A 'Thankful' Long Weekend - Acton Portion

Having arrived in Acton on Saturday evening, we were able to enjoy all day Sunday with the family. The forecast was warm and sunny, and that's exactly what we got! We took full advantage of the day, and went to a nearby pumpkin patch for wagon rides, a corn maze and, of course, pumpkins!

We started with a short wagon ride out to a corn maze. There were two mazes to choose from - a large 'adult' maze that was supposed to take an hour, and a short 'kids' maze that was supposed to take thirty minutes. Obviously, we went with the 'kids' maze...and it's a good thing, because that one ended up taking us forty-five minutes! There were 'clues' throughout the maze, and we were looking for five letters to spell a word at the end. Nolan seemed to enjoy it, and quickly caught on to searching for the 'treasure' as he called it.


Nolan, pointing out one of the clue stations.


Whenever we came to a fork in the path, Nolan got to pick the path we would take next.


Nolan and I, hiding in the corn, ready to jump out and scare the rest of the group. The second time we did this, I think Nolan legitimately startled Curt when he jumped out and yelled 'boo'.


The 'Mr. Mom' photo...Curt with Nolan, and Tom with Abby.


Awwww, I LOVE this picture. Two of my favourite guys, both looking really cute!


CUTE, no other words needed.


Getting ready to head home. Nolan with the pumpkins he selected, and Abby catching a little nap.

Sorry for the picture overload! Tom and Krystle forgot their camera, so I had to be sure to get lots for them...and then I just had to share them with you!

We also spent Sunday night and Monday in Acton; Monday was really low key, we didn't even get out of our pajamas until almost noon. We had dinner at my parents, and just before dinner, Nolan and I went outside to play in the leaves. And, of course I have some pictures of that, too...


One side of Nolan, sweet and innocent.


And Nolan's other side, mischievous! He is just about to throw those leaves at my head, which he thought was hilarious!

Curt and I left for home right after dinner on Monday; we were expecting the traffic to be pretty bad, but were pleasantly surprised and made it home in good time.

So, it was a great weekend...and having had Monday off, this week is going extra fast!

A 'Thankful' Long Weekend - Piker Portion

Curt and I had very busy weekends...some of the activity was on our own, and some it was together. Overall, I think we both enjoyed the time with friends and family.

Curt's weekend started Thursday night, when friends started arriving for the Piker Open. Seven of the ten guys were here visiting Thursday night, and five of them spent the night. They were up early Friday morning - they played two rounds at Oak Hills on Friday, so they had to get an early start. Friday was the 'Founders Cup'...something new to the Piker Open this year; it was team play, modeled after the Ryder and/or Presidents Cup. Conveniently, the five people that spent the night here were all on the same 'Founders Cup' team - so, they could get dressed in their team uniform without anyone from the other team seeing them :)


A slightly awkward picture of 'Team VanderWal' - Curt, Jeremy, Pete, John and Dustin.

Although it was close after the first 18 holes, Team VanderWal ended up with a HUGE win! The final nine holes was singles match play, and Team VanHuizen only got 1/2 a point...to the non-golfers reading this, that's not good. In the end, Team VanderWal won 17.5 to 7.5! The above picture shows the team with the official Piker trophy...which apparently gets to stay at our house for the year.


The official Founders Cup score sheet, created by Curt. He made, and printed, this at work (of course).

The guys played another 18 holes on Saturday, this time at Black Bear Ridge. Saturday was just normal individual stroke play; and congrats to Colin, who was the winner this year. Curt had a rough go on Saturday, and unfortunately finished last. He is usually really lucky on the golf course - if his ball goes in the rough, he'll find it, and be able to play it! Or, if his ball hits a tree, it will bounce right into the fairway. Crazy! But, those things weren't happening on Saturday.

In case you can't tell by my lengthy summary of the Piker, I'm a little jealous of the whole thing! It just seems like so much fun. But, it's a boys only event, so I'll never get to play in it. I'd be horrible anyway, but it would be fun!

Anyway, since nine of the ten guys were staying at our place on Friday night, I wasn't allowed to be at home. So, Jeanette had Maria and I over for a girls night. I picked up Thai food on my way home from skating, and we ate that, watched a movie and then visited for awhile. It wasn't anything too crazy, and we didn't really stay up too late...probably because Jeanette is pregnant and due any day, so she doesn't have a lot of energy. It was a good night though.

