Most people have a weight problem. But Jacob? He has a height problem.
He really wants to be tall. And while just being tall would be great, he wants to be really tall, really fast. He seriously can't get there fast enough, and will stop at nothing to make it happen sooner.
Here's the thing--he wants to play in the NBA. That is his ultimate goal, and he pretty much won't settle for anything less. He might settle for playing in the G-League, which is basically the NBA's minor league, or playing in Europe. Or, whenever I plead with him to have a backup plan that isn't playing pro basketball, he says he'll be a coach. That's not the worst plan in the world, because he's one heck of an analyst, but it still makes me a little nuts.
But, of course, most people that play in the NBA are tall. Not everyone, mind you, as Spud Webb and Mugsy Bogues weren't much taller than me, but people under 6'3" are pretty rare nonetheless. He's growing just fine, and will probably pass me within a year or two, but Craig is only right around six feet, and the genes on my side aren't great. My brother is pretty tall and I have a couple tall uncles, but neither of my parents were particularly tall, and I'm definitely not. So what does that mean for him? The odds aren't awesome, but obviously no one knows. And that is part of our challenge.
We went to the doctor last week for his well visit, and when the nurse measured him at 4'9" and change, he was very upset. It seems like he's had a few different measurements over the past months, and this was shorter than most. Someone once told him five feet even. He's definitely not quite there, if you're using me at 5'2" as a guide. I measured him at home and never got taller than maybe 4'10-1/2", but I think the doctor's measurement was correct. But then he comes back with supposedly being taller than kids that say they're five feet, which confuses him further, but I'm going to guess those kids are equally confused about their height. He can't understand how anyone could have done the measuring wrong, and if they did, obviously the shorter one was wrong.
He has gotten downright obsessive about it, and truly lost his temper over it the other day. He refuses to believe how he's been measured. He tries to measure himself (which we all know doesn't work). He insists he's taller, even in the face of lots of evidence to the contrary. We've both tried to not talk to him about it at all to avoid arguments, but that doesn't entirely work either because you don't want to send him out into the world with a delusional height perception. He's Googling things that might make him grow (zinc and peanuts, apparently?), and even asked if he could use Pediasure since they advertise growth with that. Seeing him obsess over it is pretty painful, and I guess now I see how even guys can fall prey to eating disorders and body dysmorphia. Believe me, I'll be keeping an eye on him moving forward.
He's putting all of this pressure on himself to grow, which I told him would probably only cause stress that would stunt his growth. No matter how many times we remind him that growing too fast causes problems, or that there's nothing he can do to outmaneuver his body's height potential, he just can't seem to believe it. Just doing what he's doing--playing sports and eating well--will keep him on track to reach his full potential, but that doesn't seem to be good enough. He's also pretty preoccupied with his health (but thankfully not really his weight). It's good that he's making smart food choices like less candy, but he has so many years to be obsessive about junk food that I hate to see it start now. If there's ever a time in life when you can get away with a less-than-ideal diet, it's as a kid--particularly a kid with his body type. But he won't hear it.
He's definitely an active kid and really wants to continue to improve. He was having a hard time hitting shots today, and has been a bit lately. He was freaking out about his form, and no matter how I tried to encourage him that basketball camp in a couple weeks might help, he only got more upset and insisted he had to figure it out before that. I can't help but wonder if it's the pressure to succeed, or if he's still psyched out by our hoop being a bit off (no, we haven't fixed it yet), or if his body has changed a bit since last year. I reminded him that he was playing a lot more lacrosse at this time last year, and I could see so much definition in his arms then. With six less days of tournament play this year, and much less focus on the sport in general, I wonder if that's having an impact. He insists that lacrosse couldn't possibly help his basketball, but maybe it did?
I guess it has to be hard when the one thing you want to do has a physical component to it that your body may not cooperate with. Everything about him is fixated on that goal right now, and I think he's mostly just internally freaking out that there may not be anything he can do about it, and subsequently taking it out on us. We've reminded him before that other kids may be more skilled, but how hard he works can stand out even more. I'm not sure that's ever been his best skill, however. Even if he is working hard, sometimes it just doesn't look like it. I'm not sure if that's his body, or his attempt at swagger, but either way I think it's a bit to overcome on the bad days. But if I have ever seen him put forth a strong effort, it's been in basketball, so fingers crossed he can find it when he needs it.
But the height thing is hardcore frustrating right now. But like most other things he fixates on, hopefully this, too, will pass. But in the meantime, a growth spurt would be great (but if it could come before I need to buy his school uniforms, that would be even better.).
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Friday, July 12, 2019
Bummer.
So, I left out one detail in my last post about Saturday. Craig and I were awake before the kids on Saturday morning, and when I came out from the shower and Craig was rousing himself by checking his phone, he happened to see that both Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green of the Raptors had signed free agent deals with other teams--Kawhi to the LA Clippers, and Danny to the LA Lakers.
Well...shoot.
