Catherine's Birthday At the Gahhhden

  We are so lucky to have had so many of the great times like the one we had last night.  From the moment Cat heard we were going to the Celtics game to the moment she closed her eyes last night she was in joy.  I got a call the other day from my friend Scotty and he told me he a pair of tickets to the Celtics and if I'd be interested in having them.  Well, you know I would.  Loge 1, row 12...what great seats. It was like they were right in front of us...very close.   Again, we headed out and Catherine asked me if we were going to head on the trolley.  I asked her if she wanted to and she hesitated because I know she really wanted to.  Something about a smelly vagabond sleeping on a train that makes memories for the little ones!!

  A quick look at the tickets show that the game started at 8:00pm.  Wow, thats kinda late so off we went to take in some sights before gametime.  We headed to Quincy market and Catherine was excited to get some Clam Chowdah.  There was a guy doing a great job playing the buckets outside that really drew our attention.  Catherine gave him a dollar.

  So onward we go into the game.  Not once, not twice but three times Catherine appeared on the jumbotron.....One time it was for a good ten seconds.  She was so cute holding her Go Celtics sign and dancing around.  There was, of course, the obligatory three hundred trips to the bathroom and also we had to hit the stands to get something to drink and then some ice cream, or gelato as they now call it....but it was gooooood.  The end result was a victory for the boys in green and we got to scream out for the victory!!!

   Here we are on the trolley on the way home.  We got on and found a seat in the crowded trolley car and there were a couple of college aged kids among those standing and it was obvious they had just come from the game too.  They were as excited as any college students would be after they had a couple and had just came from the big game.  I presented to them that they had a young lady with a birthday tonight and asked him if he could help get a birthday song.  One of the guys yelled out to the rest of the train to join in to wish his little friend Catherine a happy birthday.  The end result was this vidoe...soooooo sooooo cute.

Annual walkathon through the McFlurries...

     What a great day for a walk!!!  Well, it was better than the day before...which was snowy and miserable, but this day turned out great for us.  It was well attended, especially by the little ones.  I had the pleasure of driving Laura and her friends.  What a riot listening to Raquel talk about how this guy who works at the Waltham McDonalds makes the very best Mcflurry's...better than any other McFlurry maker she's ever experienced and then one day he was gone.  She told the story so good and funny....it was great!!

JACK WRITING HIS PERSONAL MESSAGE TO DADDY

The streets were taken care of for our walk.  I walked with Bobby and Paula most of the way and it gets so much easier to let the kids be own their own as they get older.  They were all very well behaved.
     After the walk we all trekked over to Patricks and Karen's  for a barbecue.  We were all inside due to the weather but the kids played pool downstairs and parents were all entertaining upstairs.

I was looking through the pictures for a picture of Paula.  These are all we got...poor Paula!!!

The Luck of the Irish...Our annual St Paddy's Day feast

Yes, its our annual dressing of the green dinner over Kara's house in honor of Grammy Frannnie.  We even had a toast to her.  She LOVED coming over to Kara's house for her corned beef dinners.  She looked forward to it every year.  What a great bunch these buggah's are and they loved their festivities too.  How nice is it now that we dont have to entertain them every second.  We had a great time and they all enjoyed each others company.  So great for cousins to get along so well.

Gymnastics State Championship

      Catherine qualified for the State Championship.  These girls are such good kids and get along so well.  Below they are huddling up for good luck.

      Cat had a great day....out of the four events she ended up on the podium three times and overall she ended up seventh in the state.  She was awesome!!

Floor Routine 9.325

Laura up at the lake with Jeb

This weekend Laura and I ended up spending the weekend up at the lake in the cold.  This time it was her asking for the fire.  It was very cold this weekend.  We had a good time while she recovers from her swimming injury.  She is making crazy music videos about a man named Jeb.  Oh those kids!!!

The first night we had steak on the grill.  We had bought it on the way up.  On Saturday morning we went out for breakfast at our favorite breakfast restaurant.  We came home and I did some painting.

I had to take a photo on our way out just so I can look at it when i'm not there and get back soon.

