Sunday, December 28, 2008

Disturbing Footage



The last known footage of Frankie before he became a major You Tube star in his brother's video.

Christmas + Toys + Sugar = Crazy Video



Here's Bobby making very little sense while being hopped up on Christmas for his brother Tony's new digital camera.

The Men Select Tree



As is commonly their tradition, the Mancini men once again prepared to celebrate a major holiday by attacking nature with a sharp implement. Here is this year's Christmas tree found at Wilbert's Christmas Tree Farm in Webster, NY.

Boy Achieves First Award



Bobby began what will surely be a long career of awards and accolades by winning the Panther of the Month award from his school "for demonstrating hard work, compassion, respect and responsibility." He now has the task of explaining what all these words mean to his parents.

Halloween Returns, Pumpkins No Longer Safe




Once again, the Mancini boys carved their own pumpkins in preparation for every dentist's favorite holiday. These images cause one to ask, what could the pumpkins have possibly done to deserve this?


Here are the finished products. Can you tell which one is the self portrait?

Monday, October 20, 2008

Mancini Scores Big in Season Finale


Watch as Frankie, jersey number 77, kicks off, scores 4 extra points (in this league you score 2 points per kick), and gets a tackle on defense while playing for the Gates Jr. Spartans. The Spartans finished the regular season 6-1 and will play in the division championship on November 1.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Homecoming 2008

As Tony contiued in his second year in the Gates Chili High School Marching band, he began the preparations to march in the Homecoming parade and football game on Saturday, September 20. There was one slight problem: Tony broke his leg the Saturday before Homecoming.
Rather than panic, Tony and the family prepared for yet another Mancini adventure and made arrangements for him to still perform in his cast.


Here you see Tony escorted by his pair of loaner legs, his dad. Of course, though his lack of uniform lost him major points with the judges, Frank's lively footwork and superb sense of rhythm earned him an honorary goofy looking marshmallow hat to be awarded later.


Here's Tony performing in the halftime show (lower left corner in the wheelchair) playing in a Beatles medley. Although no one in the band had any idea who the Beatles were, most of the parents in the crowd raised their triumphant peace signs in the air to sufficiently embarrass all the teens in attendance.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Trek to Catholic Disney World

That's right, the weekend of September 6, it was time to finally fulfill the Mancini boys' destinies and travel across several states to the land of the Hoosiers (and all that entails) to visit the campus of the University of Notre Dame for the most holy of events: the season home opening football game versus the San Diego State Aztecs.


Thanks to the unbelievable generosity of Bill Lytle from York, PA (a dormmate of Frank's from about a hundred years ago), we were not only able to obtain tickets, but a hotel room in Sandusky, OH.
The game itself proved to be a somewhat less than comfortable experience until the fourth quarter, but the weekend as a whole ended up being an excellent example of just a fraction of the many sights, sounds, smells, and confidential stories that four years of college will someday offer to the boys.


Tony had an excellent vantage point just a couple rows up from the end zone not only to view the game, but to also capture some of the action photographically.


Along with many of the other historic icons of the campus, such as Touchdown Jesus, the golden dome, and the football stadium, Tony was able to capture Joe Montana (in the blue and white striped shirt and sunglasses).


Sophomore quarterback Jimmy Clausen fires off another pass


Another shot proving how close to the action Tony really was


After the game, the boys pose for one final shot in front of the most famous library adorned with a gigantic religious mosaic in the world.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Back to School, Parental Sanity Returns



The Mancini boys pose for/tolerate the annual tradition of the first day of school picture. This year marked Bobby's first as he prepared to ride the bus to kindergarten. There was also another first as Frankie actually almost smiled for the picture. We postulate that Frankie was actually thinking about what it will be like spending 8 hours away from his parents.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

It's Labor Day, It Must Be Time to Go Camping

Labor Day Weekend once again saw the return of the annual multi family camping trip. The Mancinis this year joined the Burkovich and Hossenlopp families at Holiday Hill campgrounds in Springwater, NY. While there, we were able to briefly sample the New York State Festival of Balloons in Dansville. Here now are just a few samples of the naturally outdoorsy goodness that the Mancinis enjoyed.


Here is Frankie renenacting a scene from the latest Spongebob Squarepants episode where Mr. Crabs finds a penny while camping with Spongebob and Patrick.



Fisherman Bobby proudly displays his catch. If you look closely, you can see the professional Pirates of the Carribean pole he used to bring in the vicious beast.


Tony displays "Sheldon" the turtle who was captured and subsequently labelled by all the kids. Please don't mention this to the DEC.


Frankie successfully restrains his jubilation after winning the youth fishing derby at the campground. The winning fish measured a whopping 15 inches. The trophy measured almost half of that.


Here is proof that we did not capture/torture everything we saw during the weekend. During a hike through the woods we found this waterfall. It's still there and relatively intact after our visit.


Here is one of the over 50 hot air balloons that we saw in Dansville.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Thunderbirds are Go (if you know what that means, you're dating yourself)



Some of the Mancini Men went to the ESL International Air Show recently to view the Thunderbirds' performance as well as various military aircraft, some commercial aircraft, and unreasonably long lines to ride school buses to your car.

Friday, July 25, 2008

This is Why They are Called Sports Fan(atic)s



Okay, while this clip is somewhat disturbing and it is very uncomfortable to admit that Notre Dame has fans like this, we are compelled to share the enthusiasm and raw spirit that "the Masked Bencher" displays in this video. If only it were this easy to turn around the football team's 3-9 season.

Mancini Boys Join In on Superhero Summer






On Father's Day, the entire Mancini family visited the Strong National Museum of Play to participate in Superhero Day. While there, each of the boys utilized their new found super powers (some more successfully than others).

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Marching Band Memorial Day Marathon


Here is the Gates Chili High School Marching band (starring Tony Mancini) doing their annual Memorial Day Marathon. They start out the morning in the Chili parade, move quickly and quietly to the Gates Memorial Day ceremony, and then finish up in the Rochester parade (all before Noon). Although the skies were overcast and the temperature never got above 60, the rain held off and the band was able to perform without any casualties.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Mancinis Visit Lilac Festival

The Mancini family once again paid a visit to Rochester's Highland Park to partake in the annual Lilac Festival. The excursion was nearly a disaster when they found that there were no deep fried Oreos left, but the evening was salvaged when the line for fried dough was short and the cinnamon and powdered sugar supplies were plentiful. Oh yeah, we also saw a bunch of flowers.

Future Soccer Champion Begins Career


Bobby Mancini is seen here ready to begin his first practice for what is sure to be a long and successful career. To check on the details, click here. Currently he is playing for the Purple Monsters in the Gates Soccer League, but we're expecting a call from the MLS any day now.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

This Just In...Tony Spotted in Times Square

While on a trip to New York City with the Gates Chili High School Band, Tony was captured on a webcam in front of TGI Fridays in Times Square. Look closely and you'll see Tony standing in front of the phone booth wearing a white tee shirt and shorts and talking on his cell phone facing right. To his right is his friend Dan Montgomery (with his back to the camera). Also, if you look closely near the top of the picture, you can see a taxi driver, with way too many consonants and symbols in his name, charging an outrageous fare to an unsuspecting tourist.