Ontario Championship Weekend
This past weekend was so much fun. Not only did I get to spend a whole weekend with just me and my son Joel, but we got to hang out with the rest of his volleyball team too, and they are a really fun bunch of people.
The weekend started on Thursday when I only worked a half day and picked Joel up at school at 11:00 AM. We headed back home and had some lunch and then we packed up the car and started on our way. We were planning on doing the #7 highway route, but started along and came to a sign for a detour - and I'm not sure of that area - so I just said we'll zip across where I know where I am and get on the 401 and go from there. So we zipped over and went through Woodstock. We stopped at the new No Frills store and grabbed some groceries for the weekend. The room had a fridge and a microwave, so we grabbed some water and some fruit and stuff to keep us going! We got to our room around 3:30 or so and we settled in to surf the Internet a little with our free WiFi! Neither one of us were hungry, so we opted out of going out for supper and decided to go see a movie and have some popcorn instead!!! So we headed out the Empire Movie Theatre - only to find it is right across from the Lindt chocolate outlet!!! so we had to stop in there for some goodies too! We made sure we put them in the trunk so no one made off with them while we were in watching our movie!!! We picked The Hunger Games!!!
Oh my gosh it was sooooooooooooooo good. It was pretty much exactly like the book and that is what I like. I hate it when the directors or producers or whoever it is changes the way the book was written for the movie. All of the people they picked to play the characters were awesome. I love Stanley Tucci!! He is a great actor, but him with that blue hair - too funny - and those super super white teeth! 
Elizabeth Banks
had the craziest colours and outfits on.
I wonder if there will be a big change in the way people wear their makeup in the next year or so - to the way the people in The Hunger Games wore theirs! The costumes were cool and I bet she had a hoot getting all done up. Even her finger nails were done up all crazy like!
I can't wait until they bring out the next movie...but it looks like that is gonna be not until November of 2013 - that's a long ways to wait. We got back to the hotel a little after 10 and then we just hung out and crashed cause we had to be at RIM Park for 7:30 AM.
So Friday we got up early had our showers, grabbed John and headed out to Subway for breakfast. I always try to make sure that Joel has some protein for breakfast when he has a game that day. We got the Subway at 8 minutes to 7 and of course it did not open until 7 - so we had to wait in the parking lot until the store opened. At about 2 minutes to 7 a girl came and unlocked the doors and turned on the lights - we waited till about 2 minutes after 7 and then we went in. We ordered two of the Sunrise Breakfast sandwiches on flat bread - which are really really good...however, she asked us if we wanted them toasted..and I said sure......then she proceeded to tell me that her oven wasn't ready - so why would she ask me if I wanted the darn thing toasted if she had no way of toasting it.....maybe if she had of got to work BEFORE 2 minutes to 7 when the store opens at 7 and it says you serve breakfast......but I digress - we got our non-toasted sandwiches and had our breakfast and headed off to RIM Park.
WOW - the place is huge - they had 24 volleyball courts all set up - it was quite a thing to see. There were around 200 - 250 teams there for the tournament - 16U boys, 14U Boys and 14U Girls, 18U Girls and 18U Boys - there were 89 teams of just 14U Girls - with about 12 people on each team - you can just imagine the number of people at this event.
We found our court and the boys started warming up.
Joel started putting on his volleyball shoes and broke a shoe lace, so he had to take a lace out of his "outdoor" shoes and put it in the volleyball shoe - our next mission find some shoe laces. I must admit - in a tournament this large, it was awesome to have the boys wearing their bright "bubblegum" sweaters. We were the only team with yellow jerseys and with those bright jackets we could see the boys anywhere. It was awesome. We had a game at 8:00 AM 
then one at 1020 AM
and then one at 1240 PM. 
