The boys attended the winter sports banquet with Connie. All sports teams listen to speeches by coaches and have a nice meal or dessert. Our two boys earned their "varsity" letter awards in ski racing... Congratulations, William and Soenke! Very cool...
After skiing today, the boys rested on the back deck and then we moved lumber, raked some of the lawn, cleaned the car, and ate more of that disgusting Chester Chicken. It is what it is when the old guy is a little under the weather.
I've book a trip west with the boys. We'll land in Las Vegas on May 10th and will travel to Hoover Dam; Williams, Arizona (AZ); Grand Canyon (AZ); Sedona (AZ); Prescott (AZ); and Flagstaff (AZ) among other spots. We'll hike, sightsee, and drive through the desert on Route 66. We'll fly out of Las Vegas on the 17th... it'll be a very busy week of exploring.
We've had unusually warm weather this past 2 weeks and the snow is disappearing quickly. At Black Mountain, which I climbed last Monday, there's good snow on the main trails with manmade snow, but the other trails look grassy. We may be near the end as rain and warmth will be featured Monday through Wednesday next week.
The boys asked to come home early from the annual dance. Pathetic music--American rap or some such noise--they said. Worse yet, 50 kids in a cavernous gymnasium killed the ambiance. Soenke posed for pictures, but I guess William refused choosing the food table instead. Smart boy. ;-)
It's spring break for me and naturally enough I have a cold. Tonight, instead of cooking, I drove to the local Chester Chicken outlet and bought junk food for dinner replete with Coke. It's disgusting, unhealthy, and I'm sorry... but the boys loved it. Sometimes that's all that matters.
The boys spent the night with Lukas and Cam Gallant at the Gallant's home. Brad Gallant is a police office in town... I'm guessing it was a quiet night. ;-) Oh, and Alex has moved into his new home after spending a month to the day with us. We're sure he'll enjoy the family.
Here, I'm on spring break from the university for two weeks. That just means I'll work from home instead of driving north. I'm still working on the second edition of a book I wrote ten years ago, A Guide to Creating Student-Staffed Writing Centers. Writing a second edition might seem easy--updating material and revising gaffes--but I've found the process tedious. Enough whining. Yesterday afternoon, I climbed Red Hill, a local mountain right next to the ski area. Here are some pictures from hiking it two years ago. Click on this sentence. There's a great view at the top of Sunday River Ski Resort and the President Range in New Hampshire, especially Mount Washington. Warm weather is approaching over the next few days, so we're starting to get a case of spring fever! The boys have enjoyed trips to the trampoline place in Lewiston called Aero or Jump or Boys Go Crazy. Here are a few photos. On Saturday, the boys will be going again. How it happens: We watch the nightly weather forecast and then discuss the prospects of school or no school. Then, at about 4:30am, I wake up, look out the window and, if warranted, I turn on the iPad next to my bed to check the weather radar and cancellations. If I read"Cancellation: RSU 10," I go back to bed with the house phone in my hand because soon enough, usually between 5am and 5:30am the phone rings with the following Robo call: "Due to inclement weather, there will be no school in RSU 10." I try to catch it on the first ring so the boys aren't awoken. (Yes, I am a decent man.) By 10am, they're up and at breakfast and then the computer games begin. By noon, we're out shoveling the walkway, oil tank delivery path, the front of the garage, the back deck, and the infamous poop yard. Then, back to games. That's a snow day at the Kent household. Patrick Dempsey, the star from the hit TV show Gray's Anatomy, is up at Black Mountain today. He has an annual bike and run fundraiser for cancer, and the mountain sponsors a team. Patrick grew up 20 miles from here in Buckfield. Here at the house, William is watching the TV show Lost and Soenke is gearing up to visit Katriel's (Brazil) home to make schnitzel. Alex, who has been living with us of the past 3 weeks, is down at his girlfriend's home. Bailey and I just got off the mountain in the backyard after a morning work session behind the computer. Bailey edits well. Here are some photos from the past few days. The kids had a snow day--more like a snow-sleet-rain day--on Wednesday, so it was a laid-back week. |