The McDaid Family

Skiing & Snowboarding at Cannonsburg

2010-02-28T21:47:00.005-05:00

The whole family (and Nate's friend) went skiing/snowboarding at Cannonsburg today. We arrived at opening (9am) and were on the slopes until a little after 3pm with the exception of a quick lunch. It was a perfect day... the snow was good (though a bit slushy) and it wasn't too cold or too crowded. I actually got to use the snowboard I got for Christmas last year and really got the hang of carving. After a few times down the beginner hill (including Ally going through the slalom course, we headed to the chair lift and the terrain park. We even did our fair share of jumps. Nathan's friend Jonas joined us today and we spent the majority of the day going down the intermediate and terrain park runs. They have all sorts and sizes of rails, boxes, and jumps. The courage award goes to Ally for refusing to leave until she went over the "barrel jump". That's about a 6 foot high jump at the end of the terrain park with a couple barrels stacked on top of it. She tried to go over it about three times and kept getting scared and slowing down too much so she'd get just about to the top of it and slide back down. That happened on our last run of the day and she was a "bit upset" so we took our ski's/snowboard off and walked back up the hill a ways so she could try it one last time. This time she was determined and didn't slow down at all... I'd explain it all but Heidi had the camera rolling so we'll let the video do the talking. I say she landed it and then got her ski sideways... you be the judge. After the video ends, she looked over at me... I was expecting a trademark Allison McDaid scream of terror. Instead she was screaming "I DID IT!!!!" What a fun day...

Ally's Huge Ski Jump

Nathan's Snowboard Jump

Ally and Dad at the chair lift
Nate & Jonas...
Nate & Jonas...
Troy at end of run...

Our Ice Rink

2010-02-25T21:58:00.004-05:00

It must have been cold this winter...because the pond behind our house froze solid enough to make a rink. Our rink was approx. 40'x70'... perfect size for a good 3-on-3 game. We were able to skate about three weeks before Christmas and we skated on it a TON until just over a week ago. That's a pretty good run. I even went the extra mile and made my own DIY Zamboni that hooks to our hose to put a thin layer of new ice down after we skated. It made the surface super smooth (see the pictures below). But I did have to buy a couple hoses to reach down to the rink from our house. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was nuts to be out there at 10pm at night making ice....but everyone used it so who's crazy now?!! We had some fun 3-on-3 games with the neighbor kids. Nathan, Ally, and I also spent countless afternoons and evenings over at the Dood's (family from Nate's hockey team) house on their backyard rink. Ally's nickname is now Olie the Goalie thanks to Mr. Dood and she's skating really well now. Nathan is wrapping up his hockey season (4 games and 2 tournaments left). As much as I'm bummed the ice is melting I'm looking forward to spring, green, and a little baseball!

The beginnings of our rink...Nathan playing snow plow.
Couldn't wait long enough to clear the snow so they just started skating on what ice was clear...
After using my new toy for a couple cold nights, the ice was excellent!
Nate stick-handling...

Ally's Dances

2010-01-19T21:51:00.003-05:00

Here are some videos from our new camera of Allison at some recent rehersals for the upcoming competition season. They're not all complete but coming along nicely:

Large Group Tap - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtwCANoqSBU (check out those facial expressions!)

Large Group Jazz - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhwwfDydp9w

Tap Solo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcAfP4EHp9A (too cute!)

Been awhile?

2010-01-19T21:50:00.003-05:00

Yeah, I know I haven't updated the blog in some time. Too much going on. I've missed lots of hockey updates, deer camp, the holidays, etc. Maybe I'll cycle back to those but we'll begin with a quick post just to get back in the swing of things...

Holland Advanced Hockey Tournament

2009-10-24T13:05:00.005-04:00

Nathan's team played in an early season tournament last weekend in Holland at the Great Lakes Advanced Tournaments. Having only played 2 regular season games before the tournament (both of them losses), we weren't sure what to expect. The first game was Friday night against Kentwood and we lost 3-2 and we were lucky it was that close. Our goalie stopped 5 breakaways to keep us in it until the end. Nathan scored one of our two goals. Saturday morning was an 8-3 win over Lapeer. Nathan and one other player on his team each had hat tricks (three goals). Saturday night was a game against Battle Creek who beat the Hawks in their first game of the season 2-0 but Nathan had to miss that game due to a football game. It was a good game and we were up 4-1 but let them back into it in the final minutes and ended up winning 4-3. Nathan scored another goal in that game on a wraparound. Sunday morning was the final round-robin game of the tournament and the boys needed a tie or win in order to reach the championship game. Unfortunately, Heidi and I had to miss the game because we were flying out to Las Vegas for a work conference I had to attend. When we reached Chicago, Nathan called to let us know he had just scored the game-tying goal with less than 30 seconds on the clock to help his team reach the finals against Kentwood!!! Heidi and I were very excited for him and the other boys but very upset that we weren't there to see it. Then, we had to way until we got off the plane in Vegas before we would learn how the championship game ended up. When we talked to Nathan he was still very upset. They had ended regulation of the championship game in a 1-1 tie (Nathan had the goal for his team). The team was short-handed going into overtime and Kentwood ended up scoring to win the tournament. Our Hawks team was the tournament runner-up. Click here for the results sheet. Each boy got his name announced and received a runner-up medal. Additionally, theh team received a runner-up banner which will be decorated with all the player names and hung up at our home rink in Walker. The team manager sent out stats from the tournament and in 5 games, Nathan scored 7 goals and 4 assists. So Nate's stats for the season are 9 goals and 4 assists in 6 games. Not a bad start! I really think playing football this year has made Nate quite a bit stronger and it's showing when he's on skates. He's one of the older kids on his team this year and is learning to be a leader. The games are pretty fun to watch so if you want to catch one, take a look at his schedule here. Click the picture below to enlarge.

Nathan is third from the right in the middle row...

Football Update

2009-10-06T21:59:00.004-04:00

The Trojans are currently 2-1. The first game was a 42-7 win over the Spartans. Second game was a 12-0 win over the Chargers, and last week was a 14-0 loss to the first-place Steelers. Hopefully, the boys will be able to win their next two games to get another crack at the Steelers in the championship. Nathan's been getting a lot of playing time at defensive guard and is doing a good job of shooting the gaps. He's also getting much more comfortable hitting hard on tackles. A local photographer takes pictures of some of the games and posts them here. Nathan is in the 5th & 6th grade division and his team has maroon jerseys with gold numbers. He's number 81.

Cub Football Dancers

2009-10-06T21:53:00.003-04:00

Like last year, Allison did the Cub Football Dance during halftime of the 5th & 6th grade football game. This is an annual fundraiser for the Jenison High School Dance Team where they teach all the girls a dance on a Wednesday night and then they all perform at halftime of a Cub Football game. Nathan played the early game at 8am and Allison danced during halftime of the last game of the day. They both got rained on pretty bad but still had fun. I don't have video uploaded yet, but here are a couple pics.

Kaylynn and Allison...
Rehersal before the halftime show...

Bird Hunting

2009-10-06T21:35:00.005-04:00

Nathan passed Hunter's Safety class over the summer and now can officially hunt. We picked up his Junior Small Game license and Meijer had a coupon to get his combo deer license free. So he's set for the season. We sat twice during the youth deer hunt a couple weeks ago but didn't see anything. During the same weekend, though, we joined Scott, Bob, and Remy for some morning bird hunting. This was Nate's first time carrying a real gun so I didn't take my gun so I could watch over him and make sure he was being safe. He was using his Rossi matched pair gun that he got for Christmas last year. It has a .22 barrel and a .410 barrel. He was using the .410 with bird shot. I was very pleased with his hunting. He stayed up with the group, kept his muzzle in a safe direction, and stayed in his safe zone of fire on more than one occasion when a bird flew between us. It was a fun day. Remy put up quite a few woodcock and a handful of grouse. One of the woodcock that flew between us landed close by so Scott and Nate walked over toward it. When Remy flushed it up Scott and Nate both pulled up and shot at the same time. Scott is "pretty sure" he missed so Nate got his first woodcock. ;-) Not bad. Of course we had to clean it, wrap it in bacon, and fry it up in garlic butter for him to go along with his dinner. Most importantly, Nathan followed all the safety rules and is welcome to hunt with the group again. Here are some shots after we returned.

Bob, Scott, Remy, Nathan, and Troy
Remy holding Nate's bird...

Football Season

2009-09-17T22:13:00.005-04:00

As I mentioned before, Nathan pressed to give football a try this year. Unfortunately, football is all done by grade instead of age so he's playing with 5th and 6th graders. There are six teams in the league. This is his first year of ever playing football and he's on the low end in weight but he's still having fun and improving each day. It helps that his friend Dylan is also on the team. I think he enjoys it more than I expected him to. His team has maroon jerseys with gold lettering and they voted their team name to be the Trojans (like USC). So far, he's been playing defensive guard (usually against some pretty big kids that can throw him around pretty good...but he can also use his quickness to squirt through the hole). He's also been working on a nice little spin move that he uses against some of the bigger kids. He does a nice job of tackling but we're still working on getting him comfortable (and mean) enough to really deliver a solid hit with the shoulder pads. When he gets to play offense he's usually tight end. They don't run too many plays with wideouts at this age but they do occasionally throw to the tight end.

Last weekend was scrimmages against some of the other teams and he did a nice job. He played defensive guard (his best position), offensive guard, and outside linebacker. He said he liked outside linebacker the best but he'll need to learn to deliver a hit at full speed before he'll see much playing time there. He did a great job of covering the pass plays though. Overall, the team looked pretty good. We've got some pretty impressive kids on the team that are going to be tough for the other teams to handle. Their first game is coming up in a couple days so it will be interesting to see how that goes. Coach Mattson invited the whole team over to his house after the scrimmage so the boys could play together away from football for awhile. It was a perfect day.

All of the games will be played on the Jenison High School football field (here's a cool aerial photo of the campus). It's really an amazing complex that many colleges would probably envy. The last two games they play are during the week at night under the lights. That should be pretty cool. You can see the game schedule here.

Prepping for the scrimmages. Nathan is #81. And for the Weiss boys... Yes, he WILL be getting Timmy's towel back!
Warming up on the field...
I just had to take this shot.
The team party at Coach Mattsons. The boys are on a huge water mat. They could even walk on the thing but not when everyone is trying to get on!

The Fishin's Been Good

2009-09-17T21:39:00.003-04:00

It seems the last month or so has been great for fishing both up north (in Bitely) and back home in the little lake behind the house. One of Nathan's friends who's big into bass fishing taught him some techniques to catching more and it's paying off. It's all about the slow retrieve (so I'm told). Personally, I much prefer a fly rod and a kayak (and a cold adult beverage) but that's just me. Here are a couple pics of some of the 10-20 nice bass the boys have caught out back over the past month or so. The nice part is everyone throws them back so there are some really nice ones out there.

Nathan caught this one early one morning by pulling his Senko worm slowly across the dropoff.
Nate's friend Dylan caught this monster on a different morning using the same technique.

It's Been Over A Month!

2009-09-17T21:32:00.003-04:00

Wow, time really does fly when the kids get active! I haven't posted in about six weeks. And a lot has happened during that time. Nathan attended summer camp and passed his hunter safety course. He plans on doing some hunting this fall if he can fit it in between practices and games. Allison had dance tryouts and is going to take on a couple more dance routines this year including a tap solo (she's got guts!). We also had our annual karaoke party up at the cabin. On top of that, Nathan has now started 5th grade and Allison is in 2nd. Ally started her dance practices the same time school started. Nathan is playing hockey again and talked us into letting him give football a go too. Needless to say, between practices, games, and school, they're able to get some sleep and that's about it. But nobody's complaining (yet). I'll try to post some updates with pictures very soon...

First Day Of School

2009-09-08T21:59:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day of school and the kids were mostly ready to go back. While it's nice to have them back on a routine it's also a bit hectic with fall activities starting up too. Nathan is now in 5th grade and Allison is in 2nd. Only 2 more years and Nate will be at the Junior High building. That's crazy! I can still remember holding him when he fit in my hands. Everyone says the time just continues to speed up and I'm starting to understand it.

Allison with friends Abby and Hannah on the first day of school.
Heidi's annual picture of the kids on their first day of school. Allison looks WAY too old in this picture for me...

Camp Geneva

2009-08-08T21:52:00.000-04:00

Nathan and cousin Noah attended Camp Geneva again this summer in Holland. They both went last year and had so much fun they decided to do it again. It sounds like box hockey was the big hit again during free time. But other than that the boys enjoyed skits, games, polar bear morning swims, worship time, candy at the camp store, and who knows what else.

Nathan and Noah with their cabin counselors.

Ludington Camping Trip

2009-07-30T21:51:00.005-04:00

We took our annual week-long camping trip to Ludington a bit earlier this year from July 10-17. The weather was quite a bit cooler than usual but we didn't get much rain so it still worked out well. We hit all the usual spots and, of course, went to House of Flavors for ice cream more than people should. Here are a few shots from the trip in no particular order...

