2008 Turkey Roast Tournament

This weekend was the 2008 Turkey Roast Tournament in Lansing at The Summit at Capital Center. There were 5 different divisions in the tournament and Nathan's Hawk #1 team was in the Squirt "B" division along with two other Hawk teams, Lansing Capital Pride, Kensington Valley Cavalry, and Soo Burger King Flames (from Canada). The boys started slow on Friday against Capital Pride and ended up losing 6-2. They seemed to have some dead legs. Saturday started out better with a 5-1 win over Kensington Valley but then we played the dreaded team of the whole tournament in Soo Burger King and got beat 11-2. They were definitely a "travel" team playing in the wrong bracket. That score was typical for every game they played. Even though we only had one win, we ended up being the third seed for the semi-finals due to point differentials and ended up playing Lansing Capital Pride (2nd seed) on Sunday morning to see who would go to the finals against Soo.

The boys seemed very determined prior to the game. We'd lost to Capital Pride twice now and know they're beatable. They play rough hockey but our boys were ready for them. I had a good feeling about the game before it started... here's what happened: First off, the kids skated their butts off. After two periods, the score was 0-0 and the Lansing team was getting very frustrated. Then, our top player took a breakaway down and scored to make it 1-0. About a minute later, their top line came down and shot one past our goalie to make it 1-1 about half-way through the third period even though we'd been shorthanded 4 times and killed off each of the penalties. A couple minutes later, Trevor was skating through center ice and was taken out by two of their players (one high, one low). Somehow, the refs didn't see it as a penalty and they took the loose puck down and scored on a wraparound immediately after that to make it 2-1. with about 2 minutes left in the game. Then, with time running out, we were circling their net and Trevor somehow snuck a nice backhand through a ton of traffic in front and scored the tying goal with 4.5 seconds left. Everyone was going crazy and we now had a chance to get to the finals! The score was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation but less than a minute into overtime, Lansing got a breakaway and made a nice shot to score the game-winner. I felt so bad for our kids. They really played a great game and with a couple bad bounces ended up losing one they definitely should have won. But they ended up taking 3rd place out of six teams in the tournament. The boys will get another crack at Lansing next Sunday in a league matchup back at Capital Center.

I never realized how draining a weekend tournament would be! We only played four games over three days but everyone was exhausted when it was over. The Holiday Inn was overrun by HAWK players. Besides our team, the other two squirt teams stayed there along with at least one Bantam and one Pee Wee team. Since all the squirt teams practice together on Mondays, there were plenty of familiar faces to play with. When the boys weren't playing hockey games on the ice they were swimming, running around the hotel, playing mini's (mini-hockey) in the Holidome or hallway or just hanging out having fun. It was great that they got to spend some time together away from the ice. All the players get along really well. Nathan seemed to hang out with Trevor Z. and Trevor C. mostly. And Allison played with their sisters most of the time. It was also nice to sit and talk over drinks with some of the parents. All in all it was a fun, but tiring, weekend. Next weekend we play at Southside and at Lansing. Current Adray league record is 6-1-1 and overall record is 8-5-2.

Go Hawks! Pictures below, click to enlarge... We're also getting a disk of action photos of the team during their games. I'll post some of those when we get them...

Playing "mini's" in the Holidome. The boys were having a blast doing this. And it was nice because they were all in one location and the pool was right next to where they were playing. At one point, the boys were told they couldn't play in there. Then, a few hours later they were allowed to again since they were running the halls when they couldn't play and there must have been some complaints. Where are the parents of these kids?!
More mini-hockey with teammates
Madeline and Allison
Josh, Dyllan, Nathan, Matthew, Trever C. and Trevor Z. before the Kensington Valley game
Headed to the ice...
Matthew, Trevor Z. and Nathan prior to the rematch with Capital Pride. Matt wore the "C" and Nathan wore the "A". The boys rotated for each game.
Rachel, Madeline, and Allison doing crafts (P.J. Party)

