Downtown Estes

Tuesday in Estes was supposed to be even colder - and more importantly, incredibly windy [the closed down several ski hills across the state, including Vail, because of the wind that day]. Because of the weather, we decided to start our day in downtown Estes while we waited to see how the weather shook out. 

Unfortunately downtown Estes did not have the same plan. We arrived around 10am to find very few stores open. Apparently Tuesday in the off season is when most stores are closed for the day - or are only open in the afternoon. Because of this, we just spent more time in the stores that were open. Mike and I told the kids we would get them a shirt and one souvenir each, so to choose wisely. 

It did not take Dec long to decide he wanted a geode. Not just any geode - one that we picked from the ore cart in the store and they cracked open for you. Since we had been downtown for less than an hour, we questioned him multiple times - but he stayed committed. And still, to this day loves his geode!

We also found a glass-blowing shop and the kids could have stayed there all day watching the owner color and shape the glass. They were fascinated - and a bit disappointed that we said the pieces were too expensive to buy. Expensive, but beautiful!

Late morning, the weather seemed less windy and warmer downtown, so based on a tip from a local, we headed up into the park to walk around Sprague Lake. It was not as far up the mountain as we had gone yesterday and was less than a mile hike. We barely got out of the car before we abandoned that plan! It was so cold and windy that we knew it would ruin any fun on the hike. 

Dec wasn't feeling particularly well on the drive back down (wind was rocking the car), so Mike pulled off at the Bierstadt Lake trailhead to take a break. This area was a bit more out of the wind so we wondered the trail and checked out several groups of mountain deer (no sheep or moose ... to Mike's continued disappointment!). After that break, we returned to town for lunch at Penelope's [apparently a famous tourist destination for burgers. 5 out of 5 Vs would not recommend. It was fine. It was shockingly expensive for the level of "fine" it was.]

After lunch, we made Fiona's day and did an Old Time Family Photo - which is now hanging in the upstairs hallway. It was pretty fun getting into costume and we all laughed quite a bit as we tried to narrow it down to the one photo we bought. The rest of the family also learned something I've known for a long time - I cannot smile with my mouth closed. Not "I don't like to" - I truly cannot. The kids get the biggest kick out of asking me to try.

We continued our downtown wandering and eventually ended up at a winery. Mike and I got a tasting package, the kids got to taste several flavors of cider, and we all enjoyed some snacks. We didn't buy any wine, but brought a couple bottles of cider back to the rental house with us to enjoy. We also tested out the two rival taffy shops in town - and bought a ridiculous amount of taffy at each. We didn't want to play favorites and, turns out, all Vs love salt water taffy!

We headed home late afternoon with a t-shirt (Dec), two sweatshirts (the girls), a geode, and a tie dye visor (Quinn - as if you couldn't guess that!) in tow. Fiona hadn't yet found the perfect souvenir, but we promised her we'd go back downtown before we left. 

Snowy Hike

On our first full day in Estes Park, we were out the door by mid-morning and off to hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. Quite fortuitously (as we didn’t discover the information until we had already booked the trip), there is a national program where 4th graders get free family entry to all national parks. So, Miss Quinn scored us a free park pass that we enjoyed throughout the trip. And we have already decided there will be another national parks spring break during the year Dec is in 4th grade!

We decided to tackle the trail to Loch Vale - and had to access the Glacier Gorge trailhead at the Beaver Meadows park entrance across town. As we drove through downtown Estes to get there, we decided it looked super cute and we would need to make time to explore it later in the trip. Our rental car had a sunroof and the kids loved popping out the top (when we were stopped) to take pictures of the mountains. 

It was clear ground at the park entrance, but by the time we got up to the trail, there was a lot of snow! The switchbacks up the mountain were a little rough on the Vs prone to carsickness, but we made it. There was a lot of licorice snacking as a coping mechanism. [Does it help? Does it just distract? Didn't matter. No one puked!]

