Frozen Four

I am a huge sports fan. I blame my family who has been making me fill out bowl predictions and brackets since I was little. ESPN is our home page. Even with all of my sports interest, I have never even heard of the Frozen Four, which is the final four for college hockey. I didn't even know it existed, but when I heard the name Frozen Four and that it was in Detroit this past weekend, I knew we had to visit. So we packed up on Saturday and went downtown to visit the fanfest. At the first booth we visited, two of our paralympic sled hockey players were there increasing awareness for the paralympics and showing off their newly won Vancouver Olympic gold medal. Now, I may not know much about hockey, but I love the Olympics. I was thrilled to hold the Vancouvery gold medal. It was huge and heavy. The boys got to hold it and put it on. I was in heaven. Already, I deemed our outing a success.

Our next stop was a hockey skills test. Lights would flash on this 9 block grid and you would have to hit it with a hockey puck. Your total would flash above it with a counting down clock. We were second in line behind this 9 year old kid who proceeded to hit about 8 of the blocks in a minute. Needless to say, we were super impressed. Steve couldn't follow the child prodigy so he made Thomas go next. Thomas had a great time and enjoyed just hitting the puck as hard as he could. When Steve got up, one of the guys explained that the upper left light was having trouble so if ever did need see a light then that was the one to hit. Steve looked at him like he was crazy. Steve then proceeded to hit the lower, middle block about seven times in a row. It was hilarious. Steve would definitely be accurate in his attempt to go through a goalie's legs. We decided that we needed to learn how to get the puck in the air before we try any more timed hockey events.

By the way, Wisconsin was playing Boston College in the final. We decided to cheer for Wisconsin after the paralympics gold winner told us that one of their players had a great family and a couple from Maine heatedly told us how much they disliked Boston. Unfortunately, for all of you who don't live in Detroit and see the headlines everywhere, Boston won 5-0. Oh well. I would have lost that bracket. So after the fanfest, we rode the people mover, which is a long monorail around downtown and then walked on the Riverwalk. We had a great time. And the only thing I regret is not buying a Frozen Four t-shirt. I don't suppose I will ever get the opportunity again.

Kensington Metropark

With the recommendation of my neighbor Lisa who is becoming a regular on our weekly outings, we took advantage of the beautiful spring weather with a bike ride. I have been hearing about this park for awhile, but this is the first time we have ever visited. There is a 8 mile bike/jogging trail around a beautiful lake with a bunch of nature hikes, beaches, and playgrounds along the way. I didn't realize that the bike ride was 8 miles long when we started, however, but once we got going and decided we wanted to stop we were already halfway. So poor Thomas rode his bike 8 miles around the lake. He started complaining around mile 6 and I started getting nervous, but he stopped when we hit the boardwalk and had no problem finishing. It was so much fun. I can't wait to take Steve. I feel bad sometimes that he can't do all of these fun adventures with us. Poor guy has to work.

Easter

Easter this year was a lot of fun. We kicked things off with an Easter egg hunt at the local park put on by the community. My boys personalities are summarized completely by this experience. The kids were divided by age groups. Upon hearing the bell, Thomas ran around like crazy and gathered a bunch of eggs, but dropped them all while carelessly swinging his basket while running. He ended up with zero eggs. Hewitt, on the other hand, did not run at all when the bell rang and instead sat himself on the ground with no desire to find an egg. I handed him one, opened it, and gave him a piece of candy. After savoring it for a few minutes, Hewitt decided that he wanted another and started looking for eggs. He probably picked up two before they were all gone. Thankfully for Thomas, some nice man took pity on Hewitt and offered him about 7 eggs, most of which Hewitt donated to Thomas, who was crying. Donny was the only one who walked away a winner. He grabbed about 10 eggs and was super happy the entire time. He required no attention or help.

Easter egg dying is a fun tradition, but a messy one. I will take lessons from my cousin Ellice in the future who had aprons on all of her children as well as all utensils on a cookie sheet pan for each child. I think her children were just as happy, only cleaner.

For Easter this year, the Easter bunny brought a basket full of marble pieces that she bought at a local Mom2Mom sale for $10. Best purchase the Easter bunny ever made. They've played with it for hours and hours. Thank goodness we don't have a baby right now because I am finding marbles everywhere.


HAPPY EASTER!!!