National Museum of Natural History



We took a trip downtown on Sunday to visit the Dinosaur museum. The boys have been there before but it was cold and wet so an indoor outing was the right call. I know it's been a couple days since I took these pictures but we've been running around trying to tie up all the loose ends at work and get ready for our trip to Florida. The boys are in bed but not sleeping because of all the excitement. Nicole and I are packing away and trying to remember everything we need. It's going to nice to get away for a few days and lose myself in the excitement of 5 year olds at a minor league baseball game, in the surf, running around rockets and of course at Disney World. I'll be sure to post often.

New Dinojammas

New Dinojammas
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

And we are currently watching Power Rangers Dinothunder Volume 3. This whole series is so rediculous but the boys love it. It is windy as hell here right now and I'm half expecting one of the dozens of trees in the yard within striking distance from the house to come crashing down. Then again, if we lost power, I wouldn't have to watch dinothunder any longer. Hmmmmmm.

First Flowers

First Flowers
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

The yard is starting to come to life after a couple 70 degree days. Its going to get cold again but the plants always seem to get tricked this time of year.

Damn I'm Cute

I also look like I need to be changed. My Mother has been digitizing old slides she has laying around and has sent me a couple. I thought I would share a time when I actually did look innocent.

Seven Year Itch

Seven Year Itch
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Its our 7th anniversary and my these are my gifts from Nicole to take care of any issues. We had a nice dinner at Overwood with the boys tonight and we are all worn out from a long monday.

St. Patrick's Day Celebration & Parade

Here are the pictures I promised from yesterdays parade. We ended up seeing Charlie and Sophia from the boys old pre-school along with their parents and siblings. It was a chilly morning and we were on the dark side of the street so the we were even colder and the pictures didn't have a lot of good light. The morning did include a classic car show and a dog show. As well as some green bagels from bruggers.

St. Patricks Parade

St. Patricks Parade
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

We came into old town today for the st pattys parade and are having lunch at King Street Blues now. Its chilly out there but I got a ton of pictures i'll get up on flickr soon.

One more

One more
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Yes, livin on a prayer

Like I said

Like I said
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

These screens rule.

Very Cool Video Screen

Very Cool Video Screen
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Its actually four screens that combine, separate and rotate. Coolest I've seen in a while.

Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Yes, you heard me correctly. We hae some really good (expensive) seats but they are actually a good band. We had dinner with scott and suzanne and are now rockin out to shot to the heart. Rock on......

Happy Birthday Linda!

From the boys and us....

Razor Race

Spent the day running around and doin a lot of nothing. It felt good. The boys are getting good with their Razor scooters and showed some of the talent in the clip above. Not much going on this week except I guess Nicole and I are going to Bon Jovi on Thursday, yep, living on a prayer.

Papa and Dylan

Papa and Dylan
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

We ran a bunch of errands and worked around the house today. Sam has been puking all day but hasn't been acting all that sick, don't know what that's all about. It's cold and grey so xbox and a fire has been the story for the last couple hours. We watched American Gangster last night. That was a good movie. I think Nicole is requesting a chick flick tonight so No Reservations is on the schedule tonight. Good times....

Musical Enterlude

Musical Enterlude
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

At the aia grassroots meeting yesterday. I'm here again today but don't have any formal presentations, just informal chats with people about soloso. It was treatening to snow a lot last night but all we are getting is lots of rain. It isn't even freezing rain like was promised. I don't want freezing rain of course but would love some snow. Maybe next week.

February Snow

February Snow
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

We are getting a little coating today and may get some more on Friday. Here's a shot from the driveway with the back of the new car. I'm liking the new vehicle quite a bit and the all wheel drive came in handy today, even if the snow isn't really plowable.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIL

Hiking Again

We have been on a hiking hiatus the past couple months due to Sam's leg issues and at one point, we didn't think we would be hiking for a long time. We ventured out this morning after a quick breakfast at ihop to Leesylvania State Park. We hiked there last year around this same time. We choose some different trails and got about 2.5 miles in. Both boys were a little out of shape but they made the journey without too much whinning. Sam's leg was totally fine and he doesn't appear to have a limp at all at this point. He did take a nice fall and face planted on the trail about mid way. You can see is little shiner in the pictures I uploaded to flickr. I'm feeling better and plan on going back to work tomorrow. Most of DC is off due to Presidents Day, including Nicole. Busy week with a big Grassroots event for AIA this week, lots of presentations and meetings for me.