See, we knew this was a possibility. Even during the season everyone knew that Kawhi wanted to play in Los Angeles. That's where he's from and that's where his extended family is. He was not happy about ending up in Toronto last summer, but thank goodness he set that aside and played his heart out for the team, which in the end resulted in a championship. It was an amazing season, and I'm sure every single Raptors fan was hoping deep down that the big win cemented something in Kawhi that would make him want to stay, be it camaraderie, comfort with the team chemistry, or even just the opportunity to repeat next year. Jacob would say to us at least once a day, "I really hope Kawhi signs with Toronto," and every time, I'd respond, "Me too," but then give him a gentle warning that the lure of going closer to home and family is generally so much bigger than even a giant paycheck. I knew that the delay in his decision and the meetings with all three teams (Toronto and both LA teams) probably wasn't great news. Almost every other big free agent had signed by then. Except Danny Green, of course, but rumor was that he was waiting for Kawhi to make a decision because they were good friends--they were traded to Toronto together--and probably wanted to stick together if possible. In the end, they ended up in the same city but on different teams. Kawhi could have been a Laker, most likely, but who knows whether it was their glut of superstars, their giant payroll, or his lack of potential input into their team that made the decision. Ultimately, his campaigning to get Paul George, a player from an entirely different team, to his team was the deal breaker, and since Toronto would have completely mortgaged their future with the rumored trade, it just couldn't happen. The Clippers pulled it off, and that was it.
But, of course, when we got that news on Saturday, my heart completely sunk. Not just because we had really loved watching this team with all of these players, but because I knew Jacob would be devastated and it would probably derail our entire day. He had really seemed to get in the right mindset for the tournament, finally. Instead of complaining about it and just wanting to be done, we were getting a few more mentions of how he wanted to score, which I took as a good sign. But I knew that once he heard that news, his brain would do a huge 180 and he would probably be firmly focused on basketball all day, instead of lacrosse. Kawhi was essentially the key to the championship, and arguably the best player to ever wear a Raptors' jersey, and Danny was his favorite player, to the point he just ordered sneakers he designed. Ugh. It was definitely a helpless feeling.
I briefly considered stealing his phone, or at least "misplacing" it for a while, and ideally we would have at least found a way to distract him enough that he wouldn't have looked at it that morning. But sure enough, as we were getting ready for breakfast he happened to grab it, and he saw the news. He actually took it better initially than I expected, but he talked about it non-stop as we went to breakfast and then got super testy when we were down at breakfast trying to grab our food amidst the usual hotel breakfast chaos. I know food can always be a little stressful for him, but I had a feeling the signings were at the root of the anger.
Fortunately, the tournament went well, he scored his goal, and he officially finished up his lacrosse career, so whatever was on his mind was not enough to completely throw him off his game. But the majority of the ride home was like Groundhog Day, with the same conversation happening over and over again. We rehashed every angle of it, from why Kawhi did it, to why Danny did what he did, to what that might mean for all teams involved this year, to him still thinking the Raptors can win it again, and on and on and on. I'd like to say it's cooled off in the days since, but it's still a rather popular topic of conversation.
The thing is, Jacob can't for the life of him figure out how Kawhi could have turned down so much money. Danny did get a great deal, probably far more than the Raptors could have offered him, so he gets that. But no matter how many times I try to explain to him how important it was for him to be near his family, he just doesn't get it. Based on what we heard, Kawhi essentially gave up an extra $100 million to sign with the Clippers. He wanted to be near his home and family so much that he gave up $100 MILLION to do it. That's a LOT of money, no doubt. But one thing I tried to explain to Jacob is that once you make more money than you know what to do with, a million (or a hundred) here and there probably doesn't make that big of a difference. Unless you know you need that money, other stuff is going to end up outweighing what is essentially a surplus. And for Kawhi, his priority was to have his family close by, and that meant more. Of course, Jacob's like, "He could just move his family to Toronto!" Then I try to explain to him that someone like, say, Kawhi's mom is happy in California, all her friends are there, she's comfortable with her surroundings, and probably doesn't want to reinvent her life in a different city, let alone a different country. Canada may be mostly like us in many ways, but ultimately it is a different country with different government, stores, brands, etc. So much would feel foreign, and I'm sure he didn't want that for his family if he could help it. I even tried to relate it to my parents, who strongly considered moving to Rochester a few years back. They even looked at a couple houses. But in the end, I think the idea of leaving their friends, family, and familiar surroundings was too much for them. Yes, being close would have been great for all of us for different reasons, but ultimately we're pretty busy and our time together would still be limited. So is that 10% of the time where we can be together worth giving up their daily general comfort for the other 90%? Probably not. And I think that's a scenario that Kawhi didn't want for his family, either. Sure, he could have flown them out there frequently, but in the end it probably just made more sense to go home. He's one of the best players in the league and can pretty much dictate his own career at this point, so why not take advantage of it while he can?
