Our Crazy Life

Rain, Rain, Rain and more Rain

Hello again from the nation's capital !

We have been enjoying, NOT, the recent wave of rain.  Torential down pours have plagued our city since last weekend.  Every once and a while it stops and everyone runs outside to enjoy the outdoors. 

Saturday we awoke to showers.  Bob even braved the wet to relieve himself in the back yard.  When he has to go he has to go.  We were fortunate that the rain ceased for about four hours yesterday morning and part of the afternoon.  We rushed to mow the lawn when it felt dry.  One thing that is good is that it drains and dries up quickly.  We are desparate for some warm sunny weather.  We never saw the sun all day Saturday.

Saturday was chore and more chores day.  Everything from the lawn to the car was overhauled.  By 3:30 pm we were all exhausted.  We baked ourselves home made pizza for dinner and watched football; no comment on the final score.  It was delicious.  Not safe to BBQ.  We did venture out after dinner for a nice long walk with Bob.  It was nice for a whole hour and a half as upon returning home it poured buckets.  We watched the movie Hotel for Dogs.  A tad sappy but a good wholesome movie for the whole family.  We were fast asleep by 10:30pm. 

Friday was a busy one in our house.  Randy returned home from work shortly after 1:30pm in time to take Bob to his first vet visit.  He received two shots, some treats and take at home medicine for worms.  Not that he has worms, just a preventitive measure.  He will return in a month for his neuturing.  He has been somewhat embarassing around other dogs the last few weeks and needs to learn to control his desires.  Not much else to report for Friday other than we BBQ'd and stayed up late due to no lacrosse this weekend.

Carter spent the week at home with a babysitter.  He needed a week to relax and veg out a bit.  With all the rain they were limited to their outside activities and took advantage of every possible opportunity to be outside.  Bob had a few extra walks and also slept a lot longer during the night.  He had to be awoken every day this past week.  It is usually him waking us. 

Today was spent at a lacrosse families cottage on Lac Beauclair just outside the Gatineau Park.  It is a tiny lake with good clean spring fed fresh cold water.  The boys dived off the dock for hours.  The weird thing is that it was sunny and warm the entire time we were at their cottage.  It rained like hell, no exageration, on the way out from the time we left our house.  As soon as we arrived at their cottage we found the sun and relished its warmth.  It shone until we left in the late afternoon.  When we drove home we could see the fresh wet puddles everywhere so it missed the cottage.  How lucky is that?  We enjoyed good hospitality, good food, cold drinks, a paddle boat, a kayak and a canoe of which we all enjoyed. 

Not much else to report this week. 

Have a great week and we look forward to reading your reports.

LACROSSE TOURNAMENT EXCITES NATION'S CAPITAL !

Hello again from the nation's capital !

Lacrosse was once again excited our lives.  The Griffins first game was on Thursday night.  It was a good game against Nepean.  Carter and his team mates started fast and hard and played all three periods as such to win 6-2.  Carter garnished three goals and an assist.  One was disallowed and another almost marked as a different player.  It was a good thing Paula was in the penalty box taking pictures and corrected the ref and score keeper.  We all had a great time watching the game and cheered loud. 

Carter attended his second week of Lacrosse camp.  He had a blast.  He was fortunate enough to win the 'camper' of the week award.  He was gifted with a RBK 9R shaft.  The shaft is 'sick' as we say cool.  His lacrosse team mates and friends were very excited about the whole ordeal.  Naturally his parents were as well.  When we arrived for game two on Saturday morning we were bombarded with congratulations from other parents and all the players wanted to try his new shaft.  It was exciting.  News travels fast.  After camp on Friday afternoon Carter and Randy whipped to the theatre to get in line for the new Harry Potter movie.  We left the house at five and stood in line outisde in the rain for an hour.  The movie was worth the wait; two and a half hours of pure enjoyment.  It was early to bed for us all Friday as we returned to action on Saturday morning.

