This is the mighty axe picture I talked about in the next post.  

The Vikings picked Troy Williamson with the 7th pick in the 1st round. This is a little surprising since most people say Mike Williams is a better selection but as brother in-law Adam says, Mike Williams doesn't have the speed and manhandled cornerbacks in the Pac Ten with his size but probably can't do that to cornerbacks in the NFL. Let's hope Adam is right because I'm going to hold him personally accountable. Adam is an expert in Pac Ten players so chances are good he's right. Aaron Rodgers from Cal is still on the boards. He's the only future 1st round pick I've ever met. Adam interviewed him after the Stanford game last year. I was not allowed to take pictures but I do have one of me, Adam, Gil and the Axe. More soon.. 

The boys and Momma checking out the Wiggles web site. It's a wiggles world. Nicole and I saw Sideways tonight after the kids went to bed. Good stuff and we weren't drinking f-ing merlot. Tomorrow we will take a quick trip over to Coby and Alice's for a little Passover visit with the kids then back here for another movie or two. More soon.. 

Overdue

Haircut today

This is the 7:30am view from my room here in Cambridge MD. It's the 18th hole of the River Marsh Golf Course along the Choptank river. This is really a pretty resort with lots to do including a spa, beach and a number of pools. Could be a trip with the kids one day. The retreat has been good and we seem to be accomplishing quite a bit with the discussions. We will have a pile of next steps today but it's all in the name of progress. Nicole says the workers will be finished with the basements today so the boys can have the house back tomorrow. I heard it's quite messy but at least it's almost done. Next step, remodel. Can't wait to see the little guys tonight. More soon.. 

Nemo

Wso meeting

Woodlands

Range

I played golf yesterday at a place called Blue Mash. It was was a little chilly and really windy. As you can see from this picture, their weren't a lot of places to hide from the wind. I'm playing again tomorrow and it's suppose to be 75 degrees. Should be nice. Dylan is doing better today and ate a couple pieces of pizza at our Saturday night pizza party.. I hope he's just about done with this bug, it's been nasty and he looks a little too skinny for his own good. More soon... 

Dylan with iv at hospital

My mother took this picture of the boys learning all about parking meters. The next thing you know, they'll be driving. More later.. 

I was able to play golf twice last week and it looks like I will get another two rounds in at the end of this week. It had been 4 weeks since the last time I played in Miami and I was really itching to get out. It's amazing how for me, golf allows me to almost totally dis-engage from work and clears my mind. I've felt like I've had a ton of extra energy the last couple days and I think it's because of the time on the links. Ritual is extremely important in the normal ebb and flow of life and dis-engaging from one aspect and spending it hitting a little white ball around allows me to recover and become more focused when re-engaging at work. More later...

It's another beautiful spring morning but this time I'm at work. This is a shot from my side window looking down at E. Street NW. The trees are getting green and the traffic is building. Dylan was pretty sick yesterday and coughed all night. His temp was down today so he was looking better. The movie file I tried to post to this blog last night did not work out so I posted in on my web site. http://www.durpenters.org/Movies/MVI_1682.avi It's about 38 megs but pretty good quality considering I took it using my little Canon SD 300 Digital Elf. Even in full screen it had decent relolution. Enjoy...

This is a big mpeg movie file but it was really cute so I'm posting it. I really don't know how this will work on the blog but here goes. My parents have been in town since Thursday and my Dad and I were able to get 27 holes in since then. The boys have loved having multiple grandmas and grandpas around and will get some more this week. It was a beautiful weekend and my mom and I finally painted the shed. Sounds like I live on a farm, doesn't it. Going to bed, More later... 

Dylan loving the merry go-round. 

Mom, Dad and the boys went downtown to the Natural History Museum this morning to see Dinosaurs and other random beasts. They boys just liked running around the place and climbing into exhibits. We then went to the merry go-round across the mall and they just loved it. Sam ran all the way to it when he saw the circle of horses from 400 yards away. Good times... 

Bed time

Daddy mountain

Grandma bought the boys underware today and here they are showing it off.  

Ok, I don't have any new photos from this weekend but I have this one from a couple weeks ago. It will work for you baby addicts. Grandma Linda is in town this week and has been keeping the boys busy. I took them running with me yesterday and got four miles in pushing the 70 pounds they wieght plus the 20 the stoller wieghts. Felt good.. I'll try to get some new shots with Grandma Linda this week and a bunch with Grandma and Grandpa Carpenter this weekend.  

Sad

Last night of cowboy

Final four

Basketball

Sleepy

Rainy day

This is one of the best blogs in the land and belongs to a new employee in my group at AARP. Mike Lee has been a contractor for over a year now but made it official a couple weeks ago. This blog is the reason I have a blog, really. His latest post talks about his work in Web Strategy and Operations at AARP. I thought it might be interesting because it describes in such detail the work going in my group. Mike's innovative spirit and creativity will take WSO far. More soon... http://curiouslee.typepad.com/weblog

Yeah Baby!!


Elvis Sam

Some Funky Glasses for the Kid


Elvis Dylan

Way home

I had good meetings in Florida today and I'm on the plane heading north. The picture of the baby balancing act was taken outside where we had dinner last night. The food was forgettable but the sculpture was interesting.

I'm sitting on the left side of the plane heading north so the view of the sunset over the North Carolina coast is quite nice. I just took a couple pictures of it and will post one tonight or tomorrow morning. I'll also post some baby shots soon which is why most of you come to this blog in the first place. Hell, I can't wait to see them.

More soon....

Mark Carpenter
General Manager and Director
Web Strategy and Operations
www.aarp.org
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld (www.BlackBerry.net)

View out the left side window 

Balancing act

Ft lauderdale

Tuesday

I hope everyone enjoyed the Easter pictures and the rather low resolution camera phone pictures from the Birchmere. Kumie and I saw Cracker-Camper Van Bethoven there last night. It was an semi-electric show with help from the Hackensaw boys. Good times. Btw, you need to forgive my spelling on many of these posts. I don't have spell check on my blackberry and I was never the strongest speller. I try to concentrate on the message and proper grammer just distracts me.

Anyway, I probably have a few more pictures in of the boys ready to go that I'll try to post this week. Remember to check www.durpenters.org as well. I will send a few pictures a week to flickr and they show up on the right side of the site dynamically. I'll also try to post a short easter egg hunt video there later this week. Very entertaining.

More soon....
Mark Carpenter
General Manager and Director
Web Strategy and Operations
www.aarp.org
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld (www.BlackBerry.net)

Sam being attacked by bunnies. 

What the world needs now

More cracker

Cracker

At the birchmere

Dylan getting all excited about finding easter eggs in the yard.  

Successful Easter Egg hunt. The boys are displaying the eggs they harvested in the yard. They picked up the whole concept pretty quickly and would have gotten more eggs if Kumie wasn't knocking them down to get them first. Joseph, Ashton and Kumie joined us for brunch and the hunt. I have some good video of the whole event as well and will put together a dvd of the fun sometime soon. More later... 

Another 40th birthday party. Seems like someone is turning 40 everyday. Well, I guess they are, but it does seem all my friends are turning 40 at a rapid pace. This is Randella or her given name, Randy. I went up to Baltimore for a couple hours to celebrate with the gang last night. We are having few people over for an Easter Egg hunt this morning so I should have some good pictures for the blog and web site later this afternoon. More soon...