When I grow up

This is one of the many sheets of paper that came home from school today in Ryan's folder. Check out #5 - looks like he wants to be like his parents when he grows up - ahhhhhhhh................

1st Grade

Tee Ball

Our little slugger just finished up his first season of tee-ball (or is it T-ball?). The changes over the season were apparent, as Ryan progressed from being more interested in kicking the dirt to actually wanting to field the ball. He was even disappointed at times when he had to play outfield, and not one of the "cool" positions. Of course the only 2 places on the field that ever had much action were pitcher, where virtually all of the balls were hit, and first base, where almost every play went no matter who was on base.

America's pastime - chewing on your mitt strings in center field

Thankfully there were no real innings. Everybody got a chance to bat, as they simply went through the entire roster every time up. Traditional rules were not much enforced, but it definitely made it more enjoyable for the kids, who at least got a chance every time up. And it was nice for the parents as there were only 3 "innings" of each team getting up to bat, so you knew how much time was left in the game.

The last few games even featured hitting pitched balls, so the kids got to swing away, pretty much until they connected or the coach decided they had enough attempts and then the tee was brought out. Ryan had a couple of successful turns at bat, and was a real trooper after he fouled one off his face. He cried ("only a little") but was right back at it the next inning and not at all afraid to get back in there and take some good swings.

Look ma - no tee!!

In the end his sacrifice was well worth it, as he got his very first trophy. Since nobody actually ever kept score, everyone of course got a trophy. But that didn't in any way diminish his excitement of picking up his first real trophy. He even had a place to put it all picked out - two in fact, since he wasn't sure how big it was going to be.

A fitting end to a fine season

Dance Recital

Jessica has been taking dance one day a week for the past 9 mths. They have been learning tap, ballet and some jazz. They had a dance recital for friends and family members. The dance recital was only about 30 minutes total and each class did one dance. All the kids were 3 & 4 years old so it was quite cute - one child cried the entire time. Many of them just stood there and waved to their moms and dads. :-)

Here is the very end of Jessica's dance - you can see that not everyone is actually dancing. They are all watching their teacher who was in the aisle doing the dance with them.

Here is Jess and Jackson - her newest boyfriend. (Jack told me they are going to get married in a castle because Jessica is a princess). Ahhhhh...

Jess, Audrey and Jackson.

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's reading this!

Scott had a nice day - the rain stopped just in time for a round of golf with his Dad. In the afternoon the four of us went to see the movie Up and then finished the evening with some Mexican food.

This was also my first Fathers Day without my Dad - I thought about him a lot, shed some tears and missed him terribly. Hope he had a good round of golf up in heaven! xo

Road Trip

As most of you reading this are aware, I am a bit of a Detroit Red Wings fan. Okay maybe more than a bit. So when I got an opportunity to take a short 10 hour road trip to watch a 3 hour hockey game, I had to think about it for a while.

I can't tell you how long I thought about it, because my watch doesn't record nanoseconds (that's nerd-speak for an extremely short time). After all, I had never been to watch my favorite team in my favorite sport play in their home rink. Pathetic, I know. I did manage to see them play at HSBC Arena a few years back, but that doesn't really count, because well, there were Sabres' fans there. Ewww.

So not only was I going to finally get to see the Wings play at the Joe (fanspeak for the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit), but it just so happened to be Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. So yeah, pretty big game.

By the way, I fell into this opportunity through sheer luck - my friend Nick, who is the captain and organizer of our OCD hockey team (that's our company name - we're not a team of guys that all have OCD) grew up in Detroit and still has family there who are season ticket holders. Nick originally got an extra for a friend of his - a Pittsburgh fan who cancelled out after the Pens went down 2 games to 0 in the series. So thank you, anonymous fair weather Pens fan. (oh and Nick, too, for remembering that I was a Wings fan and asking if I wanted the ticket).

So I got the clearance to go (thanks hon) and we left Saturday morning for the 5 hour trip to Nick's brother's house about an hour outside Detroit. Once we got there, we decided to drive into Detroit early to soak in some of the atmosphere around the arena (insert Detroit joke here). Of course we had to make 1 stop first - a result of which I discovered that I actually like Miller Lite - who knew?

When we got there we headed down to the Detroit Riverwalk, which is pretty much right behind the arena. There was a band playing, some face painting (I passed), a couple of promotion booths giving away free stuff, a net set up to shoot goals to win a T-shirt (which they started giving away for free after I had been in line for 10 minutes), souvenir vendors, and of course food and drink. It was small, but it struck the right mood, and I got a couple of cool freebies out of it.

They also had photographers wandering around taking pics of fans to put on the website. Mine are here, DSC-0186 and DSC-0187.

After the Riverwalk, I got to go on the insider's tour of pregame festivities (at least their version), heading to the Anchor bar for burgers and beers and then prepping for the walk into Joe Louis (that beer was cold stuck in my waistband). After making a drunk call to my brother (sorry Steve) to crow about me being at the game (and not being able to hear a word he said back to me), we took some obligatory fan pics:



Oh yeah, I didn't have our camera (I didn't realize it was in Nancy's purse before I left for the game), so these pics are all courtesy of Nick. The guy and girl on the other side of Gordie are Nick's brother and sister-in law (wife of a different brother actually), whom I didn't know were there until after Nick snapped the picture. A couple of souvenirs later and we were in our seats - upper deck end zone, with a fantastic view of the entire ice surface.

The pregame psyche-up session was pretty cool, and Nick got a bunch of pics, not all of which turned out because of all the motion down on the ice. But this is probably one of the better shots:


Now the game. I won't detail it too much because those of you who are hockey fans know how it turned out, and those of you who aren't probably couldn't give a rat's ass. But a little background info couldn't hurt.