The boys did not have a great Saturday.  They lost both their games against Oakville and Kanawake.  It was difficult for the players, coaches and parents.  Of course we supported them and still cheered loudly.  They dominated both games controling the ball in the opponents zone.  They just could not get the ball into the net.  We spent the majority of Saturday at the Richmond arena.  The games were suppose to begin at 7:30am.  The dude with the keys arrived at the rink at 9:30am.  It was a big big inconvenience to all the teams.  The tykes and novice played all their games on Saturday in Richmond.  Many families have more than one child in different divisions.  It was a problem not being with one child for a game.  We had teams from New Brunswick, Toronto and Quebec.  Anyhow, the last game for our division ended at 9:30pm and they had to play again the next day at 11:00am.  Richmond is also a forty five minute drive from Gloucester.  Needless to say we came home after our second game on Saturday and were in bed sleeping very early.  We had had a very long day. 

Today was a totally different day for our players.  We played our first game in Nepean at 9:00am.  All the players were well rested and ready for action.  It was an amazing transformation.  As on Saturday we totally dominated the action.  What the boys did do was limit the number of shots on our net; our biggest weakness.  They applied an aggressiveness that we had not seen before.  When they lost control of the ball they pushed back with tremendous pressure.  The Oakville team was crushed to tears.  Carter actually hit one of their players so good, 'Dad, he was crying out on the floor.'  Don't worry, the kid was back on the floor in a couple of minutes.  The parents and coaches were in awe.  We were all prepared to return to our homes and enjoy an nice relaxing Sunday.  Nope!  We played in the finals at 2:15pm back in Richmond.  We came home for a quick bite to eat and drove back out to Richmond to watch the other Gloucester Novice team play their playoff game.  They were not so lucky.  They went 3-0 in the round robin and lost.  It was a brutal loss.  Unfortuneately their players showed up for the game but not to play. 

Our team played the most exciting game of the year.  We had lost to Kanawake in the round robin so were not expecting a great game.  We opened the game and we leading by two goals half way through the second period.  We changed goalies at this point.  The rest of the game was total action, drama and excitement.  They came back to lead 3-2, we tied it up, they scored, we tied it up again.  The game went into overtime.  The parents were excited, yelling, standing, cheering....  The boys were playing hard, running, blocking, hitting, taking hits, passing, throwing and having a blast.  The game went on for seven minutes and ten seconds of sudden death overtime.  We got scored on at one point but the other team had six players on the floor.  We yelled and screamed like banchies.  In the end the other team won but we cheered and whistled at our boys like they were champs.  They were all so proud with the cheers and medals their wasn't one whine or complaint heard from our team.  Overall it was a most exciting day.  It will not soon be forgot.

That was our exciting weekend.

We look forward to reading your reports.

STAMPEDE SUNDAY

Hello again from the nation's capital !

We are relaxing this evening watching the Calgary Stampede.  It is just as exciting on television.  We have enjoyed the Handhills and Nanton Night Rodeo highlights.  Paula has educated Carter on her childhood experiences.  We have watched the Rangeland Derby a couple times this week but won't tonight as it starts after midnight.  It was cool seeing Dale Gray every night.  He won another buckle Friday night with Kelly Sutherland winning the aggregate.  We could always spot him on the back stretch.  Sure hope they do good tonight in lane three.

We had a very quiet weekend.  No lacrosse this weekend at all.  We managed to get quite a bit of work completed around the house and yard.  We all slept in late on Saturday.  We were all in bed early Friday night so enjoyed an extra long rest.  It rained pretty much the entire day.  Carter and Randy shopped for new skates and parts to restring his lacrosse stick.  We lucked out on a pair of 2008 Bauer 40's.  His skates should last at least until Christmas.  The lacrosse stick got restrung this afternoon.  Carter spent the afternoon with his buddy Patrick.  They played video and computer games.  We picked them up after dinner and they spent the night at our house.  They went to bed at 11:00pm but we have not idea when they went to sleep.  R & P were in bed right after the chuck's. 

Randy was up early this am so spent the morning filling five bags of yard waste.  The hedges and trees were all trimmed and the weed as whacked.  The yard looks good for another two weeks.  We have still not fertilized the grass, perenial beds or annuuals.  We have had enough rain the past two weeks to keep everything green and lush.  The boys slept in until 9ish and Paula just before them.  Bob was out with Randy barking at the rake, hedge trimmer and weed wacker.  He would grab a branch and hustle with it to the side of the house.  It was so cute.  He had quite a big pile of branches after three hours helping Randy.  Paula started scrubbing floors so shipped the boys outside to play.  Soon they were bored so Randy took them to Ice Age 3D at the Imax.  It was pretty funny.  Just as good as the first two movies.  It was anything but busy at the theatre.  We returned home after the movie just before it rained, yet again.  Paula BBQ'd us a nice dinner and made key lime pie for dessert. 

