Hockey...just call us one big family.

So it is no secret that we are a hockey family. Mark and I have always been fans of hockey, but it wasn't until our town had a hockey teams of our own to cheer for that we started to understand what "Hockey Family" really means. (FYI: I have no idea if other sports have similar "families" so I can't honestly say this only happens with hockey.) But over the past few years, we have been lucky to find our own little spot with our new "family."

The hockey teams in our town have players from all over, which means most of the players are hours away from their real families. Yes, sometimes that's great, being hours away from your parents. Other times...you just want home. So we have opened our house to give them a "family like" place to come to just to be around family. Because I would love it if a nice family would open their home to my kids when they venture off years from now. (I am done using quotes around family...because we love our hockey boys like they ARE family.)

Here is a picture from Thanksgiving last year, during No-Shave November, Mo-vember (whatever you want to call it) that is why the cute one has a mustache! Our original hockey boy spent the day with us and as you can see, fit in perfectly with our crazy family.

 We do our best to do non-hockey things with our boys, so every year we get to bowl with our hockey team. Our new hockey boy this year, is really good with the kids...both Megan and Joey love seeing him. It is going to be fun the next few years as they really get to know each other. (Side Note: Megan and Joey loved our original hockey boy too...but he left us. Luckily, we still hear his name everyday, when Joey plays hockey around the house.)

Nope, Megan and Joey don't like our hockey boy at all. It was so hard to get a picture of them together :)

 As if the hockey boys weren't nice enough, they even take time after their practice to talk with the young 8U hockey players. Seriously...I can't say enough nice things about all of the hockey players we have met along the way. Don't get me wrong, on the ice, they might be tough and "verbal" but off the ice, they are as nice as can be. That is why our kids and their friends, love our local hockey players.

 A couple of the boys came over the other night just to be "home" for a bit. Grace, Zeke, Megan and Joey, made sure that hockey boy 1 and hockey boy 2, knew what it's like to have younger siblings. Not sure if the hockey boys were playing hide and seek because they wanted to play or if they were trying to escape the constant screeching noise that the kids were making. Either way, it was a fun evening and I can't wait to see how our crazy hockey family grows over the years.

So when we say that we are a hockey family, for us, it is so much more than just being a hockey fan. (Yes, if you're thinking I left out names...I did that for a reason.)

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

 Somewhere along the way, Megan and Grandma discussed making a Halloween centerpiece. One afternoon, Megan and Grandma built this cool little thing.

 This year Megan wanted to be a witch...thanks to awesome cousins, we already had a costume. Thanks to an awesome Grandma, Megan had a cool purple hat, stripe socks and a super cool cape! Joey still fit into his fireman costume from last year so he was a fireman again! (It is such a realistic costume he HAD to wear it again.)

 Megan got to wear her costume to school, but after she got home, I added her witch make-up! It looked great for the picture....it didn't last very long once trick or treating started (more on that later)

 Look at this handsome guy. I got 1 blurry picture and 1 picture from a friend last year, so this year I knew I had to get pictures of his costume.

 After dinner at our friend's house (Thank you Barber family) the troop was off to do some T or T'ing! Well the troop minus Joey...he was at the AC hockey game because it is now a tradition that he watches the guys warm up (future post coming soon) I think this group of kids has gone T or T'ing together for years...so much fun!

I just want to record to reflect the sacrifices we make for our children...it was cold...and windy! But honestly, if you were dressed properly, it wasn't bad. We are all from Michigan, we know about cold Halloweens! We do it for our kids, because our parents did it for us...none of the parents in this group took the sissy way out either, we ALL walked with our kids mocking the parents doing the "car crawl" through the neighborhood. (Seriously sissy parents, suck it up, put on a coat and enjoy the few years you have that your kids actually WANT to spend Halloween with you.) It was a fun night...but I am glad it is a "once a year" thing!

A rare cousin visit

 Last weekend, our nephew Ace was "near" by (he brought his Mom too!) They were visiting Aunt Danielle's family in South Bend. Knowing that we had no plans to go to San Francisco anytime soon, we opted for a quick road trip visit. When we got there we had dinner at Danielle's mom's house. Grandma-Great was so happy, excited, filled with love so have ALL of her Great-grandchildren together.

We were staying at a hotel with a pool, so most of the cousin time was spent swimming! Here is Aunt Danielle being squished by children.

 Megan was being super sweet to Joey...or she was excited that she could touch the bottom of the whole pool and didn't need a life jacket (she knows how to swim...but she can't float...so that is an interesting combo.)

 The next day, we were back in the pool. Ace was warming up to us and it was just a fun time had by all.

 Megan having fun with Grandma and Grandpa.

 Umm...you know how taking pictures of small children is hard? Try taking a picture of small children in water...impossible! This was the best picture I got of G&G with their 3 grandchildren.

 Ace (green vest) and Joey are playing together in the water while Grandma-great soaks it all up.

 I think watching the kids wait for the elevator then take turns pushes the buttons was adorable! Ace (age 2) Joey (age 3) Megan (age 7) This was the rare time that Megan was the oldest cousin in the group.

 I can not tell you how much I love this!!! Megan and Grandma-great walked through the whole mall like this.

 Because we needed to check out of the hotel, we found a mall with a food court and a play area. I think the license plate sums up this picture.

 Ha! Walking through the book store Ace got a Peppa Pig book and was told he could read it on the plane (on the way home) He found a loophole...he grab his book and took off to sit in the play plane!

 Saying good bye :(

Grandma-great, Grandma, Joey and Ace...poor Megan was in tears because she was sick and just couldn't sit for a picture. (She truly was sick and it come on quick...maybe she was feeling guilty for missing school!?!)

So while it was a short visit, it was a lot of fun seeing part of the California crew. Ace is just as cute as he looks....and I think Grandma-great couldn't have asked for a better weekend :)