Fishing on the Au Sable River at the Hamlin Lake Dam (Allison, Troy, Breanna, Grandma Anderson)
Floating down the river from the dam to the beach at Lake Michigan

Nathan working on his skateboarding moves at the skate park downtown

Allison and Zoe on the boardwalk by the river...

Big Sable Point Lighthouse (4-mile round trip bike ride from our campsite)...

Allison and Nathan on the old tree stump by the lighthouse... the 127 is how old the tree was when it was cut down.

Family photo at the top of the lighthouse (90-some feet up). Great view... but it was pretty windy that day! Heidi, Allison, Nathan, Troy

Allison climbing a tree during one of our hikes while Zoe took a dip in the lake...

Allison the doggie

2009-07-30T21:38:00.003-04:00

I realized I haven't posted in awhile and was looking back through pictures to see what all we've been up to lately. I ran across this little gem that you can bet will show up at her graduation party. I remember this morning... Allison's imagination was on overdrive while she was playing in her room. She somehow came up with the idea to use hair clips and socks and "become" a dog with floppy ears and a tail. Here's the result.... too funny!

Dance Photos

2009-06-24T22:12:00.005-04:00

After posting about the dance competition last weekend, Heidi pointed out that we hadn't posted any good action shots of Allison doing her routines. So here they are (click to enlarge)....

Hey Daddy (jazz) flying leap...
Hey Daddy (jazz) again... Ally is 2nd from the right.
Scooby Dooby Doo (hip-hop) beginning...
Scooby Dooby Doo.. Allison is on the left.
Scooby Dooby Doo ending... Peace!
The Shoop Shoop Song (tap).. Ally is on the right.
The Shoop Shoop Song... it's in his kiss... that's where it is....
The Shoop Shoop Song kick line...

Talent On Parade National Finals - Des Moines, IA

2009-06-22T22:38:00.000-04:00

This weekend was the Talent On Parade National Finals at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, IA. If you ever have 7 1/2 hours to spare and want to ride in the car with virtually NOTHING at all to look at, point the car west and take a trip to Des Moines. I've heard it's a boring ride and that is an understatement. Luckily, we broke up the drive out there by leaving Thursday night after my softball game and stopping about half-way for the night in Princeton, IL. The following morning we took a quick dip in the pool and headed out for the rest of the way to Des Moines.

While the drive wasn't that fun, the competition was pretty cool. There were groups from a bunch of different states and it was fun to watch the different routines (I think Nathan just likes looking at all the girls!) Luckilly, Allison performed all three of her dances on Saturday. Her group was the first of the day doing The Shoop Shoop Song (tap). Then she had a break and did Hey Daddy (jazz). A couple hours later, they did Scooby Dooby Doo. The girls did a GREAT job and performed each of the songs better than they ever have. Perfect time to nail it! They received an Elite Top First ranking (based on scores) for each of them which is pretty impressive. In terms of awards they did great too. The Shoop Shoop Song took 2nd place in the large group category (behind another BLDC routine done by kids in the next older age bracket). Hey Daddy took 5th place in the line group (larger than a large group). Plus, the judges give out "special" awards for whatever they feel like... The Shoop Shoop Song won one judges "Tu-Tu Cute Award". By about 6pm all the awards were presented and we headed back to the hotel for some pizza and swimming.

I must say I'm extremely proud of Allison and the way she's thrown herself into dance this year. She was a bit nervous during the first competition (and who wouldn't be when on stage in front of a crowd of about 1,000 people, judges sitting right in front of the stage, TV cameras, etc?). By the time Nationals came around she was like an old pro. She was clearly just having fun and enjoying herself and it really showed. And of course I let her know just how proud I was...

Heidi & Allison at the entrance.
Prior to the first dance of the day...
Stretching with the other BLDC dancers in the early morning...

Summer is here?! Random thoughts...

2009-06-19T22:27:00.001-04:00

I have no idea where the time has gone since early April. Spring is gone and summer is here! I thought after hockey was done in March we'd have all sorts of free time. In reality, it was just the opposite. With both kids playing ball and Allison still doing dance we actually were more busy! But that's about to change (I think). The kids are both a year older now (10 and 7). The Wings lost in the cup finals (but secretly, Nathan is excited because Dan Bylsma - the Penguins head coach - is running a hockey camp this summer that Nate is attending). Allison and Nathan just wrapped up softball/baseball last week. I started my softball league with some guys from work. And we even built a 10'x5' box garden at home in the back yard. I'll have to post a picture sometime. It's growing very well. We've got some lettuce, spinach, brocolli, tomatoes, beans, cukes, peppers, etc. We haven't had a garden since our house on Fuller about 9 years ago.

We haven't been able to get up north as much as we'd like but we have been able to get some yard work done around the house so it looks pretty nice. We're travelling to Des Moines, Iowa this weekend for Allison's National dance competition. Now, it's getting very nice out and staying light until 10pm. We'll have to take full advantage and enjoying the outdoors until the madness begins again in September.

Great Grams' Rose Bush

2009-06-18T22:11:00.000-04:00

Heidi's Grandma had a giant rose bush in her yard in Chicago. And when she passed away a few years ago, the bush was split up among a few people in her family. We got a little piece of it and planted it on the side of the house. The first couple years it didn't do much. Last year we cut it back and it actually grew pretty well. But this year, for some reason, it seems to be growing like crazy. Heidi picked up a trellis for it to climb up and it's already filled the whole thing. Here are some pictures she took of it in full bloom. It's still got a ton of flowers on it. I have no idea how long they'll last but it brightens up the side yard...

Allison's Dance Recital

2009-05-16T14:52:00.000-04:00

Today was Allison's dance recital for Body Language Dance Company at the Zeeland High School. They have these recitals once a year so you get to see alot of the non-competition dancers as well as the competition routines. Ally lucked out and got to do all of her dances in one show (her friends ended up having to be in 4 shows in one day). At the end of the recital they handed out awards. Allison received a 2nd straight perfect attendance award. She also received the Shining Star Award. That is an award handed out to one kid in each age bracket that the teachers vote on as the one that is "always ready on time, excited to be there, is a joy to teach, and makes it fun to come to class". That was quite a surprise to Heidi and I, but a nice one.

Hannah and Allison at the recital...

Red Wings vs. Ducks - Game 7

2009-05-14T12:36:00.002-04:00

Today started just like any other day... get up, get ready for work, pack a lunch, check the calendar (Ally - dance practice, Nate - baseball practice).. and off to work I go. Then at about 11:30am as I got back to my desk after a staff meeting I got a call from Heidi. She'd been looking online and found two tickets to tonight's Game 7 NHL Playoff game between the Red Wings and Ducks at Joe Louis Arena for a decent price. Now, anyone who knows me knows I'm not Mr. Spontaneous. Knowing that I've been swamped at work and both kids have practice, I turned them down and said we can just watch it on TV. The view would be better anyway. But Heidi was persistent and talked me into leaving work early, picking Nathan up from school early, and driving to Detroit for the game. Don't you all wish you had a wife that would do that?! I finally agreed.

I left work a bit early and planned on picking Nathan up from school at 3pm. Remember, he had no idea of what was planned. But Heidi had called his teacher to let her know we'd be picking him up early (and why). When I got there, the receptionist called him down to the office. Having no idea what was going on, he was afraid he was in trouble for something. When he walked into the office and saw me sitting there he really got worried. I let him sweat it for a few minutes while we walked to his locker to get his stuff. He kept asking why I was picking him up early. I just told him we had a lot of running around to do tonight and I didn't think we'd be home in time to watch the Wings game on TV. That upset him! "Why?!", he asked. And I said, "Because.... we're going to the game!" After a couple minutes of convincing him I wasn't joking he was giddy with excitement. He couldn't believe I was picking him up early from school to go to a Red Wings game, let alone a PLAYOFF GAME!

Since Nathan had a math test the next day, he studied for two straight hours in the car with no complaints (no way he would have done that at home!). We got there about an hour before gametime and went down by the glass to watch the Wings warm up. It was a great game and the crowd was super loud. The Wings ended up winging on a goal by Cleary with about 6 minutes left. It was a GREAT TIME and I'm really glad we went. Who knows when we'll get another chance to attend a playoff game. Heidi definitely earned some brownie points for this one!

Here are some pics we took while there.

Nathan on the steps to Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings...
Watching warmups up-close. The player right in front of Nathan is Jonathan Ericsson. Just two years ago, while he was playing with the Grand Rapids Griffins, he came to one of Nate's hockey practices and worked with the kids on drills. Nathan has kept an eye on him ever since. Now, he's one of the top defensemen on the Wings!
Face-off to start Game 7...
Nathan and I before the game...

Back To The Ball Fields

2009-05-10T20:33:00.006-04:00

Baseball and softball seasons are in full swing now. Let me translate... we live at the ball fields most nights of the week. But it's fun so I can't complaiin. Nathan moved up to the 9-10 yo. kid pitch and Allison moved up to the 6-7 yo. machine pitch. This is Nathan's first season with kids pitching to him off a mound. It's quite an adjustment but he's starting to come around. I'll tell you what.. the fields they have put my high-school field to shame! Nice mound, grass infield, dugouts, unreal. They've both had a couple games and are enjoying the season. Allison is hitting the snot out of the ball and Nathan has scored a couple runs. The highlight for this season so far is happening at home though. I've been pitching whiffle balls to the kids which lasted about 15 minutes before they were bored. So I taught them how to play long-base baseball (only one base and home plate...and you can throw the ball at the runner to get them out) and introduced them to the "ghostie" runner. We've played each of the last couple days in the yard and they've been asking to play even more. What a sneaky way to get them to work on their hitting, fielding, throwing, and rules of the game. I only wish I'd thought of it earlier. I couldn't even count how many hours I spent playing the exact same game in the back yard while growing up.

Allison hamming it up before the pitch...

Nathan's first game...

Nate up to bat...

Fifth Third Junior Run

2009-05-06T19:46:00.002-04:00

You're probably expecting this post to be about Nathan running another race. Well not this time... The Fifth Third River Bank Run is this weekend and they held a junior race at Rogers High School in Wyoming for kids age 5-13. They had 1/2 mile and 1 mile runs for the little ones and a 5k for the older kids. Nathan couldn't do this race because he had a baseball game. But Allison ran it with Zach and uncle Scott. Normally, Allison would rather do anything other than run. But she did it and said she had fun. Of course the goody bag she got probably made her like it even more... Great job, Ally!

Allison hitting her stride...

Zach and Ally with their "Finisher" ribbons...

TTQ and the 2009 Tulip Time 5K

2009-05-02T22:11:00.002-04:00

So, for the past 2-3 months, Nathan has been attending Total Trek Quest after school two days a week. Basically, it's a program aimed at getting kids off their butts and get them doing some physical activity as well as making new friends. For about an hour each Tuesday and Thursday, the volunteer "coaches" would work with the kids on stretching, running, playing games, setting goals, etc. Surprisingly, only three boys from Nathan's school signed up for the program. But he still had fun and improved his endurance. The program culminated with the kids running in the Holland Tulip Time Run 5K race. Nathan did a mini triathlon last summer but this was his first 5k. It was a perfect morning for a race, clear and a bit chilly but not too cold. The entire pack took off very fast from the starting line and I was worried he'd burn himself out too early. After snapping some pictures at the starting line we headed for the finish line to wait for his arrival. The crowd gathered on both sides of the course leading to the finish line. Nathan's goal was to finish at around 28 minutes (pretty ambitious in my opinion). Interstingly, the overall (adult) winner finished in a little over 16 minutes... crazy! Nathan finally made the turn into the home stretch with just under 30 minutes on the clock and ran through the cheering crowd to the finish line. He placed 198 overall out of 486 finishers and his final time was 30:02. See his results here. I expected him to look a lot more tired than he did at the end of the race. He looked like he could have ran another mile no problem (but he did sleep hard that night). He also asked if we could do the Fifth Third River Bank run 5K next Saturday. That was our plan... until we found out it would cost $34 each for us to run in it. So we decided to pass on that one. Congratulations Nate... GREAT JOB!

Nathan approaching the finish...
The Bauerwood TTQ Team (Nathan, Mason, Vitale, and Coach Eric)...

Spring Break - Gatlinburg, TN - Part 2

2009-04-12T20:54:00.000-04:00

After the rain had subsided a bit, we all drove up into the mountains to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We did a 2+ mile hike to see Laurel Falls which is a cascading waterfall. It was strange driving up to to top of the mountains where there was still snow. The air was definitely cooler too. The hike was uphill all the way there and downhill all the way back. There were a couple spots where Nathan was sure to be on the mountain side of the path since the other side was a very steep drop-off.