I will not lie – the weather forecast was chilly for the week. And ooof, when we got up into the mountains, it was really not warm! We were glad we had brought the snow gear! As we unloaded at the trailhead, the seasoned hiker next to us strongly encouraged boots. Fiona really didn’t want to wear hers, but eventually caved. And was glad she did! The entire trail was snow pack. We were grateful for the boot treads – and since several of us got our feet stuck in the snow, we were glad for the waterproof footwear as well! 

[For real stuck. If you went off the packed trail, it was so deep. Mike had to pull me out at one point because my leg was so stuck that I couldn't pull it out myself ...]

Hiking the snowy trails was a lot of fun – and definitely what we had all imagined when we dreamed about hiking the Rockies. However, snow pack is NO joke. That combined with the increasing altitude and we didn’t quite make it as far as intended. However, we made it to Alberta Falls … sort of. Since the snow hadn’t started to melt yet, it was more of an Alberta Trickle. Apparently Alberta Falls freezes during the winter months ...

A bit of a disappointment, that was quickly remedied when we followed the advice of a few hikers on the descent. They told us to head up just a bit higher for a great view. And they did not lie. 

Mike and I would spend the next several days commenting on how much we love the mountains. We tried (and failed) to capture the beauty in a photo. They are just so majestic and wonderful! If the Vs ever decide to leave the lakes (highly unlikely), you’ll find us in the mountains! [Especially once the kids’ legs get a bit more stamina and they can handle the altitude better – because Mike is determined to summit something!]

After a car lunch in the trailhead parking lot, we went up the mountain a little farther to Bear Lake. It’s one of the most popular mountain lakes – and our lake snob selves were not terribly impressed. However, the views were amazing. So we decided to hike the loop around it anyway. The lake itself was still frozen, but we chose to off-road it (I know you all are surprised). Occasionally the trail was blocked, so we’d have to portage around using the frozen lake. Thankfully I was the only one whose foot went through at the edge and had a wet boot!

On the far side of the lake, there was an amazing icicle formation. Even though the kids have outgrown Frozen, they all thought it looked like Elsa’s castle. We spend some time climbing and sliding on the icicles before finishing the lake trail. At this point, the kids were done hiking for the day. So we headed back to the house to test out the outdoor hot tub. It was quite refreshing – until we had to get out. That sprint from the hot tub to the front door was exhilarating! 

We finished the night with breakfast for dinner, games in the rental house game room (shuffleboard and mini bowling), and showers!

Mountain Bound

Welcome to April! We followed up the hockey jamboree weekend and the play performance weekend with a short school week and a trip to the airport for Spring Break. Back in January, we had started talking about going on a trip ... just as the omnicron variant was spiking. The kids mentioned Colorado several times and kept saying they wanted to go climb mountains. 

Eventually, I proposed Estes Park to Mike as our destination. It was an easy drive from Denver and was right in the foothills of Rocky Mountain National Park. Early April was also off-season in Estes, so we found several rental houses for a steal. Then we did math and realized how few years we have until Fiona is off to college. With that, the Vs were headed to CO!

With careful planning, we managed to get everything - including hats, gloves, boots, and snowpants - into 5 carry-on suitcases and 5 "personal items." We were flying Southwest, which doesn't assign seats, and I was relieved to get a good line position when I checked us in. While we had prepped everyone for the possibility that we wouldn't set together, no one was particularly fond of that scenario. 

The other benefit of flying Southwest was that we got to fly out of the smaller MSP terminal. We breezed through security and the kids even got to piggy-back on my TSA pre-check status. They thought they were pretty hot stuff. We grabbed some lunch for the flight and wandered around the terminal, checking out the people and the planes. 

Boarding went smoothly and we were able to snag five seats, back-to-back. The girls and I sat together and Mike and Dec sat right behind us. They were very excited to discover that they could stream movies on their iPads and everyone ended up watching Encanto. It was a pretty easy flight, other than a few bumps going into Denver that Fiona did not appreciate (she was the one most worried about being separated on the plane). Then the fun started.

The prep work paid off and we had great attitudes during the long process of navigating through the Denver airport, finding and riding the shuttle bus, and then waiting in line to get our rental car. We were all very happy to load into the car and point toward the mountains. First up, a pit stop of ice cream in Boulder with my friend Kristin. We were definitely in need some food at that point.

