Like Son, Like Father

The memory of Toby's 3 ACL surgeries is still fresh as the snowfall we received in Michigan last night.

That's actually an old snowy Toby photo, but you get the idea.

His injury occurred 2 weeks before we left for Ireland.  My Mama helped nurse him back to heatlh while we were away.

So, here we sit, 2 weeks before we leave for New Zealand, for the hiking trip of a lifetime.

Toby's ACL is still in tact.

Andy's ACL?  Not so much.

He injured it at soccer and got the MRI results today. 

Fortunately the doctor thinks he can fit Andy for a brace that will keep him stable enough for hiking.  It might mean a little less than we'd planned, but we'll do what we can.  It might just mean we'll hike less and visit wineries more.  And more wine is never a bad thing.

So we'll delay surgery until our return.

At which point I should probably schedule a vacation and have my Mama nurse him back to health.

Whaddaya think Ma? At least you wouldn't have to fight to keep a cone on Andy's head.

So until we leave, Andy will be commiserating with the one furry guy who can best relate to his pain.

O Canada

After Andy completely outdid himself surprising me for my 30th birthday, I knew I wanted to do at least a little something fun for him when he turned 30.

For some reason we passed on Chuck E Cheese and decided on a joint birthday road trip with friends to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

He was excited about the destination, but he screamed like a kid on Christmas when I told him our hotel was at the casino.  I also told him I would give him the gift of not standing over his shoulder and nagging his face off while he gambled.  I'm generous like that.

Soon after crossing the border, I began my love affair with Tim Horton's and proceeded to be fueled by TimBits for the rest of the weekend.

Our friend had a slight issue with his passport.  It was expired.  And it was 10 years old.  And he went bald.  And he grew a beard.  Thankfully some border agent took pity on him and let him pass.

Slight difference.

Andy borrowed another friends blazer to complete his "I'm an engineer" outfit.  Please note the too short jeans and white tennis shoes:

Trendsetter.

The next day we slowly made our way to the falls. Do you know how difficult it is to keep a group of 11 individuals who are easily distracted by shiny lights and beer together?  It's a lot like herding cats.  We almost managed one group photo:

Team America minus one.

We visited a brewery afterwards.  Although the beer was good, the poutine was even better.

More majestic than the Falls.

We continued indulging at a Brazilian Steakhouse for dinner.  That's two hours of unlimited meat delivered to your table every few minutes.  Although it left me with a stomach ache and gave me the meat sweats, it was still amazing.

After a little more drinking and gamling, our Canadian Dream came to an end and we made our way back home. 

O Canada.

Thanks for the memories, America Jr.