Jacob's inability to understand the family aspect of it makes me feel like a failure as a mom, to be honest, because I appear to have raised a kid who not only values money above all else but can't fathom why being near family (and thinking of their needs) would be so important. I'm hoping it's just a kid thing, but I'm not so sure. Guessing I won't be getting a lot of visits if he achieves his dream of playing in the NBA, though! Sigh. At this point he's thinking Kawhi might second-guess himself if these smaller earthquakes turn into a big one, or that maybe someday he'd come back to Toronto, but I'm very doubtful on both counts. The good news is that he's confident the team is still very strong and that they'll find ways to work around this. To be fair, they were pretty good even when Kawhi didn't play. Championship good? Well, probably not quite, but good. So hopefully they can fill in some holes, develop their young talent, and make another great run next year. They've got the championship experience in their back pocket, at least, and sometimes that's half the battle.
On a side note, as a native Buffalonian, I suppose this turn of events feels a bit par for the course. I mean, in the back of my mind, particularly recently, I've figured that if Buffalo finally won a championship, there would probably be something that would mar it. Maybe an incident during the parade, or an untimely player death, or something that would just play into the haters saying, "See, they never deserved it in the first place," or "That's why Buffalo just isn't supposed to win." It's a horrible thought, I know. But when it's been kept from you for so long, you begin to wonder if there's a bigger picture surrounding why. So, between the shooting at the parade and now the departure of two huge puzzle pieces, I find myself thinking, "Sure, we finally support a team that wins, and the honeymoon is so short-lived. We can't even get to the season opener without losing hope that there could be a repeat." No playoff MVP has ever changed teams so quickly, and of course it has to be ours. It's really just a bummer, you know?
In the meantime, Jacob is still very eager for the season to start and it'll be a long 3-1/2 months until then as he analyzes and re-analyzes all that has happened in the past few months. I'll be brushing up on my general basketball knowledge (gotta bond with him somehow), and our entire family will be geared up in the fall. I'm sure we'll always wonder what could have been, but like I've said about championships in the past, once you win one, no one can ever take that from you. So even if it never happens again, we'll always know what it felt like for the Raptors to become champs, and always be grateful for that one amazing season where Kawhi was in the middle of it all. What a great ride it was.
Well...shoot.
See, we knew this was a possibility. Even during the season everyone knew that Kawhi wanted to play in Los Angeles. That's where he's from and that's where his extended family is. He was not happy about ending up in Toronto last summer, but thank goodness he set that aside and played his heart out for the team, which in the end resulted in a championship. It was an amazing season, and I'm sure every single Raptors fan was hoping deep down that the big win cemented something in Kawhi that would make him want to stay, be it camaraderie, comfort with the team chemistry, or even just the opportunity to repeat next year. Jacob would say to us at least once a day, "I really hope Kawhi signs with Toronto," and every time, I'd respond, "Me too," but then give him a gentle warning that the lure of going closer to home and family is generally so much bigger than even a giant paycheck. I knew that the delay in his decision and the meetings with all three teams (Toronto and both LA teams) probably wasn't great news. Almost every other big free agent had signed by then. Except Danny Green, of course, but rumor was that he was waiting for Kawhi to make a decision because they were good friends--they were traded to Toronto together--and probably wanted to stick together if possible. In the end, they ended up in the same city but on different teams. Kawhi could have been a Laker, most likely, but who knows whether it was their glut of superstars, their giant payroll, or his lack of potential input into their team that made the decision. Ultimately, his campaigning to get Paul George, a player from an entirely different team, to his team was the deal breaker, and since Toronto would have completely mortgaged their future with the rumored trade, it just couldn't happen. The Clippers pulled it off, and that was it.
But, of course, when we got that news on Saturday, my heart completely sunk. Not just because we had really loved watching this team with all of these players, but because I knew Jacob would be devastated and it would probably derail our entire day. He had really seemed to get in the right mindset for the tournament, finally. Instead of complaining about it and just wanting to be done, we were getting a few more mentions of how he wanted to score, which I took as a good sign. But I knew that once he heard that news, his brain would do a huge 180 and he would probably be firmly focused on basketball all day, instead of lacrosse. Kawhi was essentially the key to the championship, and arguably the best player to ever wear a Raptors' jersey, and Danny was his favorite player, to the point he just ordered sneakers he designed. Ugh. It was definitely a helpless feeling.
I briefly considered stealing his phone, or at least "misplacing" it for a while, and ideally we would have at least found a way to distract him enough that he wouldn't have looked at it that morning. But sure enough, as we were getting ready for breakfast he happened to grab it, and he saw the news. He actually took it better initially than I expected, but he talked about it non-stop as we went to breakfast and then got super testy when we were down at breakfast trying to grab our food amidst the usual hotel breakfast chaos. I know food can always be a little stressful for him, but I had a feeling the signings were at the root of the anger.
Fortunately, the tournament went well, he scored his goal, and he officially finished up his lacrosse career, so whatever was on his mind was not enough to completely throw him off his game. But the majority of the ride home was like Groundhog Day, with the same conversation happening over and over again. We rehashed every angle of it, from why Kawhi did it, to why Danny did what he did, to what that might mean for all teams involved this year, to him still thinking the Raptors can win it again, and on and on and on. I'd like to say it's cooled off in the days since, but it's still a rather popular topic of conversation.
