A Big Week At The Earp Ranch
By Wyatt Earp | July 24, 2010
Sorry my commenting and posting has been lacking as of late, but it’s been a busy week around these parts. Here’s the rundown. First, we have been having trouble with our Chinese Walnut tree in the backyard. It’s pictured with Kyle at the left. The tree was planted by the original owner of the house and is probably about 60 years old. The thing is huge, and its leaves make it the perfect shade tree for a hot Philly summer.
Any hoo, this year we noticed that some of the branches have looked like death. I trimmed and pruned as best as I could, but the tree still looked sick. Fearing the worst, we called a tree service. The result: Prognosis Negative! It has to come out.
Suffice to say, this was pretty stressful news. The kids love climbing the tree, the missus and I love the shade, and it’s been around for so long, we won’t know what to do without it. The tree service comes over tomorrow to cut it down, and before going to bed last night, Erik went out and hugged it. It’s sad.
Speaking of Erik . . .
He has his first hockey game of the season on Thursday night. He is playing in the 4-7 year-old division, so he is a bit more comfortable with the competition. Unfortunately, like Dad, he stresses so much that he makes himself physically ill. He was so scared of meeting the new coach and players last night, that he had a violent stomach ache. In the photo above, he is crying, complaining about his stomach. I only realized he was having a meltdown when his coach called me down and walked him off the court.
We sat on the bench and I tried to reassure him. His coach, a great guy, did the same. He told Erik, “Buddy, it’s just fun. You run around, play a little bit, and make some friends. When you’re ready, I’ll put you in, okay?” Erik seemed to feel better after that, and went onto the court after a few minutes.
Good thing, too. The kid had four breakaways and scored on one! After he scored, he ran to the fence and threw his shoulder into it in celebration. His coach turned to me and said, “I guess his stomach feels a little better now?” Yeah, you could say that.
Erik played some goalie (above) – they didn’t put them in pads because it was so hot – and really enjoyed it there. His team played well, and they won the game by a score of 6-3. Naturally, he is psyched for his next game on Monday night.
Kyle, for his part, is marching onward. His team played on Thursday night after Erik’s game, and Kyle was once again in goal. The short version is that he was a wall for the second straight game, and after three periods, the teams were again tied at 1-1. Shootout time . . . again. Kyle stopped both shots he faced, as his team won their second straight shootout – winning the game by a score of 2-1 On Tuesday night, he plays in the Battle of the Undefeateds against this guy’s son. Both teams are 2-0.
The babies don’t get short shrift here, but it has been so hot outside, there aren’t any good stories. I guess the fact that the missus snagged this great picture of them is newsworthy enough. Kevin is so much like Erik that it’s scary. He even smiles like him. Also notice Julia’s nose and her knee – she has taken to stage sofa-diving of late, and has the scars to prove it.
As always, this blog post has been approved by The Princess:
Topics: The Boys, The Girl | 5 Comments »
July 24th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
I can relate to the anxiety of having to get rid of a really nice shade tree. I’m holding out until the end of the summer.
The kids are awesome, cute, and lovely as always.
July 24th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Maaaan, did you ever mark Julia! There’s no denying that one is yours!
Cute kids, Wyatt. You’re a lucky man.
July 24th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
We’ve lost several trees since I’ve moved in, so we’re old pros at letting them go. Then again, none of them have been trees that are good for climbing. If you ever need more tree work in the future, we have a great tree guy. The last time he was here, it was for emergency work (here in less than 2 hours even after one of the major wind storms) and had the 2 cranes needed to remove the half of the tree from our neighbor’s tree within 6 hours. It was pretty awesome to see the tree lifted so high that people could see it from 1/2 a mile away above all of the houses.
July 24th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
RT – It was a sad affair, but the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever – taking it down.
AD – Yeah, she’s definitely mine.
Bitter – These guys were top-notch. They did some work for Captain America, and cleaned up every piece of tree afterward.
July 26th, 2010 at 9:39 am
It can be as bad as losing a family pet, especially when they are shade trees. BTW how is the heat up your way? It is roasting where I live.