I even kept score! Our last game we were able to play early so we were done for the day at about 1:30 in the afternoon. We ended up second in our pool. We were standing in the hallway waiting for the coach to talk to the boys and I saw this man. I knew that I had seen this man somewhere before. He was an actor!!!! I was quite certain that it was Colm Feore who, the first time I saw him was in a play at Stratford Festival back when I was in high school. I needed him to turn and face me to be certain, and when he did I knew for sure that is who he was. So I whispered to Joel.."see that guy over there? He is an actor. His name if Colm Feore" Joel was like "who's that?" I said don't you remember that bad ass from the movie the Chronicles of Riddick? He had no clue. So when Colm walked past us...my "never embarrassed to do or say anything kid" says "dude.....hey dude....are you an actor?" So Colm turned around and gave him a big thumbs up! I knew it was him!!! I decided if I saw him the next day I was gonna see if I could get my picture taken with him.We headed back to our hotel to get showered up and to get some food. We decided to head to Moose Winooski's for food with the Tweddles. It was not very busy which was nice, I think it was like around 3:30 or so, so not a busy time at a restaurant anyway. They have all these cool moose heads on the walls 
- not real ones - funny ones - although I think it does have one real head in there. There is a very very large moose out front when you walk in and when we were all done eating and heading out of the restaurant there was a little boy who was coming into the restaurant and he was playing with the "nether regions" of the big moose - probably cause it was hanging down a little lower and it was all he could reach - but of course that got the 2 16 year old boys laughing uncontrollably! We then headed across the parking lot to the athletic store to get some shoe laces........um.....we don't sell shoe laces....seriously....you sell shoes but you don't sell shoe laces.......can I just take a shoe lace out of one of the pair of shoes on the wall......um ...no......I think the Shoe Place has laces.......so off we go to the Shoe Place - and yes, they had laces - yay!! Joel didn't have to keep swapping out his laces between his shoes any more! We then headed back to the hotel and then Joel, Matt and I went back to RIM Park because one of the fellas the boys goes to school with was playing against a really good team in the 18U tournament and we wanted to watch. We saw some pretty good volleyball. We headed back to the hotel and I went and had some surfing time and the boys hung out for a bit. To bed early enough cause we had to be back at RIM Park for 7:30 on Saturday.
Early to rise on Saturday and we chose the free continental breakfast this morning......not good ......then off to RIM Park. Our game times this day were the same as yesterday, 8:00,
10:20 
and 12:40. My friend Bob drove down from Stouffville to watch the games which was a nice treat to visit with him while we were watching Joel play. As we were sitting on the benches after one of the games, I looked up and there was Colm Feore walking by me on his way to get a coffee. I looked up and we made eye contact and I smiled at him. So I started getting some heart palpitations!!!! And decided that if I saw him again I was gonna ask him if I could get my picture taken with him. We sat for a bit cause the coffee line was very long, and he headed back down the hall. When he got close I got up and asked him if he would mind getting his picture taken with me. He was soooooooooo nice. We chatted a bit and my heart palpitations continued for a while even after we were done talking!! Nancy said I was like a 13 year old girl all over again!!! 
The boys played well. We ended up in 3rd in our pool this day which put us in Tier 1 for Sunday. After the games the coach decided we should go out for a team dinner. We went to Ye's Sushi (not my choice) - I tried one...will never have another and will never go back....I was looking out the window the whole time across the parking lot at Boston Pizza, but I know that team dinners are important. Then the boys went back to RIM Park to watch some more games with the coach (I think they watched the girls!!) and then the girls (me, Nancy and Heather) went back to the hotel for some quiet down time. I watched some TV and did some surfing. A nice quiet evening.
Sunday morning we had to play at 9:10 so we had to be at RIM Park for 8:30. I thought great at least the ovens will be turned on at Subway by that time......well.....not on Sunday...they don't open til 9 AM...so Tim Horton's breakfast it was. I did make Joel get a wrap with some egg in it though so he had some protein.
We played our first game and it was a stressful one. We lost the first game then we won the second game, which forces a third and we ended up winning that one 15 - 13. That was a very close game, but a great victory. Riverside Rage is a very competitive team and we have met them before. Winning this game put us to our next game against Ottawa Fusion. I was looking forward to the boys playing this game for a number of reasons. One we had not played against them before, Two Stephen Harper's son Ben plays on the team and I wanted to see all the security staff, and Three we could beat them. Well....the boys struggled with them a bit - they kind of fell flat, they came back stronger in the second game, but we came out on the losing end of that game. So we were done our showing at the Ontario Championships. I am so proud of the boys though. We went into the tournament ranked number 10 out of 25 teams and we ended up as 5th in the Province, so that is awesome. I had a hoot this season with the Spiking Sharks and am looking forward to next season!