We also did a driving tour up in the mountains one night just before dark. We were hoping to see some black bears but didn't have any luck. However, we did see a couple turkeys, a number of small waterfalls, and some really old mountain houses and farms. On one of our last days part of the group went horseback riding in the mountains. It actually turned out to be really nice. Allison and Reygan rode horses all by themselves for the first time and were very proud about that. The trails went up and down in the mountains and across a couple streams. Overall it was just a nice quiet ride with some good scenery. We also took the kids into town to a kids-only portion of the Little Pigeon river where they stock rainbow trout every Thursday. There were some VERY large trout in that stream and I think almost all the kids caught one.
Nathan's big catch at the kids-only section of the river.
On our last night, we went to Gatlinburg so the girls could take a peek at the shops. We took the aerial tram up to Ober Gatlinburg (think 1970's ski resort that hasn't changed since it was built). the tram ride was pretty cool. It goes WAY up in the air and there were a couple parts (after passing a tower) where you'd get the "falling" feeling for a second or two. At the top, the skiing was done for the season but they had a skating rink, tubing, low-budget zoo with black bears, a couple rides, and a few little shops. It took awhile to get back down since it was the end of the night and everyone was trying to ride the tram back down to town.

The last night at the cabin was spent around the fire in the outdoor pavilion at the cabin cooking s'mores. As is the case with most vacations, this one was far too short. But maybe we'll do it again in a few years. It was definitely a nice break from Florida crowds.

Some additional pictures from our trip...

Nathan and Allison on their horses...

A dozen rainbow trout caught right behind the cabin (the only day they really seemed to be biting)...
Scott wading a section of the river a couple miles downstream from the cabin...

Spring Break - Gatlinburg, TN - Part 1

2009-04-07T21:44:00.009-04:00

The time is finally here... Spring Break 2009! We haven't taken a big trip in a couple years so this year, after talking to some friends about their trips, we decided to rent a "cabin" in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee for a week. Heidi did the legwork of looking around and found an AMAZING cabin through Jackson Mountain Homes called Skipping Stone which was right on the Little Pigeon River, a nice mountain trout stream. It was a bit expensive so we split the cost with three families (her brothers Scott and Keith and their families). We didn't even have much planned once we got there but I knew I wanted to do some fishing and relaxing, Heidi wanted to do some shopping and relaxing, and the kids just wanted to play (no relaxing).

Our trip had us driving down to Cincinatti (actually Florence, KY right at the Cinci airport). We spent the night there and then continued on to Gatlinburg, TN the next morning. I'd never been down to this area of the country before and it was my first time in the mountains. I must say it was pretty cool to see. When we got to Gatlinburg we did our grocery shopping and picked up our fishing licenses and then checked in and got directions to our cabin. I had some pretty high expectations of the place based on the information online and the price. But when we finally got there I was completely BLOWN AWAY (as was everybody else)! In fact, I think Scott may have been literally jumping up and down out of excitement when he got out of the car...

The place was twice as big as I expected and we could have easily had another family go and still have had extra room. We all spent the first hour or so unloading cars and groceries and touring our home for the next week. It happened to be 72 degrees when we arrived and we knew the next few days were supposed to be very cold so we took advantage of the weather and spent the rest of the day outside fishing and relaxing by the river (pictures below).

Just as expected, the next two days were very cold. We even had snow on the ground one morning. But that didn't hurt anybodys feelings. We spent the time relaxing and playing inside and also made a trip to the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. It was pretty cool as far as aquariums go. They have a really cool tunnel through some of the aquariums and we got to see all sorts of sea creaturs up close. The highlight for us was the sharks. The lowlight was the crowd of people. Everyone had the same idea of visiting during the cold stretch.

Here are some pictures from our first couple days.... Stay tuned for more on our trip.
Rocky (the dog), Zach, Nathan, and Nick stretching their legs at a gas station just before we got to Gatlinburg...
Skipping Stone - our home for the week in the Smoky Mountains...
Nathan and Allison on the rocks by the river. This is one of my favorite pics from the week...
Nathan and Keith fishing the Little Pigeon River right after we unloaded the cars. Keith would eventually slip on the submerged portion of the rock he's standing on and get a taste of how cold a mountain stream really is...
I got to try out my new Cabela's waders right after we arrived and they didn't leak a bit!

Allison, Nick, and Reygan playing in the river...
Allison, Rocky, and Angie chilling out on the swing by the river...
Keith caught the first trout shortly after we started fishing. We thought we'd be catching them that quick all week. Later, we found out only one day would be a 'good' fishing day...
The swim spa was a big hit with the kids. It doubled as a large hot tub too so we got to use it every day regardless of the temperature outside...
Shot of a shark swimming over us at the aquarium while we were in the tunnel. Look at those teeth!
Heidi and the kids at the aquarium...
Nathan after diving with the sharks.... (just kidding, just posing for a photo-op)
Nathan and Zach getting ready for bed in one of the four "cubby holes" up in the padded play area...

Showstopper Dance Competition - Battle Creek

2009-03-28T21:08:00.004-04:00

We just returned home from Allison's second dance competition of the season. We were in Battle Creek at Kellogg Arena for the Showstopper Dance Competition. Luckily, all three of her dances were on Saturday afternoon so we didn't have to do an overnight. Grandma Anderson and Breanna were there to cheer Ally on. Allison was FAR less nervous this time around compared to her first competition. She was having a ball and even went up on stage to dance during breaks just for warm-up. The kids did a great job and ended up winning a couple trophies and medals. Allison had the honor of receiving the awards for The Shoop Shoop Song (tap). They took 1st place in the division and 10th overall for that song. They were 9th overall with their Hey Daddy (jazz). For Scooby Dooby Doo (hip hop) they took first in their division but didn't make it into the overall.

One dancer gets to receive any awards for each song and Allison was lucky enough to have the teacher pick her for The Shoop Shoop Song. When they announced it, she went up to the center of the stage and the announcer asked her a couple questions and then had her say her name and the name of her studio. She spoke up clearly into the mic so everyone could hear "Allison McDaid from Body Language Dance Company!". It was too cute! Congratulations to all the little dancers who are pretty impressive!

Also, Allison is considering doing her tap dance for the school talent show as well. We'll see if she follows through on that and does it by herself. Here are some shots from the day. Click on a picture to enlarge.

Warming-up on stage by doing "The Freeze". It's a move they do in the Scooby Doo routine...
The ending of the Scooby Dooby Doo performance... (hip hop) Allison is front & center.
The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)... (tap) Allison is on the far right.
The beginning of Hey Daddy (jazz)... Allison is on the far left.
Accepting the 1st Place award for The Shoop Shoop Song...

Lansing Capital Field Trip

2009-03-26T21:53:00.003-04:00

Today was the annual Bauerwood 4th grade field trip to Lansing. Heidi got to go along for the chaos... er, fun. All three 4th grade classes took charter busses to Lansing and parents tagged along in cars. They visited the Capital Building and the Michigan Historical Museum. Sounds like it was a long day but interesting for the kids and the adults. Sorry to say Nathan didn't get a chance to question any of the legislatures on why they passed that simulus bull... I mean bill. But that's a topic for another time. Here are some shots from the trip.

The Capital Building...
Nathan's class at the museum...
Nathan next to an old logging cart... look at the size of that wheel!
David, Jonas, and Nathan hanging out "on the farm"
Nathan rolling up his sleeves...

Bauerwood Sock Hop

2009-03-21T21:31:00.000-04:00

Tonight was the annual Bauerwood Elementary "carnival". But there was an added twist this year as they hired a DJ and held a 50's Sock Hop! Early on, dinner was served followed by carnival type games in all of the classrooms (and lots of candy prizes of course). After the games, the music started in the gym and the kids got to dance to the music. Allison LOVED it and couldn't resist doing the Hand Jive which they've been learning in music class. Unfortunately, Nathan was a bit under the weather but still went and even joined in for the Chicken Dance.

Allison cutting it up on the dance floor with Abbie...
Chester Chicken showed up during the Chicken Dance...

Championship Weekend!

2009-03-08T21:17:00.001-04:00

While Allison was starting her dance competition season, Nathan was finishing up his hockey season. This weekend was the Big Bear Spring Showdown Hockey Tournament at Soutside Ice Arena in Grand Rapids. There were 6 teams in our bracket. Our tournament started out on a sour note Friday afternoon with a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Jets. Saturday morning, we played the Kalamazoo Flames and beat them 6-3. Then, Saturday night, we played another Chicago Jets team and beat them 7-2. Nathan played defense during the entire tournament. He's been doing a good job of getting back and forcing the other team wide to prevent easy shots and it's been working pretty well. Based on the first three games, the top four teams went into the semi-finals on Sunday morning. We were the number three seed and had to play another Hawk team in the semi's. That game was a nail-biter because the other Hawk team is pretty good. We beat them in the district play-down game at Walker but it was a close game. They play solid defense but our boys were working great together and we ended up winning 6-4 to head to the finals for a rematch against the Chicago Jets team we'd lost to on Friday afternoon. So we went home and called/emailed everyone in the family to let them know there was a championship game this afternoon.

The Championship Game: Nathan was a little giddy prior to the championship game because the team has been so close to making it to a tournament final and they were finally going to play in one. This weekend has been great to watch. For some reason, after Friday the boys finally have gotten the feel of how to play together as a team by playing positions, passing the puck and spreading the other team out. Everything sort of came together. Additionally, they've all been skating hard and back-checking to prevent the other team from getting easy scoring chances. They've learned passing the puck makes scoring goals a LOT easier and results in more scoring chances for our team.

In tournaments, they typically begin the championship game by lining up both teams on the blue lines, announcing all of the players, and playing the National Anthem. For some reason, they lined up the players, didn't announce them, and then realized they didn't have a national anthem to play. That's where the fans in the stands came to the rescue (man, I wish this one was on tape)... Someone began singing the national anthem and the entire crowd (which was pretty large and loud since this was a championship game) joined in. We sang through the entire anthem while the players stood at the blue lines. Too funny!

Once the puck dropped, the boys picked up right where they left off from this morning. Everyone was skating hard, doing their part and playing as a team. We jumped out to a 1-0 lead and held that until the middle of the third period. We scored another goal to go up 2-0 with about 4 minutes left. After a mix-up in our end, the Jets scored to make it 2-1. We were still doing a good job of stopping their rushes. They pulled their goalie and really put the pressure on and shot a game-tying goal past our goalie with 24 seconds left in the game to tie it 2-2. Talk about taking the wind out of our sails!

But... immediately after the face-off we went down in their end and put a shot off their goalie. Our center slammed the rebound off the goalie and in the net to go up 3-2 with about 10 seconds left. From there it was a matter of running out the clock. When the game was finally over, the ice became littered with gloves, sticks, helmets, etc. as the boys were celebrating a hard-fought title. They all jumped into a big pile and were screaming along with the crowd. It was great that they were able to end the season on such a high note. I know for Nathan it was extra special because he's been pretty bummed knowing the hockey season was about over and he wouldn't be playing with alot of these boys next season. Most of them are a year older and will be moving up to the Pee Wee age bracket.

After the celebration was over, they lined up each of the teams on the blue lines again. They announced all of the players from both teams to get their trophies and shake hands then they presented the team trophies. After all of the hoopla was over the entire team went out for dinner (and drinks for the parents). I'm completely worn out and I'd imagine the kids are feeling the same way after this weekend. But it couldn't have been scripted any better. Both of the kids did a great job at what they do.

Congratulations HAWK #1!!!
2009 Big Bear Spring Showdown Champions!!!
Nathan is in the front row just to the right of the goalie...

The celebration... I wish I had pictures of the crowd going crazy after that game-winning goal. It was pretty insane!

Congratulations for everyone. I must say the Chicago Jets team was very good. The parents and team were a class act and good sports.

Coach Jim took photos of each of the players and their family with the trophy before heading out for dinner...

Allison's First Dance Competition

2009-03-07T21:02:00.001-05:00

Ever since last fall, Allison has been practicing three dance routines for competitions:

Jazz: Hey Daddy
Hip Hop: Scooby Dooby Doo
Tap: The Shoop Shoop Song

This weekend was her first competition where her dance team performed their routines. The Talent On Parade (TOP) Kalamazoo Regional competion was held at Miller Auditorium on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. It was pretty cool to go back to the campus Heidi and I both graduated from. So much has changed since we left (about 14 years ago... yikes!!!). Anyway, Nathan was playing in a hockey tournament this weekend so after his early game Saturday morning we zipped down to Kalamazoo to catch Ally's dances. Her first routine was Hey Daddy. It's kind of a fast country number. All the girls are dressed in jean skirts, jackets, and lots of sparkles. Her whole group did a great job. We could tell she was pretty nervous. Who wouldn't be nervous performing for the first time in a giant auditorium with tons of people, judges, photographers, and videographers watching?!. But she kept smiling at the judges during the whole routine and looked like she had fun. Even with all that she did great.

