On the road again....

Well, it's back on the road for John Deere after a great vacation to New York State and Canada, but not before taking in a little opening night hockey with our Carolina Hurricanes!

After arriving back in North Carolina from the Great North on Tuesday we had little time to get ready for the opening night game, which of course was the raising of the 2006 Stanley Cup Champion banner! It was a great feeling around the arena to see that banner unfurled after a wonderful season, but the outcome of the game was a little disappointingAtferer ending regulation in a tie and shooting blanks in the overtime Carolina found itself on the receiving end of a knockout punch from our friends in Buffalo when none of the 3 Canes shots in the mandatory shootout could find the net. It was a good game with a bad outcome. Good job Sabres.....but we still have the banner!

Thursday didn't bring me much solace either as my Florida State Seminoles gave up the ghost to the home town Wolfpack in an epic game at Carter Finley Stadium. Of course I was with good friends (all Wolfies!), but they were all good sports. We had a fantastic steak and potato dinner before the game thanks to the Lloyd family and their neighbor Chris and I were the beneficiaries of some excellent tickets! Thanks guys! After the game we found out about the chemical fire in Apex, just down the road from our homes, and stayed in contact with friends and family while we waited out the horrific traffic from the game. Some 2 hours later we arrived home at 1:00 am Friday morning, albeit after some great parking lot conversation and highway shenanigans (Lead Foot Lloyd). It was time for a good sleep!

Friday was exciting as it was Savannah's first official Carolina Hurricanes game! We arrived at the game all decked out as a family in our Canes jerseys and had a blast! We got to show off our daughter to our friends in section 310 whom had heard about this kid for almost 2 years but had yet to meet her in person and everyone thought she was the greatest! Although the game ended in another loss (this time to New Jersey), we had a great time as Savannah watched the game, clapped with the fans and danced to the music! Needless to say the kid was worn out when we hit the truck at 10:30 and slept like a log on the ride home!

Savannah also wanted to thank Abe & June for Bana' Bird (a Big Bird from Build a Bear)! We all enjoyed having them visit the house while on vacation and hope that they had a safe trip back home and can make it back to North Carolina again soon.

This week Ann Marie and I have been splitting some travel time with Ann taking a trip to Wilmington and me spending 3 days in Nebraska where I experienced temperatures in the teens! THAT'S COLD! This weekend Ann Marie and I are attending my 20th high school reunion in Lee County where I hope to see a lot of my old friends for the first time in years! Ill post more on that next week as I am sure there will be much to tell!

Well, I am in route to Raleigh, North Carolina via American Airways from Dallas right now and we should be on the ground in about 30 minutes so I will wrap this one up! Check back with us soon so you can see what the Kennedy's have been up too! Thanks for taking in the vibe, so till then.....

Mike (do these seats recline anymore than this), Ann Marie (what do you mean you missed your flight) and Savannah (I love my Grandparents!) Kennedy

Hello from North Carolina!

Well, we made it home today from our travels and cannot wait to sleep in our own bed! We had a blast, but just like Dorothy said...."There's no place like home"!

To catch everyone up on where we have been since the last post, we spent another night with our friends the Marcus's in Rochester and had a complete blast! We got up early the morning we were to leave for Toronto and hit the local nursery for some good ole fashioned "Pumpkin Chuckin"! Now for those of you not versed in the sport, imagine a homemade trebuchet much like the ones from Monty Python's movie Holy Grail, the only difference it is made out of steel and has a wench and a harness to launch any kind of fruit or vegetable to your liking! Since its Fall in States, we launched PUMPKINS! The set up is quite comical as they have targets on a Ford Econoline Van, a barn, and several scarecrows. After a couple of calibration firings Gracie stepped up and proceeded to annihilate everything in site with little orange bombs! She it the van, the barn and a scarecrow! The guys running the event said they had been trying all morning to hit a target with no success and here a 6 year old was mowing them down with ease! Needless to say a good laugh was had by all and Gracie exited with a prize pumpkin bigger than a British import for her efforts!

After leaving Rochester we headed for Toronto and the home of the Hockey Hall of Fame. In Toronto we stayed with the Spiliotopoulas family, Peter, Angelique, Demi, Lucas and Julia. After arriving we sat down and relaxed with food, drink and a movie on what has to be one of the best home entertainment systems I have had the pleasure of experiencing. Wow, what a sound! After a long night, we woke the next morning to a breakfast of French toast and then a tour of Mississauga, a suburb of about 600,000 outside of Toronto. It was a great area, but the housing is expensive and it gets COLD in the winter, so Ann Marie pretty much ruled out a transfer to the PPD office there! We asked Peter if they get a lot of snow and he said no, but no one clarified what a lot is in Canada. A lot in North Carolina is just enough to paralyze the school system for a week, or 3 inches. After a great lunch with the whole family, the Kennedy's ventured off into Toronto for a little tour.

Well, after getting to the hotel late we decided we would just get some room service and let the little one sleep on a schedule for a change so we hit the sack around 10:00 pm to make up for the lost sleep at Peter's house! The next morning we hit the streets of Toronto for breakfast, then headed to the Hockey Hall of Fame! What a site! Since we have only been fanatics (Or Caniacs) for about 6 years we really boned up on our hockey history! We saw so many things they would be hard to list, the goal Gretzky scored #802 in, the real Stanley Cup (the bowl), some of the first hockey contracts and then the greatest, the 2006 Stanley Cup Champion display! What a great place for a hockey fan!

After the Hall we hit the CN Tower for a spectacular view of Toronto. Ann Marie was close to losing her cookies on the ride up, but she held on like a trooper. Savannah loved looking out of the elevator windows! Once at the observation level, we went right for the Glass Floor section to see if we could get Ann Marie to blow up, but alas she just stood back and let Savannah and I stand out there and look over 1000 feet down to the ground below. What a rush! After about 45 minutes it was time to head down, and once again my wife was doing some measured breathing on the way down. Elevators and speed make a disastrous combination for a weak stomach!

After walking a little more in downtown Toronto we hit the road again for a nights stay in Niagara Falls, only on the Canadian side! After arriving at the Embassy Suites we headed out for some dinner. This was an event all its own as the little one decided to steal the show with a loss of control. Once we finally got dinner aside, we headed down to the falls for a late night stroll to see the falls illuminated. It was a very pretty site to see, but there were other things that make this NOT the destination of choice for a vacation. First, its now more like Atlantic City instead of a natural wonder. There is a casino right by the falls, monster hotels and way too many trinket shops! I have only two words to say about the gambling atmosphere at the falls……Wayne Newton! He was set to be there the day after we left….dang it! The median age in the falls vicinity had to be about 60, and that is being generous! With that being said, the restaurants were empty at 7:00 pm, so it was not all bad! But the overall stay in Niagara left a lot to be desired! The only reason we stayed there was that it was close to the airport, but it would have been much better without the glam and glitz. Could you imagine a casino next to the Grand Canyon? No thanks Mr. Trump and Mr. Winn, I like nature just the way it is….natural!

Well, after an uneventful ride home via U.S Airways we are now back in the land of 80 degrees and sunshine! Thanks to everyone who put up with us on the trip and made us feel so welcome in their homes! Remember, the door is always open here in Holly Springs so come see us! Till then…..

Mike (no more Elmo), Ann Marie (but its only 189 dollars), and Savannah (we are at 10,000 feet, turn on the DVD player) Kennedy!

P.S. Leave us some comments, we would love to know who is keeping up with the Kennedy's out there in BLOGLAND! ;-)