Tag Archives: Eric

Stayed Home This Weekend.

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I think we have gone camping every weekend since Billie Jo’s wedding so this weekend I stayed home. However, Saturday Kathryn took Eric, Ed and Izzabella to the Renaissance Faire in Sterling.

Eric participated in archery, went through the maze with Ed and Bella and won an prize by climbing the rope ladder and ringing the bell at the top of the climb.

I stayed home and mowed my pasture. I didn’t get it all mowed earlier this summer so some of it was very thick and required slow going. It wasn’t a bad thing just to be home and sitting on a tractor.

My garden is doing OK. Acorn squash are threatening to overtake everything. Tomatoes are coming on – I am getting 6 or 8 medium sized tomatoes every 3 days. Yesterday I picked several cucumbers and we have lots of green beans. There are 4-5 pumpkins turning orange and lots of volunteer gourds.

We are getting rain this AM, fortunately they got roofing shingles from C&D Staten Island Roofing on the garage and addition last week and so I am hopeful they will be able to continue working today. At least everything inside isn’t getting wet.

When I left this AM they were working on a roof for the front porch (facing the road) and tacking trim on the eaves. Maybe they will do more siding. We are waiting on delivery of windows, doors and the shower/tub unit.

Kathryn, her friend Jean Krager, Eric and Dakota left with the pop up camper to go to Sturbridge Village for a a couple days. Driving over today, maybe visiting the village this afternoon and tomorrow and returning home on Wed AM. We are lucky the pop-up is small and easy enough that Kathryn feels comfortable taking it places. She is pretty good about backing it into sites, too.

Wed night and Thursday night we have our volleyball playoffs – then our summer volleyball is done. Our Volley Llamas team finished the regular season 2nd in the Wednesday nine team “recreational” league. Kathryn and I played with a different group on Thursday nights. Our Sand Fleas team finished 4th in the more competitive Thursdays. I will miss it, but appreciate having the extra couple of nights available.

Eric’s Basketball Camp

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Eric finished basketball camp today – the last of four 9am-noon sessions. Community Ed did a lousy job of scheduling and booked their soccer camp the same time as the basketball camp. Eric was waffling back and forth until his friend Thomas told him about a soccer camp at SUNY IT in August. That removed his dilemma and he got to pursue two of his sports.

However, the number of participants in the camp was low due to the conflict with soccer camp. The coach is the HP Varsity Coach, Barry, and he was very encouraging. Below Coach Barry outlines the next drill for Eric and Trevor.

Below Eric leads a bounce pass to a cutting Trevor running a back door play for a layup.

I See You First!

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I have long played a game with Eric “I see you first!” that stemmed from me picking him up at the babysitter’s house.  In the morning we would review the day’s schedule and I would say that I would see him at Molly’s and I would see him 1st.  It evolved into a game where one of us would try to sneak up on or ambush the other in order to be the 1st to declare “I see you first!”.  Over the years other kids at the babysitter’s house have joined in, but none more enthusiastically than Molly’s son Michael.  Today I packed my camera and caught a picture of Eric right after he popped around a corner and got me and the picture of Michael in the act of declaring “I see you first!”. He wasn’t sure how this new element of the game, taking pictures, effected the overall strategy.

 

Eric’s 1st Lacrosse Game

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Eric decided he wanted to play lacrosse and with one whole practice under his belt, he played his 1st game on defense.  They got soundly trounced by a team from New Hartford who had practiced throwing and catching.  Eric got burned a few times by playing the ball more than his man and the physicality was new, but he improved over the course of the game.  It was hot, there was a lot of running and he was tired at the end, but he had a good time.

Nothing like having friends and family come and watch your game.  Chris had some approving words for Eric’s efforts.

AYSO U8 Boys Soccer Finale

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Our soccer finale was held Wednesday night. This was a mixed season for me.   I lost three experienced players which were replaced by kids who were ‘graduated’ out of U6.  It took our team a long time to learn spacing and to play offense by getting open ahead of the ball for a pass.  That said, there was real joy in seeing them learn new skills and their play when they would get it right.  I made a poster for each of them with this picture and listing the team roster.

Birthday Party at the Utica Zoo

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The parents of Eric’s friend and school mate, Thomas, celebrated his 8th birthday with a party at the Utica Zoo.  Thomas got to pick three animals for a close up show & tell: a hedgehog, chinchilla and a tortoise.  Below Eric checks out the chinchilla.  Then the kids toured the zoo.  It was  a pretty cool way to spend a birthday.

Eric’s Jazz Concert and Car Fire

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Eric’s 2nd grade class held a Spring jazz concert along with the 4th grade. They sang two songs and then combined with the 4th grade on a grande finale. The concert was well done and short.

After we got settled in from the concert we heard a car horn and saw an orange glow. Kathryn looked out the window and saw a car on fire. She called 911 while I got dressed and ran out to see if there was anyone left in the car. The flames were 12′ high when I tried to approach the car. There were mini-explosions as glass, containers and the tires exploded from the heat. The Floyd and Holland Patent fire departments arrived shortly.

Unfortunately the gas tank ruptured and the water being used by the HP truck merely spread the gas and fire into the adjoining field. Fortunately a unit arrived from Floyd with foam which doused the gasoline fire but remained for a long time afterwards. The car was a 2003 BMW with 103,000 miles being driven by a young man.

The next day the evidence of the fire and the foam still remained.

STOMP

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We met Helmers at the 5 Guys Hamburger joint prior to going to see STOMP at the Stanley Theater.  I think Eric really enjoyed STOMP.  I showed him a YouTube clip on Monday night.  On Tuesday he found and displayed a 2nd clip for Kaitlyn when she came to sit and we played volleyball.  They did a great 90 minute show and we had great seats in the 1st row of the balcony.