Summer 2013

I know summer is almost over, because I”m sitting in South Windsor watching Laura Stamm hockey camp. Saratoga was really fun this year, with our usual collection of fun visitors and some pretty good weather to go along with that. Quinn still hasn’t caught a fish much bigger than a hockey puck, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. One day, he and Noah were on the dock the entire day except the few hours they went on the Melanson’s boat.

We never had any really big winners at the races, but Matt had a few winning days. Quinn decided to bet the superfectas, because he’s looking for a big win. At least he didn’t get discouraged when his wins were few and far between. The racetrack was not too crowded...there is definitely something to making more visits in July than in August. It will be interesting to see if we get back there for one more weekend. It was kind of a special year due to the 150 anniversary of the racetrack.

Here are a few of the new things we did this year: Jackie and I took Quinn and Mei to Howe Caverns. It was a much longer ride than we thought, but the drive was beautiful and the tour was well worth it. We kept fibbing to the kids that we’d be back for the third race, but it was certainly a little later than that. We also watched a bunch of movies at the house this year, finally taking advantage of their collection. And we played several games of pool. Cindy and I did two things that were not too exciting but fun; we stayed at the house one rainy day and just hung out. And one day, we actually completed a jigsaw puzzle right at the racetrack. That could be a first for any visitor at the races! Another first: Addison and I made it to the second bridge on kayaks. And Jackie and I jogged one morning for at least four miles, turning into the neighborhoods off Meadowbrook Road. One more first: we found a great casual restaurant in Glens Falls called City Tavern that had yummy wings and dipping sauces.

We had our usual giant collection of empty wine bottles every night. I’m sure the owners were horrified with our wine by the case deliveries! But at least we weren’t driving anywhere. Apples to Apples was fun as always, as was learning to play Mexican Dominoes.

Finally, I got to revisit two places Matt and I used to go to long before Quinn was born. First, we went to a SPAC concert to see Victoria Justice and Big Time Rush. Hopefully when Quinn reads this in a few years, he’ll be laughing! Drew was not interested in the music at all, and Matt and I had to cover our ears to protect our eardrums from the screaming girl fans. The other place that I haven’t been to in years, but Matt makes an annual visit is the Ballston Spa golf club. I actually birdied hole #6, so that was a lot of fun.

Time to wrap it up and watch more skating drills.

Ottawa Trip 2013

Our trip to Ottawa was really fun! As you can see in this picture, we skated the canal, and even though I can now cross is off my bucket list, I'm excited to go back and do it again. The conditions were ok on this day...the day before was pretty snowy and windy. It was very hard to skate slowly because you had to keep pushing through the elements. I had a Beavertail and it was ok...I think the frites (fries) were a better choice. Ottawa really loves its fried food. With a more British influence than French, the food was good, but not out of this world. However, our hotel suite was fantastic with tons of space and a really nice heated pool and hot tub. I love when kids are allowed to go in the hot tub!

The Melansons were a lot of fun, and I hope they enjoyed the trip as much as we did. We had Noah in our car for quite a bit of the ride, and that seemed to work out well. Going to Ottawa took a little longer due to the snow and traffic at the end of the trip. A couple of the sights we saw going up were a giant max security prison in NY (Clinton) and lots of steel windmills in northern NY. Coming home we got a peek of some beautiful lakes and we saw the Lake Placid ski jump. Man, is that high up!

The "Sens" won the game against the Rangers, and our seats were really good despite being high up. Everyone was thrilled to see a shoot-out, and we even got to see two former "Whales" shoot. (Kryder and Miller). Ottawa won the game, so we were all happy. Nobody even seemed all that stresses when we got off the bus a couple of stops early and were stuck in the middle of nowhere with all the kids and not enough outerwear! Fortunately, another bus came by from the game and picked us up. That added to the adventurous week!

Quinn, now more than ever, is living and breathing hockey. He had a great game when we returned against Avon. He played D and had the assist to "Kenzie" with literally one second left to tie the game. I hope he does as well in the tournament next weekend.

Preparing for the Blizzard 2/8/13

It's Thursday evening and we are loading up on batteries and bottled water for Nemo, the upcoming blizzard. Hopefully we don't really get the two feet of snow they are predicting. I can't imagine how much snow there will be in Saratoga and Ottawa when we head up north in a few days. Coach Matt is working feverishly to change the hockey game times in the hopes that maybe somebody will be brave enough to show up. No word yet on the state tournament schedule, but we will hear soon. I hope we can skate down the river in Ottawa. Our hockey also looks really nice. Quinn helped us picked it out online. It's called the "Mento" and the rooms are all suites. Hope it's nice!

Quinn is having a great hockey season. The other day I asked if he would play hockey year round, and he said "Mom, I even love going to practice...even if we get yelled at and do sprints the whole time!" So much for my idea of changing sports over the seasons. I know he is still really excited for baseball, thank goodness. But lacrosse may be going bye-bye.

Quinn's favorite activity is still floor hockey, and my knees are getting pretty tired of it. I know it makes him happy, but I sometimes wish he could diversify a little bit with his free time. Mei hasn't been over to play as much lately, and I think it's because she wants to do some different things. However, I don't think I could ever get Quinn to make "shrinky-dinks" or other sorts of arts and crafts. I think even if they grow apart as day-to-day friends, they will still do very well when we take them on vacation.

He is doing well with his CCD lessons. Unfortunately he's missed a few, so I have been home-schooling him. I actually think he is getting more out of the lesson that way. I just want him to get a chance to be with his group.

He is getting so tall and grown up! Today I made him go into Dunkin Donuts to pick out his own donut. And Matt and I have been leaving him to sneak off for a quick breakfast at Avon Country Deli. Quinn is so strong, he can carry in a 40 pound bag of pellets for me.

In other family news, Kate is due to have a baby in April. Diane and Mindy are planning a shower for next week, so that will be fun.

Our friends the Anastasios are due to have Emily any day now, and I'm worried that she'll decide to arrive during the blizzard. I'm sure Kathryn has an emergency plan in place.