Slammin Sammy

Double Shot

The Orioles got back in the win column today with a 12-7 victory over the Dodgers. Sam pitch a couple semi successful innings, striking out 4 but giving up some walks and 2 runs. He went 2-2 with a single, walk and three run home run. Dylan was 1-3 at the plate with a three run homer as well. They have been batting at the 4 and 5 positions the last few games and have been delivering the power that's expected in those slots. Good game boys.

Heading Home

Arizona was nice but it will be good to get home. I learned some things and met some new people and got a couple hours of sun. All good.

Desert Dinner

The conference dinner tonight was somewhere way out in the desert. We stayed in the lights to avoid the rattle snakes. Good times.

Winging It

I'm happy I was on a plane to Phoenix instead of a train to New York today. I had uneventful flight and some nice views on the way down.

Strong Hitters

They boys 12u tournament team played the 11u tournament team last night and the boys did a good job at the plate again.  Dylan hit his first (inside the park) home run with a frozen rope shot over the center fielders head and all the way to the fence, they had a throw to home but it was too late.  He also made nice plays at second for easy outs.  Sam had a hit and a pop out and played well at catcher.  He did not fair so well on the mound but he's been pitching  a lot lately and was due a bad inning.  More baseball this weekend.

Huesos

Our California visitor arrived in a big box this weekend. He's going to have to find a new place to hang out in the house.

Close one

Both boys went 2-3 with Sam getting two singles and Dylan getting a single and a double. We ended up losing 8-7 with some sloppy base running by the team and some bad calls by the umps. My least favorite ump is the one that will make a call based on a coaches complaint. If the ump didn't see it, it didn't happen even if a coach said it did. Control the game ump. Anyway, Sam pitched a couple solid innings with 5 K's and Dylan pitched a very good inning, picking off a runner at first. They are at the tournament team practice now. They will be tired tonight.

Night Ball

It was a beautiful night for baseball and it just seems better under the lights.

Twin Production

Nicole and I missed last Saturday's game but from all accounts, it didn't go well. Sam pitched a 9 pitch inning with two K's and got a hit but the team was a little off. They ended up losing 9-1.

A lot can change over a few days. They came roaring back last night with a 12-6 win over the Dodgers. Dylan went 2-2 with two triples and played well in the field. Sam went 3-3 with two home runs and a single. He also pitched a near flawless three innings, facing 9 batters, striking out 7 of them, fielding a bunt and throwing to first for the out and forcing a pop fly to short.

It helps when the other team can't get a runner on base in the first three innings. The rest of the O's hit well too and while our fielding and pitching is a little suspect, they made enough plays to win.

Batting practice tonight then another game on Saturday. We are in full swing.

Anyone Having Fun?

Acela, Kinky Boots, Bar Centrale, perfect weather, the High Line, brunch at Trestle on 10th Ave, Soho, drinks in Little Italy, the Tenement Museum, great Italian food, the Comedy Cellar, Jeffrey Ross and David Attell, Adams apartment, Elaine staying with the boys and good friends. We had a great couple day in NYC.

New Hats

Nicole and Mike picked up some sweet hats in the village today. We visited the Tenement Museum after these beers.

Kinky Boots

We got into New York Saturday afternoon and proceeded to Kinky Boots, which was a fantastic show. Had some dinner late at Centrale Bar then wondered our way back to Adam's apartment at around 1. We miss the boys but are having a great time.

Washington Square

We started the day with a stroll thru the Village and up onto the Highline for a half mile or so to a place for brunch. It's been a gorgeous day in the city.

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.

Znojmo

We left Prague with Pavel in his mini-van at about 8am for our trip to Vienna with a planned stop at Mikulov for some sightseeing. It was snowing when we left and only got worse and about an hour out of town we hit standstill traffic. We believe the highway was closed so we managed to get off the main road and headed straight south through the countryside. The snow gradually turned to rain as we got closer to Austria and we decided to visit a little medieval town called Znojmo. It was a quick visit but a very pretty town. We arrive at our extremely spacious apartment in Vienna at 2:30 and have been snacking and getting ready to go out for dinner since.

Charles Bridge

We have crossed this bridge a dozen times now and their is always something interesting going on. We are heading back over it tonight for dinner the back again with gelato in hand no doubt.

Jewish Cemetary

We toured the Jewish quarter of Prague this afternoon and then had lunch at a very Czech restaurant. It has gotten cold, but the sun was out for a lot of the day. We could spend another couple days here but it's on to Vienna in the morning.

Spring in Prague

From the Prague Castle.

Golem

We met a Golem on the way down from St. Vitus. Got up there early and did a nice walk thru the cathedral, golden walk and the palace. Taking a short break before heading to the Jewish quarter.

Terezin Walk

We have gotten a lot of walking in the last couple days. My dogs are barking.

Terezin

Too much to communicate in this blog about the Terezin camps but we learned a lot in our tour with Pavel Batel. He picked us up at 8am in Prague and told stories for the entire 40 minute trip north to Terezin. He has written a book about the camps and filled us with a ton of information about what went on there from the Middle Ages to Soviet Occupation. Most of the tour focused on the Nazi occupation and the use of the camps. Fascinating stuff but we didn't get back until 4:30 and we were tired.

Family Selfie

We had a great visit to the castle this morning then took a little time to recuperate then took the funicular to the top of Petrin Hill where we walked up four hundred stairs to the top of a tower overlooking the city. We also climbed the 300 stairs of the bell tower in the castle so are legs are feeling pretty good right now. It's been a great full day in the city and we have a reservation at a great Italian restaurant tonight. It's number 10 out of 2418 restaurants in Prague according to Trip Advisor.

Trdelnik

The boys favorite me food.

Old Town Square

They have an Easter Market going on. I have a feeling we will be back but first, sleep.

Winging it

We had two really smooth and on time flights from DC to Geneva and then to Prague after a morning of a lot of commotion of getting new passports for the boys in a record setting 5 hours. We found out about 22 hours before the flight to Geneva that the boys passports were invalid for entering most of Europe because they were set to expire in two months. They needed to be valid for three months. That set up a harried slew of events at the passport offices and new documents about 4 hours before take off. The passport office was extremely helpful and professional and we couldn't be happier with the help we got there but are still amazed that we only found out about the rule when checking into the flight and blame united airlines for that. Come on, they knew the boys were traveling on that ticket and had the passport info on their record. We got here but man are we tired.

We're Off

We made it, with some serious complications, but we made it. Btw, renew your passport even if it has a few months left on it. More on that later.