Greetings from Gull Lake

Camp Fire

We ended the day with a camp fire and s'mores.

Whiffle

We played whiffle ball too.

Fore

We golfed, we go-karted, we swam and we paddle boarded today. Good day up north.

Grace

Not just a little, but a lot of grace.

Perfect Score

More jumping into the lake from the pontoon boat today. We didn't catch as many fish but got some good pictures. We also broke down about as far away from the resort as we could and had to be towed in. It was still a nice ride.

Shooting Fish in a Barrel

Whatever that means but in general, their was a fish on a line every few minutes. That kept grandpa very busy since none of these kids will take the fish off the hook, or put the bait on for that matter.

Everyone In

The fish were biting today and the water was refreshing. Sylvan Lake is providing a ton of fun.

First Night

Maddens

The first night dinner always seems to be at Maddens, which is probably the closest restaurant to our resort. It's a nice spot and the cousins were mostly behaving.

The Press Box

Me and my press box partner at the district game on Friday. I played the walk up music and he announced the batters. We made a good team.

State Tournament Bound

Well, the Pioneer Legends won the district tournament and are heading to the state championship tournament in Chesapeake Virginia. That's south of Norfolk. We won tonight's game by one run again and Dylan got a couple nice hits after being in a slump the last couple weeks. He's a hard worker and never stops trying. I'm proud of the bugger. Sam too..

Baseball, Baseball, Baseball

Our third baseball game this week was tonight and Sam pitched a six inning win for the Legends. I believe he had 7 K's and allowed 7 runs, a couple of those were fielding errors, so a pretty good outing. He also threw 7 pitches and struck out two in relief in the All Star game on Wednesday. The boys won that game too. Dylan is in a little hitting slump but is playing well in the field. Sam is actually in a little hitting slump too, they get another chance to hit tomorrow night.

Angry Sky

The baseball All Star game was postponed again tonight due to more storms rolling thru. That postponement freed us up for a Patriots basketball game against Burke. It was looking rough in the first half with some sluggish play, a ton of fouls and a lot of missed shots. They were down 35-17 at the half but came roaring back with a 33-5 second half to win 50-40 in overtime. That was an intense game.

Little Harpers

Nationals baseball camp started today. They have a full week of camp and four baseball games at night, not to mention the basketball game on Wednesday. They will need a vacation after this.

Championship Plunge

The season ending party was today at coach Johnny's house. The after season parties are way more fun when you won it all. No talk of what would have happened if..., etc. Just talk of how we won and how all the kids contributed to the success. Good times.

Big Thunder

Big, loud storms rolled in this evening and postponed the All Star game until Tuesday night. The kids were all warmed up and ready to go until the skies opened up and all fury was unleashed. We did end up in the basement for 45 minutes due to a tornado warning but we've mostly seen tons of rain, load thunder and some really bright lighting.

Champions

The third time is the charm. We had been in 3 championship games in the last four years and we finally won it. It's was a tense 7 inning affair that finally ended after 3 hours and a 30 minute rain delay. Sam pitched well, hit a home run and caught. Dylan played first, hit two singles, one to extend the game to go into an extra inning. It was a hard fought game. We came back from a 6-2 deficit and led at one point by 4 but the Braves came back and tied it.

It was a tense and exhausting game for everyone.

6th Grade Grads

Last Days of Elementary School

I don't know what this is all about.

Suspicious Balloon

This balloon with cameras was floating over our building this morning when I got in. It was tethered to a truck down on the street and it went up and down a few times. Not sure what they were photographing but I hope it wasn't me.

Wrecking Ball

They learned a ton during the 6th grade field trip on Friday. I'm still trying to figure out what the takeaway from this moment is.

Championship Game Bound

The little O's pulled out a team effort to beat the Red Sox 12-5 and advance to the league Championship game next Friday night. Sam pitched 3 innings, struck out 5 and allowed 3 runs. He almost hit the cycle with a single, double and triple. Dylan was 1-3 but got his bat on the the ball and in play each time. He drove in 2 runs and played perfectly at first base and center field.

The team played well, had few errors and Zack closed out the game, only allowing two more runs. We don't know who we are playing next but it should be a good game.

George

The sixth grade field trip was today and they visited a number of sites in Baltimore. They were skeptical about the whole thing but had a great time.

Horn Section

Dylan's a blues man.

Under the Sea

I can only assume what the theme was for last nights band, strings and chorus concert. I missed it due to a work event I originally cancelled two weeks ago so that I could attend a little Orioles game that Dylan was the starting pitcher. I don't miss many boys activities and there are a lot, but I didn't miss sitting in a hot gym for two hours.

Wacky Day

Sam colored his hair and wore a Hawaiian shirt. He's wacky.

