Playing Around

Random kids events during February:

Julia and Alex hang out in the lower level

St. Agnes 8th grade at Spy Museum

RJ and Hudson practice curling before hockey practice

Hockey in Charlotte

Family packed up and headed to Charlotte for some warmer weather and some hockey. While there we:

• Got to hang out with Aunt Debbie who made the trip to watch some quality hockey :-)
• Saw a wooden troll sculpture and played on a really-big slide.
• Caught up with our old neighbors (The Warrens) including Christy's super cute baby.
• Bummed breakfast off of the Suppas. At least we didn't need to rely on them for last minute housing this time.
• Got rained out from attending an indoor AHL Charlotte Checkers game.
• Girls went to the Museum of Illusions and tool a LOT of pictures.

Lunch with the Warren's on Lake Norman (Christy and Luke pictured)

Aunt Debbie getting run over by the Zamboni

Walt and RJ at the cancelled game (leaky roof meant too much water on the ice)

So in case you were wondering ... why did we drive to the hockey arena when the game was cancelled? Answer: they didn't cancel the game until after it was supposed to start. Since it rained all day I'm not sure why they didn't let us know in advance. Coach Doug and some boys salvaged the day by going to Top Golf.

The girls went to the Museum of Illusions

Aunt Debbie suggested that we visit one of the 7 wooden troll sculptures and ride a really big slide on the first night. All except Walter are trying to be trees.

The team won all 4 play-in games and the championship!

Julia's stuffed animal was good luck in this game (they would probably have lost without her)

Family picture in front of the troll

RJ turns 14

RJ's actual birthday was on a Monday. St. Agnes was supposed to be off ... but too many snow days changed the plan. 

So RJ was under the weather and had to go to school. But Sara pressed on ...

due to sickness RJ wanted soup and bread for dinner (it was actually quite good!)

RJ with a 'small amount' of gifts

Gifts included: knee hockey stuff, rocketry, some cool games like Murdle, Oreos, ski goggle glass replacement, earth metal tools, some cool clothes, some not-so-cool clothes, and a credit card.

Best decorated (and most self-serving) gift from Julia ... Caps logo on back was awesome

By desert (cheesecake!) RJ wasn't feeling very sick or tired!!

RJ pre-birthday at Whitetail

As a birthday warmup RJ invited friends (Milo, Samuel, Cody) to ski with him at Whitetail and enjoy pizza in the lodge.

Boys line up on top of Jib

Boys covered the entire mountain while Julia hung out with Summer and Poppy.

The boys discover a HUGE mound of snow at the top of expert's choice. The next day the ski-patrol Nazi yelled at RJ for doing this exact same thing.

RJ and his big fan Gunner hanging out for pizza at the lodge

Julia, Poppy, and Summer were the first ones to the table (boys were skiing hard!)

Julia and Doug passed the puck on a frozen pond at Whitetail (we went to a pond where no 'Karens' would see us)

Lake Barcroft Rink

Thanks to a long stretch of sub-freezing temps there was a LOT of frozen lakes. We went to see the Moeller family at Lake Barcroft.

Look at that ice! Awesome!!!

After a bit of skating all over the place the boys found a hockey game. Sara got to know the owners of the house (a construction family) who built the rink.

RJ and Doug in the game ... notice the couch and fire in the background!

RJ and Hudson from CHA4

Hockey was pretty high quality. After the game we found out that we were playing with two guys who played in college (Tufts and Oregon).

Trains 2025-26

Trip to North Dakota, travel hockey, and general over-scheduling could have cancelled trains ... but we powered through. 

Day 4 of setup

Julia helps with track cleaning (RJ did a lot of the wiring this year)

Doug's grandmother's train was rolling this year

Ceramic village, street closures and backup

Whitetail mountain took on new life this year! Big parking nightmare.

Arial view

Skating with Amelia

Julia wanted to go skating ... so we picked Saturday at 2pm on a holiday weekend. Yes ... there were a few people there.

Julia and Amelia before skating

End of session - Julia is the one pointing in the middle with pink helmet. 

Doug managed to get some skating in as well. Sadly he was the the 'self-declared' best skater on the ice.