Late October/Early November 2021

 

Luke with player of the game necklace and hat from his hockey team

Very tired trick or treaters

Trip to the Pumpkin patch with friends.  Luke had a hockey tournament

John and Luke met up with Aunt Jennifer and Grandma and Grandpa Carrithers in Chicago for a hockey tournement

Aiden and his buddies trick or treating

Pumpkin patch with Finn

John and his parents

Finn and his loot!

Finn and his buddy Silas trick or treating

Finn and Silas

Luke with a nice save

John, Finn, Aiden and his buddy at the Haunted House

Finn's new Hockey team this year...The Islanders

Carving pumpkins

The finished products

SuperMite Islanders 2021-22

Since I have not posted in awhile, I am just posting lots of fun pictures from the end of October and early November.  

All four boys are off and running with their hockey seasons.  Finn was the last one to start in late October and he is a SuperMite Islander this year.  He is in his last two years of House hockey.  He is excited to be on a team with several friends and coaches he played with last year.

Luke has already had two tournaments for hockey and is quite busy but loving his team and the challenge of playing with kids quite a bit older than he is.  Liam and Aiden are also having great seasons and their teams are doing very well so far this season.  They are fortunate to be with some very good friends and families we love spending the winter with!

Finn was the only person who went trick or treating with me this year.  Aiden went out with friends and Luke and Liam went to a party with their buddies.  John was busy getting the older boys to and from hockey practices on Halloween.  Aiden and Finn loved the haunted houses this year with John.  They went to two in our area and even Finn thought they were awesome.  Luke and Liam went to the second one and Liam said, much like me, that he really doesn't care much for haunted houses!

We have had a beautiful fall in Minnesota and have enjoyed lots of time outside without the colder temps we normally have at this time of year.  I have a feeling this will soon change, but its been nice for the added weeks of warmer than normal weather!

Hockey Season has Arrived!

 

Finn and his buddy at the school Fun Run

Finn and Haakon

Hot and Sweaty after running so hard!

Half of my confirmation class at church.  Luke and three others not pictured.

Hockey season has begun for us....hence the reason I have not blogged in a long time and the reason I have no decent pictures to share!  I can assure you we are enjoying ourselves and the boys are in heaven to be playing another season of hockey with their friends.

Luke and Liam are both Bantams this year which means there is checking and the kids are much bigger, stronger, and faster.  Since we are first year Bantams, many of the kids are 2 years old than Luke and Liam and some are even learning to drive which is a crazy thought to me although it is just around the corner for us.  Luke made the highest team as a goalie and is very excited to be playing for one of the most respected coaches in our area.  He is also excited to be with the same goalie partner that he had in his first year of PeeWees as they are quite compatible and enjoyed working together.  

Liam made a Bantam B1 team which is about where we thought he would land and a good spot for him to grow (not only in hockey, but hopefully in height/size as well!).  He has several very good friends on his team and we are on a team with the Weigel's son (Finn's godparents) which is the third time this has happened for us and it is always a fun year with them. 

Aiden also moved up a level this year to PeeWees and is playing on a PeeWee B1 team.  He is in a great spot on a team that historically does very well each year.  His two coaches have sons that are some of Aiden's closest friends so we are very pleased with his team as well.  All in all, tryouts went very well for us and despite the stressful 2-3 weeks, we are very thankful for the outcome!

We don't have Finn's team yet because they don't go through tryouts for House teams, but we should find out his coach and teammates in the next week or so.  

We are looking at around 150 games this season!  Just regular district games and not including scrimmages and not including Finn's games which start after Christmas.  We have at least 5 travel tournaments and 8 local tournaments.  It will be a busy season to say the least.

September 2021

Finn and Aiden at Finn's fall 3v3 hockey.  Finn is catching up to Aiden in height although he is wearing skates in this picture so it isn't as close as it appears.

Finn and John on the Tilt-A-Whirl.  We went to Valley Fair in early September as delayed birthday celebration for Finn

John and I attended a neighborhood Oktoberfest celebration

Example of how Finn towers over his peers!