What was really funny was I think Nathan was more nervous for her than Heidi and I put together!! He was always asking when Ally was up and when she was coming up he would get all serious and focused hoping she did good. How cute!

The second routine she did was Scooby Dooby Doo. It is a hip hop mix. The girls wear white hoodies with Scooby Doo airbrushed on the back along with white tennis shoes and visors and a purple sparkled skirt. During this dance, Ally looked less nervous and was clearly starting to get a little comfortable. The last number was her tap dance. The girls wore very poofy skirts with bright pink and even more sparkle. By this time, Ally didn't look nervous at all and did great! I think this was their best performance of the three. It's funny... there were probably about 20 girls in the routine and I didn't ever watch any of the other ones. At the end, her groups did well in the scoring and won some awards. She brought home six ribbons. But I'd be lying if I tried to say I understood them. I don't know if they took 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in anything. Everything was "First place", "Top First", and "Elite Top First" whatever those mean. In addition they also won awards for overall categories. Hopefully the instructors can explain how that all works this week at practice so we at least know what they're shooting for. But for a first competition it seemed to me like they all did a great job. We've got a few weeks before the Battle Creek competition. Here are some pictures of Allison back stage before the performances.

"Hey Daddy" - Jazz

"Scooby Dooby Doo!"

"The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)"

Goalie (for real)

2009-03-01T20:21:00.001-05:00

I previously posted about Nathan playing goalie in practice. Well, today, one of the other kids on the team was planning to play goalie but decided he didn't want to yesterday so the coach asked Nate if he would. He was excited to give it a try in a real game and wouldn't stop talking about it for the entire 24 hours. We were playing East Grand Rapids at home. He was nervous at first but had a lot of fun. I have to say watching your kid play goalie is about as stressful as anything I can think of. Even though it wasn't a tight game, every save was a relief!! He did great and the team played solid defense in front of him. We ended up winning the game 5-2. Of course, now he wasnts to play goalie a few times next year too.

Jenison Junior Wildcat Dancers

2009-02-12T22:16:00.007-05:00

Allison can't seem to get enough of dancing right now. Aside from her competition routines, she learned another one this week. The Jenison High School Varsity Dance Team held a fundraiser that allowed the girls to learn a routine in about 2 hours on Monday night and then perform it at halftime of the varsity basketball game tonight (Thursday). This is similar to what they did during football season when they performed at halftime of a football game. If you ask me, they do pretty well considering they learned it all in only 2 hours. I've posted a video of the performance on our YouTube channel.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PERFORMANCE!

We've also gotten some sneak peeks at Allison's three competition routines and they're looking pretty good. They're coming down the home stretch for her competition dances with Body Language Dance Company. Her first competition is the first weekend in March. She's been getting a little nervous about the competitions but she seems like she's getting over it especially after tonight's performance. She had a lot of fun! Enjoy!

Allison with some of her friends before the performance...

Goalie

2009-02-12T21:52:00.003-05:00

Nathan has been bugging coach Jim for about a month to get a chance to play goalie at practice and today he finally got his wish. I think playing goalie for mini sticks has gotten him interested. He played goalie a few times last year during cross ice but this was the first time he faced some pretty hard shots and the boys make a game of trying to put it off the goalie's head in practice. Colton (our usual goalie) was nice enough to let Nate use his helmet. Nathan held his own and had a blast. Now he wants to try being goalie in a game sometime next year... we'll see...

It's hard to believe but the hockey season is almost over (4 more weeks). It's such a long season but it goes by so quickly. We're at Georgetown this Friday. Next weekend is Adray playoffs at Southside. Go Hawks!

MAHA District 6 Tournament

2009-02-08T20:04:00.006-05:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. Time is really flying and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down until late March!

Anyway, Nathan and I spent the weekend in Ludington for the MAHA District 6 Tournament. Heidi and Allison joined us after Ally's dance rehersal Saturday morning (BTW...her competitions are coming up and her routines are looking pretty cool!... more to come on that topic). This tournament was the beginning of the playoffs for the west side of the state. Out of 28 organizations in the district, only 8 teams made it this far so it was an honor for the boys to earn a trip to the tournament (first by beating the other two HAWK teams and then by beating Chelsea in a play-in game). In the win column, the weekend didn't go great but the boys really played some great hockey against some very good teams. Here's the rundown:

Friday vs. West Shore Wolves (Ludington) - Ludington jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the first period and things weren't looking good. But none of the goals were from breakaways (which has been our achilies heal). One was a power play goal and the others just sort of happened off rebounds. Coach Jim made some moves to try and generate some offense... and it worked. The boys played as a team, were making some very nice passes, dumping and chasing the puck into the other end, and wearing out the other team. After a scoreless second period, we owned the third. We scored three goals and the Wolves were tired. We had a couple chances as time ran out but were unable to tie it up and ended up losing 4-3. But it should be noted that Ludington took first place in our league and never lost a game. Our team was very happy to have played probably our best game of the season even though we lost. Nathan moved back to play defense after the first period and did an excellent job. Looks like he might continue spending time there...

Saturday vs. Lansing Capital Pride - This game was a nail-biter from beginning to end. Every team around knows Lansing plays dirty and this game was no exception. And it's too bad too... because they do have a good team. If only they'd learn some sportsmanship and mutual respect...oh well. Anyway, Lansing scored in the first period on a broken play where we turned the puck over in our own end. After that, both teams played some solid hockey and both goalies made some nice stops. The score remained 1-0 the rest of the way until we pulled our goalie with a minute or so left and they were able to send one in the empty net. We just weren't able to get the puck to go in for us and lost 2-0. After the horn sounded to end the game one of their players took a run at one of our guys and boarded him (hit from behind into the boards). It's basically the lowest cheap shot in hockey. The kid got a penalty but should have been out of the next game in my opinion. And as a true example of the Lansing mentality his coach gave him a pat on the butt and a "good job". Mom always said if you don't have something nice to say about someone then don't say anything so I'm done with comments for that game :-)

Saturday vs. Jackson - After losing the first two games we knew we couldn't move on to the semi's or finals on Sunday so coach moved things around to let guys play positions they don't usually play. It was a fairly uneventful game but we ended up getting our usual goalie (he wasn't playing goalie in this game) 2 goals for his birthday and we ended up winning 6-2.

Other than playing some really good hockey, the highlight of the weekend was the whole team staying at the hotel in Ludington. Everyone got to go swimming, down the waterslide, hang out and talk, play video games, etc. It was good fun. Coach Lou even invited everyone to his cottage on Bass Lake on Saturday afternoon for mini sticks, good food, and what turned out to be a snowball fight. We all had a blast. Here are some pics of the weekend.

Mini-sticks (knee hockey) at the Scarpino Cottage...

The boys after the snowball fight. Front row: Cameron, Trevor Z. Back row: Dyllan N., Nathan, Collin, Brandon, Dylan M., and Dakota

Mr. Nawrot running the "gauntlet" and getting pelted with snowballs...

Post-game swimming: Collin, Nate, Trevor, Brandon, and some kid I don't know

Allison and Maddeline playing checkers before we left to go home.

Happy Birthday Grandpa McDaid

2009-01-18T19:53:00.000-05:00

We weren't able to go up to Grandma & Grandpa McDaid's house for Christmas Eve like we usually do (in fact it didn't seem like Christmas because of that) but we were able to make it up to Grandpa McDaid's (86th?) birthday party today after Nathan's hockey game. It was a small crowd but it was still nice to see everyone that we missed at Christmas. Here is a picture of some of the grandkids with Grandpa McDaid.

Nathan M., Allison, Great Grandpa McDaid, Nathan D., Josee, and Cameron

Skiing & Snowboarding

2009-01-17T22:48:00.000-05:00

We've been so busy with hockey and dance this winter that we haven't had a chance to go do another fun winter activity: skiing/snowboarding. But we finally had a chance today and decided to take it. We packed up the kids and headed out to Cannonsburg Ski Area near Grand Rapids to hit the slopes. Heidi and I used to go skiing a couple times each year when we were in college. Nathan and I snowboarded a couple times last year but Heidi has been skiing only once in the last 10 years or so. An interesting twist this year was we put Allison on skis for the first time. We probably could have worked with her and taught her how to do it but we figured she'd be more likely to complain or freak out if we did so we sprung for a 1 hour lesson and Heidi and I agree that was the best idea we've had in a long time. By the end of the hour, Allison had mastered the "snow plow" technique and her instructor took her up the chairlift and let her come down one of the medium difficulty runs!! Seeing that, Nathan decided to set aside his fear of falling off the chair lift and rode up with Heidi to the top of the same run and snowboarded down. By this time, I had re-injured my back while bending over to buckle my boots and ended my night after only one time down the hill (big bummer...but that's another story). So Heidi, Nathan, and Allison went up the chairlift and down the run for the rest of the night. It was a bit cold but it was snowing constantly and there were a few inches of fresh powder. It was a great night for skiing.

The instructor said he was pretty surprised Allison was doing so well since she'd never been skiing before and suggested if we do another lesson with her sometime he'd be able to take her down the face (most difficult run). I don't see any need for that at the moment but we're really happy she had fun. We'll have to do it again before all the snow melts.

Pond Hockey

2009-01-15T20:12:00.005-05:00

After the boys beat Chelsea in the district play-in game, Coach Jim invited the team and families over to his house for pizza, skating, and hockey on the pond behind their house. Turns out the pond is larger than an Olympic size hockey rink. We only used one end of it for playing because it was snowing and we had to constantly have someone playing "Zamboni" with two shovels. Otherwise, the puck wouldn't slide through the snow real well. We had a game going for a couple hours and some of the girls were skating around next to the game.

It was a perfet day for skating and the ice was the smoothest pond ice I've ever skated on. Coach Jim takes some pride in keeping the ice nice and smooth. There were two full-size goals with "goalies" on them. There was also a perfect place inside the house with extra carpeting so everyone could put their skates on in the warmth. Plus, Coach Jim has a water pump, fire hose, and ice auger right by the back door that allows him to drill a hole in the ice, pump water from the pond and spray it all over the ice surface to get it nice and smooth. I bet he's having fun with that right about now since our temps are currently in the single (and negative) digits. Below are some shots from the party.

Game on!

One-timer... that's Nathan in the middle.

Nathan deking the "goalie".

Coach Jim acting as the Zamboni.

Maddeline and Allison figure skating. Maddeline's Mom, Tara, taught Ally how to twirl and that's all she wants to do now!

Qualified for MAHA District Tournament

2009-01-12T17:58:00.004-05:00

Saturday was the district play-in game in Lansing against Chelsea. We knew nothing about the Chelsea team but the boys showed up to play and won the game 7-0. The highlight had to be Josh getting his first goal of the season. That was great to see. That win put us in the Michigan Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) district tournament in Ludington in early February.

Sunday was a rematch with the West Shore Wolves (Ludington) at WIFC. The first period was going great. We were pressuring the puck quickly and forcing mistakes. We also had a number of shots on goal but couldn't put one in. After Ludington scored their first goal our skating slowed down and we started watching them too much. We gave up quite a few breakaways and didn't score on many of our own. The final ended up a loss 2-7. Upcoming practices will emphasize speed since we may meet Ludington or Lansing during the district tournament.

Games this weekend are Saturday at Georgetown (Jenison) 1pm and Sunday vs. Battle Creek at home (Walker) at 8:30am.

Hockey update

2009-01-04T21:41:00.004-05:00

I just noticed my last hockey post was when Nathan scored his first goal. Since then, the boys haven't been playing too many games but as of late he's been in on the scoring quite a bit. Last weekend they played East Grand Rapids at home and won 5-1. Nathan got a goal on a nice move at the blue line, went wide left with a defender on his hip, and ripped a nice shot that hit the goalie's right shoulder and deflected up under the crossbar. Good thing he put some steam on that shot. He actually had two more very good scoring chances. One ended up with the puck on the goal line and the other was right into the goalie's glove as he was down.

Today, we hosted the Southside Owls. Nathan had a goal and four assists. All the boys were skating and passing really well today. They didn't do too bad on defense either allowing only 3 shots on goal in a 12-0 win. Nathan's goal today started with a nice feed pass from Dakota just inside the blue line. Nathan took the puck down the right side, made a nice deke to his forehand right in front of the goalie and slid it right through the five-hole for his third goal of the season. This was his first game on the new skates he got for Christmas. They seem to be just fine.

Next week is a district tournament play-in game against Chelsea who we know nothing about. Plus, a rematch with the Ludington team who has yet to be beaten this year. Go Hawks!

The picture above is a shot we got from when they had team pictures at the beginning of the year.

Allison lost her first tooth!

2009-01-04T21:37:00.004-05:00

Allison took a bite of a hard cookie over the holiday break and said her tooth hurt. We thought maybe she was getting a cavity. But then the tooth started getting more and more loose. Well, she finally lost it at Noah and Layla's birthday party last night. She put it under her pillow and the Tooth Fairy left her $1. The tooth is now in her baby book right next to a bit of hair from her first haircut. And now she looks pretty funny when she smiles... It was only two years ago that Nathan lost his first tooth.

