Schoeck Family Skydiving

Life is good.

And Life keeps us busy.

It seems I have been too caught up in the moment and have not taken the time to sit down and share the Schoeck Family's adventures in a while. Summer 2012 was filled with fun and sun! But before I start catching up with summer time fun let me first share with you an awesome spring adventure Steven and I went on. 

Maybe some of you saw the video already, but if you haven't, check it out. 

It was fun!

New Haven Road Race

We are signed up for the Annual New Haven Road Race!

Save the date: Monday Sept. 3, 2012

Why don't you join us? You can run or walk the 5K at your own pace. 

Or you can just hang out at the finish line and cheer us on. It is always a fun time!

Last year we are group grew to include 

Steven, Cristina, Anne Marie, Beth

Jonathan, Christopher and Noah

Steven, Cristina & Beth at the 2011 New Haven Road Race

Steven, Jonathon, Anne Marie, Christopher, Beth, Cristina & Noah
2011 New Haven Road Race

 Yes, we are drinking beer. 

A Muddy Adventure

Friday was Noah's last day of school. Summer vacation officially began.

Saturday Noah and I went on a bike ride with the Boy Scouts as he begins to works towards his cycling merit badge. While Noah has done long rides before we knew that 15 miles was going to be a challenge. But he was up for it. The Hop River Trail is a shady rail trail that runs along the river. Beautiful New England setting. Somehow the leader of the group lost track of the distance and the 15 mile ride turned into 20 miles. The scouts were too busy riding as fast as they could and blasting through every puddle they could find to notice how far we had gone. Needless to say, Noah was very tired near the end and moving slow. But he never gave up! 


On Sunday he was off to his next adventure at Silver Lake Camp. 

Sunday I ran in the Iron Horse Half Marathon. This was my second year participating in the event. To be honest, I did not train nearly as hard or consistently as I did last year and so it was a little tougher to get through. In fact, as I completed the first loop at mile 8 and hearing the announcer call out the names of runners who have already finished depressed me so much so that I considered dropping out of the race. I decided to stay in the race because I was afraid that dropping out would hurt my ego more than  my quads will hurt by mile 13. When you are tired and things get tough your mind races with tons of reasons why you can't make it but instead I chose to focus on the positive. Around every turn there were volunteers cheering racers on. You could not help but feel energized when there is a line of people high-fiving you as you run by. There was even a cheer leading squad, pom poms and all! And of course there is the music. There were bands, DJs and bagpipes adding to the party atmosphere. Being at the back of the pack has it's advantages, I saw some pretty funny and inspiring t-shirts. Some of my favorites are:

Are we done yet?

I thought this was the 5K

I run because I can    

Thirteen point freaking one

If you can read this I'm not last!

 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:13

By mile ten I developed a cramp on my left side and was slowing down considerably. I began to repeat the verse Philippians 4:13 to myself knowing I had the strength to finish. At last I reached mile marker 13 but the finish line seemed so far away and I thought to myself "thirteen point freaking one!"

While I was running, Noah wrapped up another lacrosse season playing in a tournament in Somers. Steven says Noah played some of his best games at the tournament. By the end of the day we were all ready for a relaxing evening at home. We sat out on the deck and watched the storm roll in. Well, except Noah, who was more interested in his book.

May was a busy month and I neglected to post an important update.

On May 5 Sierra turned 11. Aside form going to bed a little bit earlier and a few more naps you wouldn't guess she was getting up there in years. Sierra is my running buddy. The moment she sees my running sneakers come out she sits by the front door and waits for her leash.

Happy Birthday Sierra!

A Message in a Bottle

Last October we went on an adventure, a cruise to Bermuda. The adventure part was Steven and I sharing small cabin with three boys, Noah, Christina and Jonathan. We had a great time! While on the cruise, Steven and Noah sent a message in a bottle overboard. I helped by drinking the wine so that they can use the bottle.

It was a well thought out plan that began back home a month before. They typed up the letter on the computer that included Steven's email address so whomever found it can contact us.  We timed throwing the bottle overboard while we were in the gulf stream, hoping the bottle would ride the current to a far off and exotic place.

The Good News: The bottle was found and someone reached out to us! 

The Bad News: The bottle leaked and the letter was damaged.

Nigel, our new friend who found our message, was clever enough to Google what little information he could make out and found Steven and Cristina Schoeck listed on the Gilead Congregational Church website. He contacted the church via email which was then forward to us. As it turned out, the bottle followed us to Bermuda.

Hey Schoeck Family,

I apologize for my response taking so long.

I came across your bottle on a beach called Mangrove Bay. The beach is on the western side of Bermuda which means your bottle navigated its way through roughly 10 miles of Bermudas reef!! A feat that many sailors have failed at!!

I was on a walk with my dog and saw the bottle at the waters edge. I must admit that I did not notice anything in it so I picked it up and threw it towards the trash. My aim was not far from terrible and the bottle smashed. It was then that I saw something had fallen out and I could make out some writing. As you can see from the pictures it was very weathered and all I was able to get from your message was the important info!!! 

I am very happy to have been able to get in touch with you. Growing up as a kid here in Bermuda it is a dream to find a message in a bottle and it has taken me over 30 years.

If you or any family are ever back in Bermuda, please send me an email. I work for a company called Fantasea Watersports as a yacht captain and would love to have you guys on board.

I will try and attach the photos to this email. If it does not work I will send them separately.

