Breckinridge 2014

Breckinridge 2014, a set on Flickr.

Ice Castle

We visited the ice castle that was built in town on the first night. There were also a whole bunch of snow sculptures that were all lit up that I will upload to flickr layer this week. We are home and back to work and school but with good memories of 42 inches of fresh snow and some great skiing.

The basketball team had a rough outing when we were away last Saturday. Sam and Dylan bring a lot of rebounds and points to the team. We have a scrimmage and two games this week as we match towards the playoffs.

Faces of Breck 2014

Some close ups like last year but with some snofies with me and the boys. We had a great day of skiing today. Beautiful blue sky, chilly in the morning but rather balmy in the afternoon. We covered two peaks (8 and 9) and got an equal amount blues and green runs. Nobody had any major wipeouts and we are going home without any broken bones. We are watching the Super Bowl now and watching the sun set behind the mountains.

Frisco Tubing

Frisco Tubing

Spent the morning on the tubing hill in Frisco and then wandered Breckenridge and had lunch. We are saving our energy for the slopes tomorrow.

Caveman

Dylan went to town on some ribs last night. He seems to like eating things with his hands like his uncle.

Extra Seat

The boys even like to sit together on a three seat chair.

Powder Day Two

We all skied together today and made our way over to Peak 9 for some new, long and well groomed green trails. Their was much whining from the crew because it's a long ways from the top of Peak 8 over to 9 and it included some new blue runs and a little poling on a kinda flat area. They loved it when we got there. A good day here in Breckinridge and the boys are turning into good little skiers.

Snofie

Like a selfie but with lots of snow.

All Bundled Up

It's not real cold but man is it snowing. 15 inches last night and today, maybe more and it's not supposed to stop until Friday sometime.

Our Fav

This is where we started our ski vacation last year. Tons of snow on the ground this year and 20 to 30 inches on the way. It's powder time.

Off to Breck

An early flight and hoping to best the winter storm heading for the mountains.

Rough weekend for BBall

I made it back from Dallas in time for the second basketball game of the weekend against Lee District. The little Patriots lost to Mt. Vernon by 2 points yesterday and went into this game with a lot of energy. They were up by 12 in the middle of the second but turned cold and lost by 5. Sam was pretty broken up by it all but he played the whole game and was pretty exhausted by the end. He had 14 points, 20 rebounds and 3 blocks. Dylan didn't get a lot of playing time but pulled down 3 rebounds while hustling like he always does.

We are off to Breckinridge this week and they will miss Saturdays game which they are bummed about but some time on the slopes and I think they will be re-energized and ready to play out February and head to the playoffs. I'm looking forward to the trams well. Nothing better than traveling to beautiful places with those little monkeys and Nicole.

Enough to Shovel

Nicole got her wish and has already shoveled once. She will likely need to go out again in a few hours but I think she's looking forward to it. We have about 4 inches and another couple plus single digit temps on the way so it is a high probability that school will be closed again tomorrow, just like today. It's a good little storm and the world is all white.

Biggest in Three Years

We have not had more then three inches of snow in one storm since 2011 and I think that one was like 4 inches.  Anyway, the city is already shut down without even a flake flying but I got into work in record time.  Had a meeting this morning but I'm going to head outta here in when things start turning wintery.  Maybe some sledding tomorrow if we are lucky.

First Division Loss

Vienna was hitting everything today and the little Patriots were having a hard time getting the shots to fall. The whole team was a little off and Sam went into the half with zero points. The patriots did come out hard in the second half and cut the lead to 6 at one point but ended up fading and getting their first division one lose 33-49.

Dylan had a pretty good game with 4 rebounds and 2 points. He ran hard and really went after the ball. Sam was off a bit but still managed 18 rebounds and 10 points, he just wasn't the normal Sam out there. The teams Micheal Jordan also had an off game, he had 10 points too but that's about 10 less than his average. Their will be better days.

