Quick change

As weather always does in the Northeast, we quickly shifted from Summer to Fall... and the leaves started to come down.  For the kids, it's 30 minutes of fun -- for the parents, it's 8 hours of raking exercise.

Red Wings Game

The whole family went to the Red Wings game last night for a late birthday party for Dylan.  His birthday was the first day of school and we promised him after a month that he could have a party at our house with new friends from Kindergarten.  Then we gave him an option:  Red Wings game, or party at house with friends -- not much thought was required.

Everyone had a blast, however the Wings gave up a late goal with 23 seconds left and lost 3-2.  It didn't matter for D, he got to see Nyquist score his 2nd goal of the season right in front of us (sweet wrist shot, top shelf), octopus was thrown on ice right in front of us and Madison made it on the scoreboard twice!!  The octopus happened to get tossed on ice right as Cathy was going to the concession stand -- which led to questioning as to whether she was the guilty party or not!  The crowd went crazy... and for the record, Mom was innocent.  We all had a great time, hopefully we can make this a tradition!

Family in Town

Avery and Chelsea came to visit last weekend and the cousins played together the whole time -- kickball, legos, dolls, laser tag, etc...   Of course we also took the time to go out to dinner and visit the local watering hole after the kids passed out for the evening as well.

These pics were from a nearby cider mill, we took a quick trip out there right before the gang left.

Soccer star

Dylan's about half way through his first season, he definitely has some natural talent.  Probably the smallest kid out there and he's scoring a goal a game -- last week D scored his team's only goal.  I noticed he has quite the eye for spotting offensive opportunities, all of Dylan's goals have been similar -- he boots the ball threw a pack of kids and then bolts on a breakaway to score.  On top of that, Dylan also gets back on defense to clear the ball out on close plays -- great all out awareness while he's out on the field.  It's been a lot of fun watching him learn the game.

Little D is 5!

5 years old!  After weeks of pulling together his Amazon Wish List, the day finally arrived.  All gifts were sports related (4 of 5 linked to hockey).  He's very excited to be one year older!

Back to school

Dylan's "Star of the Week" poster.  He finished it up today, in the spotlight for 9/8 - 9/12.

First week down, Dylan's first day in Kindergarten and smooth transition for both.  Not much to report, I would say separation anxiety was not an issue with D, he basically took off once he got to class.  Madison is back at class with a lot of familiar faces, first time in about 4 years since she's been in the same back-to-back school (lots of bouncing around).

Winding down

The Summer is winding down -- we've kept busy, that's for sure.  Lots of time in the pool, baseball/soccer in the backyard and plenty of frozen treats.  Enjoying the weather on our long weekend, hopefully it will continue on.

The kids start up school on Tuesday.  Dylan is ready to go, starting up Kindergarten -- guarantee it will be a breeze for him, even though he's probably the youngest one there.  He's already starting to read and is picking up addition pretty fast.  Looking forward to seeing him in action.

Beach Week!

Me, mommy and daddy and Dylan at the beach with are friends having  some fun.  We flied a kite, we played in the water, we made sand castles. We stayed in a beach house for a week! Do you want to know what the worst part was? It was leaving, but as long as you have FUN you can go again!

More from the beach

We spent 4 of the 6 days on the beach, kids had a blast.  Good times, grilling and plenty of relaxing -- just what we needed.  Ride back home was an interesting one, a closed bridge and long wait at border turned a 5 hour trip into 8 -- oh well, what are you going to do.  During the 8 hour ride I did spot about 100 Tim Horton's, must be a Canadian fave or something.  Anyway, about to get back to the routine, 1 week away is the perfect amount of time... maybe one more day at the pool today before putting the vacation to a close.

Crystal Beach

We spent last week in Crystal Beach, a place I used to go to as a kid when it was an amusement park.  I think it's been torn down now for about 15 years, now they have condos up on the water where the rides used to be.  It was a nice relaxing week, enjoyed the time off.

2nd of July

Small get together at our place in advance of the 4th.  Kids had a blast playing together and we spent some time with our friends as well.

Nice day for a dip

The weather has been perfect the past few weeks, good way to start the Summer.  Works for me, spend the day outside and cool off in the pool.  The kids are getting more comfortable in the water too -- today Madison passed the deep end test in class, she's officially a big kid swimmer.