Sunday, February 10, 2013

Blizzard of 2013

The storm kicked off Friday morning.  By the time we woke up there was already a few inches of snow on the ground and work had been canceled for me!  Kevin decided to go into work an hour early since the blizzard warning was supposed to take effect at his usual start time.  The worst of the storm was supposed to hit overnight and the wind was really howling by the time I went to bed.  Since I was a little concerned about falling trees, Kaitlyn and I had a camp out downstairs in the living room.  

In the early morning hours the city and state could no longer keep up with the snowfall and the blowing winds.  So, they stopped plowing the roads.  Instead, plows were sent to the fire stations they could reach and the plows would clear the road in front of the fire trucks and ambulances as they received calls. 

Since Kevin and I knew there was no way I was going to be getting out in the morning, we had planned on him walking from the PD to his mom’s about a mile down the street and waiting out the rest of the storm there.  As you can see, I wasn’t going anywhere!Imported Photos 04185One of his co-workers who has a 4 wheel drive pickup truck graciously shuttled Kevin and a few others to their homes when they got off work.  She got Kevin to the end of our street  and then he had to hike in from there.  When he arrived we discovered there was no way he was getting in the front door.  I put all my weight into it and this was as far as I could get the door open!                                       

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So he had to turn around and hike out back where we could slide the patio door open.  Here’s a view of our neighbors’ patios out back.  Needless to say they will not be barbecuing any time soon!Imported Photos 04183

The view out the front.                         

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Kaitlyn is ready to help dig out the car!Imported Photos 04192

Actually we got really lucky.  The way the wind was blowing, it piled the snow around three sides of the car, but not the front since I had backed in.  I shoveled out the side so I could get in and pulled right out with no problems.  Then we got to spend more time watching Kaitlyn play.                                          Imported Photos 04193                                                               

This shows how deep the snow is.  Kaitlyn is standing up here…Imported Photos 04197                                                             

Playing around…Imported Photos 04198Imported Photos 04199Imported Photos 04200                                                              

Her gloves were frozen solid when she got inside!Imported Photos 04201

These pictures are from downtown Portland early Sunday morning.  These are the stairs at City Hall.  The news showed people skiing down them!Imported Photos 04203

This one is in front of the PD.  Portland broke it’s single storm snowfall record…  31.9”.Imported Photos 04202 

Maine is serious about snow cleanup!Imported Photos 04205Imported Photos 04206Imported Photos 04207

Kaitlyn in front of the snow mountain created by the plow.  She’s looking forward to playing in it again.Imported Photos 04209

Tonight will be the third straight night of parking bans in the city of Portland as the city continues to try to remove the snow.  City officials are estimating three weeks before all of the snow is cleared from the city sidewalks.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

AHL All Star Game

This year’s AHL All Star game was in Providence, Rhode Island.  I was very excited because I LOVE the Providence Place Mall!  I’d been planning a shoe shopping excursion since the AHL announced the location last year!

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Here’s Kaitlyn in our hotel room playing with her Leapster Explorer…Imported Photos 04088

The view from our seats…Imported Photos 04089

Center Ice…Imported Photos 04090

Chris Summers, our representative from the Portland Pirates this year, at the Skills Competition warm-up…Imported Photos 04093

Summers is #5…Imported Photos 04094Imported Photos 04095Imported Photos 04096

Ready to cheer on Chris and the rest of the Eastern Conference!Imported Photos 04098

Player Introductions…Imported Photos 04099Imported Photos 04101

Singing God Bless America…Imported Photos 04100

Chris competed in the Fastest Skater Competition.  Not only did he win, he set a new AHL record!Imported Photos 04102

Being interviewed after breaking the record…Imported Photos 04103Imported Photos 04104

Chris getting his Fastest Skater award…Imported Photos 04106Imported Photos 04107

Let’s play spot Cyndi… Kevin apparently took a picture of me getting the guys’ autographs.  I’m in the middle of all that mess.  Imported Photos 04108

Kevin adding to his emergency vehicle photograph collection…Imported Photos 04109

Here we are on the way to the mall…Imported Photos 04113Imported Photos 04115

The walkway into the mall.  We actually ran into some players about 10 seconds after this picture was taken.  You can see some of them getting ready to come through the glass doors towards us…Imported Photos 04116

That night was the All Star game…  Eastern vs. Western Conference.  For the game, Chris Summers was #2 for the Eastern Conference.

The pre-game warm-up…Imported Photos 04120Imported Photos 04121Imported Photos 04122Imported Photos 04124

Kaitlyn was excited to get the free pompoms at the door…Imported Photos 04123

Player introductions…Imported Photos 04125Imported Photos 04126

Game time!Imported Photos 04127Imported Photos 04128Imported Photos 04129Imported Photos 04130Imported Photos 04131

Nothing better than hot chocolate and hockey!Imported Photos 04132Chris got an assist!Imported Photos 04133

My little cheerleader!Imported Photos 04139Imported Photos 04140Western Conference scored with 11 seconds left in the game and won Sad smile.    Afterwards were the MVP awards and team photos.Imported Photos 04141Imported Photos 04142Imported Photos 04143

The game MVP…  He got a hat trick and the game winning goal!Imported Photos 04144Imported Photos 04145

Rumor has it next years will be in St. John’s (Canada).  Hopefully we will be able to pull off some tickets to that and continue our tradition.