The thing is, Jacob can't for the life of him figure out how Kawhi could have turned down so much money. Danny did get a great deal, probably far more than the Raptors could have offered him, so he gets that. But no matter how many times I try to explain to him how important it was for him to be near his family, he just doesn't get it. Based on what we heard, Kawhi essentially gave up an extra $100 million to sign with the Clippers. He wanted to be near his home and family so much that he gave up $100 MILLION to do it. That's a LOT of money, no doubt. But one thing I tried to explain to Jacob is that once you make more money than you know what to do with, a million (or a hundred) here and there probably doesn't make that big of a difference. Unless you know you need that money, other stuff is going to end up outweighing what is essentially a surplus. And for Kawhi, his priority was to have his family close by, and that meant more. Of course, Jacob's like, "He could just move his family to Toronto!" Then I try to explain to him that someone like, say, Kawhi's mom is happy in California, all her friends are there, she's comfortable with her surroundings, and probably doesn't want to reinvent her life in a different city, let alone a different country. Canada may be mostly like us in many ways, but ultimately it is a different country with different government, stores, brands, etc. So much would feel foreign, and I'm sure he didn't want that for his family if he could help it. I even tried to relate it to my parents, who strongly considered moving to Rochester a few years back. They even looked at a couple houses. But in the end, I think the idea of leaving their friends, family, and familiar surroundings was too much for them. Yes, being close would have been great for all of us for different reasons, but ultimately we're pretty busy and our time together would still be limited. So is that 10% of the time where we can be together worth giving up their daily general comfort for the other 90%? Probably not. And I think that's a scenario that Kawhi didn't want for his family, either. Sure, he could have flown them out there frequently, but in the end it probably just made more sense to go home. He's one of the best players in the league and can pretty much dictate his own career at this point, so why not take advantage of it while he can?
Jacob's inability to understand the family aspect of it makes me feel like a failure as a mom, to be honest, because I appear to have raised a kid who not only values money above all else but can't fathom why being near family (and thinking of their needs) would be so important. I'm hoping it's just a kid thing, but I'm not so sure. Guessing I won't be getting a lot of visits if he achieves his dream of playing in the NBA, though! Sigh. At this point he's thinking Kawhi might second-guess himself if these smaller earthquakes turn into a big one, or that maybe someday he'd come back to Toronto, but I'm very doubtful on both counts. The good news is that he's confident the team is still very strong and that they'll find ways to work around this. To be fair, they were pretty good even when Kawhi didn't play. Championship good? Well, probably not quite, but good. So hopefully they can fill in some holes, develop their young talent, and make another great run next year. They've got the championship experience in their back pocket, at least, and sometimes that's half the battle.
On a side note, as a native Buffalonian, I suppose this turn of events feels a bit par for the course. I mean, in the back of my mind, particularly recently, I've figured that if Buffalo finally won a championship, there would probably be something that would mar it. Maybe an incident during the parade, or an untimely player death, or something that would just play into the haters saying, "See, they never deserved it in the first place," or "That's why Buffalo just isn't supposed to win." It's a horrible thought, I know. But when it's been kept from you for so long, you begin to wonder if there's a bigger picture surrounding why. So, between the shooting at the parade and now the departure of two huge puzzle pieces, I find myself thinking, "Sure, we finally support a team that wins, and the honeymoon is so short-lived. We can't even get to the season opener without losing hope that there could be a repeat." No playoff MVP has ever changed teams so quickly, and of course it has to be ours. It's really just a bummer, you know?
In the meantime, Jacob is still very eager for the season to start and it'll be a long 3-1/2 months until then as he analyzes and re-analyzes all that has happened in the past few months. I'll be brushing up on my general basketball knowledge (gotta bond with him somehow), and our entire family will be geared up in the fall. I'm sure we'll always wonder what could have been, but like I've said about championships in the past, once you win one, no one can ever take that from you. So even if it never happens again, we'll always know what it felt like for the Raptors to become champs, and always be grateful for that one amazing season where Kawhi was in the middle of it all. What a great ride it was.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Forced Family Fun, Part Four
We checked into hotel #3, this time a Comfort Inn around the corner from the Holiday Inn Express. We actually booked this one first because it was the night before Jacob's lacrosse tournament, and it was way cheaper than anything else with free breakfast. The Holiday Inn Express had been way more expensive (hence my surprise getting it cheap the previous night), but it had good reviews, so I was cool with that. Oh, and it turned out they had chocolate waffle batter!
Upon arrival at the hotel, we needed to decide on dinner quickly. Our only other easy gluten-free option, Five Guys, was not appealing to us at all. After a bunch of failed ideas, we finally settled on Tully's, which is an upstate New York chain that we used to love. They had some options that seemed gluten-friendly, so we figured it was worth a shot. We all actually loved our meals, and Jacob seemed fine after his, thank goodness. The highlight for the kids, though, was the arcade. Carter and Craig had a rousing game of bubble hockey, and Jacob obviously gravitated to the basketball machine. He did well on his first try, but he really wanted a second game. We relented, and it turned out to be an amazing game! He didn't beat the high score, but he went multiple rounds and I got a kick out of a couple guys watching him from behind and saying "Wow" a lot and almost cheering him on! He was so proud of his game!