Magpie Valentine

Magpie Valentine
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Having dinner at Tallula for valentines day and enjoying a bottle of Laughing Magpie in celebration of carolyn and roberta, the original laughing magpies. Leased a new car today, infinity g35x. Tons of technology included in this baby. Happy vd.

Rappin Happy Birthday Finn!


From Mac Daddy Dylan and Snoop Sammy Sam.

Pop Up Architecture

Being sick and working at home have their advantages. I was able to open up a pop-up architecture book Linda and Gil got me for the holidays. Very cool book that I shouldn't let the boys get their hands on. They tend to be really tough on books, particularily pop-up books. I am feeling better in case anyone is interested.

One Sick Puppy

One Sick Puppy
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

I went home a little early on Tuesday because is wasn't feeling so good and got hit by a ton of bricks wednesday and thursday. Sore throat, throbing headahe, body aches, the whole nine yards as they say. I'm home again today but feeling well enough to work. I have three computers going because I have to make up for lost time.

AIA Gold Medal

AIA Gold Medal
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

A new aia gold medal winner was chiseled into the lobby wall this week. Mr. Piano will get his award next week at the accent event at the national building museum. I missed the actual engraving but caught the process in mid chesil.

It's Cold

Giant Robot
Originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

It got real cold here last night but no where near as cold as Minnesota. If you ever wondered what Minnesotans did all winter long, these pictures may help you understand. I remember going to parties in three, four room ice houses duing the winter months in high school. People used to build ice houses to sheild themselves from the elements while they tried to catch fish though a hole in the ice. That evolved into a place to get away from home and to hang out with friends and drink, particularily if you were under age.

Now, it seems ice houses are a means to artistic expression. These shots on flickr are from Aaron Landry, a Minnesota blogger I've been following for a while. Taken not too far from where I grew up on Medicine Lake this weekend. Check out all the shots here http://flickr.com/photos/s4xton/sets/72157603881319745/

Let's Go Fly A Kite

We are all a little sick today with Momma feeling the worst at this point. Dylan is on anti-biotics but has bounced back nicely from yesterday's complete meltdown. Sam and I just have a little cold going on. We ran out to Fort Hunt down towards Mount Vernon this morning to fly the kite they got for their birthdays. Thank you, whoever gave it to them. Ft. Hunt has one big empty field which minimizes the risk of the kite going into a tree. It was also quite windy today with a cold front moving in from the north. This was the first time flying the kite that the boys named "Monster Ed, Eyeball Head" I finally took the good camera out of the bag and took a bunch of pictures that I posted on flickr. Check them out here...http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157603887078755/show/

Nasty Ear Infection

Nasty Ear Infection
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

We visited kathy this morning after dylan got back from the doctor. He has a really uncomfortable ear infection it seems and we are waiting to get our hair cut so dylan can go home and lay on the couch. The nintendo is keeping him quiet for the time being but he is miserable.

Long Time

Has it been 4 days since I last blogged? I think I'm getting lazy in my old age. That, or my life is just really boring right now. Let's see, we had a nice little Superbowl party on Sunday and they boys were all out of control with excitement to see Mike, Kelly, Donkey Head and Chadron. The game was good and Sam was devistated to learn that the Giants won when he woke up on Monday. He told Nicole that it couldn't be true, they were winning when he went to bed. This week has been all work and not much else. I did get a message in flickr from a Counting Crows fan in Baltimore with pictures from the show Friday night. They are much better than my little pathetic camera phone shot. Take a look here

Rams Head Live

Rams Head Live
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

A very nice and quiet concert. A big change from the typical crows show. Adams in good spirits and sounds great. I talked to dylan and sam a little while ago and told them we were in baltimore and they asked if we on a train. They know the train museum they love is here. They would freak out if we said we were seeing uncle adam. They like him a lot and think they can go on stage every show.

ASAE Technology Conference

ASAE Technology Conference
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

I spoke to about 200 association execs about Soloso yesterday at the asae tech event here in dc. I must say it went pretty well and their was a ton of interest in the knowledge base social networking too I've devoted my business life to the last 18 months.

