to the Grandover Resort in Greensboro. Since we are familiar with all the amenities of the spa, we have our own little routine of arriving right when they open, working out in the fitness center, showering off before our massages, and then enjoying the rest of the afternoon poolside. We scheduled our treatments a few months ago, and after finding out the news about Baby Kennedy #2, I had to make a change from my Swedish massage to a pre-natal massage. The masseuse was so great to make sure I felt comfortable the whole time. Instead of laying on my stomach, I laid on my side, cradling a large full-length body pillow, much like how I sleep at home now. Then when I was laying on my back, the table was raised so that my back was higher than the rest of my body. All three of us felt relaxed and pampered when we left the Grandover that afternoon. We have decided that this is how we always want to celebrate Mother's Day! That evening, we met up with our guys at Dairy Queen for dessert; they had had a fun day at the Science Center while the mommies were away.  

The next day was Father's Day! We joked how ironic it was that we left the guys with the kids rather than giving them a golf outing or some other guys' trip. Between my own father and my husband, I sure hit the Dad Jackpot! I am so thankful for the godly men that they are and for the time they invest in their children. While I have been away on girls' weekends, at ESHS Graduation, and spa days, Boomer and Emmy have had a lot of Daddy-Daughter time. Whether going out to dinner together or dressing up as Iron Man, Emmy sure loves her Daddy!

Even though Daddy had lots of Emmy time this past weekend, I am quickly catching up as we spend our summer days together! Emmy went to daycare through last Friday, the 14th, and I definitely have my work cut out for me to compete with all the fun that she usually has with Miss Jewell and Miss Melissa. (We will miss them in August when Emmy moves up to a new class!) We kicked off our first full week of summer today with a pool day at the YMCA with our friends Stephanie and Lyla. We also saw Grammy, Zander, Maddox, and the Williamses there. It was such a fun day, and I found little ways in which this pool day was easier than pool days last summer: no more swim diapers and holding hands in the parking lot instead of juggling a pool bag and a squirmy one-year-old, just to name a few. I'm looking forward to many more summer days like this one!

Oh, and one more thing! I got a major haircut this week! This is the third time that I have donated my hair, and it is good timing as we approach the heat of summer. Bye Bye, long locks! See you again in a few months!