Great Wolf Lodge - Traverse City

2009-01-02T21:18:00.000-05:00

After all the New Year celebrating (aka eating) it was time to head up to Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City with Scott & Val and the boys for some fun in the waterpark. We only stayed one night but that's just about the right amount of time to enjoy the park without it getting too repetitive. Surprisingly, the crowds were rather small so there really wasn't ever much of a wait for anything. We did the big tube slides, the body slides, the kiddie slides... pretty much everything. I think Scott and I had the most fun finding a good spot on the giant treehouse and soaking unsuspecting people walking through. How old are we again? Here are some shots of our trip along with a classic video of Scott trying to cross the lilypads without touching the ropes. Unfortunately, I couldn't rotate the video. But it had to be posted nonetheless.

Allison on the lilypads. She had an unique technique... pull on the rope to get close and then do a belly-flop to the next one. Stand up and repeat.
Heidi and Allison splashing at the bottom of the green tube slide (the best of the big slides!)
Nathan going down the kiddie slides with Nick.
Scott, Zach, Val, and Nick after the green tube slide.
Scott trying to stay light on his feet... Sorry, you'll have to tilt your head to enjoy it

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T20:50:00.000-05:00

We spent New Year's Eve up north, warmed up the garage, and had a tiny party with a few friends. We ate, talked, listened to music, ate, danced, played Guitar Hero, ate, and even played some 21 (Blackjack to those of you over 18). Here are a couple shots from New Year's Eve in Bitely.

Allison trying out the pedicure kit she got for Christmas...We all had a chance to kick back and relax and this is how Allison chose to do it. Val, Brett, and Curt playing Guitar Hero World Tour on New Year's Eve.
Allison making Zoe wear a hat (as usual) on New Year's Eve.
Passing the time playing 21. If the kids were older we would call it blackjack :-) Whatever you call it, it was fun and helped pass the time until midnight.
New Year's Day was spent watching the Red Wings beat the Blackhawks in the NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, a little football, a little sledding, and some serious lounging. I love New Year's Day just for that reason!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-28T16:27:00.005-05:00

We didn't get to cut down and decorate our Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving as usual. But we still couldn't go to a tree lot or use a fake tree...Heidi wouldn't allow it. So we visited the tree farm the following weekend and picked out the perfect (aka crooked) tree.

Nathan, Allison, and Heidi next to the tree we picked out...
Decorating and eating pizza, our little tradition...
Even Zoe got into the Christmas spirit...

After running all over the state in the worst weather I can remember, we had Christmas at the Weiss'. Unfortunately, we missed Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa McDaid's due to the ice. But Brian McDaid still stayed with us Chrismas Eve and Christmas morning which was nice. Bubba, Papa, and "the girls" came over Christmas Day to play with all the presents. And we had Christmas with Mom, Ken, and Brian yesterday. Now that all the parties are over we can try to find our house again and start to get back into the usual routine.

Nathan with his gift from Santa - mini hockey nets (the goalie set was from Allison). He didn't even wait to finish opening presents before starting a game.
Allison with her gift from Santa - a Hannah Montana electric guitar.
Breanna, Kelsey, Nathan, and Allison McDaid

Up North, Hockey, and Awful Driving Conditions

2008-12-21T20:04:00.001-05:00

Since Nathan's games were both up north (Cadillac and Ludington) over the weekend we stayed up at the trailer. That was the first time Heidi and the kids had been up there since October because we've been so busy. There was plenty of snow and the kids got to play in it for a few hours before we had to make our trips to hockey games.

Allison posing on Scott's snowmobile (no, she didn't drive it... but Uncle Scott gave her a ride).

Allison and Maddeline in the trailer. Trevor and Maddeline stayed with us between the Cadillac and Ludington games. The boys lost to Cadillac 2-4 (only had 7 skaters) and then lost to Ludington 2-5 the next day.
Zoe staying warm. Must be nice to be able to relax!

Nathan and Trevor hamming it up for the camera.

Nathan learning the fine art of "donuts and fish-tailing" on the driveway ice.
The drive back from Ludington on Sunday was AWFUL! Blizzard conditions made it a very long ride. The roads weren't really that bad but the blowing snow made it difficult to see more than 10ft in front of the van. Luckily, we all made it back safe and sound... now bring on Christmas!

He Shoots....He SCORES!!!!!!!

2008-12-14T20:45:00.005-05:00

Hockey results were a bit mixed this weekend. The boys played a non-league game at the Battle Creek Bruins on Saturday night. We were up 3-0 early but they battled back and tied it up 3-3 midway through the game. Then, BC scored in the third period but Trevor got a breakaway and tied it up 4-4. With time running out, BC put on some serious pressure but the boys held them off. They had the puck deep in our zone and at one point, one of their players was coming around from behind the net for a game-winning wraparound and Nathan got there just before the BC player and knocked it away to save the game! That happened with 20.5 seconds left (I know because I immediately looked at the clock thinking... they were about to win the game right there). Anyway, the game ended in a tie. The kids skated well enough to win but couldn't seal it.

Then, this morning, we hosted East Kentwood who we'd beaten 3-1 at their place last month. They were a good team back then and showed they were even better now. Our boys have really be skating well the last few games and are doing a great job of attacking the puck. Nathan has been itching to score a goal all season. He's had a lot of chances but hasn't been able to sneak one by the goalie. Today was different though. We were down 2-1 and Trevor was off on a break-away. Nathan and a defender were right behind him and they were all skating at top speed. Trevor tried to go high, glove side. The goalie made the stop and Nathan was right on the rebound. He got some good wood on the shot and the goalie got a piece of it but Nate shot it hard enough that it deflected up and over the goalie and into the net to tie the game at 2-2. We went NUTS!!! Everyone has been rooting for him to get his first Squirt goal and he's been skating really hard. He definitely earned it. He learned today that it pays to "crash the net". He actually had a couple other chances for goals today but they couldn't find the net. We ended up losing 3-2. Another good game that could have gone either way.

Coach Lou made it a point to give Nate the game puck and now he's planning on using some of his saved money to buy a little display case for it (too funny..). The team manager made sure to get a picture of Nate with his puck after the game for us. It's below (click to enlarge). Next weekend will be tough. We play two very good teams (Cadillac and Ludington). Go Hawks!

Blast From The Past

2008-12-11T21:11:00.004-05:00

As promised, here's a little gem I stumbled across while backing up photos from the computer. This is a video clip from Pat & Anna Weiss' wedding reception back in August of 2005. Allison was a dancing machine at the reception and had us all stunned. She was only three at the time but she clearly has some rhythm... Enjoy!

Just Checking In...

2008-12-11T20:45:00.003-05:00

With everything that's been going on lately, I haven't had a chance to update with what we've been up to. Basically, we've stayed busy doing the same things we've been doing the last couple months: work, school, dance, and hockey.

Parent-teacher conferences went well and both of the kids are doing a good job keeping up with their school work.

We finally got to put up our Christmas tree last week. Traditionally, Heidi insists that we go get it the day after Thanksgiving. But this year, we were in Lansing for the tournament so that didn't work out. But fear not, it's up along with the lights and endless decorations. I still can't believe Christmas is in two short weeks. Where does the time go!?

Allison is enjoying her dance practices and is getting ready for her competitions coming up in March and June. She may also be performing at Festival in downtown Grand Rapids but no details on that yet. She's competing in three different routines: tap, jazz, and hip-hop. I don't know how she keeps all those moves straight. When you see her, have her show you the "freeze" move they do in hip-hop... too funny. Heidi has been able to see her do the jazz routine a couple times and said she does really well. I guess I'll have to wait until the competitions to see it. Also, stay tuned 'cause I've got a really cool "blast from the past" to post soon...

Nathan is having a great time with his hockey team. I think he really has a good time with his teammates. Since the Lansing tournament, the team beat Southside 4-2 and then travelled back to Lansing and dropped another game to Capital Pride 2-4 on Sunday. This week has been the play-down against the other HAWK teams to see who will go to the district tournaments. Monday, we beat Hawk #2 3-1 and tonight beat Hawk #3 6-2 so we'll be heading to the district tournament at the end of the season. That's about all I know about that at this point. Overall, the kids are really starting to skate as a team and play aggressive hockey. I just commented to Heidi at tonights game that Nathan has been improving every game over the past month. And it's showing. He's got 5 assists in the last 4 games.

Tournament Action Shots

2008-12-02T21:49:00.007-05:00

As mentioned in the previous post, a bunch of the parents went together and got a whole CD of pictures taken by the tournament photographer. Here are a few shots of Nathan during the tournament games... click to enlarge.

Versus Capital Pride (first meeting)

Versus Soo Burger King (Canada)

Tense moments in semi-finals versus Capital Pride

Versus Capital Pride in semi-finals

2008 Turkey Roast Tournament

2008-11-30T14:17:00.010-05:00

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

2008-11-23T14:06:00.000-05:00

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

2008-11-19T20:41:00.007-05:00

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

2008-11-10T18:31:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-11-06T20:59:00.003-05:00

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!

2008-11-01T18:35:00.001-04:00

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...

Fitness Fun Run

2008-10-24T21:26:00.003-04:00

The kids had a challenge in their gym classes this week to run 1 mile as fast as they could. Allison's grade had to run for a set time instead of a mile. She said it was fun but her and Danni (friend in her class) skipped toward the back of the pack and took their time. She's never been a fan of long running. Nathan, on the other hand, was pretty pumped up to see how well he'd do in the mile run with all the hockey and dry land training he's been doing. When he was training for his triathlon last summer he was running the mile in about 12 minutes. He arrived home the day of the run and called me at work to let me know he ran the mile in 8 min 37 seconds and came in third place in his class. Needless to say he was pretty proud (as was I)!

Then, a couple days later, the Jenison schools held a 1 mile fun run prior to the Varsity football game to promote fitness with the kids and collect canned food for a local food bank. Allison went to a movie with her friend and Heidi was in Florida for work so I took Nathan to the race. It started near the entrance of the football stadium, circled most of the high-school grounds, and ended with a lap around the track while the football teams were warming up. I'm not sure what "place" he took but I'd guess only about 10-15 kids finished before him. But the coolest part was he ran it in 8 min 14 seconds! Way to go Nathan! That dry land training is paying off for more than just hockey...

Warming-up on a cold, rainy night...
On your mark... get set... GO!
Finishing on the track

Allison Gets Published

2008-10-23T21:16:00.003-04:00

We have a local weekly newspaper called the Grand Valley Advance that covers happenings around the area. Allison always looks just inside the back page to see drawings that kids have sent in. Sometime this summer she decided to draw a picture and send it in hoping they'd put it in the paper. She has always been a big fan of drawing and coloring (and oddly enough, Nathan has started doing it too...). Anyway, I opened the paper a couple weeks ago and saw they had published her drawing of a ballerina with roses and told her to come look at the drawings in the paper. She casually looked around the page at the drawings and when she saw hers she said, "That's MY drawing!". That page of the newspaper is now hanging up in her room and below is her picture to be stored in cyberspace.

Hawks are now 3-0!

2008-10-19T20:02:00.010-04:00

This afternoon was Nathan's third hockey game of the young season and their first ADRAY (West - Squirt - White Division) league matchup. They were playing the KOHA Flames from Kalamazoo. Rumor had it this was going to be a tough game and rumor was right! This was the most exciting game yet. The Flames were good skaters and were good at taking people off the puck. The Hawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead. The Flames answered with four unanswered goals of their own by the end of the second period. Then the Hawks finished strong with three goals to win 7-4. Nice way to start league play. Nathan also got his first point of the season, an assist with a real nice pass from the corner to one of his open teammates in the slot for a onetime shot over the goalie's shoulder. Nathan also had two shots on goal. One of which was a solid wristshot that the goalie barely stopped and then covered to stop the play. Nathan skated better in this game than any of the others so far. I never knew the games were going to be so exciting this year. This was a very fun game to watch. The Kalamazoo goalie robbed one of our better players of a shot with a glove save. Next time down the ice, our goalie stopped a 2 on nobody breakaway. Then, he robbed one of the Flames with a glove save up by his shoulder. They were both really nice plays.

Nathan had an entire cheering section to himself today. Aside from Heidi and I, Allison actually watched the game (now that she knows what the scoreboard means). Bubba and Papa Weiss were there for for their second game. And Aunt Liesje came to watch her first "squirt" game. I think everyone agrees these games are much more fun to watch than cross-ice were.

My cousin Erica Denman, her husband Andy, and their kids Josee and Nathan (born on the same day as our Nathan) came down to Grand Rapids today because Andy ran the Grand Rapids Marathon this morning. What a perfect morning for a run! They stuck around to do some shopping and stayed to watch Nathan's game. They sure saw a good one and joined us for dinner at Logan's. Thanks so much for coming guys! Overall, it was a good (although tiring) weekend. Next week the Hawks play another GRAHA (#3) Team... first away game. Go Hawks!

