Driveway Driving

It will be 14 years, 8 months and 18 days from today when Ryan will be asking me for the car keys. With any luck, my car will still be running (it's a Honda.. it could happen).

Beatin' the heat wave!

Temperatures hovered in the upper 90's all weekend, but we found some fun ways to beat the heat.

Stephen and Coleen's wedding

Everything went great, from the rehearsal to the reception. Michael performed his usher duties flawlessly, and Joey walked the rings down the aisle and was rewarded with a box of legos in his pew.

The only unplanned event happened when Pastor Foss hurt his knee while dancing. After a quick trip by ambulance to the emergency room, doctors confirmed he tore a ligament and dislocated his knee cap. He'll be having surgery this week in Long Island.

The Baking Soda Submarine

You can almost feel the anticipation in this picture :)

Joey-ism

Dad, how do fish whistle?

- Joey, 6/20 Horseshoe Lake

Father's Day

The kids pretty much wore me out, but it was a great day that I'll never forget. We put together a list of everything we wanted to do on Father's Day:

- fishing

- car show

- sandbox

- wrestle

- Wii

- soccer

- baseball

- basketball

- golf

- rockets

- water table (it's a table with water in it)

- build a model

We completed almost everything on the list, plus we went to church, had a BBQ and got slurpees from Dairy Queen. Danielle and the kids got me a new fishing pole, tackle box and a pair of sneakers.

Joey's Graduation

Joey graduated from the KEDS program this week. The program is run through his nursery school as a supplement to Kindergarten. They play games, raise tadpoles and basically just have fun.

The chicks

Danielle's class incubated and hatched a few chicken eggs, so she brought the chicks home this weekend for a visit.

And now a little chicken humor:

Juan was driving down a country road when he saw a chicken farm. To his surprise, all of the chickens had three legs. The farmer came out of his house, and Juan said, "three-legged chickens? That's astonishing!"

The farmer replied, "Yep. I bred 'em that way because I love drumsticks."

Juan was curious. "How does a three-legged chicken taste?"

The farmer smiled. "Dunno. Haven't been able to catch one yet."

Joey-ism number 357:

Daddy: Come inside Joey, it's starting to rain.

Joey: But dad, how are we going to bring the pool inside?

Parade Pictures

Michael and I drove Rescue 16 in the Memorial Day Parade. The chief let Michael sit in the officer's seat as a reward for working so hard down at the firehouse.

Why the life jacket?

Because you never know when you're gonna get hit by a rogue wave in the water table :)

Ryan and the Electric Candle

Ryan kept trying to blow out the electric candle. Too funny.

Birds Nest

Every year, the Robins make nests around our house. This year they made one right on the front porch. It's been fun watching the baby birds grow. Every time we get close to the nest, the mother bird flies to a nearby branch and chirps at us like crazy until we leave.

The Boys Like to Clean

Joey helped clean out the fridge this weekend (and reaped the rewards of eating whatever was left in each jar before it went into the recycling bin), and the effort Michael put into cleaning the ladder truck earned him a spot in the passenger seat in the Memorial Day Parade this weekend. I'll be driving the truck so it's going to be one of those "proud daddy" moments for sure.

Blue Belt!

Way to go, Joe!

Hole in the sink

Not much to say about this one, except that you should never keep a ceramic candle holder next to a ceramic sink. According to a friend of mine who's in the construction business, when ceramic hits ceramic the outcome is never good.

what I did on my lunch hour today

One of the guys I work with has a backhoe loader at his house. Who am I to turn down the opportunity to help him move it around for a while? It beats sitting behind a desk staring at a computer monitor and eating a PB&J.

Paco... or is it a Tizza?

My talented wife found a way to combine two of the most delicious things in the world, Pizza and Tacos, into a single delectable culinary creation. Say hello to... The Paco!

Take Your Kid to Work Day

Thursday was Take Your Kid to Work Day, so I brought Joey to work with me. Since my job really isn't all that exciting, I brought a video player so Joey would have something to do at my desk. It turns out that we didn't need it because he had PLENTY of real work to do. Joey sent an email to Nana from my computer, spoke with my customers, worked in the lab and warehouse and even helped ship a box. The girls gave him papers to shred and they taught him how to stamp envelopes with the postage meter, and the guys at the loading dock let him throw stuff in the dumpster.