Notre Dame vs. Syracuse

Heidi and Allison took their annual trip to Chicago with Bubba and the girls this past weekend so Nathan and I travelled down to South Bend to watch the Notre Dame v. Syracuse football game. We tailgated with Brian, Mark, Keith, Pat, Anna, and the Brian's kids. It was a very cold day and the South Bend area had gotten about 10" of snow the day before. The stands were full of snow as you could see by the number of snowballs being thrown. The only thing colder than Nathan's feet (which were in tennis shoes for some reason!) was the Irish offense. We were leaving the stadium as the Orangemen scored the winning touchdown. But at least we got out before all the traffic. Some photos of the day...

Tailgate dancing (Beezer, William, Brady, Noah, Nathan)...
Football, of course...
In the stadium... it was C...O...L...D...!!

Deer Camp 2008

Now that the leaves have all fallen and the cold winter has arrived, you knew the firearm deer season couldn't be far off. Last weekend was our annual getaway with the guys up north in Bitely chasing the great whitetail deer. A typical deer camp involves drinking, eating, shooting, laughing, drinking, hunting, eating, and drinking. This year was no exception. All the traditions were there. We took a trip to Johnny's in Custer for live music, drinking, and dancing. We had a good time watching some football. But most of all, we hunted. This year was a big question mark with the baiting ban in the lower peninsula. Heidi's brother Scott had just bagged a doe from his tree stand. I bow hunted the night before the opener and saw two doe but couldn't get them to come in close enough for the shot.

Saturday was the opening day of gun season. We'd gone out the day before and setup our ground blinds, made shooting lanes, and prepared for the great hunt. That night, we had a bonfire, salmon on the grill, a few drinks, and played guitars around the fire. Fittingly, though I didn't know it at the time, we ended the night with a rendition of Fred Bear on the acoustic guitar. "Let's go huntin' baby..."

The opening day forecast was nasty: snow and rain all day. The reality was it turned out to be a nice opening day for hunting. It was a bit windy but no rain and very little snow. It started out as most hunts in Bitely do, no deer. But then it happened. As I was sitting in my doghouse blind scanning the horizon, the BIGGEST buck I've ever seen in my life appeared out of nowhere. This thing looked like the king of the woods walking wherever he wanted. He wasn't concerned about much of his surroundings. He had his head held high and his rack looked like a bright crown. When I saw him, I said under my breath "HOLY $#!^". Brought my gun up and found him in the scope. He was walking but at a pretty good clip. I followed him with my crosshairs hoping for an opening but none came. I new I didn't have much time so I looked ahead of him, found a clear shooting lane, put the scope on it, and waited for him to walk into it. About three long seconds later, he did. I squeezed off the round and down he went in a giant heap. I racked another shell and grabbed my cell phone to call Scott who was only a few hundred yards away. As I did, the beast jumped up and ran back toward where he came from. I dropped the phone, raised my gun, and as I found him in the scope, he dropped again for good. At this point, I knew the deer was big but I hadn't had a chance to count points. I called, Scott answered. "Was that you?", he said. I replied, "Dude, I just shot the biggest &$*%#! buck I've ever seen in my life!" With that, Scott ran (not walked) all the way to my stand to check it out. We walked out to where I saw him drop the first time and found no blood. Looking over toward where the buck headed, he'd made it about 15-20 yards before finally dropping. And it's a good thing too because there was no blood to be found. Turns out the shot (about a 70-80 yarder taken at 9:58am) exploded both lungs and went right through him. All bleeding, it seems was internal. Turns out this buck was a big 8-point with a nice bright, high rack. Definitely not the type of deer we're accustomed to seeing in Bitely. Here are some shots of my buck of a lifetime. It is now at the taxidermist for a shoulder mount that's gonna look really nice in the cabin. I can't wait to get it back!