Bird Hunting

2008-10-19T19:52:00.005-04:00

After a nice "up north" breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hash browns, Scott stopped by the trailer to see if we wanted to go bird hunting with him and his dog Remy. Nathan was dressed in his warm clothes with hunter orange vest and gun loaded in the truck before I knew what happened! Too bad he can't move that fast any other time we want him to... Nathan took his BB gun and I just went along for the walk and to scout for deer sign. Remy flushed one woodcock three different times but each time it went up in front of me (and of course I didn't have a gun with me). About 50 yds from the truck Remy started acting very "birdy" and was on a scent but couldn't find it. Scott saw some movement on the ground and was standing about 3 ft from a woodcock spread out on the ground looking right at him and trying to hide from him. Remy was still on the trail and finally flushed the bird up into the air and Scott went 1 for 1 on shots for the day. Nathan took a crack at a couple tweety birds but wasn't able to put one in the bag. But he enjoyed the adventure anyway. When we got home, we found a woodpecker digging a hole in the side of the kids' shack. Uncle Scott gave Nathan orders to get rid of it because it was doing some pretty serious damage. Nate got one crack at it but didn't hit it. He did scare it away for awhile though. Maybe next time we're up there he'll get another chance. Below are a couple pictures after the hunt.

Nathan, dinner, Remy, and Uncle Scott after the hunt...
Troy, Nathan, dinner, Remy, and Scott...

HAWK Squirt #1 is 2-0

2008-10-18T19:43:00.003-04:00

Nathan's hockey team had their second game of the season this morning at 8am at WIFC. They actually had their real uniforms for this game. Nathan is #15. The Hawks were facing the GRAHA #2 Griffins from Grand Rapids and were wearing their home white jerseys. The boys were controlling the puck for the majority of the game but were having trouble finding the net. I don't know how many shots went completely over the goal. The score was tied 1-1 until about 6 minutes left in the game. Then the Hawks scored two quick goals to seal the win. Coaches said there will be some shooting practice this week! Nathan had two good scoring chances but wasn't able to get the puck to settle down on either one for a shot on goal. After the game, we headed up north to try and get my first bow hunt of the year in. The good news... I saw four doe. The bad news... they were all while I was driving to/from my stand. Maybe next time... I think the no baiting rule this year is going to result in fewer deer taken during bow season.

Dance Like Nobody's Watching...

2008-10-11T22:09:00.006-04:00

That's what Allison's T-shirt said this morning. How appropriate! Allison signed up for a one night "dance camp" at school on Wednesday night led by the Jenison High School dance team. And today, all the girls got to do a performance at halftime of the cub football game at the Jenison High School football stadium. They danced to the Hannah Montana song Rock Star. I have to say for only practicing for 2 and a half hours, I was pretty impressed with the routine. Allison loved it. The girl has got some rhythm. After the dance, we headed over to the next field to see a couple other cub football games for kids we know. It was a really nice day and we even got a little sun burn! Crazy. Here are some pictures of the big day...

Warming up & last minute practice...
The big moment... (Click to enlarge. Allison is in front just to the right of the 50 yard line. Look for the long white sleeves)

Lions "Game"

2008-10-04T21:47:00.003-04:00

Though I've never claimed to be a huge Lions fan, I would like to see them actually compete one of these years... We went to Ford Field today mainly to watch cousin Noah Weiss' football team (Gull Lake) play at halftime of the Lions vs. Bears game. We all wore Gull Lake Football T-shirts with the number 2 and Weiss on the back. When I counted, I think there were 18 such shirts just for Noah. And since all of the Weiss' are Bears fans they had a lot to cheer about. As usual, it looked like boys (Lions) among men (Bears) for the entire game. But the Gull Lake team did really well against Newaygo at halftime and scored a touchdown. The best had to be Brian Weiss' "pumping of the fist" on the way off the field after the boys played...classic. Below are some shots of the crew at the game...

Heidi, Nathan, and Allison outside Ford Field
Meeting up with the whole crew prior to the game...
Cousins Nick & Zach, Allison, and Nathan
In the stands...

HAWKs 6 - Grand Valley Stars 3

2008-10-04T14:03:00.007-04:00

This morning was Nathan's first "real" hockey game. He's played cross-ice the last couple years but today he was playing for the HAWKs, full ice, with referees & scoreboard...but, unfortunately, no uniforms. They hadn't come in yet so we had to use uniforms from the coaches kids from previous years. So almost all the players wore jerseys with the same last names. But after that was all squared away and they dropped the puck, Nathan had a blast! He is playing for the HAWK Squirt #1 team. Today, they hosted the Grand Valley Stars team at WIFC. It took him a period or so to get confidence in knowing where he should be positioned during plays (cross-ice was more of a free-for-all... now they play positions) but he did a great job and ended up getting a couple scoring chances (but no goals). He played left wing most of the game. The Hawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period and then gave up three un-answered goals to go down 1-3. They fought back to tie it up and eventually pulled ahead for good to end up winning 6-3. The team has been doing dry land training (running & plyo) after practices to get their endurance up and it REALLY showed in the third period. The Grand Valley players were definitely winded and slowing down but the Hawk players were still going full speed and playing as a team by making some nice passes. Nathan said his first real game was "AWESOME!". So it's back to practice on Monday (followed by dry land training of course). If anyone is interested in seeing a game, the schedule is now posted here. FYI - The game scheduled at Battle Creek next week has been CANCELLED! Here are a couple pictures from the game...

Face-off! Playing left wing (Nathan is in the white helmet on left side of the picture).
Locker room celebration and snacks...

Horseback Riding

2008-09-28T20:47:00.005-04:00

Toward the end of summer, we were looking for some incentive to get the kids doing math flash cards in preparation for beginning the school year. We settled on a sticker chart to keep track of how many times they did their flash cards without any complaining. Each time they did them (with a good attitude) they got a sticker. Before they began, we agreed once they got a set number of stickers we'd do something fun (like Craig's Cruisers or something). Well, they both got the required number of stickers and we were planning on going to Craig's Cruisers to ride go-carts.... that was until the Camp Bob Rodeo (see earlier post). While there, a guy named Mike Jones (a different Mike Jones) had pony rides and gave us a card for his nearby farm where they have horse trail rides. The kids decided right then to trade in their Craig's Cruiser special treat to go horseback riding instead. So yesterday, we went. Scott & Val, Zach, and Nick came along for the fun. Turned out the youth firearm deer season was this weekend so we couldn't ride any of the public trails. But we did ride all over the 180 acre farm including one trail through the woods. They had 36 horses, 20-something cows, and lots of open space on the farm. This was Allison's first time on a "real" horseback ride. And Nathan got to have his own horse. Controlling it was a little tricky for him at first. Allison rode with me and constantly wanted to make the horse trot. Needless to say, my backside was tender today. After we were done, we got to go through the giant hay maze made out of those huge round hay bales. Anyway, here are some pictures of our adventure. Enjoy...

Heidi and the kids waiting for the horses to be readied...

Nathan on Shadow (who doesn't like to follow commands)...
Dad and Allison on Fancy. Could Ally have gotten a more perfectly named horse!?
Scott and Nick riding Buttercup...
Val and Zach riding Mariah...

Let the craziness begin...

2008-09-11T21:21:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. But we've been trying to get back into the school groove and everything that comes along with it. The kids are back at school now. Nathan is in 4th grade and Allison is in 1st grade at Bauerwood Elementary. They both really like their teachers and are getting off to a good start in class. In addition to school, Allison is in dance at Body Language Dance Company and Nathan is playing hockey for HAWK.

Allison is doing a tap, jazz, and hip-hop routine and will get to compete at a few competitions this year. She definitely loves to dance! We don't have specifics on any of the competitions yet but one may be in Grand Rapids, one in Kalamazoo, and possibly one in Detroit or Chicago. I know nothing about dance but I did get to help teach her how to do "the worm" for her hip-hop class. How funny! Who would have thought that would come in handy after the breakdance craze of the 80's fizzled out!?

After the draft/tryout skates a couple weeks ago, Nathan got to meet his coaches and team. He's on the HAWK Squirt #1 team. Home rink is Walker Ice & Fitness. This is considered a "house" team but they'll be travelling around the west side of the state playing quite a few games. It sounds like he'll be playing from Holland to Lansing, from Kalamazoo to Cadillac to Ludington. Practices have started and there are even a few home games slotted on the schedule so far. You can view the latest schedule here (just make sure you're looking at the Squirt #1 Team schedule). The schedule and opponents are in the process of being put together right now. But the game on October 4th is coming up quickly.

It should be a busy (but fun) winter with all the activities going on....

Camp Bob Rodeo

2008-09-01T21:13:00.000-04:00

Labor Day marked a long weekend of R&R up at Pettibone Lake. And like every other year, the Camp Bob Rodeo was going on right around the corner from the lake. What was different this year is we decided what the heck...let's check it out. We've been up there 2 or 3 years in a row and have never gone to the rodeo. It ended up being pretty fun. The kids loved seeing all the animals (mostly the horses and bulls). Nathan even went down into the arena for a kids "shoe" race. Allison was too slow and indecisive to do it. We ended up getting some can coolers, a poster, and an interesting night of people watching. Both kids got to ride a pony (and lobbied for going horseback riding down the road this fall). And, believe it or not, Pammeoke was there (the lady from our karaoke party...see post below from July 12). Here are a few pictures from the evening festivities.

Nice Hat!

Def Leppard and Billy Idol

2008-08-16T22:49:00.001-04:00

We had actually purchased tickets to see Def Leppard, Styx, and REO Speedwagon back in April. But the lead singer of Def Leppard was sick and the show had to be cancelled. It was rescheduled for August 15th at Van Andel Arena except Billy Idol was now the opener instead of Styx and REO. This was Nathan's first real concert (besides Drake Bell at the Muskegon Summer Celebration last year). Billy Idol was decent although he took awhile to warm up the vocal cords. Heidi thought his first song (Cradle of Love) sounded a little too much like a lounge act. Nathan didn't care much for him because he only knew one of the songs (Mony Mony). But Dancin' With Myself and Rebel Yell were pretty cool. As always, Def Leppard put on a GREAT show. They've got so many hit songs they could probably play for 3 hours straight if they were so inclined. But Pour Some Sugar On Me defnitely brought down the house. A guy in front of us was laughing at Nathan because he knew the words and was singing along with EVERY song. He goes to sleep at night listening to either Def Leppard or Poison's greatest hits album... go figure. It makes me laugh to think back and remember when I first heard a Def Leppard song back in 5th grade when Ms. Jacobs (a student teacher at the time from CMU) played some songs off the Pyromania album for the class. Don't ask me why she did or why I remember. But I remember thinking she was the coolest teacher ever and loving that music. Now Nathan is going into 4th grade and he's listening to the same band... Crazy.

Here's a picture of Nathan in front of the band's tour buses after the show behind Van Andel Arena... Mom splurged on a shirt for him. (And get a load of the jeans. Those were decorated last Halloween when he dressed up as a rock star... very appropriate for the evening!)

3rd Annual Has-Been Whiffle-Ball Tournament

2008-08-09T22:14:00.000-04:00

Today was the 3rd year of the all day whiffle ball tournament at Joe McDaid's house in Ithaca. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me so I don't have any pictures. But it was great to see a bunch of old high-school friends and have a little friendly competition. In the end, the Founding Fathers took the crown again and our team ended up in 2nd place for the second year in a row. Congrats guys!

Camp Geneva

2008-08-09T22:00:00.000-04:00

Nathan has been at Camp Geneva from 8/7-8/9. I have to admit I was a little jealous when we dropped him off that I didn't get to stay too. It brought back a lot of memories of staying at different summer camps while growing up. Nathan was a bit nervous but he was also very excited. He and cousin Noah Weiss were bunk mates and had a great time at their first overnight summer camp. Uncle John and Cousin Ryan (their cabin counselors) were a lot of fun and kept the boys busy non-stop. Nathan's favorite things were free time (playing box-hockey) and all-camp games like capture the flag. He also met a whole cabin full of new friends. On the last day (pick-up day), Allison got to go along to pick up Nathan and enjoy activities throughout the camp such as swimming and archery. Something tells me we'll be sending two kids to this in a couple years... Here are some snapshots from our camera and from a disposable Nathan took with him.

Nathan and Noah being dropped off at their cabin on the first day (nervous but excited)...
Cousin Ryan, Uncle John, Noah, and Nathan on the last day...
Soaking up the sun at the pool...
Allison at the archery range...

R.I.P. Michael McDaid 3/23/1978-8/5/2008

2008-08-06T22:03:00.001-04:00

It's with a very heavy heart that I write this... My younger brother, Mike, passed away yesterday at the age of 30. Thank you to everyone who has expressed their sympathy and well wishes. Please keep his daughters, Breanna and Kelsey, and the rest of the family in your thoughts. We'll be scheduling a private family memorial gathering in Ithaca in Mike's memory in September. The obituary can be viewed here.