We borrowed the outfits from friends

Valley Fair for Finn's belated birthday celebration

 

We look pretty authentic!

We are adapting to the early mornings of school and getting into a better routine during the month of September.  The boys have really enjoyed being IN school this year rather than at home doing distance learning.  I would have to say I agree with them although it was nice having them home for awhile.  Hockey tryouts have begun for Luke, Liam, and Aiden so we are excited for our new teams and new seasons that will begin in a few weeks.  

We were delayed a bit due to weather and some hockey tournaments in August, but we finally celebrated Finn's 8th birthday at Valley Fair.  We didn't get to do this last summer because Valley Fair wasn't open due to COVID so this was a nice treat.  The boys all love roller coasters and anything that twists, turns, or goes upside down and all around.  I have never actually liked roller coasters and find that now I can't even do rides that go in circles so I mostly watched everyone and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  I managed to do the bumper cars and old fashioned cars a few times, but had a hard time even watching them on any type of roller coaster that went upside down or around and around multiple times.  John was a trooper and rode just about any of the roller coasters although the next day he said his neck and back were a tad sore.  Happy 8th to Finn!

Hawaii and the start of School

 

View from Diamond Head

Hiking in Rainforest to waterfall

Our VRBO at base of Diamond Head

Snorkeling in Turtle Bay

Finn's cool picture from airplane as we were landing

Boogie Boarding on Waikiki Beach

Pearl Harbor

Snorkeling trip

Cliff Jumping in Waimea Bay Area

Amazing Hawaiian shaved ice

Pearl Harbor

Snorkeling trip

Surf lessons for all of us!

Finn's first day of Second grade

Luke and Liam's first day of 8th grade and Aiden's first day of 6th grade

We had one last big adventure in Hawaii before the end of the summer. We all loved Hawaii and hope to go back as soon as possible!  We stayed on the island of Oahu and really made an effort to see the entire island.  We spent time snorkeling on the North Shore in Turtle Bay and one a snorkeling tour in Waimea Bay.  We sampled the food trucks and many restaurants along the North Shore and in Waikiki.  We had our fill of shaved ice, fresh fish, and poke bowls!  We spent one day doing surfing lessons and touring beaches on the west side of the island.  We hiked in a rainforest and up Diamond Head.  And lastly, we spent a day touring Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona, Punchbowl cemetery, and downtown Honolulu.  It was quite a memorable experience.  Hawaii is a beautiful state and Oahu is amazing!  The people were warm and welcoming, the beaches are beautiful and diverse in the different areas we visited, and the food was amazing.  

Lastly, we started school slightly less than 48 hours after we returned home from Hawaii.  Luke and Liam are in their final year of middle school in the 8th grade and Aiden just began his first year of middle school in 6th grade.  Finn is our only child left in elementary and he began 2nd grade.  The boys are adapting well to the beginning of school and have been happy to be back in person at school.  We are gearing up for hockey tryouts which are coming up in the next month for the older boys!  

A Summary of the last Month!

 

Finn celebrated his 8th Birthday!

We took advantage of a free and hot Sunday afternoon and went to a new pool not far from our house.  They had diving boards and water slides and boys enjoyed it.  

Finn enjoyed all the birthday gifts from Grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends, etc...
Thank you all for the cards, calls, and gifts!

Finn loved his celebrating on his big day!

John rode 100 miles on his bike with his buddy, Mark.  They finished in a very decent time despite lots of rain and less than ideal conditions.

Finn enjoying some ice cream in downtown Wayzata while his brothers were with friends

Luke received Player of the Game in a tournament

Finn had three staples in his head after tripping on some stairs and hitting the corner of the bleachers at Liam's game.  And we spent a few hours on my birthday at the urgent care!

I celebrated a birthday in August!

Summer has officially taken over my ability to blog on a regular basis!  Rather than catch you up on the last month, I will post a few fun pictures of some highlights.  We celebrated two birthdays, Mine and Finn's.  We are finishing up summer hockey tournaments which keep us busy on the weekends and the boys are still enjoying some camps and activities during the week which keeps me busy driving them from place to place.