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the bridgehampton classic
So totally out of our realm of normal, but so fun and so great, and so glad we did it. My cousin-in-law Alex rides horses and is quite accomplished (not to mention just a great, sweet, beautiful person too). She and her horse Coastal rode in the Bridgehampton Classic this week in a few events. We went out on Thursday (her first day) to watch her jump competition.
She is so sweet and just dotes on the boys and asked them to help her get Coastal washed and ready for their event. They were more than excited to meet him and give him a bath. They had a lot of fun with the hose! After the horse sneezing incident (scroll down to the 3rd to last picture in the post) with their race horse, Timmy was more than happy to see the horse from a far distance. Far enough where there would be no snot.
After he was all clean and dry, it was time for Alex and Coastal to get dressed. We followed her over to the ring where her event was held. Watched all the riders/trainers/owners "walk the course". By now, the nervousness had really set in for Alex. The horse (who is 25 years old by the way) looked like he was about 5 seconds from dozing off. Alex said he always looks this way before an event- I thought maybe he was just saving up his energy for the jumping-I wasn’t so far off. We met up with John’s cousin Kevin who also is so good to the boys. Timmy really loved him and was willing to visit the horse upclose as long as Kevin was holding him.
Alex went 16th and did awesome! A totally clean ride (none of the rails knocked down- don’t I sound like I know what I’m talking about??!) and damn, that horse can fly!! He came out all kinds of pissed off and we heard Alex yelling "git" at him once or twice, but whatever it was- it worked. He was sooooo fast and jumped so high and it was so exciting to watch. Alex rocked and came in first place!!!! So glad we were there to see it and take pictures.
Doesn’t she look so proud?
See how great Alex is? She gave the boys a little ride on Coastal (who was a good, good boy and very sweet- especially if you had some treats) and they can’t wait to do it again. Timmy was in charge of carrying the first place ribbon. Eventually he relented and fed the horse one treat. He liked it but didn’t love the slobber so much. Must be residuals from the snot thing.
We all went out to dinner at Cliff’s Rendezvous (the same owner/food as the Elbow Room) and had a great night. Didn’t get home til around 10:30ish, Timmy passed out in the car around 10 and everyone had a great, great time.
I can’t wait to go to my next horse show. Oh, and Alex and Coastal got 2nd place on Friday, and 7th out of 72 on Saturday. But she told me Coastal had the fastest time on Saturday, but knocked down one rail on a jump. Not bad for a 25 year old guy, huh?
Took way more pictures than what’s posted above. If you’d like to see them all, check out the album on the left on the top of the blog.
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can’t believe it’s happened already
I fit into their shoes.
Yup, those are my feet in there. Scary, huh?
Lots of pictures coming up in the next few days: the 50th anniversary, my boys at Planting Fields, the Irish cousins, doing a shoot of the boys tommorrow, plus today we went to the Bridgehampton Classic (horse show) to see our cousin Alex compete. It was awesome!!! So stay tuned…
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a visit with friends!
Our yearly visit with our very good friends all the way from Michigan. They come in every summer for a week (Maureen’s mom still lives in NY) and we always get our designated day, which usually includes the beach. It’s always a concern seeing if the boys fall back into being friends (there are a few anxious comments on both sides before the visit), but it was like they haven’t been apart for a year. They just picked up where they left off last year. And they still all call eachother "best friends". They haven’t lived in the same town since the boys were about 3.5 years old, but they have always called Connor their best friend. Love that. We had a great time spending the day down at the beach, dinner here and a sleepover for the big ones. Poor Katie wanted to stay the night here too- next year! The boys all stayed up until 11:30pm after an exhausting day in the sun and ocean and pool (still don’t know how they did that) and slept til around 8am. So they were all a bit crabby the next day and snippy cause they were all sad they had to say goodbye again. We went over to the park for a few pictures (of course) and some running around. The goodbyes were teary and sad, but that’s the way it is between friends.
How gorgeous is my god-daughter?? Her hair is awesome!
We put the extra seat in my van and jammed all 6 kids in there. The picture is just as much of a mess as the car was! It was so funny seeing all of them in there together.
