Newport Marathon

Sent from my iPhoneAnother race in the books and a two week test before the next one.

‘‘Tis The Season

thisnplace is near where I get my car washed. They aleays go early and big.

Best Case Scenario

Sam has between a grade 1 and grade 2 MCL tear. Let's just say a one and a half but no ACL issues. That was a huge relief. A grade 3 MCL tear or an ACL would mean surgery and months of recovery. This injury should keep him out of football for a week or two and he got a metal hinged brace to wear the rest of the season.

Sammy’s Turn

Sam had 4 catches and about 40 yards in the first half of the game last night. His last catch of the half resulted in a knee injury of some sort. He was hit low and the left knee kinda whipped around a bit and he came up limping badly. It was not the knee that he had planted and was running on at the time which is good.

We were playing an Arlington school and that school system has an orthopedic surgeon at games which was sort of lucky. He happens to be an ankle guy but he did the things ortho surgeons do to get an idea of what happened and he thinks it's an MCL tear. Not great but better than an ACL like Dylan and I.

The MCL runs on the outside of the knee and has a much better blood supply which allows it to heal. The need for surgery on an MCL is quite rare so we are hoping for the best. That said, we don't know if the ACL is totally fine but the surgeon did the test to see if it was loose and he didn't think the ACL was compromised.

Sam has pain but not a lot of swelling. Nothing like the swelling Dylan had for a week after his incident. He's on crutches and using a brace to protect it and will not be playing football for at least a couple weeks. We will visit our favorite surgeon this week and see what he thinks. Knees are fun.

Early madness

Things you do when you run at 5am.

Eagle Pride

It was a tough game on Friday and a tough season so far but Sammy still seems to have a smile on his face. Having fun is what matters.

Friday Night Lights

Sent from my iPhoneSam has two catches in the first half. Tough team tonight. We are down 21-6.

Ladies

These young ladies did not try to hold Dylan up like the bros did to Sam.

Trust

Not sure why they decided Sam was the guy they wanted to hold up.

W

The boys celebrating a win over Marshall with their volleyball friends. We hadn't beat Marshall in volleyball for years. Homecomings 2019.

Victory

This is my favorite picture from the powder puff game and I have no idea who's in it.

Homecoming

Lots of activity this week. Btw, Dylan attended his first rugby practice since surgery last Sunday. He was exhausted but has another one this Sunday.

Powder Puff

I gave Sam one of my good cameras to use in his student government position as historian to capture the homecoming powder puff football game. He obviously gave it to someone else to take this and a few other pictures. Based on the 175 pictures, they had fun.

One Foot

Nicole runs with a few women most mornings. This type of picture shows up in my photo stream a lot. It's homecoming week at Edison and the boys are busy getting ready for the game and dance this weekend. The weather is starting to turn more fall like and I'm hoping to burn some wood soon. I should have some pictures of all the events this weekend. I really hope the football game goes better than last weekend, that was painful to watch.

Another Win

The little Brown notched another win today. Next week will be a tougher test. The Edison Eagles lost last night to a terrible team. I don't know what was going on but they sucked. Sam had a catch, a bunch of tackles and a 50 yard punt when the main punter was out with an injury.

Little Browns

The little Browns are 1-0 after a thrashing of the Bears today. Sam and Dylan have most of the same kids from the last two years and a couple new ones. 7 kids requested the boys as coaches and one kid requested them because he heard good things. Dylan and Sam also refereed a few games in the morning. They are getting paid for work, getting volunteer ours for coaching and learning leadership skills. Not bad for a Saturday.

Kicker

Sent from my iPhoneDylan getting his kicking mojo back.

Iwo

One more early shot before Fall begins.

Early Running Benefits

I was just getting up and grabbing some coffee when Nicole took this during her run.

Back to School

Sent from my iPhoneJunior year begins.

Midway

Sent from my iPhoneAnother photo from my morning walk.

Harbor Walk

Nice morning for a walk along the San Diego harbor.