We went to bed knowing that it was supposed to rain overnight and be pretty miserable the next day. That was far from ideal considering we had a lacrosse tournament. Interestingly, our first FCA tournament back in the fall of 2016 was cold and rainy, but every single tournament since then has been precipitation-free. Most have been sweltering, in fact, but for our very last tournament, the rain was to make a comeback...with a vengeance. Although by morning it looked like the night rain mostly missed us, and it didn't start until just as we arrived at the tournament. But oh, was it ever humid!
The tournament was at a very interesting site. It actually reminded me a little of the tournament we had in Massachusetts two years ago that was on a former military base parade grounds. This one was at the Madison Barracks, which was the predecessor to Fort Drum. It was built after the War of 1812, and the buildings were amazing. We marveled at the rows of barracks turned apartments as we entered, then once we were parked, we checked out the rest.
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| These buildings had been restored. A theater is on the left, and the former post headquarters-turned-hotel is on the right. |
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| The same hotel again on the left, and the former post exchange/gymnasium on the right |
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| Apartments lining the fields |
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| A site I found said that these were once barracks. I think this one was still being restored. The same website had older pictures of the other buildings above before they were restored, and the change is shocking. Oh, and notice the water in the background. We were right on Black River Bay, adjacent to Lake Ontario. |
It drizzled for a while once we were there, but for the most part it held off early on. Back on the field, Jacob's team had a rough first game. Losing that one immediately dumped them into the consolation rounds, but the good news was that we were guaranteed four games and would potentially end up playing more even competition.
Jacob's goal for the day was to score a goal. Since this was officially our last hurrah in lacrosse, he really wanted to get one and end on a good note. After all, it's been a while since he's scored outside. It's been a very tough go, even back to last summer, and there was even a chance he'd be playing defense, so it was a bit of a concern for him.
Fortunately, in game #2, Jacob scored a beauty, from right about this spot.
We were thrilled, and we were even more excited when his team won! It felt like an eternity to get their first win of the summer, but it felt great!
This was a bit of an odd tournament because the games were short (25 minutes instead of 40) and scheduled very close together (essentially every hour). Plus, without single elimination playoffs (everyone played through various brackets until the end), you knew exactly when you'd be playing and when you'd be done. While the short day (on top of it already being a single day tournament) felt a little abbreviated, it was nice to know we could get home at a reasonable time...and on a Saturday to boot!
In our limited time between games, we had some time to explore. This building had a cornerstone that said 1932! And as you can see, this one is still a work in progress. The one in the background was also in progress and used to be a hospital.
This was a bit of an odd tournament because the games were short (25 minutes instead of 40) and scheduled very close together (essentially every hour). Plus, without single elimination playoffs (everyone played through various brackets until the end), you knew exactly when you'd be playing and when you'd be done. While the short day (on top of it already being a single day tournament) felt a little abbreviated, it was nice to know we could get home at a reasonable time...and on a Saturday to boot!
In our limited time between games, we had some time to explore. This building had a cornerstone that said 1932! And as you can see, this one is still a work in progress. The one in the background was also in progress and used to be a hospital.
This was a water tower, and there were monuments surrounding it from a number of different wars.
This cannon was really cool.
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| Carter was firing it! |
It was extra cool seeing the kids play in the shadow of such history.
Jacob's team won two more games to finish off the tournament 3-1, including a really close game to close it out. Jacob played hard and definitely contributed to the wins. His team really came together and it was a great way to close out his career. Bittersweet, no doubt.
Just as the last game ended and we were packing up to head back to the tent, the skies opened up. No amount of umbrellas or ponchos could really stop this rain! It was a shame that the season-ending huddle and prayer were short-lived, but everyone was eager to get out of the rain!
Just as the last game ended and we were packing up to head back to the tent, the skies opened up. No amount of umbrellas or ponchos could really stop this rain! It was a shame that the season-ending huddle and prayer were short-lived, but everyone was eager to get out of the rain!
I tried to keep the wagon covered with a poncho and ensure my bag was under the umbrella so my phone and camera were dry. Carter had been out in the rain, but eventually got cold and stood with me under an umbrella while Craig and Jacob went to retrieve the van and at least bring it closer to load. By the time that happened the rain let up a bit, but it was still pretty harrowing and wet to get to the car. Jacob's lacrosse bag was soaked! I changed Carter's shirt, and changed out my flip flops (which I was going to do anyway since I have other ones I prefer for the drive), and we felt much better. Jacob was content to stay wet, and Craig was drying pretty quickly anyway. We loaded up and headed out. And so ended Jacob's lacrosse career.
About five minutes after we left, Craig noticed a school with a decent basketball court, and turned in. Jacob had been begging to play basketball throughout the trip, but we never found a good court. Now that lacrosse was officially over, apparently it was time to transition to basketball! He changed his clothes (despite the drizzle) and he and Craig hopped out to shoot hoops for a few minutes!