Chow for now,
Jacqui
The weekend started on Thursday when I only worked a half day and picked Joel up at school at 11:00 AM. We headed back home and had some lunch and then we packed up the car and started on our way. We were planning on doing the #7 highway route, but started along and came to a sign for a detour - and I'm not sure of that area - so I just said we'll zip across where I know where I am and get on the 401 and go from there. So we zipped over and went through Woodstock. We stopped at the new No Frills store and grabbed some groceries for the weekend. The room had a fridge and a microwave, so we grabbed some water and some fruit and stuff to keep us going! We got to our room around 3:30 or so and we settled in to surf the Internet a little with our free WiFi! Neither one of us were hungry, so we opted out of going out for supper and decided to go see a movie and have some popcorn instead!!! So we headed out the Empire Movie Theatre - only to find it is right across from the Lindt chocolate outlet!!! so we had to stop in there for some goodies too! We made sure we put them in the trunk so no one made off with them while we were in watching our movie!!! We picked The Hunger Games!!!
Oh my gosh it was sooooooooooooooo good. It was pretty much exactly like the book and that is what I like. I hate it when the directors or producers or whoever it is changes the way the book was written for the movie. All of the people they picked to play the characters were awesome. I love Stanley Tucci!! He is a great actor, but him with that blue hair - too funny - and those super super white teeth! 
Elizabeth Banks
had the craziest colours and outfits on.
I wonder if there will be a big change in the way people wear their makeup in the next year or so - to the way the people in The Hunger Games wore theirs! The costumes were cool and I bet she had a hoot getting all done up. Even her finger nails were done up all crazy like!
I can't wait until they bring out the next movie...but it looks like that is gonna be not until November of 2013 - that's a long ways to wait. We got back to the hotel a little after 10 and then we just hung out and crashed cause we had to be at RIM Park for 7:30 AM. So Friday we got up early had our showers, grabbed John and headed out to Subway for breakfast. I always try to make sure that Joel has some protein for breakfast when he has a game that day. We got the Subway at 8 minutes to 7 and of course it did not open until 7 - so we had to wait in the parking lot until the store opened. At about 2 minutes to 7 a girl came and unlocked the doors and turned on the lights - we waited till about 2 minutes after 7 and then we went in. We ordered two of the Sunrise Breakfast sandwiches on flat bread - which are really really good...however, she asked us if we wanted them toasted..and I said sure......then she proceeded to tell me that her oven wasn't ready - so why would she ask me if I wanted the darn thing toasted if she had no way of toasting it.....maybe if she had of got to work BEFORE 2 minutes to 7 when the store opens at 7 and it says you serve breakfast......but I digress - we got our non-toasted sandwiches and had our breakfast and headed off to RIM Park.
WOW - the place is huge - they had 24 volleyball courts all set up - it was quite a thing to see. There were around 200 - 250 teams there for the tournament - 16U boys, 14U Boys and 14U Girls, 18U Girls and 18U Boys - there were 89 teams of just 14U Girls - with about 12 people on each team - you can just imagine the number of people at this event.
We found our court and the boys started warming up.
Joel started putting on his volleyball shoes and broke a shoe lace, so he had to take a lace out of his "outdoor" shoes and put it in the volleyball shoe - our next mission find some shoe laces. I must admit - in a tournament this large, it was awesome to have the boys wearing their bright "bubblegum" sweaters. We were the only team with yellow jerseys and with those bright jackets we could see the boys anywhere. It was awesome. We had a game at 8:00 AM 
then one at 1020 AM
and then one at 1240 PM. 