Patrick

Patrick has been cutting the boys hair since their first cut way back when. They are now requesting certain looks based on their favorite soccer players and Patrick is happy to oblige.

Electric Axe

Bought this from my friend Mike and got to use it with an amp at my lesson yesterday. My own amp should arrive tomorrow. Electric guitars are easier to play than acoustic and will hopefully get me over the learning hump. Jodi, my instructor, likes it.

Practice

Based on the weather forecast, we should be able to get two practices in this week. The boys always need to run and due to weather or the holiday they were lucky to get one practice in a week for the last month. The team is definitely getting better and seem to have fun together. Good group of adults as well. One more practice on Friday then a Sunday game this weekend.

Overtime

The Patriots went into overtime to beat Great Falls 49-42 in a really good game. The boys fell behind 27-18 late in the 1st half with Sam on the bench with 2 early fouls. Dylan took over at center and rebounded like a monster and the team cut the lead to 4 before half. The lead seesawed back and forth in the second half with neither team leading by more than 2 but we were all tied up at the end of regulation.

The patriots turned it up at that point with Sam providing a couple nice blocks, rebounds and 4 points to seal the game. Both boys played well and added their unique skills to a team victory. Dylan with his high intensity play and Sam with his size and athleticism. Dylan had 6 rebounds and played almost half the game and Sam had 12 points, 20 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. We still have some tough games ahead but 3-0 in the division 1 schedule is a good start.

Polar Vortex

They didn't call it a polar vortex when I had to deliver 50 newspapers at 6am in 1976. An air temperature of -25 was just another January day. School has been cancelled tomorrow and the low is only going to be 7 with a -10 wind chill. Come on man.

Sent from my iPad

Happy Ballers

The boys exacted revenge against Herndon for the loss in the play in round back in November. The Patriots played well in a 48-36 victory to a scrapping little team. Herndon doesn't have a lot of size but the press really well which is what killed us the last time we played them. We handled the press better this time and we out rebounded them by a bunch. Herndon has good coaches and nice parents, no issues like the McLean team last week.

Sam had 9 points and 14 rebounds while Dylan had 2 points and 6 rebounds. They both played well with Dylan really running the court hard and taking some solid outside shots. Sam was squeezing the ball well with the rebounds and executing long passes to the breaking guards in transition.

The Patriots are now 2-0 in Division 1 play will get back to two a week practices this week. We play Great Falls next Saturday at 12:45. Go Pats!!

White Coat

Woke up to 40mph winds and a nice white coat of snow. It's chilly for these parts as well. We don't get down to the low teens that often. Still not as cold as the -12 in a Wayzata over the holidays but cold all the same.

I Love Snow Pictures

It's coming down but we will only get a dusting when it's all done.

Hello 2014

It's a weird week because New Years Day was on a Wednesday.  It's been work a day and a half, day off, work a couple more days then the weekend.  Next year will be better with New Years Day falling on a Thursday.  The boys have been off school this week and are at Shadowland with friends at the moment.  Not sure what we are doing with them tomorrow but they probably need some basketball shooting time to get them ready for their game on Saturday afternoon.

We are getting our first snow of the new year but it won't be much.  The bulk of the storm is heading north to New England.  The snow is Minnesota over our Christmas visit was nice but I'd like a little storm or two around here as well  Maybe next week.

Goodbye 2013

Just back from a party with the kids and settling in for the last hour of 2013. It was a very good year in my estimation. 2014 looks good from where I'm sitting at the moment. Let's hope it stays that way.

Sent from my iPad

Tournament Champs

The boys made it back to DC in time to play two of the four games of the BRYC Holiday Tournament and ended up winning the whole thing. The team went 1-1 yesterday with a 1 point loss to the team we beat for the championship today. We won our first game this morning and played McLean for the championship at noon. It was a close game until the end when the Patriots pulled away and overpowered the Spartans 40-34.

