A Week of Rain

Of course in the summer, there are sudden rain storms. They come and go, and they bring a reprieve from the heat, and shortly after, the sun returns. However, our first full week of summer was all rain - yes, every single day! I know that we will be wishing for those milder temperatures during the brutally hot days of August, but it meant that Mommy had to come up with fun that didn't involve the pool or the outdoors. Our adventures included: a trip to the Joyner's blueberry farm, where we picked blueberries and fed the chickens; indoor playtime with Stephanie and Lyla at Safari Nation; and more indoor fun at Rockin' Jump with the cousins. 

Sadly on Thursday evening, the Deacs lost in a heartbreaking semi-finals game against LSU, meaning they would not be going to the College World Series Finals. The game went into extra innings after a 0-0 tie, and in the bottom of the 11th, LSU hit a walk-off homerun to end the game. We were all pretty sad, but no one more than Boomer. Instead of being on his way to Omaha for the final series against Florida, Daddy joined us for a trip to the Science Center, lunch at Freddy's, and a treat from Maxie B's. We did our best to cheer him up. 

On Saturday, while Boomer took care of mowing the grass, the kids and I went to 4th of July park, where we spotted Emmy on the bulletin board and were suprised by free popsicles. That evening, we celebrated Megan's big 40th birthday. 4-0, can you believe it?! She is such an easy person to celebrate, because she makes everything so fun. She is the best sister, and there is nothing more special that seeing her as an aunt. Emmy and Eli sure love their Aunt Megan. Happy birthday, Meg! You make 40 look good!

In the first half of this week leading up to the Kennedy Ballpark Tour, we packed in several fun adventures: a day at the pool on Monday and a movie with the cousins on Tuesday. It is so special having the time off in the summer with my sister and her boys. We make lots of fun memories together.

Happy Father's Day

Boomer is going for a record for how much baseball he can watch in the month of June. If my math is correct, he has gone to 6 games over the last two weeks. And this does not include the countless other games he has watched on TV. Aside from one Dash game, the in-person games have all been Wake playing at their home field, the Couch. Boomer watched the first three games during the Regionals, and then he went again for the Super Regional the following weekend. For the Super Regional, Wake faced Alabama for the best 2 out of 3. I tagged along for the Saturday game, where the Deacs won in an exciting 5-4 victory. Boomer went back on Sunday with his brother Goosie to watch Game 2, and the Deacs won again. They're going to the College World Series! It is the first time in 68 years. Their last CWS appearance was in 1955. We've had a few brief discussions about a trip to Omaha, at least for Boomer, but no decisions have been made yet. We are waiting to see how they do during this first round over the weekend. Go Deacs!

At the early part of the week, I wrapped up Teacher Workdays, as well as some grad school and Graduation thrown in there too. The kids had lots of fun with Grammy and Grandpa going on adventures to High Point City Lake Park and to Triad Park. Each morning, the kids were so excited to go over to their house. Grammy even fit in some preschool and 1st Grade practice, muffins, crafts, and one evening of gymnastics. When I took over on Thursday, I felt a little bit of pressure to keep up with the fun of Grandparents Camp! 

On Thursday, the kids and I went to Reynolda for a nature walk and a picnic, with a stop at Dough Joe's donuts for dessert. Then on Friday, Boomer had his first Friday off, so we took a trip to Spencer to the NC Transportation Museum. When we went in December for the Polar Express, we talked about adding it to the Summer To-Do List. It was just a short drive from Kernersville, and we spent about 3 hours there touring the exhibits and riding the train. Eli's favorite parts were the train ride and the hauler, and Emmy's favorite part was petting Smookey, the stray cat that the museum has adopted. We ended our adventure at Southern Lunch in Lexington. It was a successful first Friday with Daddy!

The rest of this weekend has included a birthday pool party for one of Emmy's friends, Heidi, and then today we celebrated our Dads. I am so thankful for the fathers in my life. My dad keeps us all in line with his itineraries and weather reports. He plans so many fun adventures for our family, and he has really taken to the role of Grandpa. I'm thankful for Boomer's dad, who passed along his kindness, work ethic, and servant attitude to his son. And it has been the best blessing of my life to see Boomer become a Daddy. We sure love our joke-telling, sports-loving, battery-changing, kid-carrying, hard-working Daddy! We're so glad he is ours :)

Emmy Graduates Kindergarten

We have a kindergarten graduate! On Wednesday, Emmy's class had a special celebration to mark the end of the school year. Her teacher Mrs. Wooten and teacher assistant Mrs. Dalton planned a program with a special song, remarks from the principal and assistant principal, and then the presentation of awards. Our girl got the Super Speller Award and the Spread Kindness Award. I am especially proud of the kindness award; it makes my heart happy to know that she is a kind friend to her classmates. I had trouble picking my favorite pictures, so I'm including them all here :)

Emmy's official last day of school was today. She posed for a few photos just like on the first day, and it is impossible not to notice just how much she has grown. 

We also got some cute pictures of the cousins, from their first day and their last. Emmy has loved riding with the Houstons and hanging out in Aunt Megan's office before the school day begins. 

Even though Mommy has a few more workdays, Emmy and Eli are already in summer mode. Eli has been going to Grammy and Grandpa's this week, and he has been quite spoiled with the individual attention. They have gone on walks, raced cars in the hallway, played baseball in the yard, and had other fun adventures. In the afternoons, they have picked up Emmy from school, and she has loved being a car rider for these last few days.  

I was surprised to receive a few thank-you notes and gifts from my students in the final days of the school year. I continue to feel like I have found my fit at the high school in college and career advising. It is hard to believe that I am wrapping up my 14th year in education. My last Teacher Workday is this coming Wednesday. Then I will become fulltime mom/cruise director/activities coordinator for the next 8 weeks. The Kennedys are excited for summer!