I even kept score! Our last game we were able to play early so we were done for the day at about 1:30 in the afternoon. We ended up second in our pool. We were standing in the hallway waiting for the coach to talk to the boys and I saw this man. I knew that I had seen this man somewhere before. He was an actor!!!! I was quite certain that it was Colm Feore who, the first time I saw him was in a play at Stratford Festival back when I was in high school. I needed him to turn and face me to be certain, and when he did I knew for sure that is who he was. So I whispered to Joel.."see that guy over there? He is an actor. His name if Colm Feore" Joel was like "who's that?" I said don't you remember that bad ass from the movie the Chronicles of Riddick? He had no clue. So when Colm walked past us...my "never embarrassed to do or say anything kid" says "dude.....hey dude....are you an actor?" So Colm turned around and gave him a big thumbs up! I knew it was him!!! I decided if I saw him the next day I was gonna see if I could get my picture taken with him.We headed back to our hotel to get showered up and to get some food. We decided to head to Moose Winooski's for food with the Tweddles. It was not very busy which was nice, I think it was like around 3:30 or so, so not a busy time at a restaurant anyway. They have all these cool moose heads on the walls 
- not real ones - funny ones - although I think it does have one real head in there. There is a very very large moose out front when you walk in and when we were all done eating and heading out of the restaurant there was a little boy who was coming into the restaurant and he was playing with the "nether regions" of the big moose - probably cause it was hanging down a little lower and it was all he could reach - but of course that got the 2 16 year old boys laughing uncontrollably! We then headed across the parking lot to the athletic store to get some shoe laces........um.....we don't sell shoe laces....seriously....you sell shoes but you don't sell shoe laces.......can I just take a shoe lace out of one of the pair of shoes on the wall......um ...no......I think the Shoe Place has laces.......so off we go to the Shoe Place - and yes, they had laces - yay!! Joel didn't have to keep swapping out his laces between his shoes any more! We then headed back to the hotel and then Joel, Matt and I went back to RIM Park because one of the fellas the boys goes to school with was playing against a really good team in the 18U tournament and we wanted to watch. We saw some pretty good volleyball. We headed back to the hotel and I went and had some surfing time and the boys hung out for a bit. To bed early enough cause we had to be back at RIM Park for 7:30 on Saturday.Early to rise on Saturday and we chose the free continental breakfast this morning......not good ......then off to RIM Park. Our game times this day were the same as yesterday, 8:00,
10:20 
and 12:40. My friend Bob drove down from Stouffville to watch the games which was a nice treat to visit with him while we were watching Joel play. As we were sitting on the benches after one of the games, I looked up and there was Colm Feore walking by me on his way to get a coffee. I looked up and we made eye contact and I smiled at him. So I started getting some heart palpitations!!!! And decided that if I saw him again I was gonna ask him if I could get my picture taken with him. We sat for a bit cause the coffee line was very long, and he headed back down the hall. When he got close I got up and asked him if he would mind getting his picture taken with me. He was soooooooooo nice. We chatted a bit and my heart palpitations continued for a while even after we were done talking!! Nancy said I was like a 13 year old girl all over again!!! 
The boys played well. We ended up in 3rd in our pool this day which put us in Tier 1 for Sunday. After the games the coach decided we should go out for a team dinner. We went to Ye's Sushi (not my choice) - I tried one...will never have another and will never go back....I was looking out the window the whole time across the parking lot at Boston Pizza, but I know that team dinners are important. Then the boys went back to RIM Park to watch some more games with the coach (I think they watched the girls!!) and then the girls (me, Nancy and Heather) went back to the hotel for some quiet down time. I watched some TV and did some surfing. A nice quiet evening. Sunday morning we had to play at 9:10 so we had to be at RIM Park for 8:30. I thought great at least the ovens will be turned on at Subway by that time......well.....not on Sunday...they don't open til 9 AM...so Tim Horton's breakfast it was. I did make Joel get a wrap with some egg in it though so he had some protein.
We played our first game and it was a stressful one. We lost the first game then we won the second game, which forces a third and we ended up winning that one 15 - 13. That was a very close game, but a great victory. Riverside Rage is a very competitive team and we have met them before. Winning this game put us to our next game against Ottawa Fusion. I was looking forward to the boys playing this game for a number of reasons. One we had not played against them before, Two Stephen Harper's son Ben plays on the team and I wanted to see all the security staff, and Three we could beat them. Well....the boys struggled with them a bit - they kind of fell flat, they came back stronger in the second game, but we came out on the losing end of that game. So we were done our showing at the Ontario Championships. I am so proud of the boys though. We went into the tournament ranked number 10 out of 25 teams and we ended up as 5th in the Province, so that is awesome. I had a hoot this season with the Spiking Sharks and am looking forward to next season! Chow for now,
Jacqui
posted by Jacqui | 7:55 AM
1 Comments:
I had a great time watching the boys play. Chatting with Jacqui and Nancy was a lot of fun as well . Thanks for making me feel so welcome .
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