And, just for fun, some pictures of what nine men did to our house in two short days...


Our dining and living rooms. Yup, the dining room table was swapped out for a ping pong table. And below that, notice the random futon mattress...it didn't matter where it was, if there was floor space, the guys slept there! And, I'm guessing by the couches, they wanted to try stadium seating?!?


And, our fridge! Notice the beer shoved everywhere, including the fruit drawer.

Saturday was a typical day for me, I had to skate and went from the arena to the golf course to work. It was a quiet evening at the golf course and I didn't have to stay late...which was perfect, because Curt and I left for Acton following my shift.

More about that in the next post...

Better Late Than Never

Back in September, I posted about taking Nolan, my nephew, skating for the first time. You can read about it here...(I've tried to post a link here, so you could click on it and go right to my post from September 15th, but I can't get it to work?)

Anyway...

At the end of that post, I mentioned that I didn't have any pictures, so I had to wait for my brother to send them to me. Well, that never happened! But, Krystle posted a few on Facebook today, so I'm going to 'borrow' them from there.


Nolan and I when we first stepped on the ice. I love that you can see his big smile in the picture! My back was a little sore by the time we finished; I spent the majority of our time on the ice bent over like this, holding Nolan up.


Returning to the dressing room after our skate. We let Nolan walk down the hall by himself, first so that he could get the feeling of walking in his skates (which is all we want kids to do at first, walk on the ice), and second, because he was really wobbly and it made us laugh (he looked drunk!).


This one is a little blurry, but I had to post it anyway. This isn't from our skate together, either, this is from his lessons in Acton. Krystle's caption below this picture is the best part: On his bum at skating again! Snow Angels are his favourite thing to do at skating!!

Nolan is on the younger side for starting to skate - usually kids are at least three years old when they start, and Nolan won't be three until November. So, it may take him a little longer then the older kids, but he'll get it, and it will benefit him in the long run! In the mean time, as long as he's smiling when he's out there, he's doing well!

And, just because I can't forget about Abby, here is a picture of her that I 'borrowed' from Facebook.


I thought her little smile was funny in this picture, a little crooked. Maybe she's been sampling the wine - notice that the Jolly Jumper is conveniently located next to the wine rack!

I can't wait to see these cuties this weekend! And I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about my moms turkey dinner, too!

Just Because

I don't really have anything to blog about, but it's been awhile so I feel like I should do something. So, this is going to be a random little update about what's been going on for the last week.

I have been working A LOT! Most days, I spend mornings at the golf course, have an hour or two at home in the afternoon, and then head to the arena for a few hours of coaching in the evenings. I've had a few shifts on the beverage cart at work, and it's been a nice relaxing change of pace. My first cart shift was during a high school tournament, so the tips weren't great, but it was a nice day, so it was just good to be outside. Things are finally starting to slow down at the course though, and I couldn't be happier about that. This week I was only scheduled for two shifts, which is fine by me!

Skating is...fine. I have solo music cut for all but two of my skaters, so that's a major relief. I've started choreographing a few solos, and hope to get all of them finished in the next two weeks. I'm planning on taking kids to a competition in early December, so we don't have any time to waste!

Oh, and I just thought of something kind of exciting...Curt and I have joined a curling league! Go ahead, laugh, I'm laughing as I type that :) We had a few friends all lined up, and we were going to register as a team, but clubs don't let you do that. They don't want a full team of rookies, so they split you up into pairs...so, we lost the other two (Kevin and Maria). But, Curt and I decided to go ahead and join. We ventured out in the cold and rainy weather tonight to pay our fees, and then the league starts in two weeks. Should be a fun night out once a week.

This coming weekend is Thanksgiving, and I am really excited about going to Acton to visit! We're only able to make it home for Sunday and Monday, but this time last week I didn't think we were going to be able to go at all, so two days is obviously better then none!