The McLean team was good but had some horrible coaches. The team was full of itself in general and believed that Sam and Dylan were added to the team after the loss on Friday. I'm not sure where they thought they came from but it just added to their overall poor sportsmanship. Their coach was nearly booted from the game for bad behavior and the kids mimicked their leadership with one kid refusing Sam's hand as he offered it to help him up after he went to the floor. It's 5th grade basketball people, get a grip.

The boys were a little rusty from the field with Sam scoring 12 and Dylan 4 in the two games. They did rebound well with Sam pulling in more than 25 and Dylan napping a dozen. We are in division 1 and will have a lot of tough games this year so it's nice to get a tournament win under our belt before going head to head with the toughest 5th grade teams in northern Virginia.

Old Log Theater

We saw Toad and Frog today at the Old Log in Shorewood today. It was a cute little show and everyone's favorite character was Snail. We had a nice dinner at Spazzo and are getting ready to head home tomorrow. It's been a great trip to Minnesota. We got snow every day and the four inches on Christmas Eve was a treat.

Christmas Day

Not much going on beyond a little sledding in the new snow and the boys listening to their new beats. I took a nice little nap and now we are getting ready for dinner. A perfect Christmas Day.

Christmas Cousins

The annual Christmas picture in front of the fire. The kids are getting old.

Kids Table

Dinner at Mainstreets with the kids in their own booth. It made for a much nicer adult conversation at the table a short distance away. It's been cold here today so we went bowling. It will get down to -15 tonight then warming up to the teens tomorrow so sledding will back on the table, maybe snowshoeing on Long Lake. It's a winter wonderland around here.

Sliding Time

It basically snowed the entire day which made it perfect for a couple hours at the Orono golf course sledding hill. Snow is in the forecast for the next few days, so a white Christmas is definitely in store this year. It's only going to be around 4 degrees for a high tomorrow so indoor activities are going to be on tab but we will have to get back on the hill before we leave later this week.

White Christmas

It looks like their is plenty of snow in Minnesota. Bring on the sledding.

Lazy Sunday

A little shopping and some work around the yard with a workout for all of us is about all we had going on today. After the exciting game yesterday we needed to chill a bit today. Sam actually got on the bike today because he has been a little winded in the last couple games. He needs to keep is stamina up. Dylan never seems to get winded, he just goes and goes. He's also carrying 40 less pounds but still. I like when they cuddle up even when they have the whole couch to spread out on.

Great Game

We started out well but fell behind 32-18 early in the second half. That's when the boys turned it on and went on a tear to beat Annandale 43-40. Dylan had a fantastic game with 9 points, 9 rebounds and a couple steals. Sam had 14 points and 6 rebounds. The team really rallied after falling flat and Dylan hit a 3 pointer from the corner to give the the Patriots a one point lead with about a minute left. He was totally stoked and they got the ball back and he fed Sam a perfect pass inside for another two points and ultimately the win. Both boys played well but Dylan really turned it on and was full of energy the entire game. It must be the shoes.

Looking Out

This is the view of the Washington monument from inside the Whitehouse. Not a view I typically get. I drive by it everyday but this is how presidents see it. The scaffolding is halfway down from the earthquake repair that has been going on for the last 18 months. I think I will make it a quest to actually go into that monument when it re-opens. I've been in DC for 22 years and have never set foot in the Capitol or that monument. It might be time for both although the Capitol building is one of the most dis-functional places on the planet, maybe I'll wait on that visit.

Whitehouse Holiday Party

Good time at the Barack and Michelle Obama's holiday party tonight. We spent about a half hour going through security but it was well worth the time. The decorations are pretty spectacular and we had free reign over the entire east wing. The president spoke for a short time and the food and drink was very nice. I'm glad we did it.

Snow

School was cancelled again because of a winter storm that brought some snow but not a crippling amount. We are all home again, making this a very long weekend. It looks like we will get a break from storms for a while and get back to work tomorrow.

Ice

We got a pretty good covering of ice last night. The trees are drooping quite a bit but nothing major has fallen and it's melting off now. Just hanging around the house with some bored boys at the moment.