It was a nice end to a day that included Sam getting the all clear diagnoses from the orthopedic oncologist in the morning. As I mentioned in the previous post, Sam has no pain in his leg and he barely has a limp. He is also very happy to be free of the boot. Thanks to everyone that sent all the good thoughts to him, I owe you all a drink because it seems to have worked.

Nicole and I are heading to Baltimore to see Adam preform an acoustic show for the johns hopkins cancer institute fundraiser tonight. It will be fun to see him perform without the whole band and its for a good cause. Ill get some pics of the show.

Pain progress

Pain progress
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

We are at the ortho oncologist again today for sam and he claims he's in the "no hurt" zone on the wong-baker faces pain rating scale. The first time we were here, he said he was in the 7-8 range, the second time, he said he was in the 3-4 zone. That's good progression. Dylan came with us this time but didn't like the xray routine. They are playing nintendo now and we are waiting for the doctor.

Auto Show Pictures

I posted a bunch of Auto Show pictures up in flickr and forgot to mention in my last post that we didn't end up seeing Sponge Bob. He was suppose to be in the kiddie play area and was nowhere in sight. Very sad day for all but Spidy and Wolverine help the boys forget about Spongie pretty fast.

Washington Auto Show

I took a bunch of pictures at the Auto Show today and will put them up on Flickr later today. We got there a little later than we wanted to this morning because Momma was a little "worn out" from our dinner with Charlie's parents, Scott and Suzanna at DC Coast last night. We had a good time and Dora, our new neighborhood baby sitter was great. The boys like her and it appears they have all get along really well. The Auto Show is one freaky place with all sorts of wierd distractions including the Redskinettes, unfortuneatly, I didn't get a picture with them. Dylan really wanted one, good boy...

Another Sponge Bob

Another Sponge Bob
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Another cold night and more sponge bob. The boys have been doing well in school and have mostly been behaving for Blanca. We are going to the car show in dc on sunday and they are pretty excited about that. Mostly because of the cars but also because sponge bob will be there. Kumie has to be jealous.

Karate Island

I bought the Sponge Bob King of Karate episode off itunes a few months ago and the boys cannot get enough of it. Today, Sam told me a couple of his toy cars hadn't seen the episode and we needed to show it to them. This is Uton, the guy who lures Sponge Bob to Karate Island in scheme to get him to buy a timeshare. It's actually Condo Island.

Not much else going on around here. Sam's still in his boot and seems to be doing well. No real pain and we can't tell if he's limping at all, because he has the boot on. We go back to the Orthopedic Oncologist next week for another look and hopefully, that's the end of it. It's down right cold around these parts right now but great sleeping weather. This is the time of year to kind of recharge the batteries and get ready for Spring. Lots of fires, long winter naps and Sponge Bob. What's better than that?

Sittin Up in a Tree


We've been making a lot of paper airplanes the last couple days with a paper airplane book the boys got over the holidays. The boys love flying them around the yard and figured out that they go farther if they climb a tree and throw them. It's been down right cold here this weekend and we haven't done a whole heck of a lot. I wrestled with my broken xbox 360 last night and have to send it back to get fixed. I replaced a dead bolt on the front door because the old one broke. Watching football now and Nicole is making a Guinness Stew of some sort. Just the sort of thing you need on these chilly night. That and the fire I have burning.

Digital 45

Adam released a couple songs for free on the Counting Crows web site a couple days ago in preparation for the March release of the new album. Hey, the tracks are free so check them out. Then go buy the album in March.

Disclaimer: I am related to and do have an interest in Adam selling more music so this is totally a plug for the new album which I do think is very good and I wanted to do my part in promoting it.

Where did that hair go?

Here's a picture my mom was nice enough to send of my last visit to Disneyworld. I'm around 12 or 13, maybe 14 at this point but I'm oohhh so stylish with my brown cords and tiger sneakers. Jeff and I look way too cool to be having our picture taken at of all places, Disneyworld. I'm pretty sure we enjoyed ourselves when we weren't being photographed.