I have to coach and work on Saturday and Curt has his own big event this weekend, it's Piker Open! Piker is a golf tournament he plays in with some of his closest friends...it sounds low key, but this is like the PGA for them. They'll play two 18 hole rounds on Friday, and one 18 hole round on Saturday. On Friday they're trying out a Ryder Cup format for the first time, and I'm pretty sure Curt's team is the better team, so they should win. And then on Saturday, they'll play standard stroke play. Curt won the Piker trophy two years ago, so we'll see if he can win it back this year. Check out www.pikeropen.com if you're curious about the tournament :)

Hopefully I'll have a more exciting post after Thanksgiving weekend.

Decisions, Decisions

Last night was a stressful night at our house...there were so many good shows on TV, it was hard to decide what to watch. Ha!

First of all, Battle of the Blades - Season 2 was starting on CBC!


The figure skaters and hockey players had all been announced, but only as individuals, not as pairs, so I was looking forward to finding out who would skate with who. Last nights episode was more of a behind the scenes, and the teams weren't announced until the very end. So, we didn't get to see the actual pairs skate together, but I'm excited about a few of the match ups.

- Ekaterina "Katia" Gordeeva and Valeri Bure seem to be well matched, and I love Ekaterina.
- Theo Fleury and Jamie Salé have a good chance; Theo is intense, and he's going to work hard for the win, and Jamie won last season, so she'll be looking for a repeat.
- Georges Laraque and Anabelle Langlois were a surprising match up, he's huge and could easily lift any of the girls, and yet they give him the smallest girl...I think it will make for some amazing lifts. I like that Georges is a Christian, and very open about it, and Anabelle is such a cutey.
- Violetta Afanasieva and P.J. Stock are a surprise favourite, I didn't even recognize Violetta's name, I don't know a thing about her or her skating, but I decided last night that P.J. Stock is going to bring a lot to the show...he has a great sense of humour!
- And then there is Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois, I love Shae-Lynn and thought she should have won last season...so hopefully she will be just as enjoyable to watch with her new partner.

And then over on CBS, a new season of The Amazing Race was starting.


Without a doubt, this is my favourite show, so I couldn't miss it. The last few seasons of this show, we've kind of had an open door policy at our house, and invited friends over to watch with us. We've had 8 or 10 people here watching, which is always extra fun. Last night only Kevin and Susannah (and Stella) were able to join us though. It's early, but as of right now I'm liking the doctors, Nat & Kat; it seems like they'll pay attention to detail, and given their profession, they should be able to stay calm in stressful situations. Jill & Thomas seem like the strongest couple, they didn't have a lot of drama surrounding them last night...but again, it's early. And then there is Nick & Vicki, wow, they were brutal last night. I'm sure if they were at home watching the episode, they would have been totally embarrassed! And, I can't post about the show and not mention the watermelon in the face! OUCH! That girl was incredible for finishing the challenge...even if she did say 'I can't feel my face' one too many times!

In case you missed it...


And the last show I wanted to watch, Undercover Boss. Not as important as the other ones I've talked about, but still a good one. I focused on Battle of the Blades and The Amazing Race, and switched to Undercover Boss during commercials, seemed to work well.

So, you've probably noticed that I haven't posted in awhile, and then when I do, it's all about reality TV. Things are obviously pretty boring around here right now! Oh well, sometimes boring is OK.

Finding a New Routine

Well, I think it's safe to say that fall is here. I know the calendar says the first official day of autumn is September 23rd, but I think it came early this year! The weather has really cooled down, especially at night, and the leaves are definitely starting to change. It's cool, dark and rainy today...so, I have a beef casserole in the slow cooker, a mug of hot chocolate in hand, a spiced orange candle lit and I'm working on skating music...not a bad way to spend a day off.

Last weekend was our final wedding of the season; another one of Curt's cousin, this time on his mom's side, was getting married. And just like the last wedding I posted about, this couple had also been dating (off and on) for 10 years! So, congratulations to Rachel and Andrew!

The next 'big thing' on our calendar, well this one is probably only on my calendar, is Skate Canada International! This is a major skating competition and it's being held in Kingston this year, so it's nice and close, which doesn't happen often. I bought my 'All Event Ticket Package' months ago, so from October 28th to October 31st I'll be taking in as much of the competition as possible.

Until then, we'll be settling into our new fall routine. I'm working more hours at my new job; the shifts change from week to week, and are a lot more random then my shifts in the Pro Shop. But, I'm not complaining, I'm still glad I made the change.