Randy took Bob for a good walk this evening.  He is currently sleeping at his side; obviously wiped him out.  He obviously needs more exercise if he can't keep up to Randy.  We are hoping Bob is full grown.  He is just the right size and doesn't need to grow anymore. 

Carter spent the week at lacrosse camp and had a wonderful week.  He was full of stories each night.  He will spend this week at another lacrosse camp and he can't wait.  He was in bed early tonight to be well rested for tomorrow morning. 

Work is as busy as ever for Randy and Paula.  We are hoping to take the last week of July for a holiday.  Who knows!  We are in the Nepean lacrosse tournament next week with the first game on Thursday night and three games on Saturday.  It should be a competitive tournament as two teams are from Toronto.  They are always better teams than any local teams we play.  Carter is stoked.

Congratulations Jackie and Brad on the birth of your daughter.  Eight pounds and counting.  Wow!  Hope both are doing well. 

Have a great week !

 

GRIFFINS LOSE IN FINALS - PLAYED AN AWESOME TOURNAMENT

Hello again from the nation's capital !

We enjoyed another fun filled lacrosse weekend.  This weekend we hosted the tournament, no traveling.  We played our first game Friday night.  The boys went into the game with a negative attitude.  They played a very lack lustre game and lost badly.  They arrived the next day with a much more positive attitude and won three games on Saturday.  Carter played especially well garnering many assists and a couple of goals.  He plays defense and does a very fine job.  They played in the semi-finals and finals on Sunday.  Oh how we wished we'd have video'd the final game.  They played their best game of the season.  It was against the team they played on Friday.  Our goalie was not near his best the first half of the game and let in some very easy goals.  You might say he scored on himself twice.  Anyhow, the third period was spectacular.  The boys were hitting hard and held control or the ball for most of the period.  We were down 6-2 and came back 6-4 with only three minutes to play.  Carter and another player then charged down the field manouvering thru the opposition.  The other player made an awesome pass to Carter.  Carter shot the ball in a nano seconds after catching the ball and scored.  it was a blistering shot.  The crowd went ballistic.  We had many family and fellow Griffins in the stands cheering on the boys.  Anyhow, they pulled the goalie with 96 seconds.  The guys on the floor lost the ball and they ended up scoring with 36 seconds and 10 seconds left in the game.  We were all so proud of our boys we cheered them loudly.  They kept us on our toes the whole game.  It was very exciting.  It was also a long weekend and we were all glad to go home at 5:30pm.

We enjoyed a nice Canada Day with the Beacon Hill Community.  We stayed close to home this year other than to purchase some fireworks.  We picnic'd in the park, played soft ball, visited lots and lit our fireworks with three other families.  It was a fun day.  The forecast was for rain but we enjoyed more than enough sunshine. 

Carter enjoyed his week, four days, at I-Play Network Camp; video games galore.  He is at lacrosse camp this week and loving every moment.  His first comment was he made friends with people the first day: close group lacrossers.  He can't wait to return tomorrow.  He is also going next week.  He came home tonight and shot on his net for another hour.  We held him from practise tonight as he was almost hoarse and had a bad bleeding nose before dinner.  We enjoyed a nice BBQ dinner on the back patio.  Our first meal togther since Canada Day. 

Bob is growing like a weed.  He loves to play fetch in the park.  He loves it for about fifteen minutes or until he's distracted or tired.  He loves to go for walks as we always meet up with other dogs.  Some are socialable, others not.  He has to learn to respect others territories and that not everyone wants him jumping up on the legs.  Oh well, live and learn.  He continues to eat like a horse and hoovers our floor clean constantly.  He is still as cute as a button. 

Nice to read all your reports and hearing about your nice long weekends.  Lots of good news this week.  Keep it coming!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MERV

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MERV !

Hope you had a good day !

Kind of kewl . . . .

I was cleaning out emails and came across this great link that Lloy had sent it around.