Then it was off to Estes. And you have not heard five people oooh and aaaah so much. It is official. Five out of five Vannestes love the mountains. Driving into Estes and seeing the Rocky Mountains was spectacular and hearing the kids' excitement from the backseat was just the best. 

Quinn, Dec, and I battled a bit of carsickness (a common theme throughout the trip. Switchbacks are not our friend), but we powered through. It just meant we took several breaks at scenic outlooks and admired the mountains!

Our rental house was on the other side of Estes, so we drove through town - pointing out the Stanley Hotel (and promising the kids that we'd watch Dumb and Dumber together someday when it is less inappropriate. And no, we will not be watching The Shining as a family. Fiona, Dec, and I are not horror movie material!) and remarking that Lake Estes seemed quite unremarkable when you are from the land of 10,000 [actual] lakes. [Fun fact: we learned on this trip that Vs are lake snobs. And the mountain lakes that we saw did not measure up!]

We arrived at our house and were delighted with it. It was small, but a perfect size for a home base. We had an outdoor hot tub and a river running through the backyard. We unloaded, ordered pizza, and got settled in. After dinner, the kids and I explored the river while Mike ran into town to get groceries. Then we took a short walk around the neighborhood and called it a day. 

A New Era

We are taking a short hiatus from the blog catch up quest (is it insurmountable? we choose not to think about it too hard!) to deliver some timely (relatively speaking) content. 

Two weeks ago, we wrapped up the 2021-22 school year and ended a golden era in the Vanneste household. Fiona is now a middle schooler! Take a minute to let that sink in. My tiny baby who was born yesterday will be in middle school this fall. And with that transition, we cease to be a one school family. Next year, there were be two wildly different schedules. Like Fiona's bus will pick up about 90 minutes before Q and D's bus ... and she will be home from school before 3pm. How will that work? That's a problem for September!

The next time the three of them will be in the same school will be when Dec starts high school and Fiona is a senior. We will not take a minute to let that sink in. In fact, that topic will be dead to us! A senior. I can't even!

Back to this school year ... we ended on a high note. The kids were all very ready for summer break but all three had great years. 

Fiona had the best 5th grade teacher who pushed her and kept building the math confidence that was lost in the Great Distance Learning Adventure. It was so awesome to have her proudly produce math tests from her bag, anxious to show us her success! Reading continues to be her passion and we just got a letter that she will be in both Accelerated Reading and Accelerated Language Arts in sixth grade. She's super excited.

Quinn had the same teacher that F had in 4th grade ... and quite honestly all Vs and Mrs. M hope she goes for the three-peat when Mr. D hits 4th grade. She is awesome. So awesome that she inspired Quinn to be an avid reader (in school) this year. Let's repeat: Quinn Willingly Read 10 Books On Her Own Time. Now granted, it was a bit of a competition (and we know that motivates a girl!), her bestie was all in, and there was a party as a reward at the end. But still. Quinn did it. Happily. She had a great year and cannot wait for 5th grade. 

Declan lived his very best life in 2nd grade. All is buddies were in his class. He had Mr. P (same amazing teacher as Q had in 2nd) who is the best. Mr. P both embraced D's silly side and saw everything he is capable of (he's smart. just ask him. also, he's not humble ... ). When we went to D's spring conference, he showed us the worksheet that Dec and his buddy AB were working on together and it was easily 4th grade level math. The boys didn't fully comprehend it on the first pass, but Mr. P was helping them through it because he knew they could get it. He also opened the "secret" library for Dec and he has ripped his way through the entire Harry Potter series (book 7 was finished today). 

The school year ended with a "clap out" for the graduating 5th graders and Q and D were excited to celebrate their sister's transition. We are thankful for an awesome year for all and the return [mostly] of a normal school year!

Beat the [Grand]Parents

One more post to close out March's activities ... then it's just April, May, and half of June to catch up on. Blergh!

Anyhoo ...