Open

     It seems we wait all winter long for Sully's to open on March 1st for our ice cream conundrums.  Oh what would we do without our mint chocolate chip and chocolate marshmallow ice cream.

Laura's turn

Oh the hippie and I had a grand old time at the Garden last night.  We opened the night at the Quincy Market and stopped to have a bite to eat before heading over to take our seats.  Everything went very smoothly, from the traffic getting there to getting on the T as soon as we hit the station, the trolley was waiting for us.  Laura and I both like taking the trolley in instead of driving right to the events.  Its part of the experience.  We laugh at the same people it seems.

we got there for pre-game warmups.

One of the good things about having this blog is being able to figure out whose turn it is to hang out with Daddy.  Everyone, of course, says that its their turn but the blog does not lie.   Next up is Catherine.  She has already told me that she wants our turn to be for the Red Sox game and we have to spend time before the game walking around the city..

They call me Jeb

Well, I guess I've taken it to a whole new level.  I really love it up at the lake.  I might just put a face on that lovely wood stove and start talking to it....as if I haven't already.  Anyway, its a great place and I'm loving it!!!......oh yeah, the kids are too

I was up the lake for the weekend doing some stuff...why should I shave...I've been watching video's about how to build better fires........i need some overalls like this guy, he's the host of the video's, I've nicknamed him Tiny.

Hockey time

Me, Jackie, the ump and Laura, Jimmy and Charlie headed out to the college hockey game the other night.  It was a great time and even better when the home team ends up winning.  Jackie saw the hawk and had to go say hi!!  We had a really good time !!

The sweetest gal i know

     Go right ahead and say hello to the first place finisher in the Floor competition.  I tell her I always think that she should get a 10 in the floor exercise because I think it is just that good.  Of course all i know about the rules of gymnastics could fit inside a McDonalds bag, but that doesn't matter.  I've seen all of her meets for the last three years and this one by far was her best floor routine.  I just knew it would be spectacular and sure enough, it was a 9.35.  She was so excited.  To get the highest score is quite the feat and she celebrated with a double dose of McDonalds cheeseburgers on the ride home from Springfield.

                                        this upside down flip is her favorite picture she tells me

They call me Daddy

     Of course this is not earth shattering here.  I really enjoy that they still call me Daddy.  I know, but I love it.  Lyn gets called Mommy.  Why does that matter...maybe to the rest of the world it doesnt...but its still good to hear.  maybe they know that and that's how they wrap their little fingers around me and own me.....Laura called me Daddy this morning about something and I took notice and it struck me....god, i dont know why but i'm a daddy i guess.

Laking it in the cold

     Spending the weekend up north again.  The kids were out on the lake walking around.  Of course, it scares the hell out of me to see them walking around out there.  I'd be the first one out there when i was younger but for the kids not so much freedom.......

Here is Jackie walking around the beach that in a couple of months we'll be frolicking around on.

     There is the cool man and his entrourage...

Jackie got a bag of Jenga for Christmas and he builds all these different forms of buildings.  This is the tallest one he built.  I helped him with this one.  The best part is tearing it down.

Here is my television screen.....Couldnt you just sit and stare at it all day long, listening to the crackling of the wood....yeah, i think i'm obsessed!!!

My little Catherine stayed behind because she had gymnastics.  She is always missed but she got to stay with Ant Jo.....A little jealousy from Jackie i think.

First place

Catherine and her team came in first place in the Boston Classic Gymnastic meet over the weekend.  She was so excited this week and told me each day what good practices that she had.  She was on the podium during each event and had an overall excellent meet.  Her friend Gracie came in first in one of the events and they gave her a snow globe because of it....Poor Gracie dropped it and it smashed to pieces and she was a wreck.  This led to probably the cutest thing i've ever seen.  Catherine got her a gymnastic bracelet from the sales table to make her feel better.  Gracie gave her the biggest hug and smile and appreciative groan that would make even the most hardened trucker tear up.  It was sweet.

Teaching me new dance moves

The kids are watching all the Fuller House shows on netflix and Jack was teaching me the Gibbler Gallup dance