I got some great shots today at Summers Farms Pumpkin Patch. Kumie and Joe joined us for the third annual pumpkin romp and I got some really good shots of the boys. I've uploaded them to Durpenters.org but have not added the link yet. I'm hoping Kumie will do a little coding magic and get the shots on the front page sometime on Sunday. This patch was pretty good compared to the last two. I would say we'll go back next year but I think we need to keep looking for new ones. Nicole and I are watching Sideways again. It's making me thirsty. 

Golf tournament

Golf tournament
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Augustine

It's Thursday and I'm playing golf tomorrow. It actually looks like it isn't going to rain either. Jud is having his annual Dynamic Business Interiors golf outing at Augustine and I'm looking forward to hitting the little white ball around. I haven't been out for almost a month now, so I hope I won't suck but it really doesn't matter. The pumpkin patch outing is Saturday so I should have a ton of new pictures to share Saturday night or Sunday.

It's starting to look a lot like fall out there. We sent out our annual Halloween party invitations a couple hours ago. I apologize for missing anyone who reads this. It's very hard to remember everyone we should invite. More soon..

Here's Sam styling in his red hood. Btw, it's still raining here. It's been raining on and off for 6 days. 6 weeks of no rain to 8 inches in 6 days. Go figure 

We came home today as the boys were walking back from the park. I guess it looked like rain since they were decked out in their fireman raincoats and boots. This is Dylan lookning pretty dry.  

Forgot

Nickel Creek reminds me of Thom Househlder. Thom is from Tennesee and would have loved the show. I hope they have bluegrass up in Maine Bob.

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

Nickel Creek

Just saw Nickel Creek at the Rams Head Live in Baltimore with Kumie, Jud and Joseph. Fantastic show! If you don't know Nickel Creek, they are a funky little bluegrass band with a ton of great music. Rams Head Live was a cool little music bar as well. I haven't been there before, in fact its been a couple months since I'd been to Baltimore. It reminded me of when Jud and I used to spend every weekend in Baltimore with our friends Randy ad Steve. That was quite a few years ago but some good times.

No picture of the show. Forgot my phone and small camera.

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

I love Halloween. I think it's my favorite holiday. I got out some of the spooky stuff to hang around the house today. The boys seem to like it and are asking for more stories about spooky pumpkin, scary skeleton, goulish ghost, wacky witch and wiedo wolfie. They almost always go to spooky mountain on spooky train and go in a spooky tunnel where barney bat lives. I can tell these types of stories for a long time.

More decorating later this week and we will do the annual trip to the pumpkin patch on Saturday assuming we get some nice weather. It rained almost 7 inches on Friday and Saturday. The first time ever in the records books of two days of 3 inches of rain in a row. The basement stayed dry to whole time. I heard the pumps working on Saturday, keeping my technology investments nice and dry.

More soon.....

Dylan with his new pumpkin specs. Pretty hot for the season. We picked these up at the Airport today. Just did a little Metro trip to Washington National to shop at Brooks Brothers, get some coffee, walk around and buy pumpkins glasses. Grandma Linda went with us and she just left California an hour ago. Back to work tomorrow but I do have a golf game set up for Friday. More soon... 

This is the Columbus Circle fountain where Mike was taking some portfolio shots last night. If you look at this sleeping gentleman, he's not a bum. Nice suit, nice watch just really messed up and needing to take a nap before going home.

The trip to New York yesterday went really well and we had a number of really productive meetings and a lively dinner with some of the publications advertising sales staff. Mike Lee, being the blogger that he is mangaged to cronicle the trip with some good photos. You can see them here

http://hiptop.bedope.com/?FILTER=zyrr@gznvy.pbz&

I took some pictures last night too and will see if I got any good ones today.

Hey, I'm still here just been busy. Work is busting my butt right now in so many ways. I think G. Gordon Liddy said "Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" Heading to New York for the day tomorrow. Have some cool meetings set up with with some major players in the interactive marketplace and I get to spend some time with my friends in the AARP Publications Sales office. Linda is in town and the boys have started ignoring me and paying attention to Grandma. More soon...

Lake accoteek

Lake accoteek
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

More lake fun

Stump

Stump
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Lake accotink

10-02-05_1230.jpg

10-02-05_1230.jpg
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Boating

Morning run

Morning run
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Lake accotink

This is me in my office wearing my new shirt from Elaine. Kumie took this shot after I had to explain to her how to take a picture. Not bad really. I really like the shirt and got a bunch of compliments on it today. This is the week Nicole and I would have been in New Orleans for the AARP Member Event. We just got done watching "Street Car Named Desire" in honor of the fine city. So we have a weekend with nothing really planned instead. I think we'll enjoy the fall weather and do a lot of nothing. More soon... 

Here are some shots from the baseball game on Sunday. They are wearing their Mickey Mouse hats here but uncle Brandt bought them Nationals hats later in the game. I really think they were watching this game while last year when we saw the O's and Twins, they were mostly not paying attention. Baseball is fine, as long as it doesn't distract them from football.

More soon...

Here are a few shots from a great weekend with the Carpentandys. We got a lot in in a short amount of time but still missed a some monuments and museums they will have to visit during the next trip. Nicole and I are back to work and the boys have sinus infections. This is the week we were suppose to be in New Orleans for the AARP Member Event. You would think we would have big blocks of time open on our calendars but we don't. The days seem to have been filled up with new meetings and appointments.