We did a little grandparent switcheroo on the Saturday of Fiona's Lady Pirates play. Gpa V came down for the matinee and then headed back north. Shortly after he left, Gma and Gpa J and Auntie arrived for the evening performance. Since we had a bit of time to kill, we decided to play the board game Beat the Parents. The teams were divided into Auntie + 3 mini Vs [kids team] vs Mike, me, Gma, and Gpa [parents team]. You guys, chaos ensued!

Highlights were the sock fight between Dec and Gma. He picked her as his opponent and underestimated her sock fighting skills! The game was neck and neck throughout and game down to a final challenge to determine the winner. The challenge: fastest person to roll across the floor. The kids picked Quinn as their representative. Then Quinn picked Gpa as her opponent. 

They were supposed to roll simultaneously, but our living room isn't big enough (#furniture) so Mike timed them instead. Q went first and was fast. Grandpa was nervous! But anyone who knows Gpa knows he was not going to go quietly into the night. Despite having vertigo and having his feet clip the wall, he squeaked out the win! 

The kids were not happy to have lost (mostly because the "no fighting" wager they had made was probably less than achievable). But we all had a really fun time and it was a great way to fill the time before dinner and performance number 3.

Lady Pirates

We took a deep breath after the hockey jamboree weekend and then dove straight into show week for Fiona's first big production - Lady Pirates of the Caribbean. She has been rehearsing every weekend since early January and they had three performances at the end of March. [Yes. I know it is now June and we are still talking about March. But this is the last March post. Thank goodness!]

Dress rehearsal was Wednesday night and when I picked Fiona up, she was fairly nervous. As a whole cast, they were not as prepared as they could have been and she was not feeling too confident about the weekend. I assured her that she had done the best she could (she had her lines memorized for weeks) and that it would work out fine. 

I was secretly just as nervous as her. The play's director was great, but it was his first time directing a full production like this. Because of that (and quite a few first-time cast members), it seemed like that were some time management issues. Major parts of the play had only been rehearsed one or two times. Because dress rehearsal was ... bumpy ..., the cast had an earlier call on opening night to run through a few parts before curtain. It was for the best. 

I had volunteered to help with hair and make-up before each of the shows (with F's blessing). We also got her friend Ellie on Friday night so I could help E with her make up. E's mom and I thought that would work better than E's dad being in charge of make up. Once I got the girls ready, I just went with them for the earlier call and helped set up in the lobby while they rehearsed. 

As curtain time approached, I could tell Fiona was nervous. But she also seemed really confident. I was quite proud of her and how she didn't let her nerves get to her. It helped that she had a few good friends in the play and they all kept each other calm.

Here's what I will say about the play perhaps not being fully performance ready by opening night. The four V super fans saw it all three times. And each time, we saw a distinctly different show. I thought they performed with great energy on Friday night. But so many lines were dropped that it got to the end and none of us were too sure what the actual plot was. Regardless, it was wonderful and funny and Fiona killed it. She was so funny. I appreciated every moment of her on stage. Girlfriend was truly in her element!

We got up Saturday morning ready to do it again. But for the afternoon show, Gpa V came down to watch. Apparently he didn't watch enough Vs the weekend before and his butt was ready for more! Two of Quinn's hockey teammates were also in the show, so between the three performances, almost every girl on the team showed up to watch. A few brought flowers for Fiona as well, which was incredibly sweet. Between Friday night and Saturday afternoon, several of Fiona's friends also came and she felt so loved and supported. It was fun to see how happy it made her to see her people. As a girl who spends her life being a Super Fan, it was awesome to have her own entourage!

Gpa V headed home shortly after the show and then Auntie and Gma and Gpa J arrived for the evening performance. Now that was a performance for the memory books. Besides the fact that Auntie was convinced that the entire audience was wearing Shakopee Hockey jackets, there was a fairly significant cast change. About 30 minutes before the show, one of the leads (who had not been feeling well all weekend) ended up in the bathroom with a terrible stomach bug. She was sent home and the director donned a wig and a skirt and took her place. The show must go on. 

And go on it did. It was hilarious. But the cast also did a great job of staying in character and ignoring the fact that a grown up man in a Hairspray wig was on stage with them. Like I said, three very distinct performances!

