Totally Tube-ular

While Lisa was living it up in sunny Florida, we spent some time on the sledding hill at Minneapolis Woods here in the Soo. It was the second tubing party put on by our friends over at Canada Customs, and we had another great time. This kids and I had a blast racing down the hill in our inner-tubes and enjoying the free pizza. I tried to get the best pics I could down the hill with a disposable camera. It actually flew out of my pocket a few times, so I'm glad we didn't take one of our good ones. It ended on a sour note, unfortunately, as Trevor crashed into Lily's tube at the bottom of the biggest hill. He went air born and landed right on his head. He's alright, though, thank God, and we still have some good memories other than that.

Sunshine Girl

Lisa was lucky enough to take a trip to Florida for a few days earlier this month. The weather was a little cool down there, but at least she didn't have to put up with any snow. She had a pretty good time and was able to collect some nice sea shells at some beaches. Her and Lily have big plans for some crafts with those. Already she has made a picture frame and Lily has made some bracelets. Can't wait to see what they'll come up with next, and I'm glad Lisa had a chance to get away for a bit and enjoy herself. Too bad it couldn't have been warmer for her, it seems we bring the cold with us when we travel (see-our trip to Alabama).

2010 Winter Fun Day

Winter Fun Day -Feb 4th
Thursday February 4th will be
Winter Fun Day at the Big Bear.

Today was Winter Fun Day for Lincoln school. Finally being on the midnight shift, I was able to enjoy this day with Lily and Trevor. After working all night, I met up with thier classes at the Big Bear Arena, where they had lots of fun activities lined up for us. I spent most of the morning with Lily, as I already went on a field trip with Trevor and had to keep things even.

I started off with Lily's 2nd grade class in the smaller gym where we played a game called 'protect the pin'. We each got a hockey stick and a bowling pin, and had to prevent our pin from beong knocked over by all of the tennis balls being knocked around. It really was a fun game and easy to get caught up in.

Our next stop was to play Bingo. I was able to catch up with Trevor and his class here before Lily's came in to play. He was having a lot of fun and won a harmonica. Lily finally got a 'bingo' herself, on the very last game we played. She was getting a little frustrated before that as she was getting so close.

Next on our agenda we headed to the bigger gym to play some games. The kids really liked this as they had some of the big blow up bouncy things that they like to play in. I spent most of the time at the baseball toss, helping the kids with that. I like teaching kids how to play baseball. I played some other games with Lily, too, like tic-tac-toe and ring-toss. There wasn't really enough time to get to everything, but it tired the kids out just a little bit.

After lunch it was time to lace up the skates and hit the ice for the afternoon. Lily and Trevor were on separate rinks, so I did a lot of running back and forth to spend some time with each of them. Even though I hadn't skated for a couple of years, I wasn't worried since I've been skating my whole life. So.. I jumped on the ice and fell right on my ass. Apparently when your skates aren't used, they rust up a bit and dig into the ice. After I scraped the rust of my skates (and my legs) I was good to go. Lily and Trevor did a good job of skating, too, despite the fact that they haven't been this year. I was glad I got to share this experience with them. They were really happy that I could be there with them, and can't wait until next year.

Lily Earns Another Stripe

Wednesday night Lily earned another yellow stripe on her white belt in Kuk Sool Won. This is just another step in her earning her yellow belt. She is still doing really well in this and is having a lot of fun. Her Master seems to really like her and is impressed with her progress as well. Posted is a pic of her class courtesy of Lisa's phone again. We got a new camera, but our new computer isn't reading the chips now. Seems we can't win. I'll post more pics if we can get it working.

Trevor's Cardboard Sled

Trevor and I built his cardboard sled for this year's Cub Scout race. Trevor designed it himself, and I helped him build it and tape it up. It's all just cardboard and tape, but we learned we could have used wax, too. Something to keep in mind for next year. He raced pretty well, but wasn't one of the top few sled. We had a lot of fun, and he and Lily did some more sledding on it after the competition was over. We'll be back to the hill next month for some 'tubing.

Here are some pics of Trevor and his sled after the race, courtesy of Lisa's phone cam, as all of our cameras seem to be broken.

The GMAC Bowl In Alabama

Last week my dad and I headed down to Mobile, Alabama to support his CMU Chippewa football team in the GMAC Bowl. We had a great time, but the weather was just as cold as it was in Michigan. We battled freezing rain to get to Grand Rapids, but finally made it to Mobile in the 5th.

Still tired from very little sleep and a long flight, we had plenty to do to keep us awake. After leaving the airport, we went right to Mobile's Minor League baseball stadium. Hank Aaron Stadium is home of the BayBears. The gentleman working was great to us, opening the gift shop and the stadium so we could get some pictures.

From there is was to the hotel for a well deserved nap. After that, we walked around Mobile a bit, downing a beer or two and getting ready for the Mardi Gras parade. The parade was great, and we got a lot of free stuff thrown at us that I saved for the kids. We finished the night off with a cold beer at a local sports bar.

Wednsday was gameday, and we took a bus to the stadium and that was a lot easier for us. What a great game, as CMU beat Troy 44-41 in double OT for the victory. I was real happy for my dad that they won. We would have a good time no matter what, but this made it even better. The whole trip was a fun experience for both of us, just getting away from the snow for awhile.

Lily Learns from Lady Lakers

Lily had fun today at the Lake Superior State's Winter Softball Clinic. Lily attended all day on Tuesday, having a pizza party for lunch.

The clinic helped the girls with thier throwing, fielding, and hitting. The older girls were able to touch on pitching and base-running.

I was able to watch Lily in the batting cage where she proved her superiority. I was beaming with pride after watching her pound line drives back over the pitcher's head. The above video doesn't really do her justice as to how well she was stroking the ball. She's used to hitting a baseball, so seeing a softball thrown at her must have seemed huge.

We'll be heading back to the college as usual this winter with Trevor in tow, working on some baseball skills and having some fun. They did get to play around for awhile after it was over.