A trust fund has been set up for the girls. Memorial contributions may be made to The Breanna and Kelsey McDaid Trust Fund.

Mail to:
The Breanna and Kelsey McDaid Trust Fund
5410 Azalea St
Portage, MI 49002

Mike, I'm so sorry. May you finally rest in peace little brother...

Ludington Vacation - Part III

2008-08-02T21:27:00.018-04:00

So, when we weren't fishing, swimming at the state park beach, floating down the river, or riding bikes.... we were at the new skate park, playing on a secluded dune on Hamlin Lake, or searching for treasures! We went geocaching for a "treasure" that we've found the past 5 years or so out on a point in the woods bordering Hamlin Lake. To the right is a shot of the kids looking through the treasure after finding it. It's standard practice to take one thing out and put one thing in. Then sign the guestbook. We looked back in the guestbook and found the last few times we signed it. Then Zoe and the kids played for a little while on the "cliff" down to the lake.
Since Papa Weiss left the boat for the week, we took the kids tubing on Hamlin Lake and then dropped anchor at one of the dunes on the north end of the lake. It's great. We anchor the boat in about 2-3 feet of water and have an entire dune and beach all to ourselves. We had races from the top down into the water, the kids built a "beach hut fort", Zoe chased her retrieval toy, and we all soaked up some sun.

Below is a video Allison and Nathan made while on the dune. They built a "fort" and wanted to do a video like MTV Cribs (Dad is working the camera...). This was the second take. Ally froze on the first one.

The new skate park, called "The Plaza" was the highlight for Nathan. He skated there with his wave board four or five different times when we went to town. Our last day in town, we went early in the morning and had the whole place to ourselves. Ally and I even took took a crack at riding the big bowl (think of an empty swimming pool...). It was actually pretty fun. Below are some pictures from the skate park.

Ludington Vacation - Part II

2008-07-29T22:35:00.008-04:00

Our next adventure while in Ludington was our annual bike trip up to the Big Sable Point Lighthouse. It was storming earlier in the day but cleared up nicely so we could make the trip. We've made this trip every year and now that Allison has a mountain bike with gears the ride was MUCH more pleasant for everyone. The ride is a little more than 2 miles each way from our campground. Part of it is bike path but the majority is an old two-track gravel road that goes from the campgrounds straight north along the Lake Michigan beach to the point. It was a special night so they had old fashioned games, tours up in the tower, educational information about the lighthouse, and s'mores around the firepit. During the educational portion, the host used Nathan and Allison as helpers while explaining how the lighthouse lense focused all the light into a narrow band to make it visible for a greater distance. Take a look at what that does to someone's face while they're in the thing!

Afterwards, the kids played around by the beach before eating s'mores...

The next day was spent mainly doing laundry, relaxing at the beach for kayaking and swimming, visiting the skate park (more later), and, of course, going to House of Flavors for ice cream in a waffle cone.

Nathan also got hooked on skimboarding while at the beach. We ended up staying until sunset and were the only ones on the beach...very relaxing. Here's a video of one of his wipeouts... but he ended up getting the hang of it and mastered the 180.

Kodak moment...

Sunset skimming...

Ludington Vacation - Part I

2008-07-27T22:46:00.006-04:00

Sorry for the delay in posting, but we just returned from our annual week-long camping trip to Ludington State Park. If you like camping and have never been there, you MUST go. The state park is huge with three campgrounds in the park sandwiched between Hamlin Lake and Lake Michigan. We always stay at the Beechwood campground which is next to a boardwalk on Lost Lake which connects to Hamlin Lake. This was our 9th year going and it's still as fun as the first time. We spent the first day on the boat fishing with Papa Weiss. He continued fishing on day two and ended up with enough for us to have a fish fry and fill a one gallon zip lock as well. We caught bass, bluegill, rock bass, and walleye. On day two, we floated down the river from Hamlin Lake Dam to Lake Michigan to play at the beach and ride the Lake Michigan waves in the kayak. Of course, we made the trip to town to get ice cream in waffle cones at House of Flavors (Heidi's favorite) and Nathan noticed they built a new skate park at Stearns Park in downtown Ludington... but more on that in a future post.

Here are a few pics from our first couple days...

Papa Weiss with some large bluegills. Don't be fooled. Papa has VERY large hands...
Nathan and Allison riding the waves on Lake Michigan...
Nathan and Heidi doing the same...
Ally "The Fish" McDaid swiming in the waves...

2nd Annual Pettibone Heights Karaoke Party

2008-07-13T21:55:00.006-04:00

July 12th was the Second Annual Pettibone Heights Karaoke Party up north. For some reason, it's been disguised as a birthday party (last year for Michelle and this year for Nick) both times but the highlight has been when Pameoke (a local lady named Pam with karaoke equipment) shows up, the tunes start cranking, and the drinks start flowing. It seems like almost everyone took their turn "on stage" belting out songs in almost every musical genre from country, to rap, to rock, to hip hop, to ???.

At Bob's request, there was a karaoke "battle of the sexes" with the guys facing off against the girls. The guys chose to perform Poison - Talk Dirty To Me, Great White - Once Bitten Twice Shy, and Eminem - Without Me (the clincher). The girls did Shenia Twain - Man, I Feel Like A Woman, a second song that escapes me, and Salt-N-Pepa - Shoop. With Pameoke being the impartial judge, the guys won again this year. But don't worry girls, you've got a year to sharpen your act for next year. And Pameoke promised to bring a prize for the winner next year.

Unfortunately, our pictures of the evening are somewhat limited so I'd love to have you all send us any pictures you have from that night. Maybe we'll put them into an online photo album and link to them from this posting so everyone can see them. Here are a few that we do have along with a couple videos that are worth noting. As always, click on the picture to enlarge. And Angie, don't worry...the Faster Pussycat CD is in the mail (the '80's rocked!) :-)

Who Let The Dogs Out!!

"The Girls" rockin' out...
"The Guys" putting the proverbial "nail in the coffin" with a rendition of Eminem - Without Me (shirtless at Scott's suggestion)...
The whole group having a good ole time dancin' & drinkin'...

Allison's dance routine that she did to almost every song for about 2 hours straight...

Bubba & Papa Weiss taking thier turn on stage... What A Wonderful World

Keith, Angie, and Reygan gettin' down...

Hope everyone can make it back up for next year. We'd like to keep the fun going.

Congratulations Nathan! We're so proud of you!

2008-07-12T22:15:00.003-04:00

Nathan entered and finished his first triathlon today in Rockford (Rockford Area Kids Triathlon). He had a hard time falling asleep last night and when we woke up to thunderstorms we were wondering if it was still on. By the time we got to Rockford the rain had stopped and the sun was actually peeking through the clouds. It ended up being a very nice day for a race... a little cool. Nathan was a little nervous before his race started. We watched some of the older kids start their races in the pool and then go out to the transition area to begin the bike portion.

When Nathan's race began there were three kids in each lane of the pool (ie. very crowded). They all started at once. The swim was the toughest part for him. He got very winded but didn't give up and made it to the swim finish and climbed out of the pool. I threw him a towel and we headed out to the bike transition. A quick prep (shoes & helmet) and he was off and flying on the bike. He had a little trouble on the bike course because it wasn't well marked and he stopped because he didn't know where he was supposed to go (the volunteer at that turn was busy talking to someone and didn't point him in the right direction right away) but he figured it out quickly and kept moving. He was able to pass 4 racers during the bike portion. Once the biking was done, I joined him for the run portion (parents were allowed to run alongside). After working so hard on the bike section, he was completely winded when we began the run. I told him to set his own pace in the run and I'd stay with him. He went slow at first trying to catch his breath but was able to pass two other racers in the first quarter mile. One of them passed him back when he was going slow to catch his breath but Nathan immediately sprinted to get back in front of that kid. He then passed two more runners at around the half-mile marker and finished with a sprint to the finish line. His final time was between 21 and 22 minutes (didn't get an exact time) which was faster than when he did a practice run up north.

Nathan finished 12th out of 22 kids in his race. We were so proud of him for gutting it out after ending the first section toward the back of the pack. There were a couple points where the look on his face said he wanted to stop but he didn't. In fact, he turned it up each time someone tried to pass him during the run so he didn't get passed for good at all during the bike or the run.

After the race there was pizza, hot dogs, and sports drinks for all the kids. After all the races were complete they also had an awards ceremony to present trophies to the top three finishers in each race and medals to all finishers. All finishers received a medal and a t-shirt. Nathan had a lot of fun and said he wants to do it again (after a rest of course). But he did say he'll need to work MUCH harder to prepare for the swimming portion next time.

Congratulations Nathan!

Click pictures to enlarge...
Preparing to start. Nathan is in the middle of the picture (just to the left of the number 4 in the pool)

About to make a pass at the 1 mile mark of the bike portion...

Finishing strong!

Crashed on the ride home :-)

Triathlon Update

2008-07-06T21:50:00.002-04:00

Nathan has been doing a good job of keeping up on his training for the triathlon next Saturday by swimming, biking, or running a set distance every day. Over the weekend, he got a taste of what it will by like by doing the full triathlon at Pettibone Lake. He did a 50 yd swim, 2 mile bike ride, and 1 mile run in exactly 25 min 16 sec. We took a little longer than we should have during the transition between the swim and bike but overall he did great and (the important part) he seemed to like it. He said the swim was the hardest part because it's hard to catch his breath. The middle half of the run is what seemed to slow him down the most. But he did sprint the last 50 yds or so to finish strong. The race is coming up next Saturday (July 12th) and we'll be cheering him on.

Dock Dogs

2008-07-06T21:34:00.000-04:00

We spent the 4th of July weekend up north at Pettibone Lake fishing, kayaking, swimming, lighting/watching fireworks, eating, and just soaking up the sun. While there, we let the dogs cool off in the water and had fun trying to get some good action shots of them jumping off the dock after the water toy. We've seen the Big Air Dock Dogs at the Sport Fishing and RV Show at Devos Place in Grand Rapids. We really should enter Zoe (our Labradoodle) and Remy (Scott's English Springer Spaniel) in one of those and see how far they can go. Zoe gets good height but I think it would be hard to beat Remy's distance... For these shots, Scott was throwing the toy from shore and the dogs would run the full length of the dock and dive off. I was in the water at the end of the dock trying to time the camera just right. Very tricky...

Zoe at take-off...

Remy just before landing...

Trail Cam

2008-07-05T22:17:00.007-04:00

I decided to set up my trail cam behind the trailer up north last week. After one week, there were 52 pictures on it. Over the course of three days, there were 32 more pictures. Come to find out, quite a few were shots of Nathan and Zach riding their quads (the camera is on a tree right next to their trail loop which they tend to zoom around many, many times). But there were also a number of shots of deer too. Here are a couple.... Click on a picture to see it enlarged. And the last shot is of a mysterious animal captured on the trail camera. It may be wild. But it seems to have noticed the camera.

Dance Camps

2008-07-02T21:15:00.002-04:00

This past week was very busy for everyone. Allison had a 3-day dance camp. On top of that, cousin Breanna was staying with us for a few days and her and Allison went to another dance camp at Body Language Dance Company. There was a lot of practicing going on at night. Aside from the dancing, the girls made crafts, painted nails, and met some new friends. Here is a picture of the girls with thier nails painted and a video clip of their dance routine. Allison is in the bright blue shirt. Breanna is in the far corner in the light purple shirt. Sorry for the low-quality video but it's a big download...

Nathan's First Triathlon

2008-06-24T22:12:00.005-04:00

Nathan has decided he's going to do the Rockford Michigan 4th Annual Kids Triathlon on Saturdy, July 12. He's been talking about it since winter and finally realized if he really wants to do it he'd better get a move on because there's not much time left to prepare. I've never done a triathlon but Uncle Scott and Aunt Val (Weiss) have done a few (which is where he probably got the idea) so we'll be hitting them up for some tips. The race will consist of a 50 yard swim, 2 mile bike ride, and 1 mile run. Nathan made out his training schedule last night on a calendar print out and began training with a 2.5 mile bike ride (completed in 12 minutes). Tonight was a .5 mile run (completed in 6 minutes) and a .5 mile bike ride (completed in 2 min 30 sec). Hopefully we can find someplace to swim tomorrow. It works out nice for the biking and running because one loop around our neighborhood is about .5 mile so it's easy for him to know how far he's going. I guess we'd better get his registration slip in soon!

John Ball Park Zoo

2008-06-23T21:51:00.001-04:00

Aunts Meghan, Liesje, and Sarah are helping watch the kids this week since cousing Breanna is staying with us. On Monday, Liesje and Sarah took Nathan, Allison, Breanna, and Zachary to the John Ball Park Zoo. It was a beautiful day. Favorites were the bears and lions. There is a new Lion exhibit that just opened at the zoo.