We sent Q and D home with Gma and Gpa while Mike and I stayed to help strike the set. Once most of it was done, I took Fiona home as well (she was exhausted) and Mike was there until close to 11:00. We were so proud of our actress and her first "real" play. Over 400 people showed up to watch between the three performances! 

While she had some initial disappointment over the size of her part, we decided at the end that it was just the right size for her first time. She was able to feel confident and successful and cannot wait to do it again. Fiona (and Dec) are signed up for three theatre camps this summer - so more performances to come!

Bonus Post: Big Camera Shots

I dusted off the big camera for the hockey jamboree weekend (first time since the last jamboree, in case anyone besides Mike was wondering). Since we've covered in depth the events of the weekend, I'll just share a handful of my favorite pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

13 Games in 4 Days: Part 3

Ready to bring this weekend to a close? So was Grandpa!

Mike, Grandpa, and Declan headed off the rink bright and early for Dec's game against the M3 girls team. Little dude was pretty excited. There is, perhaps, a feisty little redhead on the girls team whose name makes Dec's face turn red every single time we say it. We definitely don't use that knowledge for evil. Probably. Ish. 

While they pointed the car toward the rink, I pointed mine toward Maddy's house to pick up Quinn from the "sleep"over. She told me that they fell asleep sometime after 2am. I was there to pick her up at 8:30. Oooof.

I got her home, had her splash some cold water on her face, checked on Fiona (still sleeping!), and we headed to the rink to catch the end of Dec's game. I found myself cheering for Dec - and the girls' team. Mike said that he accidentally did the same. Even though he was on the boys bench as their coach. Oops. Dec's team won and, as you can see, he had a pretty fun time!

Meanwhile, Q was trying to pump herself up for the game against the other boys' team. There is no way to sugar coat it. Her team should have won. Easily. They didn't. It wasn't terribly close. I think the lopsided loss from the night before was still in the girls heads - and their goalie was severely sleep deprived and not on her game! Q didn't play badly - just definitely not as well as she normally would.

[The real question is ... are her eyes slits because she's got her game face on? or because that's how wide she can open them after no sleep?]

Win or lose, these girls are great teammates to each other! They shook off the morning loss much better than the night before (perhaps it was needed to kick them back into gear ...) and were ready to finish the season strong!

Mike and I (and many of the other parents on the team) have said that we wish/hope we can keep these girls together for their entire youth career. They are the real deal for talent - but better than that, they are the real deal as teammates and friends. Plus holy smokes, they are a bunch of characters!

Hockey moms can get a bit of a reputation for being intense. But if I have to be part of a group of hockey moms, Q's team moms are my people. They are fun, they are funny, they are fierce for their girls, and they are family. I think the moms were as sad as the girls that the season was ending!

After the morning games, Gpa decide that his butt had had enough of bleacher seats and that 10 games was his limit. The kids were all so glad that he game to watch - and I was incredibly thankful for company in the stands. When I'm shuffling people around and making sure the next player is in the locker room getting ready, I feel like I miss a lot of the game. It was great to know that the kids had a fan in the stands, even when I wasn't there! 

We had a couple hours break before the final two games of the season. Fiona begrudgingly agreed to attend the season finales. Until then, we had a pretty low key break so a couple of girls could rest. While they were crabby, I feel like the long game fell in my favor. Neither is terribly interested in having or attending a sleepover anytime soon! 

Then late afternoon, we loaded up for one more batch of games. First up was Declan with this last mixed teams game. It was a really close game and his team won. Super fun to watch! After the game, all the boys got their trophies. Poor Dec. Mike was the one handing out the trophies, so he held D's super high and made him jump for it. Mike said D was laughing the whole time.

Dec is working hard to up his game over the summer, so he can make the M4 team next season. He has a great shot at it, but we know he'll have fun wherever he plays.

Right after Dec's game was Q's last game as a Mite. She's moving up next season to the 10U team (equivalent to a Squirt) and is more than ready for it. It was a mixed teams game for Q too, and she played out as a skater. She was on a team with her friend Nolan (who plays for one of the boys team) and they made a dominant pair. She set him up for several goals and they clearly had so much fun playing together - even though neither of them would admit it after the game. Nor would they pose for a picture together. Ha! 

