Spooky Nook

Sam and I drove up to Lancaster PA and in the middle of Amish country, you find the biggest sports center I've ever seen. 30 basketball courts, 4 indoor soccer and field hockey fields, an indoor baseball diamond, weight rooms, running tracks, a hotel, restaurant and bar as well as a food court and ginormous video arcade. Wild stuff. We lost our first game on Friday night, won the second this morning and have our third at 7 pm tonight. We are going to head home at the crack of dawn on Sunday.

Pitt Jam

Nicole and Sam are in Pittsburgh playing basketball, I'm in Minneapolis at a business event and Dylan and Linda are taking a cooking class in old town. Sam's team went 2-2 but didn't move on to games on Sunday so they are heading home so Nicole can run a 10 mile race in the morning.

More Basketball

The boys played a lot of basketball this week. Sam had five games with his AAU team last weekend, two varsity game spring games this week (he started both) a Team Pro Look (AAU) practice on Thursday and four more AAU games this weekend. Dylan had a JV game on Wednesday, practice with coach Ed today and a training session with coach Scott on Sunday. Basketball truly never stops.

Scottish Reflections

Just posted 50 pictures from our Trip to Scotland. You can find them on Flickr by using the link below. 

https://flickr.com/photos/76997459@N00/sets/72157692230757972

Sent from my iPad

Not Snow Flakes

Took a long walk while Sam was at practice and Dylan was watching Jenna's lacrosse game. The days are getting longer but we may get some snow on Saturday.

Night Wandering

Had a great dinner at Bucks Bar. The only place in town with chicken and waffles. They made some great fried chicken.

Glasgow Cathedral

We slept in a Sunday after a great Celtic game and a concert. Everyone was pretty tired so we just wandered Glasgow, ate and shopped. The picture is from the necropolis. The highest point on the city. Great vacation here in Scotland.

Celtic

We got a ride from the hotel, a history lesson on Celtic FC, a trip to the pitch with the club director, access to the directors suite and seats in the directors section at mid field. Can't get much netter than that. The guy right past Dylan is Dave, a concert promoter in the UK and the guy that made this all work. Great fun and our hats off to uncle Adam for making a few calls to hook us up.

Heart of Midlothian

Dylan and I took a trip outside the center city a bit to visit Tynecastle, the home of the Midlothian football club and buy a jersey. Dylan knows a lot about this Scottish premier league club, we talked about on the walk to Murrayfield stadium, home of the wanderers and Scottish rugby. Fun afternoon. We all started the day at the Edinburgh dungeon. Cheesy as hell but fun for a slightly dreary day.

Heilan Coo

Sam shares his new hair style with the Scottish highland cow the Heilan Coo.

Britannia

Toured the HMS Britannia this morning on a bright and crisp morning. It was the royal yacht for 45 years and now a museum. We had lunch in my new favorite pub in Leith then toured the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the queens Edinburgh castle. Nicole and I wandered another few miles to get some more steps in as the boys lounged around the apartment.

Princes Street Garden

Nicole and I went out walking yesterday afternoon while the boys did there electronics thing and played table tennis. We found a steep path up to the castle from the bottom of Princes Street Garden that helped add a bunch of steps to our Apple watches. Gotta get some exercise in somehow while on vacation. We have complete blue skies today, need to get moving to go see the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Queen of the Castle

Edinburgh castle

King of the Hill

Dylan at Edinburgh Castle.

Top of Edinburgh

Sam looking out from the castle.

Castle Selfie

We are going back up there for a tour this morning. It's less than a mile from our apartment, but straight up hill.

Loch Venachar

Spent a great day touring Stirling And Doune Castles and the beautiful Scottish highlands. We hired a private guide and the boys love the Range Rover and kilt he wore. The day started s little wet but brightened nicely as the day wore on. We walked up to the Edinburgh castle before dinner tonight and had Italian in Old Town before I beat the kids in multiple games of ping pong in the apartment.

Edinburgh Castle

We left DC at 10pm which is late for a transatlantic flight and only got to Scotland at 3 after after layer over in Dublin. Nicole and I explored a little while the boys laid around. We all went to dinner on Rose street and too this selfie below the castle. On to a tour of the highlands today.

Lounge Snack

Flyer is eating a rawhide while lounging by the fire during his visit to Chateau Durpenter. We get him for a few nights.

Snow Queen

Nicole got some shoveling in today but the snow is pretty wet and starting to disappear. We got 4 inches and it's better than nothing.