Mid Winter Break Fun

We had a very busy mid-winter break!  On Thursday night, Will went skiing at Bittersweet.  On Friday morning, Alex went bowling with some friends and then spent a few hours playing outside at his friend's house.  Will spent Friday skating at the outdoor rink.  In the evening, he and Phil were invited to the Michigan/Notre Dame hockey game in South Bend with one of his teammates and his dad.  Then his buddy came back here to spend the night since the KWings had a game in Lansing on Saturday.  I took Alex to his game in Hudsonville on Saturday afternoon (they tied 3-3) and then we visited Grandma for a bit.  Phil took Will and Hawk bowling in the morning and then to Lansing - unfortunately, they lost 6-7.  When they got back, they went back to the outdoor rink to skate before spending the night at our house again.  On Sunday, Alex went to a teammate's house to play and then we went to Lawson for the KWings hockey game.  Fortunately, they won that game against Flint 4-3.  We went out to dinner with some of the team after I successfully registered Will for Camp Wakeshma (literally filled up in 3 minutes).  On Monday, Will was back at the ODR and Alex and I went to Bittersweet so he could ski one more time before the snow melts.  One of his classmates was there and they had a great time.   

No More Masks on Monday!

Portage lifted the mask mandate at school today. Maskless selfie in the hallway!

 

Ann Arbor Hockey Tournament

The boys both had hockey tournaments in Ann Arbor this weekend. We drove to Ann Arbor Friday night after dropping Winger with Grandma. We were staying at a hotel with Will's team but Alex's team was right across the street. We went out to dinner at Grizzly Peak with another family and then went back to the hotel to hang out. We took Alex to visit his teammates as well. Alex's first game was at 7am on Saturday morning (arrive at 6:15) in Chelsea. They beat the Kensington Valley Eagles 10-1. Then we drove to Canton for Will's game against Findlay. Unfortunately, they lost that game 1-4 (fourth goal was an empy netter). Will had a great game and won the hard hat. Grann came to watch and Will was so excited that he was taller than her. Will and some teammates decided to stay at the rink to watch their coach's older son play. We took Alex to lunch and then had to head back to Chelsea for their game against the Chicago Hawks. They won that game 7-4. Then it was back to Canton to watch the KWings play a team from Flint. This was our 4th time playing them this season and our fourth win (6-1). We had a team dinner back at the hotel and then called it a night early because we had another 7am game on Sunday. Fortunately, both boys played back to back in Chelsea on Sunday morning. Despite out shooting GRAHA 26-7, the KWings lost that game 2-1. The Broncos beat the Lexington Thoroughbreds 12-1 (running clock in the second and third periods). So the KWings ended up in a consolation game Sunday afternoon and the Broncos played in the Championship. We had a lot of down time between games. Alex was able to hang out with his teammates and even went to the National History Museum with a couple kids. The KWings won their consolation game against Flint 5-2. Will had a great assist to a teammate and scored a goal. The video below shows his goal and the assist both in slow-motion and real time. The Broncos won the championship against the Chicago Hawks 8-3. It was an exciting game and we are so proud of the team. They worked hard all weekend and have improved so much this year. They were all so excited to get their medals and have their pictures taken with the Championship banner. We got home around 8:30 on Sunday. It was a very long but very fun hockey weekend!

 

Adray Districts

Alex was back in Ludington this weekend for Adray districts. We left Friday afternoon and had time to check into the hotel before heading to the rink for the first game. We stopped in the hotel arcade and he was so excited to win a little stuffed dog on his first attempt at the claw machine. The dog has been named "Luddy" and it brought him so much joy. The Broncos won their game on Friday night against Fox Red and then won again Saturday morning against Big Rapids. Unfortuantely, they lost to the other Bronco team in the afternoon but did end up the second seed and earned a spot in the semi finals Sunday morning. We had to play a tough Berrien team Sunday morning and had two goals waved off early which took the wind out of our sails. We lost that game and had to head home. 

 While we were in Ludington, Phil was in Ann Arbor for a Michigan basketball game. Grandma came down to stay with Will and Winger. Will had two hockey games this weekend. They lost the first game against the Lakeshore Chiefs (Will had an assist) but won against the Flint Jr. Firebirds (Will scored a goal). When Alex and I got back from Ludington, we were able to visit with Grandma for a bit before she drove back to GR.

 

MAHA Districts

Phil and Alex went up to Ludington for MAHA districts this weekend. Alex's Bronco gold team had to play two other Bronco teams and a team from Battle Creek in their bracket. On Friday night, they tied Bronco Black. Then they tied Bronco Brown Saturday morning. They needed to win their game Saturday night in order to advance and they managed to pull off the win against Battle Creek. On Sunday morning, they played the Berrien Freeze in the semi final game. It was an exciting game and they were tied after regulation. Then they went to a five minute suddent death overtime. Unfortunately, their goalie made a lot of saves and they managed to score a goal on us. Phil said Alex played really well - we are proud of him and the entire team! While they were in Ludington, Will and I watched the Olympics and also went to a teammates Backyard Rink.

Learn to Ski: Part 2

On Thursday, we took advantage of our second snowday and went to Bittersweet so both boys could ski.  We had a lesson previously scheduled for Alex and 5pm, but were able to get a 2pm lesson instead.  Will spent the first hour giving Alex a mini lesson before going off to find his friends.  Alex picked it up quickly.  His instructor was impressed that it was his first day skiing.  He had him riding several chair lifts by the end of the lesson and said he was a natural.  I think all that time on ice skates helped both boys.  Phil had to pick Will up for hockey but Alex and I stayed so he could ski under the lights.  He even went up the highspeed lift all by himself.  

 

Snow Day!

We got the phone call last night at 8:45 that we had a snow day today! It rained until about 2am and then turned to snow. When we woke up, there was only about 2" on the ground but it kept snowing all day and we are up to about 12". The boys had so much fun playing outside for most of the day. Winger also loves the snow - he leapt and pulled for our entire walk and kept trying to get me to go faster.