Yours,

Nigel

Happy Easter

Saturday night Noah and his friend Kevin painted two dozen hard boiled eggs with the help of our artist friend Judy. We are not sure who had more fun, the boys or Judy. Then the Easter Bunny came and hid the eggs but Noah has only found 11 out of the 12 so far. We are still looking for the one, well hidden egg!

The sunrise, outdoor service was beautiful! It was our first time going to the 6 AM service. It almost felt like Christmas having to wake up so early but it was well worth it. During the afternoon we spent our time relaxing and visiting with family. It was a great day.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Happy Birthday...

Steven

Growing old is mandatory; 
growing up is optional.

Happy Birthday...

Puppy Joe

Today is Joe's 6th Birthday. 

Even though he is 6 years old he still acts like he is 6 months old!

Every day is an adventure with the 

chocolate devil!

What happened 

to our little cutie?

Sweet Fun

Just for fun, Steven and Noah decided to try making maple candy from one of the pints of finished maple syrup. It was a sweet success!

In Search of a Winter Adventure

The Schoeck family headed north in search of some winter adventures. Or should I say, Schoeck family plus two Wintenburg boys. We often invite Jonathan and Christopher along on our adventures.  Together we ventured north to Vermont in search of snow because we were not finding any here in Connecticut. 

We did find some snow at Sugarbush Resort. Not a lot, but enough to take skiing and snowboarding lessons. Steven decided to improve his skiing by signing up for a group lesson. As it turned out he was the only adult who signed up for the morning class so he had a private lesson. The rest of us decided to do something brand new and take snowboarding lessons.  God blessed us with a warm and sunny day. It was so warm we had to start peeling off a a few layers.

Steven Skiing

Christopher learning how to go down on heel edge

Jonathan learning to go down on heel edge

Noah learning to get up by himself

Hitting the slopes wiped us out! The next day we needed to replenish all those calories we burned off so we took a detour on our way home to Ben & Jerry's. 

Free Sample of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

After the tour of the factory we were treated to a free ice cream sample. Of course that was not enough so we went into the ice cream store to "try" different flavors.

Steven and Cristina discovered a new favorite: phish food.

The boys really love sugar

 After some deep discussions and a vote we all came to an agreement that everyone's favorite ingredient is: Sugar! 

Round Two

Yesterday was round two of boiling sap. We were blessed with a beautiful and sunny day. Though it was quiet without the festivities of having friends over, it was just perfect for father and son to spend some time together. Noah learned to split wood for the fire and Steven applied all that he had learned from last Saturday's experience into round two. 

Steven and Noah claim they worked ALL day but every time I joined them in the sugar shack I caught them hanging out, listening to music, reading a magazine and playing words with friends! But I guess they did get some work done because they made 3/4 of a gallon of delicious maple syrup. 

Scouts

It was not that long ago that Noah was racing cars made out of cardboard box as a Tiger Scout.

     I promise,
    To do my best,
    To do my duty to God,

    And my country,

    To help other people, and

    To obey the Law of the Pack

Tonight the Hebron Lion's Club hosted a Pasta Dinner Fundraiser for Hebron Cub Scout Pack 28.  

Abuelita and Tia Annie came out to support Pack 28

Noah helped sell tickets for the basket raffles

In only a few weeks Noah will be crossing over to Boy Scouts. Just this week his den started the transition by attending their first Hebron Boy Scout Troop meeting. This is a big step towards the big adventures that lay ahead for him. It's all fun and exciting times but I can't help but miss my little tiger.

Happy Valentine's Day

  Happy Valentine's Day!

Noah enjoyed a special dinner Steven made for the family including pink frosted cupcakes and sparkling cider.

Making Syrup from Sap

10+ hours of boiling and we have 1 gallon of maple syrup! I think next time we will do better. It sounds like a lot of work, and it was.

Thankfully we had friends over to help. Engineers Steven and Kevin were the masterminds behind the whole production.  

Then we waited as the sap boiled.
And we waited.






And we waited some more.

Thanks to Noah and his friend Kevin, two very good scouts, we had a campfire for roasting marshmallows and making s'mores while we waited for the sap to boil.

In the end it was more than just a day of making maple syrup, it was a day of fun with friends. 

Even Sierra found herself a little warm corner to relax in.

Preparing for the Boil

We were caught off gaurd with the early season and had to rush to get everything ready. The used evaporator needed some cleaning since it had not been used in a few years. Steven wire brushed the rust off the stove and chimney pipes then painted it with special high temperature paint. He scrubbed the evaporator pan until it was spotless. Of course, Steven the engineer, had to improve the system by fabricating a preheating pan so as not to loose the boil when adding cold sap. Better efficiency. But we are ready now! 


Yesterday Noah collected almost 30 gallons of sap from the buckets. In two days! 
We are hoping to boil on Saturday and start making maple syrup. 


This is unusually warm weather for early February. We are not sure how long mother nature will provide these optimal warm days and cold nights for sugaring, but we are enjoying it.

Early Start to Sugaring

Due to an unusually warm winter, the sap is starting to flow a month early.

We have recently expanded our backyard operation. Friends of ours, the McDonnell's, knew of a family selling their sugaring equipment in Maine. After an impromptu road trip, we now have a real evaporator and four times as many taps and buckets.

Steven has invaded Cristina's garden shed. It is now a sugar/garden shed.

Noah is a little impatient. He can't wait for the maple syrup to come.