spring within reach!

It's March! And winter seems to be on its way out - not that winter was that bad this year, but everyone is definitely looking forward to warmer weather... more time outside, the trampoline out, bikes out, kids outside, parents outside, lunch outside, and on and on. Alana and I ate lunch on the porch last week - Hendrik wasn't too happy to hear that he'd missed out:

We're spending at least the first half of March break in Bowmanville, and by we I mean me and the kids. After a tough loss in the finals of the CIS championships, Steve (who'd been assisting with the McMaster team) and his dad (there to watch) headed from Hamilton to London to tackle a full-blown bathroom reno. We're staying out of the way here in B-ville, but have to head back home on Wednesday for a Thursday morning class (for me). Here's the progress after a solid day and a half of work:

demo!

I drove down to Hamilton with the kids on Friday afternoon with plans of watching the semi-finals on Friday night, but it was not to be. The game was sold out, the gym was hot and super noisy, and the kids were none too happy after just a few points / minutes in the gym... SO, change of plans - we watched the game in our PJs in the king-sized bed back at the hotel. Steve was in town (Hamilton) all week, so it was great to see him - and I would have loved to have stayed to watch (just as I would have loved to have: participated in the coaching conference, had beers in the VIP tent, and networked/chatted/caught up with the slew of coaches in attendance), but mom duties trump any and all volleyball "want-tos" so hotel it was. Hendrik fell asleep during the game and Alana followed suit soon after the lights went out - but somehow they both managed to practically push me to the borders of the enormous bed, and I ended up sleeping at the foot of the bed to escape them both. On Saturday we visited a park, hit up Grandad's donut shop (highly recommend if you are ever in Hamilton and looking for a real-deal donut), and spent some time at the gym before heading to Bowmanville to catch the finals online. So far we've had a fairly low-key spring break with lots of board games, hide and seek, crafts, puzzles, play dough, and a few outings to the creek/park and store (woohoo).

A second place finish for the McMaster men's team was a definite disappointment (expectations were high!), but our third place finish at OUAs left our up and coming squad pretty happy with the result. Despite a disappointing loss in the semis, we battled hard in the bronze medal match and came back from an 8-12 deficit in the fifth set to win 15-13... crazy! Crazy crazy. We finished the season 18-4, which I think is a program best in recent history. Also worth more than a mention is the fact that an OUA team won Nationals on the women's side; the Varsity Blues (U of T) finished with a perfect record, beating Trinity Western in the finals in Brandon 3-0. I think it's a first for their program (a national title) and a definite plus for our league, as not only does it lend some credibility to the level out east but it also gives us another berth to Nationals next year (Ryerson will host). Anyways, enough volleyball talk. A few more pics to round out the blog and then I should get to my fast-accumulating list of homework jobs....

H&A both chose the Ghostbuster donut... pretty darn delicious!

aren't sleeping kids the cutest?