Saturday, June 25, 2011

Summer of Jaws - 2011

We just left my niece, Daisy's, second birthday party and are on our way to the Island. It's only a quick stop there. Another family party, a Sweet Sixteen/Graduation party for two of Demi's nieces. We will leave the Giz with Demi's sister and then head out to Montauk. It's as far east on the southern fork of the Island as you can go. It's past the glitz and glam of the Hamptons. I hope TSA doesn't give us too much trouble getting through there. Although it might be fun to crash one of Diddy's bashes.
Demi has been talking about bringing me to Montauk since we met. 15 years ago. Well, I am sure it is worth the wait. Montauk was the fishing town that inspired Jaws. The crusty captain in the moving is loosely based on the famed founder of Monster Shark Fishing, Frank Mundus. My brother in-law worked the dock out there and ended up with a job working for Mundus. Demi's family spent a lot of time out there in her childhood years. There is a lot of sentimental aspects to this trip. We have been talking to the boys about how much it means to her. I think they understand.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

School's Out For Summer

But not forever. It may seem like that to Demi in a few weeks, but school will come again. Oh yes. It will come again.

The boys are ecstatic of course. Coco's class apparently spent the last minute of school counting it down by the second, very loudly. Allegedly they could be heard from two floors down.

Visions of XBox are running through their heads. Later bed times. Sleeping in. Ah. It's good to be the king.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Father's Day 2011

Happy Father's Day! A special good wish to my Dad and my brother.

Spending the AM on Duxbury Beach is the best way to start any day, but it is especially nice on Father's Day. Ice coffee and a lemon poppy seed muffin is the breakfast of choice. Demi search far and wide, covered 6 different stores, but could not find the elusive pistachio muffin. She gets an A for effort though. My cousins, the Van Burens, joined us. It was quite the family event. The Van B's son is an age in he middle of our two boys. He and Coco spent the better part of the AM building a sand castle by the edge of the water. Caz slept in the back seat most of the day. He apparently was up very late at a sleep over the night before. This meant that I had a nice, quiet morning to sit, read the paper, and chat with the Van B's. Their girls are older, so they got to hang with the grown ups. Really, the only thing missing was a nap. I could have done that but I was too busy enjoying myself too much.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

We Got The Cup

That's right. Lord Stanley's Cup is back in Boston. After a 39 year hiatus. This was a story book ending to an amazing playoff run. This was quite possibly the finest Stanley Cup Series for a goaltender in the history of the game. Tim Thomas was a slam dunk for the Conne Smythe Trophy, for the Series MVP. Most saves in a SC Series. Most saves in an entire playoff year. He was something else.
The boys were fired up and watched the whole first period. Well, Coco did. I think Caz may have a bit of the old man's superstitions. He was definitely interested elsewhere. But I think a piece of him was too nervous to watch for fear of jinxing it.
I woke the boys up at the conclusion of the game, so that they could see the Cup be hoisted by Chara and the team. Coco almost went back to sleep. He was out of it. But then his eyes opened, and he was excited. Caz actually woke up to the sound of fireworks outside. Everyone was amped up for the Cup's return.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Movie Review: X-Men: First Class

Originally, this movie was not on my list of must see movies for the summer of '11. But I was pleasantly surprised. This was not just an FX filled blockbuster bonanza. There was a good story. Historical fiction. The tie in to the cold war and the Cuban Missile Crisis was a stroke of genius. There was character development. The back stories of Prof. X and Magneto were compelling. And then......there was......Kevin Bacon. Nothing says good movie like a degree of Kevin Bacon.
The only tough parts of the movie having the kids there were:


  • a scene set in Vegas with lingerie clad "showgirls"/"escorts"

  • a scene with a Russian general being seduced by a underwear clad buxom blond mutant

The boys seemed to enjoy the movie. We had actually discussed the Cuban Missile Crisis at a time moths before. And what got me was that they remembered it. Coco actually said "is that where the Russians put nuclear missile 90 miles from the United States?" The kids are paying attention and apparently I am getting through to them. Score one for Dad.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Field of Dreams

If you build it, they will come.

Well, in my mind I built the perfect day for the family. It is a rare occasion, if it happens at all, that the execution goes as well as the planning. Today was such a day. In fact, I would say it went better than planned. Our friend, CJ, had procured us tickets to an afternoon game at Fenway. Originally the start time was a night tilt, but with the Bruins in the Stanley Cup for prime time, the Sox opted to move the game up.
The launch started shaky. We left a bit later than planned. We hit unusually bad traffic before even getting on the highway. The Pilot was on E with the Gas light on. It was not looking promising.
But we took an alternative route to the exit that we were not quite sure of. We hit the gas station just in time. We pulled into Boston later than planned and missed batting practice. However we found a taxi in no time and arrived at Fenway with plenty of time to spare. The weather was perfect, 70 degrees and sunny. The breeze was refreshing. We took our seats and saw that it was Beckett warming up in the pen. We were excited to see the ace. The boys had not seen him pitch in person before. A-Gon launched a shot over the Monstah at his first at-bat. Crawford got into the act with timely hits and good defense. At the one hour mark the game was in the 5th. We were cruising to a Sox win.
We had a temporary set back. Papelbon gave up a few runs. Varitek got tossed for arguing balls and strikes. Pedroia let a game ending double play through the wickets. Then Papelbon got tossed with the game tied. Extra innings. Ruh Roh Raggy. Caz was getting restless. The boys were both tired from the previous days excursion. Coco actually slept through the 8th. Right through Sweet Caroline and everything. I made a command decision to leave after the 11th, after the meat of the Sox order batted and the game headed to the 12th.
It was an opportune time to get a cab. We got lucky again when Demi realized she had left the camera in our seats while walking up Landsdowne. A sypathetic usher let her back in to retrieve it. We hailed a taxi and got into the North End in great shape. We picked a restaurant on Hanover street and were seated right away. Dinner was amazing. Not a scrap was left to take home. Caz broadened his horizons and at linguine carbonara. I mean cheesy cream sauce and bacon? What's not to like, right? Then is was over to Modern to pick up pastries.
We got home just in time for the drop of the puck. We relaxed. Watched the game and ate fantastic pastries. It was such an amazing day. The perfect family day.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Early Independence Day

That's right. Independence Day came early this year. At least it did for the boys. Demi did a great Mom thing today. She took both boys and 3 of their buddies to Canobie Lake Park for a day of fun. The boys had a half day of school. She picked them right up at school and headed up to NH. The Fab Five had the run of the park. Sure there were some field trips to contend with. But it is early in the season and not all that packed. The issue Demi had to contend with was the divide and conquer. The older boys would want to go to rides while the younger boys went to others. The older boys had their cell phones. The younger boys had the power of 3, the magic number. Demi made multiple trips, with Gizmo in tow, back and forth to the car for food, dry clothes, towels, etc. The had all agreed on a meeting point if they got separated but it was never needed. In fact, they boys roamed around with such efficiency and responsibility that Demi let them close the park down. They got home at midnight. The Fab Five were sacked out the whole ride home but technically they stayed out longer than the men for Studs Night Out.