Spring Break in Key West and Melbourne Beach

We just spent the half a week in Key West and the other half in Melbourne Beach. Fantastic weather and fun. This is a sample pic from the trip. I'll post the full album soon. This pic is NOT taken with any kind of filter or image enhancement. More to come...

Last Weekend on the Snow

April 6/7 was our last weekend on the snow this season. We were able to ski with Patti, Mike and Ben on Saturday. We all had vouchers and skied for free! It was epic full winter conditions, highs in the twenties. It was a bluebird day. I can't think of a more fitting end to an incredible season!!

Twenty-two Weeks of Intensive Skiing

Well, from November 17 to April 7 the only thing we have done besides school is ski race/train (thus the lack of posts). Well, I should say Gianni raced/trained, while I mostly ran support. He had a total of 76 days on the snow this year, most of them training. I would say he skied about 4 totally free skiing days, raced about 15 days and trained all of the others. He joined MMSC this year and really loved it! The competition in northern Vermont is the stiffest in the country. 

Some of the highlights of the season for Gianni were racing GS at Whiteface two days and placing really well at the Sugar SL, lowering his SL and GS points significantly. He really enjoys racing and is eager to keep it up. He is off to Mt. Hood in June to train and then off to Chile at the end of July for some more serious training with MMSC.

Robotics State Championships

Gianni enjoyed working hard to fix the Cyber Colonel's robot at states this weekend.

Thanksgiving in Florida

Just spent Thanksgiving break in Melbourne Beach. Gianni worked hard helping Granny with setup, cleanup and Christmas preparations. I caught up on work, relaxed and did some great surfing. Saturday was incredible. The really good guys were getting full barrels, disappearing and coming out. It was well overhead. We spent one evening out on one of the islands. It was so nice. The weather was cool, dry and clear, kind of like September in New England. We also enjoyed a great afternoon racing on Sleighride over at Melbourne Yacht Club.

First Winter Weekend at Stowe

We went up to Stowe this weekend for our first winter trip of the year. Gianni trained both days with MMSC. We saw Sir Spamalot with the Wassers. Ben was really funny. While Gianni skied on Sunday, I climbed Mt. Mansfield. I summited just after 10am and was the only one up at the top. There was an inversion in the valley. Gianni was somewhere on those trails in the above picture. It was a great weekend and so nice to catch up with the Wassers! More photos here...

Annual Cardigan Weekend

We enjoyed our annual AMC Family Group weekend at Cardigan. We hiked the long route this year via the Back 80. The summits of Firescrew and Cardigan were snowing, windy and clear. It was a perfect fall hike!

Full photo album here...

Annual Birthday Weekend

Gianni and I did our annual "birthday" weekend activities. Yesterday I took 15 boys on the annual Halloween nigh bike ride down at Bluff Point. This year we broke into 2 groups, with one group going on a more challenging single track loop. I fed the boys homemade pasta until 11pm, as they came in and out of manhunt. Today, I took a group of 6 up to Lantern Hill for some rock climbing. T'was a really nice day! Exhausted.

Last Fishing Trip of the Year

Annual Seacoast Century

Dad, Gianni and I did the Seacoast Century today. With all the soccer, we didn't train much, so we only did 50 miles this year. IT was a perfect day!!!

Nice Longboard Session

Today was my best day of the year surfing. This picture makes it look small, but we had perfect longboard waves, with rides over 100 yards. Really fun!

Surfing Narragansett

Took Gianni and his friends surfing today at Narragansett Beach. They had a blast.

Fall Fishing

Took the Hughes boys fishing tonight. Nice successful trip. Time to smoke some fish for winter.

August Sailing Trip: a Month on the Water

Spent a month on New England Waters with Gianni, friends and family. We did so much! I still need to sit down and write up a description of our trip, as well as post some of the better photos from our adventure. Hope to get this done soon ;)

See partial album here...

Nantucket

Spent the week on Nantucket.

Block Island

Spent a couple of days on Block Island. Caught tons of clams and ate like royalty.

Dryland Training at Cochran's

Gianni spent the day dryland ski training at Cochran's with several members of the US Ski Team.

Owl's Head

Did an overnight hike into the Pemigewasset Wilderness to climb Owl's Head.

Summer in Florida

Ben Gardner came down to Florida. We entertained him with the usual, Wet n' Wild, fishing, surfing, swimming, waterskiing, etc.

See full photo album here...

Abacos Bahamas

We spent the last 8 days sailing in the Abacos, Bahamas. It was an amazing trip....(need to finish this post)

Full photo album here...