Random Fodder

Dylan: [to his brother] "What's that word that means your job, but also means poop?"
Sebastian: "Duty."
Dylan: "Oh yeah, that's it."

I have been wanting to do a geocache called Acrophobia. In order to find and log this particular cache, you have to rappel down over a cliff next to a waterfall, and the geocache is set into the side of the cliff. The cache owner, BigWhiteTruck, is nice enough to set up all the ropes, train you, and help you rappel safely to the cache and then to the bottom of the cliff. I was excited about doing this, so I set up a group outing where we would meet BigWhiteTruck and do the cache. I asked Sebastian if he wanted to climb down a cliff and I really expected a response along the lines of "Very funny, Dad." Instead, he nodded his head and said "Sure." Two months later Sebastian, I, and 13 others went to the cache and rappelled down the cliff!

Take a look as Sebastian (a.k.a. RicochetInfinity) rappels down the cliff:

We are all so proud of him! After we did it, he really just wanted to go up and do it one more time!

Sebastian played his second and last tournament of the year as his team wrapped up the hockey season during the first week of March.

Though Sebastian did not get any goals this time around, he did have one great breakaway and did a great job on defense and as goalie. Against other teams this year, Sebastian did not allow a single goal when he was playing goalie!

Here is the footage from the March 1 tournament game:

Sebastian is excited about starting up soccer soon and is really looking forward to getting back in hockey this fall!

Sebastian and his hockey team played their first tournament in Camillus' Shove Park on Sunday, February 22. All the kids were quite excited to be participating.

The Midstate team started out with a warm-up skate followed by a pizza party. After that, they hit the ice for four back-to-back games against each of the teams. The half-ice games were 20 minutes running time, meaning they did not stop the clock for whistles or goals. Every 2 minutes, the buzzer sounded and teams make a line change. Essentially, each skater got two 2-minute shifts per game.

In his first two games, Sebastian made a great defensive effort. As you'll see in the video, Sebastian comes out from nowhere to check a would-be shooter. He also played as goalie for two minutes, but his defense did a great job and didn't allow even one shot on goal. In his last game, he finally got on the scoresheet with two goals in one shift. With the pressure of scoring lifted, Sebastian started playing more aggressively and almost scored a third goal, but time ran out. At the end of the tournament, each skater received a trophy.

There was no official scoring for the event because this is the non-competitive Tyke level, but Sebastian's team finished the tournament with a 2-1-1 record.

Sebastian's hockey team had a chance to play on the Syracuse Crunch's home ice on January 31. After the practice, they headed downstairs for a pizza party and then enjoyed a Syracuse Crunch game that night.

Sebastian scored a goal and had another good shot on goal. He played goalie and didn't let a single goal in!

Sebastian and his team had a great time during the practice and at the game later that night.

Sebastian's hockey team played their first "game" against the neighboring Camillus Cougars. I put the word game in quotes because there weren't referees or even face offs after every goal.

The Midstate teams did well against the Cougars, allowing just a couple goals and scoring plenty. Sebastian scored two goals on his first shift! On his second shift, he played the goaltender position (also a favorite of his) and blocked every shot that came his way.

Great job, Sebastian! We're all so proud of you!

Sebastian continues to go to physical therapy twice a week to build strength in his legs and ankles and also to improve his balance, all of which are good but below where they were before he went to the hospital for 10 days due to transverse myelitis.

On January 10, Sebastian returned to hockey practice, entered the rink, turned around, and gave me the thumbs-up. Mid-way through practice, he was moved from the lower skill level (IP1) to the higher skill level (IP2), so it was clear that he would be able to continue playing hockey without much problem.

The following day, Sebastian practiced with the IP2 kids and they played some scrimmages. In this video, you can see Sebastian making a couple goals (including one with a feigned shot). After the goals is some footage of some good shots and several other defensive plays Sebastian was able to make.

So as you can imagine, we're even more proud of him with his recovery since he has gotten back out there for hockey and is giving it all he can!