I guess it was a fitting end to the trip. I'm still a little sad that lacrosse is over, but part of me is relieved we're not going to Maryland this weekend and that we'll be able to pick our own vacation next summer. We won't have the stress of tryouts next week, either. On the bright side, it looks like Carter will be trying out lacrosse very soon. He actually would have started it Tuesday, but he hurt his foot horsing around with Jacob on Monday and we were being a little cautious when it still hurt Tuesday morning. It seems fine now. Craig left Monday for Philadelphia for the Knighthawks' expansion draft, and came back last night. Add in soccer tonight and it's been another busy week!
Even though our vacation is now over, I hope a lot more summer fun is ahead!
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Forced Family Fun, Part Three
The weather for Friday had been looking a little sketchy, so when I planned our day, I scheduled our boat tour for the afternoon when the likelihood of storms was less. In the end we didn't end up getting any bad weather that day, but the later start meant that we didn't have to rush much in the morning. We were able to enjoy our Holiday Inn Express breakfast--well, sort of. Yes, I did get my cinnamon rolls, but almost everything else about the buffet was a bit of a mess. We arrived around 9am and it was still a madhouse. Hardly anything was stocked. I had to wait about 20 minutes to get a mini egg omelette, since the second the attendant brought any out, they were gone. The table behind us was taking multiples of everything, and when the attendant brought out a new case of yogurt, one guy took four! I'm not sure what the issue was--whether more people were being greedy or they just needed more help to keep it stocked--but in the end I think we all ended up appropriately fed.
More exciting, however, was that we had time in the morning to visit the hotel pool! It's not often we stay in a hotel with a pool, but even when we do, it's rare we use it because we're often coming back later at night and leaving first thing in the morning. But this time, we were able to! Craig worked out in the fitness center for a bit while I swam with the kids. We raced a bunch, and Carter loved being in the shallow end where he could touch the bottom. I think his exact quote was, "I feel so alive!" Definitely a much better start to the day!
We headed out from the hotel around noon and went across the parking lot to Chipotle for lunch to ensure we had full bellies for the day's adventures! Our plan was to drive to Alexandria Bay and take a boat tour that would eventually drop us off at Boldt Castle, where we could tour the island. Carter was not thrilled about the thought of another tour, but I assured him this one would be better than the Olympic tour. Of course, when we arrived in Alex Bay, it was very busy! It was a quaint little town, for sure, but when we arrived at the boat dock, not only was the main parking full, but so was the first lot of overflow parking. That left us meandering a couple miles down the road to another lot that was being serviced by a shuttle bus. Thank goodness we got there a bit early, because between the extra drive, the wait for the shuttle, and the eternally long line back at the dock to board the boat, it could have been disastrous! But in the end, it was fine. Of course, it was a very hot, sunny day and while it would have been ideal to be inside the boat in the shade, both bottom decks seemed pretty full, so we ended up standing on the top deck. The breeze helped a bit, but even with sunscreen I ended up a little too toasty! Slushies saved the day, though, and the tour was really pretty awesome! I'm sharing a mere fraction of the photos I took, but the views were beautiful and the history lesson was quite informative as well.
We saw all varieties of islands within the Thousand Islands, from large roomy islands with multiple houses, to the tiniest of islands--they only have to be one square foot, above water year-round, and house at least one tree to count. There are over 1,800 in total. Some of the houses were stunning.
The main island houses the castle, a tower (the playhouse), and a power house, along with beautiful gardens.
We passed by the island and continued further into the river. We passed by one of the other Uncle Sam tour boats, and as it turned out, later on we got to ride on one like this.
At one point I noticed some columns near the shore, then saw what looked like a foundation with window holes, and finally saw this doorway. At some point there had to be a house there. Sad to see so little left. I wonder if it just washed away, or burned down, or what.
One of the interesting things about being out in the river is that it's a major shipping channel. We saw a number of large vessels, including this one.
At one point in the tour, the guide announced that kids could become honorary captains and steer the boat. We happened to be standing right outside the spot to do it, so Carter was the second one in! I'm sort of surprised he didn't steer the wheel all the way around or something! But he did a great job!
Even though so many houses were beautiful, this one was the one I most wanted to see the inside of. Those large windows must look amazing!
This is apparently a statue of St. Lawrence. Upon Googling, I found out it is holding a gridiron, which the real saint was burned alive on. Eeeesh.
This house had this stunning waterfall coming down from the house. I think the tour guide said something about it going under their living room.
For some reason it's always fun to go under bridges...maybe because it's a view you don't get much!
I remember seeing this observation tower (pardon my crooked picture) when we went to Montreal years ago.
See that little island on the right? Apparently it's the smallest island in the Thousand Islands. It was tiny...but sure enough, one tree!
When we passed back under the bridge, we saw these folks walking on it. I'm not sure what they were doing, but maybe painting it? Or inspecting it? I do want to do the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb someday, but doing whatever that is as a job? No thanks!