Dylan and Papa

Dylan and Papa
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

The two of us went car shopping today and are now at Oerwood for lunch and some football. Sam and momma had a birthday party to go to. It was a kid from sams class so we split up for some child-parental bonding. Just heard from nicole, the birthday party was cancelled. Oh well.

King of Karate

Dylan was showing me some karate moves by the fireplace this evening. He could kick Sponge Bob's behind. Everything is good here after a full week of work. We are taking the boys to a sports bar tomorrow to watch the Packers game. Dylan has become quite the Green Bay fan for some reason. Should be fun.

Give Him the Boot

So another visit to the Orthopedic Oncologist today and Sam was fitted for a stabilization boot. At least it's removable and he can basically walk on it. The Doctor decided that they may have taken the cast off too soon and this would help him heal. Sam wasn't thrilled about the concept but he's learning to live with it. He's a trooper.

We're Going to Disney World

Not after I win the Super Bowl but in a couple months for the first time with the boys.  Grandma and Grandpa are going to be in Orlando for a conference so we decided to head down for a little Florida vacation in March.  We are also going to fit in a visit to the Kennedy Space Center, a Washington Nationals game, some beach time around Melbourne and one or two of the other parks in the area.  6 days of jam packed Florida fun.  

Now, I'm not a huge Florida fan (except I love Key West) but this trip makes me feel like a kid just planning it.  I've been to Orlando on business many time in the past 15 years but I haven't been to the magic kingdon since I was about 12.  The boys are going to love it and I have a feeling Nicole and I will love watching them love it.  

btw, Sam is going back to the Dr. tomorrow to see what's up with his continuing limp.  We hope the cast doesn't have to be put back on but we'll see.  The pain that's making him limp seems to be in the knee joint now which seems a little strange.  I'll have an update tomorrow. 

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum

The four of us and Grandma hit the road to Baltimore at 10am to spend the morning at the B&O Railroad Museum. We visited a couple years ago but the boys love the real and model trains all over the grounds. The weather is warming up and we checked out all the indoor and outdoor displays. Sam is still limping quite a bit but we figured the excitement of all those trains would make him forget he had a cast on a couple days ago.

The Christmas tree came down tonight and I think I'm hitting the hay early to prepare for the first full week of work in over a month. I hope I remember what I'm suppose to be doing there. Here's a link to the pictures Nicole and I took today. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157603655708695/

btw, yes, Nicole is now taking some of the pictures since I got a new Canon SD 750 and gave her my old SD 400. I need to break out the D70 pretty soon. Maybe on a hike when Sam can get past his limp.

Occult Fracture

This is the offending limb on Sam and we are still working on the theory that his issue is an occult fracture. We had another long day at the Orthopedic Oncologists office yesterday and based on new x-rays, CAT scan and blood work, he is convinced that the problem is actually a fracture and the mass showing up on the mri and bone scan is from inflammation connected with new bone growth. When we asked him why two radiologists and a pediatric orthopedist thought is was a tumor or infection, he simply answered "they were wrong". I guess he sees this fairly often and Sam's little problem is hard to diagnose. I guess in the long run, the medical system worked and we were funneled to a specialist that sees many things like this and he was able to tell the difference between a problem and a really big problem. Not to say he is absolutely right on the diagnosis but it seems to make sense at this point.

We obviously like the diagnosis and are hoping it's right on but will be watching Sam pretty closely over the new few weeks before we go back to the OO in a few weeks and take some more pictures. Sam is still limping, we think because of the stiffness from two weeks of a cast but he claims the spot on his shin doesn't hurt anymore. He is also acting like a normal little monster that he is so we have every reason to think he's healing up, just like he should be.

Thanks to everyone for all the good thoughts thrown his way, it seems to be paying off and we appreciate all the crossed fingers and positive vibes. Please let us know if we can ever reciprocate.

Now back to the typical meaningless blather you are accustomed to.

Sawing the Cast

Sawing the Cast
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Sams getting his cast for more pictures today. Don't know if he'll need a new one before we leave. He's being brave about it.

Toasting a New Year

Grandma came in on the red eye last night and we all had brunch with proper toasting. The boys got up early today and Nicole and I wanted to sleep late. We had Mike and Kelly over last night and didn't get to bed until 2ish. It was all good. Lots of wine, champagne and food. The diet starts tomorrow.

Happy New Year