Twin Battle

Only six kids at practice tonight so Dylan and Sam have to battle it out at center in the three on three battle. A little pushing and an elbow or two but nothing more serious.

In Bloom

GW 10 Mile Race

Nicole got up early and ran a race this morning. I got up early, took her to her friends house and went back to bed. It was a glorious day for a run and some grilling for dinner.

Big Win

Today's team was a totally different group that played last Saturday. We sent 4 pitchers to the mound that all threw well, we only walked a handful of batters and we hit the ball. We still have some fielding kinks to work out but we came away with a tough 8-7 win.

Dylan played well in the field and had a single, RBI and two K's. He was swinging well but gave the pitchers a couple strikes by swinging at a couple in the dirt. Sam went 3 for 3 with a great run out of a chopped ball in the infield, a single into right field and a long home run ball hit into deep center field (with an error at third). He had 4 RBI's with three of them coming from the HR ball.

He also pitched the last two inning in a strong showing on the mound. He walked a couple batters in the 5th and allowed the tying run to score but struck out two. He begged to pitch the 6th and took a one run lead, allowing a walk, two K's and catching a runner coming home on a short chopped ball up the middle.

It was all very exciting.

Tropical Day

A school theme day that they sorta participated in. I guess the Hawaiian shirts didn't last long but they do look good in them.

Batting Practice

I made it back to DC in time to feed the machine at batting practice tonight. The boys are hitting better than last week. I'm hoping for a big outing against the Red Sox this weekend.

Chelsea

Reception at the McKittrick Hotel on 27th between 10th and 11th. A strange little place but a perfect night for a rooftop party.

Pretty Saturday

I would have posted a picture of the baseball game this afternoon but that was to ugly. The boys were hitting the ball, Dylan had a walk, a single and struck out. Sam had two singles including running out a ground ball to first that was fielded. They both pitched but like all five pitchers we sent to the mound, we threw lots of balls and gave up walk after walk. The end result was a 17-8 loss which was all about horrible pitching. The whole team batted pretty well but you can't walk everyone and expect to win. Nice day for baseball anyway.

Ft. McHenry

The boys had a day off school today so they drove up to Baltimore to visit Fort McHenry with a semi-retired Momma. It looked like a nice day for a visit.

Picture Day

Team photos on a beautiful day.

Vienna

I'm already missing our fun trip to Central Europe but that just makes me want to plan the next getaway. Enjoy the Vienna album here. https://flickr.com/photos/76997459@N00/sets/72157651705087441

Drink Up by Mark Carpenter on Flickr.

Just follow this link to see and comment on this photo:
http://flic.kr/p/s5b5MK

Sent from my iPad

Field of Dreams

The little Orioles won the opening day game this morning 8-7 over the Pirates. Sam went 0-3 with two strikeouts and a fielders choice at first. Dylan went 1-1 with a nice bunt single and a strikeout. They really didn't get any batting practice the last few weeks so it's not surprising they are a little rusty. Both teams were a little out of sorts since they really only got two practices in before this game. I'm sure things will improve.

Prague

I posted a number of pictures from our time in Prague last week. I plan to do the same with the Vienna pics later tonight. Follow this link. https://flickr.com/photos/76997459@N00/sets/72157651718043785

Top of Petrin Tower by Mark Carpenter on Flickr.

Just follow this link to see and comment on this photo:
http://flic.kr/p/s4dnQf

Sent from my iPad

Glee

All the area grade schools that feed into Edison High School are performing tonight in the high school gym and they don't have beer vendors. Thanks Obama.

Easter Boys

We didn't force them to run around the yard looking for eggs this year. We were all too jet lagged.

Long Day of Travel

Early Flight

Good thing the Vienna airport has these sweet seats.

Goodbye Vienna

We had a great time.

Belvedere

We had our last dinner in Vienna tonight and have an early car to the airport in the morning. It's been a fun trip but it's always good to head home. This shot is from the upper Belvedere Museum. It's looking at the lower one with St. Stephansdom to the left.

The Kiss

We saw a lot of Impressionism this morning, including the famous Gustave Klimt painting, "the kiss". I wanted to see   the  Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I which is the painting at the center of the new movie "Woman in Gold" but she is in Paris right now. We did see lots of Monets, Degas and other artists but our time was limited due to fidgety boys. We made our way to another neighborhood later so the Sam could get an Austrian soccer jersey, but when we got there, he decided to get an Italian jersey instead. 

Sent from my iPad

We Keep Going

After the Hapsburg winter palace this morning we climbed the 343 steps to the top south tower of St. Stephansdom. This is the third tower with 300 or so steps we've climbed this vacation. The new knee is handling the stress just fine but my calfs hurt. We went to a concert with pieces from Strauss and Mozart played along with some dance and opera at a 16th century palace tonight. The boys were not thrilled but I think they enjoyed it a little. One more day then back to DC.

Fountainhead

Some early morning snuggling in the cold Viennese weather.

Schonbrunn Palace

We got up early to beat the crowds to the summer palace of the Habsburgs. It was a quick Ubahn ride away and was beautiful. Not sure the boys appreciated it much but it was worth a visit.

St. Stephans

The weather has been cold but mostly dry. We have a full day planned tomorrow.

Four Horseman

We slept in a bit this morning the took the trolley up to see Nicole's school apartment, the Naschmart and the Austrian History Museum. We had a little lunch then did some shopping on the way back to the apartment.