This is what the top deck of our boat looked like. There were chairs on either side. Carter and I mostly stood on the left by the captain, but Jacob and Craig hung out under there in the shade for quite a while.
And another ship...
At the end of the tour, the boat made a stop at Boldt Castle. We disembarked at that point and spent some time making our way around the island.
The grounds were beautiful, right from our first view!
We found the pool on the ground floor. It was still under construction, but the windows were pretty.
Apparently this arch was where the Boldts would welcome their guests. It's supposed to be a mini Arc de Triomphe.
The so-called playhouse was quite the site to behold. It was a large stone castle itself, and while not much of it was accessible to us, it still had a lot to see.
Flooding hit this area as well. Look at the bottom of the steps!
Inside, you could see glimpses of what once was. Look at that green tile...
There were also two bowling lanes...see the pins way down the left lane?
The details here were impressive, but time, weather, and vandals had taken their toll.
Despite everything, this porch was still stunning.
The adjacent restored game room was beautiful, with its wood walls and curved doors.
So much beauty everywhere...
Back in the main house, this skylight above the main staircase was breathtaking.
Another amazing porch wound around the house. Look at the wood ceiling!
The details in the ballroom ceiling were beautiful. Many rooms had before pictures of what they looked like prior to the renovation, and you'd have never known that entire sections of that detail were missing.
I'll spare you photo after photo of the rooms, but most of the finished rooms were similar to this--tasteful, simple yet elegant.
Upstairs was still very unfinished. One floor included historical photographs and write-ups. One room showed some building materials still in their shipping crates all these years later. One of the more interesting things was the set of windows that let you see the support framework for the stained glass dome.
There was also a gorgeous balcony overlooking the water.
From the upper floors, the detail of the dome was even more apparent. Notice the hearts in the design for Heart Island.
Outside was a tower that served as a dovecote (essentially a giant birdhouse).
Next to it was a lovely Italian garden.
Check out the club, heart, and "B" in the garden.
Alas, it was finally time to head back. We ended up on one of the paddleboats for our shuttle back. Fortunately, this time we got an inside seat!
We once again got a great view of all of the island's treasures from the water side.
Oh, and I tried to capture the moment with my little co-passenger, but notice me holding down his arms so he didn't block the camera!
Our return to the dock was actually delayed a bit as we had to wait for this guy to pass before crossing the river.
More exciting, however, was that we had time in the morning to visit the hotel pool! It's not often we stay in a hotel with a pool, but even when we do, it's rare we use it because we're often coming back later at night and leaving first thing in the morning. But this time, we were able to! Craig worked out in the fitness center for a bit while I swam with the kids. We raced a bunch, and Carter loved being in the shallow end where he could touch the bottom. I think his exact quote was, "I feel so alive!" Definitely a much better start to the day!
We headed out from the hotel around noon and went across the parking lot to Chipotle for lunch to ensure we had full bellies for the day's adventures! Our plan was to drive to Alexandria Bay and take a boat tour that would eventually drop us off at Boldt Castle, where we could tour the island. Carter was not thrilled about the thought of another tour, but I assured him this one would be better than the Olympic tour. Of course, when we arrived in Alex Bay, it was very busy! It was a quaint little town, for sure, but when we arrived at the boat dock, not only was the main parking full, but so was the first lot of overflow parking. That left us meandering a couple miles down the road to another lot that was being serviced by a shuttle bus. Thank goodness we got there a bit early, because between the extra drive, the wait for the shuttle, and the eternally long line back at the dock to board the boat, it could have been disastrous! But in the end, it was fine. Of course, it was a very hot, sunny day and while it would have been ideal to be inside the boat in the shade, both bottom decks seemed pretty full, so we ended up standing on the top deck. The breeze helped a bit, but even with sunscreen I ended up a little too toasty! Slushies saved the day, though, and the tour was really pretty awesome! I'm sharing a mere fraction of the photos I took, but the views were beautiful and the history lesson was quite informative as well.
 |
| The view as we left the docks |
We saw all varieties of islands within the Thousand Islands, from large roomy islands with multiple houses, to the tiniest of islands--they only have to be one square foot, above water year-round, and house at least one tree to count. There are over 1,800 in total. Some of the houses were stunning.
Of special note as you look at these is that Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River are both around all-time highs. It happened two years ago, and this year's flooding surpassed it. It's come down from its peak a few weeks ago, but only by a little. It is still visibly high, as much as three feet in places, from what I read. The docks we disembarked from at the end of our tour had plywood and 2x4 docks built on top of other docks, because the original docks were still a couple inches under water. Some of the houses were still sitting pretty, up high on rocky coasts. But others were clearly very close to having their ground floor overtaken.
 |
| I found a picture of this one online and there's normally a large dock about two feet high out of the water, and it's completely underwater right now. |
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| Hope there isn't anything important on that first floor! |
 |
| Guessing that stairway normally goes to more than a strip of grass. |
Each house was more impressive than the next. And even the ones that weren't grand still looked amazingly quaint and peaceful. About 15 minutes into the tour, we approached the king of them all, Boldt Castle. The original owner was building the castle for his wife, but when she died young, he stopped immediately and the property sat abandoned for decades, rotting in the elements. Eventually it was purchased by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority and they've spent the past 40+ years restoring it. The yacht house, a bit off Heart Island, is currently closed due to flooding.