The Wings were coming in limping after losing two straight in Pittsburgh to tie the series after taking a 2 games to 0 lead in Detroit. So I was a little nervous about how they would respond in this game. The good news was that their best player (and my current fave) Pavel Datsyuk was returning from the foot injury that kept him out for the previous 7 games. Nice to get a Hart Trophy (more NHL geek-speak for league MVP) finalist back in the lineup, eh?

In the end I needn't have worried. After taking a 1-0 lead into the 1st intermission, on a shot that Pens goalie Fleury should have stopped, the Wings cruised in the second with 4 more goals (3 on the power play) on their way to a 5-0 whitewashing. Each goal was met with raucous celebration, high fives, and maybe just a bit of taunting for the row or two of Pens fans sitting behind us. It was also nice because all 4 of those goals were scored at the end of the rink we were in, and I managed to see all of them despite taking a bathroom break each period.

The Penguins took some stupid penalties out of frustration (that didn't stop some Pens fans from whining about the officiating. again), and the Wings made them pay for most of them - although I wished they had scored on the 5-on-3 power play resulting from the twin slashes by Crosby and Talbot, but I'll settle for 5 goals. Now Detroit can take a 3-2 lead back to Pittsburgh tomorrow night, and only need to win one of the next 2 (with one of them back at JLA) to win the cup for the 2nd straight year and 5th time in the last 12 seasons.

Aside from one of our group (not me) spilling some of his beer on one of the biggest muscleheads I've ever seen in my life, we were able to make it out of the arena without any trouble. After a quick stopover back at the Anchor Bar, we headed back to Nick's brother's house for some much needed rest before making the 5 hour trip back Sunday morning. But not before I took one last souvenir.

GO WINGS!!!

Open House

Several weeks ago the four of us attended spring open house at Ryan's school. It was alot of fun. We were able to see all the poems, stories, drawings, and fun Ryan is having in Kindergarten. The school also had a book fair, cake & punch for all the families, games, arts & crafts, and face painting. We are so proud of all the hard work and progress Ryan has made this year!

Art Show

The Churchville Chili school district has an Art Show every year for all grades. Ryan had an art project chosen for the show. I think his was the best. Ok, maybe I'm a little biased..... but it is good!

Tubes

Earlier this month Jessica had tubes put in her ears.

The day went very well - just a quick procedure at Parkridge. We were up and out the door by 6:30am. The team of nurses and doctors made it very fun for her - a My Little Pony waiting on her pillow, a fun hospital gown, and eating a popsicle for breakfast! She was a great patient!

Great Wolf Lodge

A couple weeks ago we headed to Canada. We spent 2 days at a hotel & indoor waterpark called Great Wolf Lodge. This place is fantastic! I'd recommend it to anyone!

The kids went on a bunch of waterslides, spent Scott's money at the video arcade and enjoyed story hour in the lobby with at least 100 other kids!

Scott went back to the waterpark after the kids went to bed and hit the waterslides by himself - I think he was the oldest one there! Hehehehe

This is the only picture in the waterpark because there were alot of pre-teen boys who thought it was fun to soak the grownups - didn't want to ruin my camera.
Ryan in the hotel lobby - the tree, moose, and 3 bears all moved and talked.
This is where story hour was.


Since we were so close we made a stop to Niagara Falls - here is a pic of a rainbow.


Scott, the kids and the falls.

Enjoying the sunshine!

We had sunshine and temperatures in the 50's - time to put on the shorts and open the pool - hahaha! Seriously, after being inside for 4 mths we were phyched to get out the sidewalk chalk, the bikes and all the toys for some outside play.

Here is Ryan posing just like Scott would - hands in pockets!

Jessica giving me the "cheeeeeeeeeesssse" smile. And yes, she is wearing Ryan's vest.
My favorite!

Ryan and Scott off for a bike ride.

It's been a while....

Thought I'd update the blog on some things that have been happening in the past month.

Ryan played floor hockey in Jan & Feb at the YMCA.

He had alot of fun and he was pretty good too!

Here is Jess & Scott watching Ryan play (they were really just goofing around).

My Valentine flowers - nice huh!

Sleepover with the cousins so Donna & Charlie could go on a cruise for Donna's 40th birthday. In this pic the girls had put all the dolls down for a nap - and then decided to lay with them. And yes, Jess is wearing Power Rangers pajamas - she loves her brothers stuff!

Ry and Gav playing computer games.

The sleepover was very fun.

The kids were exhausted by the end of the weekend - that means it was a good sleepover -- right!

Winter Fun

Here are some pictures taken about 2 weeks when we had a TON of snow. The front yard was so deep Jessica couldn't even walk in it! The kids dug a fort in the snow and went sledding down the hills made from shoveling the driveway!

Ryan knee deep in the front yard.

Ry, Jess and Breena digging 'the snow fort'.

Jessica was stuck - after I took the picture I had to lift her onto the sidewalk.

Ry's sled went backwards - then he had a hard time getting up - was very funny to watch!

Disney on Ice

Two weeks ago we attended Disney on Ice. It was fantastic!

Ryan was concerned that it was going to be a 'girly princess' show - fortunately it was not! We saw the Lion King, Mulan, The Incredibles, Nemo and other various Disney movies.

Here are some highlights:

Monstro the whale from Pinocchio - Ryan was puzzled as to how the whale was moving on the ice - future engineer??

The end of the Incredibles show.

Happy 6th Birthday Ryan

Ryan turned 6 today. Wow, times flies!

It seems like yesterday that I was holding my new baby boy!

Happy Birthday Ryan!