That's a wrap on hockey season ... for about 48 hours when off-season hockey started.

13 Games in 4 Days: Part 2

Ready for games 6-9? Let's go!

The super fans brought their A game on Saturday! I had sweetened the deal for Bugs by getting her a new Shako quarter zip for the occasion. She accepted my bribe and [mostly] happily headed to the rink first thing Saturday morning with me. She wanted to come to see both D and Q get their names announced before the first games. 

We watched D's first game, caught Q's announcement, and then I left Gpa in charge of Declan while I ran Fiona home. She had play practice all afternoon, so I wanted her to have a few minutes of downtime and a chance to get lunch before practice. She made sure to fist bump Q through the glass before we left - and shoot her dad a dirty look. Just for the fun of it.

Both Q and D's levels have three teams, so the first and fourth games of the jamboree were "mixed teams" games. The coaches had divided the three teams into pretty evenly matched two teams. That meant that the boys and girls were playing on the same teams. And teammates were playing against each other. They were exciting games to watch. And according to Mike, a lot of work to ref. 

I got back in time to catch the end of Q's game. Meanwhile, Declan had been happily hanging out with some buddies. They were working hard on their pictures for the coloring contest and he had eyed up the hockey gear garage sale for just the right jersey. We ended up spending something like $5 for an old school Shako jersey that is so big he'll probably never grow into it. But he loves it and that's what matters. [I did manage to talk him out of the XXL goalie cut option that had a "better number"]

After Q's game, Gpa looked looked at me and said "now what?" I think he incorrectly believed we could leave. I told him that we had 30 minutes to Dec's next game. The look on his face was pretty priceless. It was a combination of shock, exhaustion, and frozen solid Gpa. He obviously had missed that morning's briefing on the day's schedule.

While I helped D get ready for his game, Q was checking out the Chuck-A-Puck situation. One of her teammate's moms bought pucks for all the girls on the team (with their numbers). Mike bought Dec a puck too and asked Q to chuck it for him. Q also got prime line position, which I like to think I helped with since I solved the Great Sock Tape Crisis that had popped up in the girls locker room before their first game. A couple of the girls have very strong opinions about the tape they use on their hockey socks and no one had the right tape in their bags. I snagged some from the boys locker room to avert the crisis. Before Game 2, the coaches showed up with five rolls of sock tape!

Dec's team played the other boy's team and did a great job! Super fun game to watch. After that, I turned Quinn over to Gpa (who finally got to leave the rink ... for a while) so I could rush home. Fiona was there waiting for me - so she could jump in my car to get to play practice on time. Poor Gpa was so confused when I passed him and Quinn as they headed toward our house.

While F was at practice, Quinn and Dec spent their downtime playing street hockey. As one does. Mike and I spent it smoking some pork steaks on the Traeger for dinner.

I picked up Fiona from practice and we ate a quick dinner so we could head back to the rink for Q's second game of the day. Her team was playing the top boy's team - and Q was in net. It was a very one-sided score (not in our favor), but Quinn actually played awesome. She probably had 50+ shots on net and made some really great saves. The girls had been hoping to make it a closer game, so they were a bit disappointed. 

However, both the girls AND the mom's brought their beast mode. We made it fun (eye black for all) and they know that they win and lose as a team. The coaches did a great job reminding them that there were more games to play tomorrow. 

[One of my co-workers saw Q and my eye black photo on instagram and teased me about being a committed hockey mom. I don't know what she is talking about. It seems totally understated ...]

After the game, we hurried home so Q could shower and then I dropped her and Fiona off at Q's friend's Maddy's birthday party/sleepover (which they had scheduled to best meet Q's insane weekend schedule). It was a Harry Potter themed party and they were so excited. It was also their first official sleepover.

Sort of.

At midnight, I got a text that Fiona wanted to come home because the girls would not go to sleep. One of my favorite things about Fiona is that she loves her sleep. And she was not having their shenanigans. So I elbowed Mike and off he went down the road to retrieve her. I was so proud of her to make that choice and own it. Q decided to stay. More on that decision in the next post. 

