The 2014 season is over for the JV and Varsity Hoban Knights football teams. The games were all a lot of fun and they won more games than they lost, so overall it was a good season. Hotdogs were eaten, umbrellas were brought, and most of the games were watched. Eddy got a chance to play both sides of the ball this year as he played wide out and defensive line. All the pictures can be found on the pictures page.
Eddy’s 16th birthday was a little cookout and everyone that could make it was there. He had a great time with his family and there were gifts and an ice cream cake that his Mom had to go quite a bit out of the way to get when the Dairy Queen down the street from the house did not have any on account of someone leaving the freezer door open. More pictures can be found on the pictures page.
The Cedar Point trip started at approximately 7 O’clock on a Friday morning. The trip was originally supposed to be a bit of a surprise, but each of the kids managed to find out before Friday. That is when showers had to be taken and everyone had to be up in order to eat breakfast and get ready. With the car packed it was on to the driving. About an hour and a half later we arrived in Sandusky ready to park and get to the rides at Cedar Point.
We rode just about every roller coaster in the park. Patty’s favorite was the Raptor. At the end of the day she actually got to sit in the front and she said that it was probably the first time she had ever been in the front seat of a roller coaster. Michelle did not really have a favorite roller coaster, but she insisted on going on the bumper cars four times. Michelle also made sure to pet every animal in the petting zoo. Eddy’s favorite was the Millennium Force. I did not go on Wicked Twister, but Michelle said that was the only ride that scared Eddy.
We all went on the Millennium Force at the end of the day and it really is kind of amazing being that high and looking over Lake Erie. We never had more than an hours wait all day, which was really cool. One of the highlights was Patty and Eddy giving each other a high five on the Gemini. Sometimes it is the older rides where you can still have the most fun. The weather held up nicely, despite there being a chance of storms all day. The kids really kept it fun and ran around the park all day. We managed to stay until the park closed at Midnight and we all had a really great time. The last thing we did was get shirts at the gift shop. I was a great day. The pictures are on the pictures page.
Patty’s 17th birthday came in three parts this year. The first part was a picnic with her friends at the Munroe Falls Metro Park. Hot dogs were made, presents were given, and Patty and her friends enjoyed swimming, going on the paddle boats, and had a really nice time there. The second part of the birthday was the cookout, which is exclusively for family.
Her Grandma, both her parents and siblings attended her birthday cookout. There were presents and a cake. This was also a good time. The third part is a day with me, her Dad. We went to Summit Mall and got her gifts at the Bath and Body Works. We enjoyed some StarBucks while we walked around the mall for a bit, before deciding to go to another store. She wanted The Last of Us video game for the PS3. I introduced her to Pad Thai. She enjoyed that more than Chinese, which is what she usually requests for her birthday dinner. We finished up the day by getting the books her and Eddy need for summer reading.
Patty is going to be a high school senior this year and it is going to be a very busy year for everyone. She got to enjoy this birthday, but who knows what the next year will hold. She has to start making choices about college, taking a SAT and/or ACT, and keep up with all of her after school activities. We are hoping that she is chosen for Varsity lacrosse this year, but we will have to see how that works out in the Spring. The rest of the pictures can be found on the pictures page.
4th of July in downtown Akron with Eddy. Patty was with Aunt Becky for this 4th, so it was just the two of us. We rode our bikes downtown. Watched the fireworks. Grabbed some pizza at a place downtown. Went home. It was fun!
Patty was a starter for the girls JV lacrosse team for the defense. She started playing defense last year, after moving away from goalie. Honestly she did not want to carry all the equipment that playing goalie entails, so this was a good move for her. The team managed to go 8-3 and the season was actually supposed to be a few games longer. The problem is that not every team (truth be told very few teams) have an artificial grass field, so the fields were swamped and no lacrosse could be played on them. All the pictures are on the pictures page.
Michelle only asked for one thing for her birthday. That one thing was not always the same, but eventually she decided on headphones. The family gift to Michelle this year was a set of headphones. It took awhile to get them to her between all our busy schedules. Michelle is in college now and she is doing a good job. She really seems to like the headphones. She said they sound really good and apparently they are very loud. You can find all the pictures on the pictures page.
It was a very long and unpleasant winter in North East Ohio. The winter hung around well into March and when the sub degree temperatures went away and the snow finally melted it was time to stretch our legs on the Towpath. The beginning of the year started with a trip north to Akron. It was not exactly warm and by the time we got home it was in the high 40’s.
Eddy has a new bike this year. The bright blue bike you see was last years model purchased at Eddy’s Bike Shop in Stow. It was time for an upgrade after he tolerated a less than reliable 90’s mountain bike that we got used. This bike is more of a hybrid and it is larger. It really allows him to comfortably go for longer rides. He also inherited the bike rack and bag from my old bike.
The next trip was a lot longer. It was going south and enjoying going up and down a rather large hill about 10 miles south of here. The plan for this summer is to continue south to Canal Fulton. There are interesting sites that way. Including horses still tugging boats down the canal, which was what the towpath was originally designed for. There is also a hotdog stand with ice cream that might make for a nice treat.
The pictures taken encompass what is really the Christmas season. They are from when the decorations were going up around the house, after Thanksgiving. The tradition handed down to me is that the tree and decorations should go up at or right after Thanksgiving. The decorations come down New Years Day. They are from right before we would depart to St. Bernard Catholic Church for midnight mass on Christmas Eve/Christmas day. Another tradition that unfortunately Michelle was not able to participate in this year. They are from my home and they are from my sister and brother-in-laws house on Christmas day. We were invited there for dinner and it ended up being a fantastic day.
Christmas was absolutely wonderful this year. Having the kids and family around made it quite special. This was definitely a Christmas to remember. All the pictures can be found on the pictures page.
Another Archbishop Hoban Winter Festival. Patty is playing the violin for the orchestra. The entire performance of both the orchestra and the choir only took about 45 minutes and attendance seemed to be rather on the sparse side. It was still good to be there.