And skating, well...I had another job related blow earlier this week, and this time it was skating related. I had been in touch with the parents of one of my skaters from last year, and it seemed like she was all set to register and we would pick up where we left off last year. Well, when she wasn't at the rink for the first two sessions, I started to get nervous...and after a few emails, my worst fear was confirmed, she has decided not to skate this year. VERY DISAPPOINTING news :( First of all, she was a great little girl and she really seemed to be enjoying skating (and was doing well); second of all, this leaves me with only one private skater in Belleville, this time last year I had six private skaters. I've had three decide not to return, and I lost two skaters because the board made a last minute decision to switch the ice schedule (moving one of the programs from Friday to Thursday, affecting two of my skaters because I can't be in Belleville to coach on Thursday - I'm in Tweed - so they had to go with another coach).

And, I have my share of frustrations in Tweed, too! The troubles there are all schedule related as well. Together with the two other coaches, and two board members, we developed a new ice schedule to ensure the best use of our ice time. Unfortunately, one of the other coaches continues to make little changes to the schedule...all of which benefit her and her skaters, and make life difficult for the rest of us! UGH, it's frustrating when it was supposed to be a group effort, and now it feels like it's all being dictated to me.

I know I don't have blog 'followers', but, for those of you who do read regularly, I'm sorry for all the complaining lately. I didn't really start this blog with these type of posts in mind, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Visitors

As I mentioned in my last post, we had some special visitors last week. My brother, Tom, his wife, Krystle, and their kids, Nolan and Abby, were here for a few days! I always love when people come to visit, especially these guys and my parents; they are always so hospitable when we go to Acton, so it's nice to be able to host them every so often.

They arrived on Monday afternoon, hung out with us until Wednesday morning and then went to spend a few days in Ottawa. They returned on Friday afternoon, spent the night with us and then left for home on Saturday morning. So we had lots of time to visit.

During the first few days of their visit, we were at the mall doing some shopping, and we made an exciting purchase for Nolan :) I had heard that he received some hand-me-down skates from a friend - however, the type of skates he received are every skating coaches nightmare! Plastic and buckles do not make good skates.


They probably looked something like these.

So, while we were in the mall, and Tom and Krystle were busy looking for kids clothes, Nolan and I went off to Sportchek to look at 'real' skates. Together with a sales guy, we tried a few pairs on. We found a great little pair that fit Nolan well, and he was able to stand up and walk around in them. When Tom and Krystle arrived at Sportchek, and Nolan had them on his feet, I thought I might have been in trouble :) But, Nolan's birthday is coming up, so when I told them that Curt and I would split the cost - as a birthday present - I redeemed myself ;)


And, these are the awesome little skates we left the store with!

Now, I probably would have rather picked out skates like this for him...


But, I knew not to push my luck! This kid is ALL boy, and already a huge hockey fan...I'm just glad that he's going to learn how to skate properly before trying to play hockey.

When the Robertson's were back in town on Friday night, I actually had the chance to take Nolan on the ice! For sure a highlight for me...I was so glad that I was the first one to have him on the ice. Is that weird?

He was great on the ice! Not 'great' as in he could stand up and skate all by himself or anything, actually, it was the exact opposite...but, he had the right attitude about it and just had fun.

We stepped on the ice, I grabbed hold of him under his armpits to keep him on his feet, and pretty much pushed him ahead 10 or 12 feet. Then I picked him up (so we could get to the other side of the ice, closer to Tom, Krystle and Curt), and when I picked him up, he said 'I'm a good skater, Auntie Boo' Ha! I had done all the work...but he was proud of himself, and that made me happy.

After being on the ice with him for about 20 minutes, I can say that it is a good thing I am not going to be his coach! Probably the most obvious reason for this, I would totally favor him if he were in my group. But also because I don't think he would listen very well, he often just laughed at me when I tried to give him instructions! Oh well, that's understandable.

The following Monday, Nolan actually started the Learn-to-Skate Program with the Acton Figure Skating Club...my home club! And, from what I've heard, his little private lesson with me, gave him an advantage over the other kids ;)

Anyway, the skating portion of the visit was obviously a highlight...but, the whole visit was great, and I'm really thankful that Tom and Krystle chose to spend some of their vacation time with us!

*Note: I'm still waiting for Tom to send me some pictures of us skating, so I'll have to add those later (hint, hint)*