Two days and about three inches of snow later, my buddy Dave sat in the exact same stand and had a nice 7-pointer eating about 60 yards out from him. Having never shot a deer before, Dave was understandably nervous and fighting off some heavy breathing. At one point, he put his gun down, (P.S. Dave, don't EVER put your gun down when there's a buck standing in front of you!!!!!!) got his breathing under control and again took aim. He squeezed the trigger at 8:20am and dropped his first deer ever. A second BIG deer for the area we were hunting and his first ever. Here are some shots of Dave's deer.


Overall, it was a fun camp. And it didn't hurt that we had a little success this year. Within one week, we took three deer from the small area we hunted. I'd imagine it will be quite a few years before that will ever happen again.

Hawks are 6-1

This past weekend was a tough one on the ice. Nathan's team played Kentwood at Kentwood Ice Arena on Saturday. We knew going in that they were a good team. The boys played very hard and were able to stay out of the penalty box but Kentwood couldn't. Nathan even got checked into the boards from behind once which resulted in a penalty. He's also got a nice bruise across his leg from a slash. We ended up winning 3-2 but it was a VERY tight game.

Sunday was a home game against Capital Pride (Lansing). We knew they were a good team too since they beat Kentwood 2-1. But they came out flying and really pressured our team and seemed to be a step ahead all game. The Pride were winning 2-1 with about 4 minutes left and beat our goalie to go ahead 3-1. They then took a penalty and we pulled our goalie for an extra skater to try and get those goals back. Nathan had a real nice chance in front of the net during that power play but couldn't get it through the mass of kids diving in front of the net to block the shot. We didn't get a goal and the Pride ended up scoring on the empty net to win 4-1. Tough first loss. But the boys are back at practice right now working to improve for the next time they meet. We may see that team again in the Turkey Tournament in Lansing the weekend after Thanksgiving and we play at their place the following week.

This weekend's matchups are at WMU vs. Kalamazoo Saturday and at Holland Sunday. Go Hawks!

Hawks are 5-0!

Well, we've only had one game each of the last two weeks but Nathan's Hawk Squirt #1 team is unbeaten in five games and 3-0 in Adray League play. So Nathan's team is up near the top of the league standings but have only played three league games. The last two games were a home and home against GRAHA #3 Griffins over the last two weekends. The Hawks won 5-1 at Patterson Ice Center and then hosted the Griffins the following week at Walker Ice & Fitness and won in a 3-2 barnburner. The Griffins pulled their goalie at the end of the game for an extra skater and came very close to tieing it a couple times. I think we probably had our biggest crowd at that game.

This weekend will be a tough test as the Hawks will be playing Kentwood and Capital Center (Lansing) who are both pretty strong teams. Lets hope the boys can hold their own and come out with a couple more W's.

FYI.. you can always check the latest Adray Standings by clicking here and selecting West Squirt. Nathan's team is Hawks #1 and plays in the White division. And if you'd like to watch an exciting game you can view the schedule here. Go Hawks!

Happy Halloween!

We were lucky enough to have some great weather for trick or treating this year. Allison dressed up as a Hollywood Starlet in a pink dress fit for a walk down the red carpet. Nathan was going to dress up as a football player but changed his mind at the last minute when he found a mullet wig at the Halloween USA store. He ended up being a cross between Joe Dirt, Larry The Cable Guy, and Billy Ray Cyrus... complete with sleeveless flannel shirt and tight-rolled jeans. Cousin Breanna came over to join the kids for trick or treating wearing her poodle dress. Even Zoe got into the spirit wearing her Superman costume. The kids got mostly treats and a couple trips through the neighborhood haunted houses. We've all eaten way too much candy. There was a parade at school to see everyone's costumes and parties with games in their classrooms. Here are some shots from the day.

The costume parade at school...
Classroom party...
Abbi, Danni, and Ally
Nathan, Breanna, Allison, and SuperZoe
One more shot of the costumes before trick or treating...