13 Games in 4 Days: Part 1

Buckle Up! It's Jamboree Weekend. This is not for the faint of heart. Grab your coffee. Numb your butt (seriously, think about sitting in the bleachers for this many games). Apply your eye black. It. Is. Go. Time.

********************************************

You know it is power-packed when you need to 1) write out the hour x hour schedule and 2) color code it so you know which child goes where when. Then 3) cross-examine for overlaps in drop off/pick up/shuffle. Finally 4) be thankful Gpa V came because clearly you need another person with a driver's license!

We kicked off The Weekend of Hockey on Thursday night (otherwise known as St. Patrick's Day) by heading to Mike's game. He plays with three other Shako coaches, so representatives from all their families also showed up. We had 9 (out of 10) kids represented and three wives. I was in charge of the tagalong Moon child, which was super easy because A loves Fiona and happily hung out with her. The Ps were there and Dec lived his best life running around with the boys, while Hannah teamed up with Fiona and A and lived hers. Quinn rotated between groups, depending on who looked like they were having more fun!

The big boys won, probably thanks to some of the coaching from the stands. Cooper took advantage and impersonated Brad's "spectator" coaching perfectly. My favorite was when Brad hit the crossbar and Coop yelled "you gotta hit the net." The mite coach contingent couldn't stop laughing when N ran behind their bench and yelled "move your feet." As you can see by the smiles (taken right before C handed out green frosting cookies to all), they had the best time!

Gpa V arrived Friday afternoon, looked at my schedule list, and [probably] contemplated hightailing it back home where it was safe. Instead he joined us for an early pizza dinner and it was off to the rink for the M3 Mite Olympics. This was Dec's level - and they did an hour of various drills and games. It was super fun to watch and sounded like it was a lot of fun (and lots of work for the coaches). My favorites were dodgeball and the relay races. 

Dec is a dream partner for half of the relay race - because he has great balance and weighs nothing. When his partner T was pulling, they handily beat everyone! However, T is much bigger than Dec and when it was D's turn to be the puller, they weren't quite so fast. I'll give the boy credit - he hung in there and was much closer to the front than expected. [Photo tip: D is #12 in the red jersey/black helmet pulling red jersey/white helmet]

After D's game was the event we had been the most excited about. All the girls moving up to 10U next year were playing the coaches. Plus one very special guest. A fair amount of the boys coaches had not signed up to play in the girls game (I have thoughts about this, but will leave it at that), so they were a bit low on grown up players. I played a very winning hand and asked Uncle Brad if he would come play - for Quinn. We all know he can't say no to that. She wasn't sure if he was coming, so when I had her pop her head out in the hallway, the smile was epic!

The game was so much fun to watch. The goalie for the girls was their goalie coach and the coach's goalie was one of the dads. It was hilarious to watch and the girls were just beaming. As you know, Quinn doesn't care for emotion - but she was visibly thrilled to be out on the ice with both Mike and Brad. It was such a special game for these girls - to celebrate the end of their Mite/8U career.

After the game, Quinn hung out with her teammates, Mike played in the boys vs coaches game (as did the majority of the girls coaches. just saying), and I ran home to snag a piece of equipment that Quinn forgot. I missed most of the boys v coaches game, but sounds like it was high energy and a lot of fun.

If you are counting and think I missed a few Vs, you are right. While all that was happening, the bookends were invited to head home with our neighbors to make a very long night slightly less long. Instead of sitting at the rink for over four hours, they got to head home with the Bs for a 2nd dinner floor picnic and movie. Thank goodness for great friends and a village to raise the children.

Meanwhile, I met Gpa and Q back at the rink for the final event of the evening - the M4 Olympics. Basically the same as what Dec's group did, just for the next level up. Quinn was tired from the game, but had a fun time competing with her teammates. I think their favorite event was "longest slide" and I noticed that they all took a couple extra beats to get up. Quick power nap, maybe? [photo clue: red jersey, orange stick]

And with that, we were home around 9:30. We ran the hockey players through a quick shower rinse and hustled them off to bed. Five games down. Eight more to go ...