Bear

Hope they are paying attention to what's behind them.

Reception

Karen's daughters wedding in Green Bay was a very nice affair. The ceremony was short in a nice little church and the reception was at a ballroom built in the 30's. It was good to see the family and celebrate Tessa's big day.

Wedding Fun

Getting ready for the wedding in Green Bay.

More than Ice Cream

I usually buy a couple different flavors of Ben and Jerry's ice cream every weekend and mix them up as dessert on Friday and Saturday.  The boys have been able to devour a flavor or two before I get to it at times and I've given them a little playful grief for me not getting any.  Sam was eating some ice cream last night while we were watching a show on tv together.  He put a spoonful in his mouth and said, "Dad, the good thing about Dylan and I going to Alaska for 12 days is that you can have all the ice cream"  Without a hesitation I said, "I like you more than ice cream"  He didn't react but I'm pretty sure he got the point.  I miss those guys when they go away.  

New Dew

Dylan's hair is all ready for the trip.

Buzzer Beater

We were without a bunch of our starters again tonight but fought to the very end and came out with a 48-47 victory. We were down by 5 with 24 seconds left and Sinceere hit a three pointer. We fouled off the inbound pass, the other team missed the front of a one and one, we rebounded, got it down court and Jacob hit a three pointer from the corner for the win. Sam played well while being abused down low and Dylan was all over the court on offense and defense. Sam had 14 and Dylan had 6. Good close to the summer league for the boys. This was the first playoff game. The team moves on to play Thursday but the boys will be on the way to Alaska. The little Patriots will only have 5 or 6 for that game.

Good Defense

We were without 4 of our best players tonight but the team hung together and managed a reasonable defeat. Sam and Dylan both played well, playing some unusual roles that the missing kids would have played. Sam almost acted like a guard a couple times.

Kick

Dylan gets a little kick in the warm up tonight. We won 44-35 in a decent game for the boys. They were a little listless but that's due to too much Xbox this week. We have a tougher game on Friday.

Heading Out

My boat mate on our tour of the ghost fleet in Mallow's Bay on the Potomac river.

Ghost Fleet

We spent the day paddling around over two hundred abandoned ships sunk in the early 1900's. These were mostly ships built during WWI, scuttled and burned to the waterline after the war. We saw a half dozen bald eagles and lots of other birds hunting in these waters. It's a cool little historical tour in kayaks only 35 miles from home in southern Maryland.

All Cylinders

This team finally hit their stride tonight. The were playing with a purpose and against a very good team that had beaten them half a dozen times over the past three years. Lee district is our closest rival with a bunch of kids that will eventually play together at either Edison or Hayfield high schools and then against each other in different configurations. Sam and Dylan were both playing hard and didn't quit until the final minute. Sam had 12 points and owned the inside. Dylan had 4 points and worked the top of the key on defense like a man possessed. Sam had a dozen rebounds and Dylan a half dozen. The whole team was playing well with urgency I hadn't seen in a while. Not only they beat them, they did it convincingly. 54-32.

Complete Game

The team was hitting on all cylinders tonight. They looked like a team that knew what each other were doing. I hope that continues because we have a tougher team tomorrow night and will be missing a couple key players. Sam had 13 and Dylan 4 in Good games on both ends of the court for both of them.

6-2

That jackass coach of Burke got another win but he did get another technical foul. He's gotten T'ed up every other time we've played them. The series is now 6-2 in favor of the Patriots. . We could not find the basket in the first half and while we outplayed them in he second, we came up 3 points short 43-40. Sam had 12 points and as many rebounds. Dylan didn't have any points but shut down a three pointer shooter on defense. It sucks but even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.

Hamburgler

The team righted itself tonight by beating the Nova Cavaliers 49-32. It was a five point game with 4 minutes to play but the Patriots went on a run and won by 17. Dylan was a stealing machine, stripping 5 balls while getting 3 rebounds and 3 assists. He drove to the basket a few times but came up empty in the points category. Sam played better than last night and had a guy his size to deal with. (shown in picture). The kid was good but Sam out rebounded him by a bunch and while Sam only had 11 points, he was a step ahead of his competition with a bunch of shots not falling for him. Big game against Burke tomorrow. We play them a lot and are 6-1 over the past couple years but the games are always contentious, mostly because the coach is kind of an ass.

Hot and Cold

Well, game two of the week was an overtime loss to a lower division team that got a number of lucky breaks. That and Sam was having trouble around the basket and only scored 6 points. He missed a couple early layups and let it get in his head. Lesson for tonight was learning to put that behind him early. Dylan finally started to work his offensive game and had a nice driving layup and a three pointer from the corner for 5 points. Our whole team was a little off tonight after being very on the night before. Let's hope we pull it back together tomorrow night, I think our opponent is a much better team.

26

Sam and Dylan hit the court again for the first time in over 3 months and beat FYPL 61-50. Dylan was his usual high energy self on defense and came away with 5 assists but didn't find the basket. I don't think he even shot the ball he was so focused on passing. Sam was hitting everything and getting some great passes from Dylan and others down low. He had 26 points and a dozen rebounds. Good start to a four game week. We go at it again tomorrow night at 8:45pm.

Happy 4th

It's been raining all day but we may have needed a lazy day in the house.

Snelling

Fort Snelling

We took in some Minnesota history today by visiting Fort Snelling and seeing some demonstrations on 19th century cooking, medicine and musket and canon firing.

Foot Golf

It is definitely more active than regular golf and a lot quicker but I'm not sure it will catch on. We had a good time playing nine holes of it yesterday but my soccer ball kicking skills are a little weak. Sam had the low round, followed by Finn, Dylan then me.