Triple Crown

The boys played three games today and Mike came to visit. The little O's won their baseball game against the Red Sox 8-6 with each boy hitting doubles, walking and striking out. They clinched the second seed of the playoffs and a first round bye. The also won two basketball games against a couple AAU teams this afternoon.

Again, the boys played well and the team was really in sync. They both had 6 points in game one and dozen or so rebounds as well as some fancy passing and a minimum of 6 assists. . Sam had 6 in game two and Dylan had a couple with a dozen rebounds, assists and steals.

An overall great sports day for the boys. Fun to watch.

Throwback

This was posted on Facebook the other day and it reminded me that I've known Rob Porte since kindergarten, making him my oldest friend. I wonder if any of the kids Sam and Dylan know from the grade school they will be leaving in a couple weeks will still be buddies in 38 years.

Getting Ready

The Patriots had try outs and added a few players for the summer season which is starting soon. Sam was home tonight nursing some shin splints but Dylan was working hard. Basketball never stops.

Jeckel and Hyde

The same team that committed a minimum of 9 errors in a 14-7 thrashing on Thursday against the Braves just beat the first place Nationals 17-2. Totally different team on the field today. Sam pitched the entire game, throwing 83 pitches (85 is the max he's allowed to throw in a game), striking out 9 and only walking a couple. He also showed great baseball awareness by fielding a ground ball and turning immediately to throw to second base, leading the shortstop by a few feat so that the shortstop could touch the base and continue his momentum with a throw to first for a double play. It was late in the game and put the final nail in the coffin. It looked effortless, an amazing play. Sam was a little off at the late going 1-3 and getting a walk.

Dylan went 2-4 at the plate and played first base perfectly. He fielded a hard grounder down the line and caught everything coming his way. It was much more fun watching this game than the game Thursday.



Sent from my iPad

Pot of Gold

A pot of gold would be nice since we got Nicole a new car today and I bought an iMac for the family room because I refuse to waste anymore time battling the Window 8 machine that was there.

We are picking up Nicole's new "blue" Infiniti tomorrow. She will no longer be a minivan driver when that happens. The new suv is almost as spacious for you visitors. Getting blue was difficult for some reason but that's what she wanted. It's a nice vehicle.

The windows 8 PC in the family room was the biggest piece of trash ever created and I decided that I would not waste another minute trying to make it behave and will only buy macs going forward. The iMac is more expensive but the ease of use and stability is well worth it. I'm going to move the 8 machine downstairs and experiment with it but it's not going to get in the way of accomplishing goals going any longer.

Blue and Grey

The Manassas Blue and Grey won the tournament last weekend. it's the only team we didn't play and we were glad they beat the Prince William Reds.  The Reds were good but we let them off the hook the first time we played them and then went into the second game exhausted from a game right before. More baseball starting tomorrow. 

Pool Season

Two days of baseball stopped us from going to the pool the first couple days it was open but we got there today for a bit. It felt good to get in the chilly water after a couple days on a hot, dusty baseball field.

Leader

The boys had a good couple games again today. They won one and lost another but the team was starting to work together better. Sam had 4 more solid inning on the mound and had a few singles and a triple. Dylan had a couple singles and spent a couple innings on the bench. (11 players and everyone gets time). He played well at second base and caught a crucial pop fly in game one. I think it's tough on him when Sam has a great tournament while he had a good tournament but he is always complimentary of his little brother. Dylan is always offering encouragement to his team mates and is the first to celebrate a good hit or play. He's a leader and a really good ball player, amongst other things. He makes me proud.

Joy

Dylan and Sam love being part of a team. It is so obvious that they draw tremendous energy and joy from being with other kids in the pursuit of glory. They are always right in the middle of the group, cheering people on and goofing around. Win or lose they are team players and have a ton of fun regardless of the outcome. I like that about them.

The Legend Begins

The 12u Pioneer Legends Tournament team had its first tournament games this morning. Sam pitched the first four innings, striking out 7 and only allowing 2 runs. Both boys were getting the bat on the ball but Sam only reached first once with a single (1-3) and Dylan was thrown out twice and struck out once (0-3). The pitchers are better in tournament ball but they were just a little off in the hitting department. The relief pitchers for the legends struggled and ended up surrendering 4 runs for a 6-5 loss.

The second game of the day was a disaster. I stopped counting errors at around 8. The pitching was rough and hitting was anemic. Dylan sat the first couple inning and struck out while Sam went 1-2 but got picked off at first. They ended up losing 14-3 to a pretty mediocre team. We have anywhere between 1 and 3 games tomorrow. I hope they get their mojo back and get in the win column.

Devistating Dylan

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.