The typical boy rivalry we saw between them all last year seems to have faded significantly and they had a blast hanging out together, talking about school and sports, and trips, and games, and everything. Katie and Timmy REALLY hit it off this time- they are old enough to play together instead of fighting over toys. The two little ones played til 10pm and wanted to keep going. Awesome.
Connor is now goalie on his travel ice hockey team and we MUST get up there to see him play. Hopefully this year. He was the BEST photography subject- so cooperative. Good thing they don’t live here- that poor kid would be so sick of me too. Did a little mini shoot for Maureen and the kids. Nothing major, just for fun. Like me, she’s not in many pictures either since she is always behind her camera.
On the way home from the beach, we stopped by Jennifer’s (it’s on the way) on a whim. The boys all got a kick out of seeing eachother. It took a while for them to realize that they all had been the best of buddies from aged 3 months on when we met at Gymboree. Jen hauled out the scrapbook and we looked at all the shots of Connor, Beau and Jack & Patrick, and then the shots of the whole playgroup. They ran around for a few minutes like the old friends they are. So awesome.
Love the self portrait! Miss you tons, Cool Mo Z!! (that’s John’s nickname for Maureen- so dosen’t fit her at all). March, ok?!!
All the pix are in an album on the left.
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the beyrer family BBQ
Can’t really call it a reunion- not really- cause most of the cousins see eachother on a pretty regular basis. In years past, it’s been a fishing trip and then a BBQ and Aunt Cathy & Uncle Dick’s house in Pt. Lookout. Here’s last year’s post: family bbq However, the last few years the fishing trip has really been more of a puking trip. Everyone has gotten so seasick each time, so this year the executive decision was made to change it to a softball game and BBQ. I think it worked out much better (but really, who am I to say since I never went on the boat). At least there was no puking! (at least none that I was aware of).
The weather cooperated for the most part, for a while. We just barely got thru dinner when the storm rolled in and we had to get inside. So there aren’t as many pictures as I’d like, but there are some. And the most important ones are of "Lil’s Sweet 16". Joe got t-shirts for the 16 grandchildren, each with their birth order # on the back. We had one stand-in (#5 Marilyn,but her daughter Angelina stood in) and one missing (#16 Kerry- she had to leave early), but it looked great nonetheless. What a bunch of clowns.
Beyrers and nuns on the same block. Without some kind of implosion or spontaneous nuclear blast? Truly, a miracle.
Couldn’t fit all the pictures on the main page, so if you’d like to see them all, check out the album on the left.
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didja feel the world stop spinning?
Yes? That’s cause my mother went to the beach. With us. Shocking, I know.
Well, it only took 10 years to get her there. We have invited and invited and invited her but the answer was always no. Finally, she agreed (with some argument of course) to come and we went on Monday for a while. And the first thing she says after sitting in her comfy chair, under her shady umbrella, reading her book and watching the boys play? "This is lovely. Why didn’t you invite me sooner?" Uh huh.
Ken wanted to know if she was beamed there by aliens.
We took a picture with the newspaper for date proof. I swear the picture is not photoshopped.
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Today was the day of the "jewish field trip" (as coined by Nelson). Visit as many doctors possible in one day. We did pretty well…pediatrician in the morning for Jack & Patrick, then eye doctor in the later morning also for Jack & Patrick. The boys did great at both and got a clean bill of health all around. Patrick’s turn to be taller than Jack this year (by 1/4 inch!) and they are both in the 80th %tile for height. Jack is still around 10 lbs heavier than Patrick. Eye exams were all good and they can still see! (although their sight seems to be fine, I think the dr. should have double checked their hearing cause they can’t seem to hear me most of the time.)
Then off to the denist in the afternoon for all three boys. Timmy’s first time at the dentist and it was great! He had a great time (not my kid) and loved the whole thing. The hygenist that sees the boys is just the most wonderful, sweet, calm, kind woman ever. She’s so reassuring and lovely. I had to give her a huge hug at the end- she’s just that good! Jack finally got a clear exam with no cavities, and Patrick had 2 cavities. He was less than pleased with that news. Back in September for some fillings!
