ESPN.com Story on Classic CB West game

I was at the game. One of the best football games I’ve ever seen (also one of the coldest). The CB West kids really gutted out the victory. The guy that wrote the story did his homework. Most accounts of the game that talk about Piccotti being out don’t mention that CBW was actually down to their fourth string running back (the kid had just gotten moved up from JV a couple of weeks earlier) but the guy that wrote this piece got it.

Click on the image to read the whole article.

We Now Own Lake-front Property!

We always wanted lake-front property! We’ve had record breaking rain this weekend. Note the 2 white boxes in the middle of the 1st, 3rd & 4th pictures. They are the tops of our neighbors’ mailboxes. The water was basically 3 1/2 to 4 feet deep at that point. It receded during the night about a foot, but we’re getting more rain today due to Ike. So far nothing in our house. Hopefully we’ll make it through another day and not have lake-front property with an indoor pool!

The Last Month Part 1: Charlotte’s Room

August has been a maelstrom of sorts, Lex at Yankee Stadium, 2 vacations for the kids (more on that in the next post), and most satisfying for me, Charlotte’s new bedroom. I (er, we…) painted (and varnished & stripped varnish & plastered & spackled & scrubbed & sanded & so on….) the 3rd floor attic guest bedroom, and Charlotte moved in (little by little) a couple weeks ago. She’s thrilled… and so is Lex.

Lex at Red Sox v Yankees

Lex and I went to the first of a 4-game series Thurs night. Lex’s first night game and first Red Sox game (he learned some new swear words.) We were both really pumped for the evening. Got there very early, in time to watch all of batting practice. Went to the outfield wall to try to catch a ball. Didn’t, altho a ball nearly caught us. Drank soda, ate Cracker Jack, Foot-Long Hot Dogs, Cotton Candy and Lemonade Sherbet. Priceless.

One problem, the Yankees never showed up: 7-0.

Waiting on \"The Short Porch\"

View from my seats THIS YEAR.

GrandMar Breaks Blake’s Leg!

It happened on Monday at the park. I took Reid and Blake for a walk. I had decided the week before that I can’t handle Blake at the park while trying to keep an eye on Reid, so we walked in the opposite direction than we normally do. After a few blocks, Blake started pointing and saying “this, this” (meaning he wanted me to turn this way. Thinking I was no where near the park, I followed his directions. Well, before long, Blake had directed me to another park. It was much smaller, only a few kids. I thought, OK I can handle this and still keep Reid in sight while he sits in his stroller. Unfortunately, within two minutes Blake was bored with the baby swings and slides (keep in mind he’s only 20 months old). After picking him up four times and carrying him away from the older kids’ slides, I decided he could go down one of the slides as long as he sat on GrandMar’s lap. Big mistake! Halfway down, Blake stuck his foot out. Obviously our momentum coupled with my weight didn’t stop us and his tiny little leg just snapped. I won’t go into any more details, but it was pretty traumatic…for me as well as Blake. He’s OK now, with a cast from the tip of his toes to the middle of his thigh.

Gary, his recovery reminds me of you as a child after surgery…how we had to find ways to occupy you on your tummy. It’s amazing how resilient children are. You never seemed frustrated and neither does Blake.  I haven’t taken any pictures yet…maybe I’ll get one this weekend when Uncle Gary visits!