Zachary, Allison, and Breanna at the bear cage>

Allison petting the animals>

Weekend "Up North"

2008-06-22T21:25:00.001-04:00

Now that baseball, softball, and birthdays are done, we were able to make it up north this weekend to relax a little. We did a little quad riding and a lot of relaxing which made for a nice weekend. Nick Weiss made his own little set of lakes and channels on the beach and pretty soon all of the kids were helping add to it. But they all agreed that when their beach sand masterpiece is in the world record book for being the 'biggest ever built' they'd all agree they all took part in building it. Sad to say, a rep from Guinness World Records never showed up. Maybe next time... To the right is a picture of Nick filling some big shoes.

Below is a picature of Breanna, Zachary, and Allison (L to R) searching for lost treasure at the sand bar. Legend has it someone lost a bunch of their treasure in this area of Pettibone Lake long ago. And it seems like every time we visit that spot the kids find coins on the lake bottom.

Boat ride with Papa Bob...

Wrapping up swimming lessons

2008-06-19T21:51:00.004-04:00

Nathan and Allison have been taking swimming lessons at Grandville Middle School for the past three or four years. We've always liked the way they make the kids do a little more than they're comfortable doing. It really shows in the way they can swim. The class has lasted for the past two weeks and will finish up tomorrow. They're both learning a few different swimming strokes (freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and some "chicken, bird, soldier" thing that looks like it's more for treading water). They've also been jumping off the diving board and diving off the side of the pool. Nathan got to dive off the diving board on Wednesday. I'm going to skip out of work for a little while tomorrow to go watch their last class. Hopefully they'll get to do some more diving tomorrow. Here are a couple shots of them in class...

Happy Birthday Heidi

2008-06-10T21:47:00.005-04:00

Today, June 10th, is Heidi's 35th birthday. For the one who's always planning everything out and making sure things go off without a hitch, this is her special day. We went to Texas Roadhouse for a quick dinner before heading to Allison's final tee-ball game. Unfortunately, she wouldn't let us tell the waitress it was her birthday to get a Texas "Hee Haw!" from everyone in the joint. We got her a nice beach chair and sound dock for her iPod. And, of course, I had to make her a birthday Cork 'N Cleaver mud pie instead of a birthday cake. She's been a fan of those ever since college when I'd bring them home after working at the restaurant.

Happy Birthday Heidi!

Festival 2008

2008-06-08T21:21:00.003-04:00

For the past few years, we've made a point of attending the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts (or as most people say: Festival). It's basically three days of performances (music, storytelling, dance, etc.), art, ethnic food, and LOTS of people in downtown Grand Rapids. They close down a few streets downtown and setup about 8 different stages all over the city and have various performances going non-stop. They also have various activities available. The kids got to paint and make artsy hats in the "no parent zone". We also saw performances by Body Language Dance Company (the dance school Allison attends) and Left Hand Daisy (a band the kids liked when we saw them last year) until the lightning started. We wanted to see Brian VanderArk of Verve Pipe but Festival closed about a half-hour before he was to perform due to severe thunderstorms. Literally, that has happened each of the last three years when we've gone down there. Maybe we're bad luck :-) At least we got to eat some good food first...

Cousin Breanna was staying with us this weekend and joined us at Festival. She really liked the painting area. She even stayed in there longer than Allison (which is saying something!)

Schooooooools Out... (For... Summer)!

2008-06-05T20:33:00.004-04:00

Today was the last day of school for the kids. This week has been full of field trips, parties, and fun times at school (aka very little work). Wednesday was the "Bauerwood Bash" at Bauerwood Elementary School. The whole day was full of games like a dunk tank, relay races, tug-o-war, water balloon war, abstacle course, etc. The weather wasn't the greatest but the festivities went on as scheduled. And the kids got to have their Bauerwood Bash T-shirts signed by their friends (it's tradition).

The highlight of the last day of school (besides the final bell) was when the kids got to find out who their teacher would be for next year. Allison will be in Mr. Barbachyn's 1st grade class. That's who she was hoping for. Nathan had him for first grade and that's been is favorite teacher so far. Nathan will be in Mrs. VanDerHulst's 4th grade class. He's also excited for next year.

Here are a few pictures from the Bauerwood Bash...

<-- Allison in the water balloon fight <-- Zoie, Allison, Abbi, and Morgan T. <-- Nathan at the dunk tank <-- Jarrod, Brandon, Nathan, Jake, and Austin goofing around

Princess Party at Paint-A-Pot

2008-06-01T21:27:00.002-04:00

Today was Allison's "friend" birthday party (and thankfully, the last of the birthday party barrage for this year). She invited some of her friends and cousins to Paint-A-Pot in Holland to dress up in princess dresses, paint some pottery, and eat some cake and ice cream. Our old neighbors Hanna & Maddie were there. So were Marissa and Kaylynne from school. Cousins Breanna, Reygan, Zachary, and Nick came. And of course Nathan would never miss a good princess party!

The room was a bit warm and cramped but the kids didn't seem to mind. I can't divulge what the kids painted (there may be some secret gifts in there!). But most of the paint got on the pottery. They also got to create their own tiaras (crowns) with jewels. For some reason, Nick didn't want any pink jewels on his crown... he's so fashion conscious...he he he. Thanks to all who were able to make it! Happy Birthday once again Ally!

Hockey at Wrigley?!

2008-05-30T22:34:00.001-04:00

I'm THERE! Let's see... chocolate and peanut butter, bacon and eggs, beer and peanuts all go together... but hockey and Wrigley? That sounds cool enough for me to be interested in tickets. I remember seeing the NHL Winter Classic last winter in Buffalo between the Sabres and Penguins. It looked cold but the atmosphere looked cool. Well, I just saw on Yahoo today that rumors are flying about having next year's outdoor game at Wrigley Field or Soldier Field between the Blackhawks and Red Wings.

But before that, we'll worry about winning the cup THIS YEAR. GO WINGS!

May Birthdays for the Weiss & McDaid kids

2008-05-25T21:52:00.008-04:00

Continuing on with our theme of non-stop birthday parties for the whole month of May, we celebrated, Nathan, William, and Allison's birthdays up north on 5/24. There was plenty of food, drink, dirt, fishing, kayaking, and one pinata. Bob & Pam were nice enough to let everyone stop down and enjoy the lake. And while Zoe evidently flipped Sam off the dock and into the water, nobody got hurt during the whole party. But Nathan, Zach, Noah, and Will did get awfully dirty riding quads through the woods. (click to enlarge pics)

<-- Noisy Party
Nathan & Noah kayaking on Pettibone Lake -->
<-- Weiss kids going fishing with Papa on the S.S. Bouwens.
Turtle hunting -->
<-- Zach getting psyched up to break the pinata

2008-05-24T21:11:00.000-04:00

Happy 6th Birthday Allison!

Allison Marie McDaid was born at 6:46pm on May 24, 2002. Now she's six (going on sixteen...yikes!). Allisons birthday happened to fall on a Saturday when we would be celebrating her birthday (along with Nathan's and William's) up north. Since we weren't going to be home on her actual birthday, she got to open her gift from Mom & Dad on Friday night. She got a purple mountain bike with fancy flower stickers all over it. But we do need to work on the hand brakes or she's going to be wearing out a few pairs of shoes trying to stop with her feet!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

Allison on the morning of her birthday... time to open presents!

Lord Stanley's Finals - Go WINGS!

2008-05-20T22:25:00.003-04:00

Nathan was excited that the Red Wings decided to dispose of the Dallas Stars and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals on his birthday (5/19). He thought that was pretty special and expects the Wings to hoist the cup by beating "Sid the Kid" and the rest of the Penguins. The funny thing is Nathan has a life-size growth chart of Sidney Crosby on his closet door (with a picture of him when he played for Tim Horton's like Nathan). Unfortunately, the first two games are on Versus which we don't get anymore with Dish Network. So we may have to make a late night of it and visit a local sports bar to watch the games. I wonder if Nathan could pass for 21....

2008-05-19T15:31:00.006-04:00

HAPPY 9th BIRTHDAY NATHAN!!!

Nathan James McDaid was born at 9:43pm on May 19, 1999. Wow, time sure does fly! Nathan woke up early this morning and was able to "open" his gift from Mom & Dad before school. He got a cool new mountain bike. "Giddy" doesn't begin to describe his mood today... Tonight, we'll be going out for birthday dinner... Nate's choice.

Enjoy your special day little buddy!

Nathan playing with one of his presents from Grandma & Grandpa Anderson - Speed Stacks. He's pretty fast but not this fast.

Nathan's "Up North" Birthday Party

2008-05-18T21:33:00.006-04:00

Nathan invited a few of his friends up north on Saturday/Sunday for his birthday. There weren't any real grand plans but the kids always seem to have fun up there. We had a Water War, a Treasure Hunt, campfire (with s'mores of course), built a fort in the woods, smashed a pinata, took a stroll through the woods in the dark (only a couple of the kids were brave enough), and came home very tired. The kids all seemed to have fun. I'm beat but it was worth it. Here are a few pictures...

Water War Red Team (Allison, Nathan, Jonas, & Zach)

Getting ready for S'mores!

Finding clues on the treasure hunt...

Found the treasure (Pop-Its and Whoopie Cushions...what a loud night)!

Play Ball!

2008-05-17T17:05:00.001-04:00

This is Allison's first year playing softball (tee-ball). She is having a lot of fun and is doing pretty well. We just learned they're going to take the tee away and do coach pitch for the next game. If they don't hit it then they'll let them hit off the tee. Ally shouldn't have any problem hitting pitches. We've been practicing in the yard lately and she's got quite the power swing and a strong arm for a little girl! Here are a few photos from a recent game...

Let the parties begin!

2008-05-16T22:34:00.000-04:00

May is the month of non-stop birthday parties it seems. Grandma & Grandpa Anderson came over tonight to celebrate Breanna (7th), Nathan (9th), and Allison's (6th) birthdays. Birthdays: Breanna - 5/18, Nathan - 5/19, Allison - 5/24. Grandma made little cakes for each of the kids and they all got to open their presents. Everyone seemed very happy but singing happy birthday was tricky to fit in all three names.

Showing off presents...

Allison's Dance Recital

2008-05-04T21:50:00.008-04:00

On Friday May 2nd, Allison performed in her third dance recital in as many years in front of a couple hundred people at Zeeland High School. This year, her group did a tap dance to the song Jeepers Creepers (...where'd you get those peepers...). It's fun to watch the girls improve each year. They did a great job and all seemed to know the routine without watching each other. Allison also received an award for perfect attendance and will be getting a trophy (as long as she doesn't miss one of the last classes this month). Great job Al!

Allison posing and tapping before the show -->

<-- Allison and Nathan after the show

Nathan's first baseball game...

2008-04-30T21:41:00.001-04:00

Nathan had is first game of the season tonight. He plays for the Royals. The bats were hot but the gloves and arms weren't. We had some trouble getting the other team out a couple times. But everyone had a good time and for some reason we got ice cream after the game (it was only about 50 degrees out!) Nathan got to bat twice and had two nice hits right up the middle. He played P and 2B. Here are a couple pictures... pictures of Ally's game coming soon!

Allison got her recital dress...

2008-04-23T21:30:00.001-04:00

There's one thing I've learned over the course of three years of Allison taking dance lessons...the dress is as important as the dance (or so I think we're being led to believe). At any rate, Allison seems to like her dress for this year's recital.

And why would you wear a dress if you're not going to twirl?!

Ball field, sweet ball field (our home away from home)...

2008-04-21T21:37:00.000-04:00

Now that the weather has broke, it's time to lace up the cleats and hit the diamond. A new twist this year is that both Nathan AND Allison are playing ball. Nathan didn't play last year and is in the last year of machine pitch. This is Allison's first year in T-ball. They both seem to be having a blast and Mom and Dad get to spend some quality time at the little league fields. But I'm not complaining... at least we'll get to be home one night during the week :-)

Happy Birthday Gordie...

2008-03-31T21:05:00.002-04:00

I finally got to use one of my Christmas presents... Brian W. gave me four tickets to the Redwings game vs. the Nashville Predators on March 30th so we all made the trek down to "The Joe". Turned out it was also Gordie Howe's birthday so they had a number of things going on that night remembering the days when he played. We asked Ally what she remembers most about the game and of course her reply: "it was someone's birthday". We got there a little early so we got to go down against the glass to watch warm-ups. Nathan was right against the glass and took a number of shots from his point of view (funny). Too bad our seats weren't that close! Anyway, the Wings won 1-0 in overtime (Franzen). Here are some shots:

Arriving at "The Joe":
Red Wings warmup through the eyes of an 8 year old hockey fan (he seemed to be focused on McCarty... probably because he got to see him in the dressing room at Van Andel Arena):Dad and the kids from our seats: