4th of July at the Speedbowl

Tonight we decided to drive to the local short track on the CT shoreline for some racing and fireworks at the Waterford Speedbowl. Wednesday nights only cost $8.00 for adults and kids 14 years of age and under are free. It may not be the fanciest of facilities but it's always fun and the racing is quite entertaining.

The evening started out with the Bandolero races which may not be the fastest vehicles you've ever seen but the fact that the kids driving them would normally be more apt to play with matchbox cars at their age makes it impressive.

The next race was the Super-X cars which are always exciting because the drivers are racing them like its the last lap from start to finish and they tend to "lean" on each other a lot, especially in the corners.

During the race we looked over and noticed that Kid Rock was in attendance. I don't think it was really him but this guy looked enough like him that people were asking to pose with him for pictures.

The next race was the Legend Cars which are one of my favorites - they are Fast, Loud and every lap is action packed as can be seen in the following video - this was the first lap of 20!

After the Legend Cars they did the "Wacky Race" which was an 8 lap race during which the drivers all had to make a pit stop in the center of the in-field, get out of their cars and eat 2 hot dogs. On the first lap all but 1 of the drivers came in for the stop. The #9 car stayed out and made several laps before coming in for his processed meat snack. Much to our surprise he chowed his hot dogs and headed back to his car before the other drivers and ended up winning with laps to spare.

The last race of the night was Alex's favorites which are the X-Cars. These are front wheel drive vehicles that you see on the road day in and day out. This race was run under the lights and we were surrounded by the family of the eventual winner who fought his way from mid pack and took the lead with good ol' hard fashioned racing.

After all the races were over there was a great fireworks display which was launched from the pit's just to the right of us. It was truly a great evening out with my family enjoying a common interest. My only regret is that I didn't get video of the woman singing "God Bless America" during the pre-race ceremonies, She had an amazing voice and did a great job singing it.

Doing Hard Things

"Do Hard Things" is the title of a book we are reading with the kids. As anyone who has been to my property knows digging a hole here is hard, VERY Hard. So as proof of me and Rebecca doing hard things, here is a picture (just for you Luke) of my new privacy fence which required digging 5 holes. Trust me when I say mining here is no where near as easy as it is for Alex and Noah in Mine Craft!

Life's a Beach

This morning we got up bright and early and drove to our favorite beach for body boarding - East Matunuck

It was a beautiful day and not only did we enjoy the sunshine, the waves, and the sounds and smells of the ocean, we were also lucky enough to observe 3 osprey's in the morning. The other nice change was the lack of people - usually the beach fills up early and on more than one occasion we have had to make alternative plans after being turned away. Today though was a quiet day which made it that much more enjoyable.

We enjoyed the height of the tide and watched it go all the way out and it was well on it's way back in when we finally packed up and headed home. Hopefully we will take in another of our favorite ocean destinations on Thursday which will include some fishing, snorkeling and low tide in the swamp marsh observing fiddler crabs, horseshoe crabs and much, much more - just like when I was a kid!.

Much needed relaxation...

Today was the first day of vacation for me this year. I stayed in bed till 8:00 this morning and after breakfast went out to run errands with my lovely wife and do some window shopping. This afternoon I prepped all my ingredients for dinner. We enjoyed Steak marinated in my homemade chunky teriyaki sauce. Our sides were fresh corn kernels in toasted butter, green beans with portabella mushrooms and watermelon cubes with fresh mint. After dinner I went out and finished installing my stockade privacy fence at the end of the driveway which was the only manual labor I expect will take place this week.

The rest of the week will be occupied with trips to the ocean to partake in some body boarding with the family, celebrating the 4^th of July with family as well as celebrating Rebecca’s Birthday! We are also planning on taking in a guided tour of the State Capitol Building for some educational fun. I am hoping to update you with pictures each day as we have some other fun adventures planned too which will include go-carts, some fishing and maybe a little mini-golf! As for now I am off to take my son "night-crawling" just like I use to do with my dad growing up.

5,115 Days and Counting

It's amazing to reflect on the changes in the past 5,115 days or the past 122,736 hours or the past 7,364,160 minutes or better yet the past 441,849,600 seconds. I am proud to say that in that time period my baby girl has grown into a beautiful young lady. 

The past 14 years have sure gone by in a hurry. I am sitting here recalling memories of Rebecca's pregnancy and the sign I made announcing Ariel's birth. Our first days after bringing her home and how our St. Bernard (Goliath) instantly became her guardian. I remember our first daddy/daughter fishing trip and more recently watching her harvest her very first deer.

Ariel,


     Throughout the past 14 years I have always been proud to call you my daughter (even with blue, then green, and soon to be purple hair!) I love you just as much today as I did the first time I held you in my arms and while we have both grown up and don't always see eye-2-eye on things I am glad that we have the great relationship we do and that you share my sick sense of humor. I love teasing you but I also love running errands together and you holding my hand like you did when you were a little girl.

I have watched you grow up before my eyes, I look at you and wonder how it happened so fast and how I became the old   parent to a teenager! I am glad we have made some great memories together in you short lifetime and I look forward to making many more as I continue to watch you grow up into a woman.


Some of your smiles throughout the years...

2 weeks of vacation or summer time fun for years to come?

Yes, that is the question.

We had been planning on a two week family vacation to Florida to visit all the parks next year. Anyone that knows me personally knows how much I dislike Florida, California or anywhere with similar temperatures and weather patterns so from the beginning I have been less than thrilled with this plan. This trip wasn't about making me happy though, it was for the kids. I grew up listening to all my friends talk about how much fun they had going to Disney and it wasn't until after I turned 18 that I got to experience it myself and I wanted to give my kids their own childhood Disney memories.

Summers here in the woods are lonely for the kids, there are no other kids within a couple miles to play with and despite having a great brother/sister friendship playing in the woods just isn't as much fun as when you have friends with you. Alex is very close with his cousin's Noah and Lily but they recently moved to PA so once the school year was over it was back to entertaining himself between play dates with random friends.

I often tell my kids "when I was your age I would do ______ during the summer for fun" and during one of these chats I started to realize how different it was for me growing up. I lived in a neighborhood with lots of kids, my best friends were within a 5 minute walk from my house and when we weren't playing sports, riding our bikes, skateboarding or fishing together at the local fishing holes we were keeping cool in one of the many pools within our circle of friends. It was after this conversation the I had an idea, not just any idea though, this one was hopefully going to get me out of going to Florida, cost half as much and give the kids great summer fun every year till they move out and start a family of their own!

What is this wonderful idea you might ask...A Swimming Pool!

I know, I know, ever since we moved out here I have declared time and time again that I would never own a pool unless it was able to be set up and taken down in less than 30 minutes. I have turned down multiple free pools but that was in the past, this is the present.

As I always do I discussed my "idea" with Rebecca to see if she thought it was worth presenting to the family or not. She was very surprised and wondered if I was running a temperature or feeling delirious, why else would I desire a pool unless there was something seriously wrong with me? I convinced her that I was not sick and quite serious about this and with her in agreement I would next give my proposal to the kids.

Several nights later I sat the kids down and presented them with the following question, "Would you rather spent 2 weeks in Florida making childhood memories or would you rather have a swimming pool to enjoy every year all summer long?" Without any hesitation they both shouted "We want a Pool!" I guess after spending a couple weeks in the Arizona desert last year they prefer to avoid warm climates too, Hurray!

Rebecca and I began shopping around for a full package deal and a short time later we had purchased a pool. It took a couple weeks before they came out to install it which happened last weekend. We filled the pool and stabilized the chemical levels during the week and thanks to my Uncle Richard we started landscaping the area around it. My next project will be putting up the privacy fence but I'm in no rush to try digging holes for the posts in our property that's for sure!

In Memory of Moo

The past 2week has been full of strife and emotion to say the least. I have been having some unexpected health issues which has weighed heavy on not only me but the entire family. Thankfully the Dr's have finally started to deal with the cause of the pain and tomorrow will be another round of blood work. During this time we noticed one of our Bunnies was having what appeared to be small seizures but she seemed normal otherwise. The other day when we were doing the daily animal chores we noticed that she had a slight tilt to her head and suspected that she must of had a stroke. Despite her appearance she was still a sweet little bunny who loved getting her daily attention which usually includes a yogurt treat and some petromalt.

Unfortunately she took a turn for a worse early this morning and sadly today we were forced to say goodbye to our sweet little "Moo-Moo" Miley. I've learned that goodbyes will always hurt, pictures never replace having been there, memories, good or bad, will bring tears and words can never replace feelings. Thankfully we have photo's, some great video's and all our memories to help us cope as time goes on.

I tend to be an emotional person and I have found that I have a very soft spot in my heart for my pets. There is truly a difference in animals that we raise for food and those that we raise as pets - I know this as truth as I have never shed a tear over an animal that was destined for my plate but as I am quite sad as I am typing this while I recall the enjoyment Miley provided me, my family, and all the people who visited our home the past couple years.

It will be strange only having one bunny but I'm sure with a little effort Alex can get Sadie to play "Bunnie Battles" with him the way Miley did. It seems like only yesterday I was posting about the day we got them in a tongue-in-cheek Post!

She was a very playful bunny and despite it looking like torture she actually enjoyed her toys and the constant challenges posed to her by Alex in his self proclaimed "Bunnie Battles" I will miss her waking me in the morning with the sound of her playing with her carrot bells.

Burn Baby, Burn!

With all the time we spent without power last year Rebecca and I began discussing the advantages to having an alternate source of heat for our house during the cooler months. We agreed that a wood burning stove would be a good investment even if we only used it occasionally. I grew up with a wood burning stove so I didn't go into this venture clueless but I was surprised at how much stoves have changed over the past (gulp) 25 years!

 

Thankfully we have a very efficient home considering the cost of home heating oil. Rebecca being the awesome book keeper that she is was able to determine what we have spent on oil each year since we built the house.

We looked into the stoves that are carried by Tractor Supply Stores, Harbor Freight and the local Aubuchon Hardware Store. I wasn't against buying one of these stoves but really wanted to learn more about the brand name stoves that are popular throughout New England.

 Rebecca and I started researching stoves online prior to heading out to the local sales establishments. I was originally planning on getting the stove and installation as a package deal but after our first meeting with a stove sales man I quickly realized that we would not be able to afford it without me hitting the lottery or robbing a bank - neither of which was ever going to happen! Despite our first experience being a horrible experience due to a pompous sales man it ended up being a blessing in disguise. I'm not going to mention the company because I don't want to give them any undeserving business but as I go along I will eventually name the two places that were very helpful with our purchases.

Our second outing was a trip to Squire Lumber and Hardware and were treated like their #1 customer and given a wealth of information despite them not having the style stove we were interested in. While on site I watched another one of their employees show a customer step by step on one of their floor models how to take out and replace a part that was bad so the customer could save money by doing the repair himself. Despite not purchasing my stove at their store they made me into a loyal customer with their customer service. I learned a lot about the difference between the name brand stoves and the budget models sold at the supply stores, information I would use to determine my final purchase.

We had started our quest for a stove mid year and I decided that we would wait a little longer and take advantage of the deals that are offered during the autumn "fair" season. Not only would this be a great way to save a dollar it would be a worth excuse to take a day off from work and spend the day at the Big E with the family!

We all enjoyed a day at the fair and the kids were very grateful to have the option of taking in the sites and sounds of the fair while Daddy was "wheeling and dealing" with all the stove vendors on site. I had narrowed my options down between two different companies that were there and before signing on the dotted line I took the offer that I liked best and went to the second vendor. Now this vendor sold the same stoves as the store Rebecca and I had our first bad sales experience with but hoped that dealing with factory representatives would be better. Needless to say the factory representative was not only as pompous as the sales man from the store, he was also deceitful and when I caught him in his deceit he asked for the paperwork back that he had given me and threw it in the garbage. This was his way of letting me know he didn't want to play "deal or no deal" with me anymore.

I made my way back to the first vendor which was Green Mountain Stove Company from New Hartford, CT. Once Rebecca realized I was going back to try and get an even better deal than Jerry had offered me earlier in the day she too was grateful for the option to go enjoy the sites and sounds of the fair. Jerry was happy to see me back despite my declaration to him that there was more that I wanted in order to finalize our deal. In the end he made a couple phone calls and met my demands and in exchange for his flexibility I offered to pick up the stove from his warehouse and save him from delivering it across the state. My father taught me that "one hand washes the other" and to "always take care of those who take care of you." Now those may seem like cliche' sayings but to me they are practiced whenever possible. This can be done in person or sometimes its as simple as making a call to an employees supervisor to let them know that you had a good experience at their establishment.

Once I had the stove home we needed to pick up all the supplies to install the stove and chimney. I had learned while shopping for the stove that the chimney was going to be expensive whether I did it myself or if I hired someone to do it for me. Once again my wife took to the computer and started researching where I could get the parts I needed for the best price. We also called and received a quote from one of the local chimney companies for a full installation. It was quickly evident that we would be doing the chimney ourselves. At this point I called Rebecca's father to let him know I would be leaning on him for his expertise with cutting holes into my house, something I was really worried about doing.

Now that I had the guaranteed help I would require we started purchasing the parts and pieces which Rebecca had found some amazing deals on Amazon and the Ace Hardware Outlet for all our Class A chimney pipe. When I say amazing deals I am not exaggerating we found out the deals we paid equal or less than Squire Lumber pays for their pipe!

Chuck (Rebecca's Dad) came over one afternoon and together we cut the hole and installed the through the wall kit which was the hardest part of the install. The remainder of the parts arrived and Rebecca and I decided to put the effort into finishing the job ourselves. I had dad's 30' ladder and piece by piece I began assembling the chimney up the side of the house making sure it was level and maintaining the necessary clearance from the siding. Eventually I made it to the roof line and needed Rebecca to get up on the roof to assist me. Now I said earlier that cutting the hole in the wall was the hardest part of the install - I've since changed my mind, getting my wife who is afraid of heights on the roof was harder! After promising to clean up after myself and offering to do the cooking, dishes, cleaning of the bathrooms once a week and vacuuming the house the rest of the year I was able to convince her to make her way up the ladder onto the roof where she sat securely straddling the eave of the house.

The final sections were in place and the roof braces installed all I needed to do was complete the internal connections now. I took a trip back to Squire Lumber where once again the employees went above and beyond to assist me with everything I needed to finish my install which I was able to do shortly after getting home that night.

It was with much excitement that I lit the stove for the first time to start breaking it in first with a slow burn and eventually working up to the roaring hot fires that heated my house the remainder of the year!

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Living in the country I had plenty of seasoned wood to get me through the fall, winter and beginning of spring which resulted in our thermostat remaining off for the entire year and the only oil used was for heating the water for bathing via our heat as you go tankless system. The stove is a Pacific Energy Summit and does a great job of heating our home, thankfully we had the option of opening windows and doors when needed to cool things down although I will admit it was fun asking the family if they thought I was made of money so they could heat the outdoors!

Off to the Races!

The weekend of 5/13/11  we drove down to Dover, DE for our annual NASCAR race trip and this year Grandpa Roger went with us. We made the trip there in record time and were there in time to watch the practice sessions for all three series as well as the truck series qualifying. Of all the race tracks I have been to the Monster Mile is one of my favorites. As it's name suggests the track is a one mile track with plenty of banking and a concrete surface. So far every time we have made the trip my favorite driver, Kyle Busch has won at least one of the races during the weekend and this was the first time we were watching him race as an owner of the #18 truck.

Friday was a beautiful May day with lots of sunshine. We sat at the top of the grandstands so we could enjoy the cool breeze as well as the shade from the luxury suites behind us. Kyle started the race in position # 3 and Ariel's favorite driver (Kevin Harvick) started in position #2. Our family definitely likes the drivers who have colorful personalities and Kyle and Kevin lead that group!

