Ice Skating Adventure!

Well we finally took the plunge last night and got Aiden...and me out on the ice! We weren't so sure Aiden would go for it, but he had a blast!! Tyson jumped right out there and left the rest of us in the dust showing off all his best moves, but I must say that for Aiden and Mom's first time on the ice we did a mighty fine job!

The walkers they have for beginners were perfect for Aiden and me. I held up top to help while I got a feel for the ice, and Aiden held on to the cross bar and took off like he had been doing it all his life!

This is a blurry picture, but I just love Aiden's face. He literally had a "perma-grin" the entire time we were out on the ice!!

Then there's the expert Tyson. He and Dad used their time on the ice working on skating backwards. By the end of the night Tyson was actually making quite a bit of progress!

Even without shin guards Tyson enjoyed falling to the ice for fun....

and then there was a little "monkey-see, monkey-do" who would quickly fall to the ice as soon as he saw brother do it...all the while squealing and laughing with excitement yelling: "I fall down!"

By the end of the night he was able to hop back up on his feet pretty quickly. It was definitely good practice, I think, at improving on his balance!

One of the trips around the ice Aiden squealed out: "WHOAAA! I'm skating!!" He was so proud of himself...and so were Mom and Dad!

By the end of the night he was even able to keep his balance pushing the walker by himself...amazing!

The Zamboni came out after about an hour of skating to re-surface the ice, so we were all able to take a little break and re-charge for the next round of skating.

My 3 boys chillin!

Skating can really wear a guy out!

Tyson kept a close eye on the Zamboni...and was one of the first in line to get back out on the ice as soon as it was done!

Look....all by his big boy self!

I have a feeling it won't be very long at all before both boys leave Mom and Dad in the dust while they go off together racing around the ice. I also have a fairly good feeling we had better start saving a little more money to help fund a 2nd hockey player in the very near future!! I guess only time will tell:)

McRush Night!

We took the boys to McDonald's tonight for supper and look who was working behind the counter.....

That's right...it was Danny Battachio!! The Rush made a special appearance at 3 different McDonald's in town tonight. Scott called the Rush office today to see which one Danny was going to be at, so we could go say "Hi"!

Both boys were a bit overwhelmed at first. Tyson gets absolutely "star struck" when he's close to any of the players, so it took a little while just watching everyone else go up for autographs before he decided he was ready to get his own.

They had Rush posters they were handing out, so each one of the players that were there signed that as well as the back of Tyson's shirt.

Scott Kalinchuk

They were all very nice and more than happy to take a picture with him as well. You may notice that Aiden is no where to be found. He unfortunately was not having the whole picture thing.

Aiden kept a pretty tight grip on Dad's pant leg...all the while asking where "baby donkey" and Nugget were at! Unfortunately, they were no where to be found:(

Scott Wray tried his best to get the little guy to warm up to him and give him a "Five"....to no avail!

Derek Leblanc and Rush Captain-Scott Wray

Danny seemed to be taking his job pretty seriously behind the counter...maybe just making sure he has a back-up plan should he get tired of hockey!

Tim Boron-back-up goalie for the Rush

Probably the most important autograph of the night....from the "Batman"...Danny Battachio!!

This picture cracks me up. I think Danny was starting to say "cheeeeeeseburger"!

Group pic of the guys.......

Group pic with the guys and Tyson....so cool!!!!

Dave Grimson

Tyson showing off his awesome shirt....with a GRRRR for "show"

Aiden didn't want to be left out on the action when I was taking the pictures of Tyson, so he flashed me a smile...from the tub. Hey, I was multi-tasking!!

It was a great night. All of the guys were really nice. Scott Wray noticed Scott's Rushmore hockey hat and asked Tyson if he played hockey. Tyson told him he did and Scott went on to tell Tyson that his kids played hockey too, and were very sad that their season was over...boy, can we relate! Tyson then told Danny good-bye when we were leaving as well as wished him luck for this weekend. They gave each other "knuckles" and away we went.

Grammy and Poppy

The boys were so excited for Grammy and Poppy to come up this weekend. We had been counting down the days with great anticipation! It was a busy weekend with hockey, but the boys were still able to make room for some "special" Grammy-Poppy time!

Playing a little "I Spy" with Grammy

Aiden and "Grammy-Poppy" (yes, he still calls him that) really like to tease one another. Poppy also made sure to teach the little guy some new phrases over the weekend. Aiden's favorite would have to be "wild driver-wild-driver". Poppy was giving Scott a hard time about his driving and said he was a "wild driver"...and the rest is history! A close second would probably be-"for Pete's sake". Every time Aiden would say one of the favorite new phrases he would just laugh at how funny he thought he was!

Sorry about the creepy eyes....Tyson was getting a little Grammy lovin before going to bed on Saturday evening.

Before Grammy and Poppy went home this afternoon, the boys had to play a little hockey with Poppy....from Poppy's story-he took the boys to school!

Poppy taking his turn at guarding the net!

Who cares if Aiden was missing a shoe...he never missed a beat!

It was quite the game, and I'm pretty sure Poppy was ready for a nap after all of the excitement!

It was pretty sad to have to say Good-bye when Grammy and Poppy had to go back home...but we are already planning to go down to Torrington in April to have a little birthday celebration for Aiden, so I guess we'll just start counting down the days!