hockey happiness is...

...getting to your seat and realizing only a piece of glass separates you from the rink

...cheering, screaming, and doing the wave (it was Capitals vs. Lightning - for those who want to know :P)

...being welcomed in somebody's lap when pucks and players slamming onto the opposite side of the glass where you are sitting terrify you

SLAM!

...zambonis

...shootouts

...and being 10 years old and having a puck land in your lap at your first ever hockey game.

well, actually, it landed on my shin (ow!) then bounced off. i managed to grab it but lost my grip. it then slid across the floor, we struggled with someone who jumped from three rows behind us. after a few seconds of pinching and nudging - wine spilled and camera banged - the puck was ours!


and after the game...

it's this

this

and this :)

Ironman World Championship 70.3

the journey back

Three days later, we were back at our campsite with my niece, Jin and Marc's friend, Corey.
The children were bursting with excitement, joy, and delight:

cheers of excitement to rope swing once again

of joy in hunting for more (smelly) treasures

and of delight to get on the swing that was so talked about

While Marc and Corey were setting up to sail, they were talking about how they can make it back in less than twenty minutes with favorable winds.
The drive was a little over ten miles; and with the after-work rush, drawbridges, and about a dozen traffic lights -- it would also take about twenty minutes to get back by land.
That takes about the same time...so why not race?

VAN VS BOAT-- the start line

Bring it on!
"""Team Van spotted the white sail with the blue and red stripe from every bridge they crossed, the children screamed and squealed each time. And with a little over a mile to go, driving down Ocean Blvd., they saw the sail again!"""

the finish line -- Team Van won!

Team Boat arrived cold and wet a few minutes later.

The celebration of the great race and of Miracle (Marc's boat) getting back home went on until sundown. Victory dances and victory cries were seen and heard until it was time to go home for supper and homework.

marc's boat race

and the time we spent a chilly night by his boat, the bay, and rope swings




while Maku and I played by the dock, Snow kept busy working on her project collecting competitors' autographs

Maku wanted to start a project of his own, and came up with this:

photographing his little men doing all sorts of things

in all sorts of places. --these are the same guys stationed to pick up beans

after some hot cocoa it was time to head back to camp...

Snow set up a kitchen pantry above our heads. where she stacked canned oysters, granola bars, crackers, and a jar of peanut butter, all of which fell on my face in the middle of the night.

we were lulled to sleep by the whistling of the wind, the clanging of boat bells, and the sound of the surf. i'd like to think my little ones slept with thoughts of sailors and of pirates, of lost islands and buried treasure; and that this was one night in their childhood that they will always recall in great detail.

we woke up to the bestest, brightest sunrise

low tide treasures

and boats dressed warmly :D

Marc was in the race for a few seconds maybe minutes, it was too windy for his boat. Hopefully it'll be calmer weather next year.

after breakfast we said goodbye to his boat with a promise to return the next day to bring her back home