Michael went to work with Danielle, and he helped teach her class using the SmartBoard. They also made bird houses from old milk cartons and paper mache.

The Ohio trip!

Some visits just go by too quickly, and this was one of them. Hopefully we can come back soon to take over your house again!! :) Thanks for everything, we had a great time.

Ohio Trip - more pictures

Here are some more pictures from our Ohio trip. The kids had a good time playing with my old toys (the indian and horse, millenium falcon and star wars figures). We also went to the Museum of Natural History in Cleveland, and we went fishing with Dad. All of us had a great time.

Easter!

Battle of Route 10 Champions!!

Congratulations to the NJ Freeze, the Aspen Mite winners of the Battle of Route 10 Tournament! What a great way to finish the 2009-2010 season. We've actually got a 4 week hiatus from hockey until the spring season starts. Hopefully that's enough time to do our taxes, fix the truck, stain the windows, put a new dimmer on the porch lights, finish the moulding in the den, clean the basement...

Cake batter bliss!

This went well beyond Danielle's better judgement!

Turtle Back Zoo

After the tournament, Danielle and I took Joey and Ryan to Turtle Back Zoo since it was right next door to the hockey rink. Michael went to the goalie's house for some driveway hockey and video games.

Shamrock Tournament

Michael's team started the tournament with a big win over the Titans! The kids played some incredible hockey games.

Thursday: NJ Freeze 4, Titans 2
Friday: NJ Freeze 2, Colonials 4
Saturday: NJ Freeze 2, Kings 5
Sunday: NJ Freeze 6 Kings 5

Overall, the team took home the bronze medal this weekend. Next up - The Battle of Route 10.

More info here
http://www.devilsyouth.com/

Devils vs Bruins

The four of us went to watch the Devils play Boston last night. We also went to support Michael's friend, Kyle, as he played a five-minute game between the first and second periods as part of the Mites on Ice program. Michael's team will be playing next week.

Ryan couldn't make it but he'll be there for Michael's game next week.

"look dad.. i can spike my own hair!"

Where did the time go?

Car Show at the Ledgewood Mall

Micro Stock.. I think that's the name for this class of cars that can do 60 MPH on an asphalt track. The owner told me that it's powered by a 5 HP lawnmower engine bored out to 14 HP. The car costs about 1,200.00 and it has some of the basic safety features you'd expect to find in a regular stock car, like a roll cage. The best part is that you can fit it in the back of a pick up truck.

That's Joey sitting in the seat. To get him in, we lowered him down through a hatch in the roof.

Another snowstorm

Yep, we got more snow. I think we're pretty close to breaking the record for the most snowfall in one season, set in 1996. We took this picture in front of the Ledgewood Mall, that's our Tahoe in front.

Trip to the dentist

Danielle just sent me this picture from the dentist's office. It looks like Dr. Kitchin had to resort to sunglasses and ear phones to keep Joey calm. Joey is NOT a fan of the dentist!

Backyard sleigh riding

The inflatable snowtube definitely has it's merits. But when it comes to flat-out speed, nothing beats the old plastic Walmart sled!

Last night's dinner...Hot Dog Surprise

...the surprise is that he got any in his mouth!

Lego Star Wars fun

My Dad and I built a Lego Star Wars set called Darth Vader`s TIE Fighter. -Michael Stephen.

Fight the temptation...

I passed this exit on Route 80 in the middle of Pennsylvania, about 200 miles from the actual Jersey Shore. I'd love to know the story behind the name of that town.

Morning Announcements

Michael did the morning announcements for his school. He did a fantastic job!

My boss sent this picture around to everyone in my company last week.

Winning Weekend!

Saturday: NJ Freeze 2, Long Island Ice Cats 0
Sunday: NJ Freeze 9, Skyland Kings 2

Way to go guys!

We gotta build one of these!

Michael and I spent Sunday afternoon at the Vanderveen's skating on their backyard rink. What a blast! The kids played hockey for a couple hours, then the dads took on the kids for the rest of the afternoon (or drank beer and watched by the fire pit). They built the rink from one of those white plastic tarps that farmers use to cover hay in the winter, and they used two garden hoses to fill it with water for 15 hours. I bet there's around 5 or 10 thousand gallons of water in that rink, considering the one side is a couple feet deep.

Go Devils!

Last night was the NJ Devils first win after an upsetting losing streak. I think that we had something to do with it!