The main island houses the castle, a tower (the playhouse), and a power house, along with beautiful gardens.
 |
| This tower was supposed to be the playhouse, but they actually lived there for a time. |
 |
| The power house, whose walkway was also under water |
We passed by the island and continued further into the river. We passed by one of the other Uncle Sam tour boats, and as it turned out, later on we got to ride on one like this.
At one point I noticed some columns near the shore, then saw what looked like a foundation with window holes, and finally saw this doorway. At some point there had to be a house there. Sad to see so little left. I wonder if it just washed away, or burned down, or what.
One of the interesting things about being out in the river is that it's a major shipping channel. We saw a number of large vessels, including this one.
At one point in the tour, the guide announced that kids could become honorary captains and steer the boat. We happened to be standing right outside the spot to do it, so Carter was the second one in! I'm sort of surprised he didn't steer the wheel all the way around or something! But he did a great job!
As much as he doesn't like tours, he actually really seemed to enjoy standing along the rail and watching the world go by.
Even though so many houses were beautiful, this one was the one I most wanted to see the inside of. Those large windows must look amazing!
This is apparently a statue of St. Lawrence. Upon Googling, I found out it is holding a gridiron, which the real saint was burned alive on. Eeeesh.
This house had this stunning waterfall coming down from the house. I think the tour guide said something about it going under their living room.
For some reason it's always fun to go under bridges...maybe because it's a view you don't get much!
I remember seeing this observation tower (pardon my crooked picture) when we went to Montreal years ago.
See that little island on the right? Apparently it's the smallest island in the Thousand Islands. It was tiny...but sure enough, one tree!
When we passed back under the bridge, we saw these folks walking on it. I'm not sure what they were doing, but maybe painting it? Or inspecting it? I do want to do the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb someday, but doing whatever that is as a job? No thanks!
This is what the top deck of our boat looked like. There were chairs on either side. Carter and I mostly stood on the left by the captain, but Jacob and Craig hung out under there in the shade for quite a while.
And another ship...
At the end of the tour, the boat made a stop at Boldt Castle. We disembarked at that point and spent some time making our way around the island.
 |
| Our boat |
The grounds were beautiful, right from our first view!
We found the pool on the ground floor. It was still under construction, but the windows were pretty.
Apparently this arch was where the Boldts would welcome their guests. It's supposed to be a mini Arc de Triomphe.
The so-called playhouse was quite the site to behold. It was a large stone castle itself, and while not much of it was accessible to us, it still had a lot to see.
Flooding hit this area as well. Look at the bottom of the steps!
Inside, you could see glimpses of what once was. Look at that green tile...
There were also two bowling lanes...see the pins way down the left lane?
The details here were impressive, but time, weather, and vandals had taken their toll.
Despite everything, this porch was still stunning.
The adjacent restored game room was beautiful, with its wood walls and curved doors.
So much beauty everywhere...
Back in the main house, this skylight above the main staircase was breathtaking.
Another amazing porch wound around the house. Look at the wood ceiling!
The details in the ballroom ceiling were beautiful. Many rooms had before pictures of what they looked like prior to the renovation, and you'd have never known that entire sections of that detail were missing.
I'll spare you photo after photo of the rooms, but most of the finished rooms were similar to this--tasteful, simple yet elegant.
Upstairs was still very unfinished. One floor included historical photographs and write-ups. One room showed some building materials still in their shipping crates all these years later. One of the more interesting things was the set of windows that let you see the support framework for the stained glass dome.
There was also a gorgeous balcony overlooking the water.
From the upper floors, the detail of the dome was even more apparent. Notice the hearts in the design for Heart Island.
Outside was a tower that served as a dovecote (essentially a giant birdhouse).
Next to it was a lovely Italian garden.
Check out the club, heart, and "B" in the garden.
Alas, it was finally time to head back. We ended up on one of the paddleboats for our shuttle back. Fortunately, this time we got an inside seat!
We once again got a great view of all of the island's treasures from the water side.
Oh, and I tried to capture the moment with my little co-passenger, but notice me holding down his arms so he didn't block the camera!
 |
| #boathairdon'tcare |
Our return to the dock was actually delayed a bit as we had to wait for this guy to pass before crossing the river.
All in all, I'll consider the boat and castle a success. I'm not sure it's what the kids would have done if they had their choice, but both seemed to enjoy it in the end. If I judge it by the number of complaints, there were infinitely less than the previous day!
Of course, when we got back to the dock, we were faced with the challenge of yet another meal. I would have loved to stay in Alex Bay and check out the little shops, but our best efforts to find a gluten-free place basically failed, so before the "hangriness" set in, we grabbed the shuttle back to the van and headed out. Time for hotel #3...which you'll hear about in the exciting conclusion to our tale...very soon :)
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