We took the boys to a Nationals game on Sunday and they made a whole 7 and a half innings. Sam told me that he wanted to see another baseball game someday. He and Dylan liked the fireworks that blew off behind the stadium at the beginning of the game and at the 7th inning stretch. I also explained that if the ball went over the outfield fence, the fireworks would go off again. He really wanted to see that home run and kept telling the batter to hit it there. I have a few pictures of the boys at the game I will try to post tomorrow.

More soon.....

Yesterday we went to Ft. Hunt Park and had a little picnic. The boys ran and ran until they couldn't run anymore. It was an overcast day with some drizzle so we all napped a little in the afternoon and then went out again to a playground and for pizza. The grown-ups watched the new smash hit on MTV, Sweet Sixteen. Yes, its all about really rich 16 year olds getting $200,000 sweet sixteen parties. It's messed up. Baseball game today. 

We had a successful trip to the Air and Space Museum Annex up near Dulles. The boys loved all the airplanes and the space to run. I took a lot of shots and will post some later.. I think they are all taking naps now. Much needed rest..  

This is old Bill posing next to his space on the wall at the Palm Restaurant in Boston yesterday. Bill, runs the E-business Executive Council I have participated in for the last few years. I went up to Boston on Wednesday night for the council dinner and met with the crew on Thursday. Got home last night right when Rachel, Brandt and the kids showed up. We are heading out to the Dulles Air and Space Museum. Big planes for little boys. Should wear the triplets our a tad...

My favorite new site is del.icio.us It is a social bookmark manager site that allows you to tag your sites with keywords and share bookmarks between my multiple machines and with others. Try it out, it's good stuff.

Sam, Dylan and I watched some home movies from the past couple years that I have stored in my media center pc. I switched around a bunch but we saw some of the Chinese New Year parade we went to in February, some film of my mom and the boys in the baby pool last month, some of their second birthday and some film from the nicu when they were born. It's really easy to view this stuff with the media center and a big digital tv attached. It's just a few clicks of the remote and you can watch hours of home video. Sam really seemed to like it and had a big smile on his face the whole time. I wonder if seeing these film early and often will effect their childhood memories in adulthood. Like will they actually remember the parade they saw when they were two if they see it a couple dozen times in the next few years. I don't know but with as much still photography and video I'm taking of these boys, they should have a rich bunch of data about themselves.

Rachel, Brandt and the kids are coming this weekend so I should have some good pictures this weekend.

I need some cool shades from the boys here to protect myself from the corporate world discovering the power of web 2.0. Wish me luck.....

Flying

Flying
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Dylan

Flying

Flying
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Sam

Wow, it's been a few days since I posted so I'm giving you the boys in sunglasses fun shot. It's been a long week and we are looking forward to seeing Rachel, Brandt, Finn and Mae next week and will be getting things ready for the visit this weekend. Not like we have a lot to do but we have a few chores to do to prepare for guests. The boys and I listened to the Black Eyed Peas as we modeled the latest in eyewear this evening. The first song on that album rules and Sam is a big fan but Dylan still seems to prefer Green Day. Rock on...... 

This is the ceiling of the Aztec Room where we had our meetings the last couple days at the Arizona Biltmore. I'm home now and happy to have received a couple new gifts for my birthday. A Taylor Made hybrid golf club from my parents and a couple of bottles of nice wine from Brandt and Rachel. Looking forward to hitting the wine and opening the club. You know what I mean. I now have the same cold that Nicole, Dylan then Sam got. This should be fun.  

Had a wonderful time at the AARP National Advertising Sales Confernece at the Biltmore in Arizona. These people know how to have a good time. The hotel is fantastic and designed by Frank lloyd Wright. I have a ton of photos that I'll post later this week if I get a chance but right now, I'm looking forward to getting back to the boys. More soon.......... 

Pool break

Pool break
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Arizona biltmore

Dylan really enjoyed the cup cakes yesterday. My birthday weekend was a bunch of fun. Had drinks with a bunch of my staff on Thursday night and had dinner with the Euro guys later. Played golf on Friday morning and hit an 82 which was good enough to beat Terry for hte first time this year. Had dinner with Kumie, Joseph, Micheal, Pattay and Steve at Vermillion. I also opened a bunch of cool gifts, including: wine glasses from Linda and Gil, a great shirt and pullover from Aunt Elaine, some candy from the boys and Blanca, a PC programmable universal remote from Kumie, a fantastic brief case and overcoat from Nicole and I know I have a few more gifts on the way. Good times... thanks to everyone. I just loaded 55 pictures to www.durpenters.org from Labor Day in Minnesota. Enjoy.

We had dinner last night at Vermillion, a funky Alexandria eating and drinking establishment. Kumie, Joe, Micheal, Pattay and Modean met us there. Good times but I was ready to sleep after a late night  

First Day of School



They were so excited we couldn't get them to sit still for a real portrait but I got the top one of them walking into class. I chopped off the tops of their heads but this is the best shot I could get. Nicole has already picked them up and they did fine. I'm sure in high school they will be whining about having to get up early and go to school like I did, so we should be happy they are so excited right now. Next week they will start going for the full 3-4 hours.

I'm going out tonight for a pre-birthday drink or two. Golf tomorrow and dinner with a few folks in Alexandria after that. I'm getting old and my joints hurt.

More soon.

The boys waiting for a train in Wayzata Minnesota. The track runs along Wayzata Bay of Lake Minnetonka, home of many teen age boating stories. In fact, this is where I kept my boat when I owned one in my early twenties. Good times...