The race was fast paced and full of action which kept us on the edge of our seats most of the race. To my delight Kyle won the race after leading 123 of the 200 laps. Kevin also had a great finish within the top 5. After leaving the track we went back to our Hotel and the kids and I went for a nice swim in the Hotel Pool. When we got back to the room we all enjoyed our annual treat of Domino's Pizza. For some strange reason we all crave it when we go to the races so I figure once a year it's allowed!

The next morning we woke up ready for another full day of racing! We had breakfast at the hotel then stopped at the store to fill up the cooler with treats. Just as we were getting off the highway next to the track it started to rain. By the time we parked and began making our way into the track the skies opened up and we all began to wonder if the remainder of the weekend would be washed out. Despite the rain we made the best of our time together and when the rain lightened up we took turns stomping in the puddles and worked our way around the souvenir haulers picking up miscellaneous goodies.

The sky was dark and gloomy but to our surprise we heard the jet driers fire up in the distance, the good thing about concrete and all the banking they can dry the track in about 90 minutes.  We made our way back to the grandstands which were much cooler than they were the day before. It actually felt like an early spring day which forced me and Alex to head back to the truck so we could change into some dry clothing. Thankfully I got an amazing deal on a fire suit style jacket so not only was I warm I was sporting my drivers colors!

Just like the day before the Nationwide race was full of action from start to finish. Kyle's car was good but didn't seem to have what it needed to get to the front and every time he made progress something would send him to the back of the field. At the end of the race there were several cautions which sent the race into overtime with multiple attempts at a "Green, White, Checkered finish" As the cars came out of turn 4 in front of us Carl Edwards and Joey Logano made contact which triggered a huge multi-car crash. I love racing and there is a part of me that enjoys watching cars beat and bang on each other but I had a lump in my chest after watching cars flip over at 150mph in front of me and I actually sat down and said a prayer for each of the drivers involved. Thankfully everyone was able to get out of their cars (more like wads of crumpled metal at this point) 

Once we knew all the drivers were okay we were able to celebrate the fact that even though he didn't win our driver ended up finishing 2nd! He managed to weave his way through the wreck and was challenging for the lead at the end of the race.

Throughout the summer we took several more trips to our local short tracks as well as trips to New Hampshire for the Cup and Truck races. While racing may not be everyone's idea of a good time I will tell you don't knock it till you try it. There is something about the smell of racing fuel in the air, the roar of the engines and the vibration you feel in your chest each time they speed past you! 

Alex's Birthday - 2/28/12

   
     Alex and I were seasons ticket holders for the 2011-2012 AHL CT Whale Hockey team. It turned out they had an 11:00 game on the morning of Alex's birthday. I decided that we would spend the day as a family and the kids got the day off from school and I took a vacation day so I could enjoy the all day celebration.

 
     For his birthday I surprised him with a Zamboni ride during the first and second period of the game and they also wished him a "Happy Birthday" over the PA System and on the Jumbo Tron!

     It was an amazing game - It was tied at the end of regulation, then scoreless through overtime and we ended up deciding the game in a shootout which our team dominated! Every time our team scores 2 goals during a period everyone in attendance gets a free taco from Moe's so I bet you can guess where we went for lunch!

After Lunch we decided to go shopping at several of the area Toy stores between Hartford and Springfield where Alex was able to use the cash and gift cards he received for his birthday to purchase the different items he had on his wish list. The day went by fast and once again our minds turned to food. Alex requested a steak dinner so we headed off to Texas Roadhouse for the early dinner specials.

After dinner we finished Alex's shopping spree at Toys-R-Us to pick up Nerf guns and Skylander's and then headed over to the local Friendly's restaurant for some ice cream. I was a great day spent together as a family and while Alex had the most fun I can honestly say that Ariel, Rebecca and I all enjoyed every aspect of his special day too! To finish out his Birthday celebration Alex and I took a road trip to Maine to watch our team play the Portland Pirates and spend the weekend with my cousin Rick and his wife Lynne, more on that in my next post.