Hangin On

Sam had two catches for 20 yards in last nights scrimmage. It usually takes two kids to take him down. He was limping quite badly at the end of the game which concerned us but it was just severe foot cramping from the new shoes he got that morning.

Getting Signals

Sam started at tight end and defensive end in yesterday's scrimmage against our closest rival Hayfield. As TE they have him lining up close to the tackle on a play or two then they move him out to the slot to try to create a mismatch. He's the biggest receiver they have. He didn't get targeted much last night and it frustrated him a bit. It's his first game in almost two years and he will get his shots this season.

He played well at defensive end and nearly had a couple sacks. The dual starting positions wore him out a tad so the coaches will need to determine where they want him to expend his energy this season. He can't play every down on both sides.

Football is Back

First scrimmage of the season.

Poor Puppy

He gets the cone removed on Friday.

Ragnar

Nicole ran another successful Ragnar with her friends this weekend. They drove to West Virginia on Thursday, set up a camp site and ran for 36 hours. They are on their way home now, likely looking forward to a bed.

Tough Guy

Dylan and I worked out this morning and then went to school to see Sam and a little football practice. Sam loves cutting the arms off his t-shirts and this particular version is barely a shit at all.

Rugger

The kid is back on the field with his brand new knee brace. We went out and did some basic rugby drills today to start the process of returning to his passion and he looked good. He wanted to do more than I was willing to allow but I remember being inpatient after my first reconstruction in 1981. Baby steps and he will be back at it in no time.

Hospital Dog

Flyer wasn't himself last week during his three day visit. We didn't know what was going on but he seemed out of it and didn't eat a thing the entire time he was here. His parents picked him up on Sunday and took him to the vet Monday. An ultrasound identified an obstruction blocking his intestine and they cut him open Monday night to find a semi-digested squeaker from a toy. They think he ate it a couple weeks ago and worked it's way from the stomach down. It's ironic because he really likes squeaker toys and in a way, became one.

He seems to be ok now and recovering nicely.

Sick Flyer

We got flyer for the weekend but he's a little under the weather. He visited the vet yesterday and had some unspeakable things done to him and it seemed to put him into a bit of a funk. He slept in the basement all night and has been curled up on the the couch until about an hour ago when Nicole brought him new toys. I think he's starting to perk up.

Lincoln Memorial

Nicole can get some nice pictures on her early morning runs. I enhanced this a bit but the light at 6am is pretty cool.

College Visit #2

Another lakeside campus in Chicago. Nice tour and interesting school.

The Bean

A land mine shot from Millennium Park

Wildcats

Momma and her two cubs.

Northwestern

Our first official campus tour at Northwestern University today. Nice place with a sweet beach. Tough school to get into but it definitely left an impression.

Michigan Shoes

Nicole got out and ran along Lake Michigan early this morning. we left DC with the air feeling like 107 degrees yesterday and were greeted with 67 and a brisk north wind this morning.

Ballers

The kids had fun at the tournament last weekend.

Family

Our 10th trip to Kavanaughs Resort in northern Minnesota and a great time with all these people. Karen joined us about 5 years ago and this was a Rachel's friend David's first trip. Let's hope we can get everyone back next July.

Angler

One of the many smaller fish of the day.

Ducklings

We haven't done the duck race in a few years but man, was it competitive.

Recreation

We had a similar post 6 or 7 years ago at this restaurant. My, have they grown.

Big Fish

Looks like Karen got the biggest fish this week. The whole crew got lots of smaller ones on a cloudy day on the lake.

Me

You gotta kick hard to keep you head above water.

Grandpa

He baited the hooks and got the hooks out of the tiny fish mouths. The boys just casted. He's a fish slayer.

Grandma

The boys fished a little and caught a few little fishes but I caught them together with grandma in this photo.

Cousins

The annual trip to lake sylvan and some mid-lake diving off the pontoon. We caught a few fish as well on a warm, slightly windy day.

Big Chair

Sam wasn't a big fan of the big chair picture.

Sylvan

Easy drive up and a dip in the lake before dinner.

Happy 4th

Washington Masonic Temple from Nicole's run at 6am this morning.

Hello

The deer love the cemetery.