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.