Long Ball


It's baseball camp this week and Blanca caught this home run swing by Dylan this morning. They appear to be picking up the idea of the game and as always enjoy running around with a bunch of other kids. We'll sign up for a baseball league next spring.

Lazy Afternoon

Lazy Afternoon
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

At modeans house in catonsville. The boys are playing horseshoes.

Happy 4th!

It stayed dry enough to see the fireworks at Lee District Park just down the road a mile. Good show and the boys are fast a sleep in bed. My turn next.

Wii Boxing

Wii Boxing
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

On a dreary kind of day. We got some sun at pool but it looks like rain now.

Bat Boys

Bat Boys
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Here we are at sports authority picking up some new baseball mits for next weeks baseball camp. Kind of a rainy weekend shaping up so far. Off to the pool for now.

Longest Chain of Shoes

So the shoes being laid out last night at National Geographic was a Guinness Book World Record for the longest chain of shoes. Yes, more than 10,500 shoes all tied together. I guess I witnessed history in the making. Here's a story and some better pictures of the earth shattering event.

http://www.nbc4.com/news/16771199/detail.html?rss=dc&psp=news

Lots of Shoes

Lots of Shoes
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

National Geographic seems to be rolling out a new outdoor display that includes lots of shoes in their driveway. It isn't done yet but looks interesting and messy at the same time.

Baby Beckhams

Baby Beckhams
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

At the dc united soccer game.

Mmmm pizza

Mmmm pizza
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

No game but tasty pizza.

No game

No game
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

But dinner out.

Chop Socky

Chop Socky
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

The gym then a little tae kwon doe. Hopefully a baysox game tonight depending on the weather. I'm taking the boys to a dc united game tomorrow to see beckham. Full weekend.

Crazy British Soccer Camp

Blanca had the flu this morning so I stayed home and took the boys to soccer camp. It was hot our there and those crazy British guys ran them hard. Nicole is home now and I'm heading to work for the afternoon. It was good to see the boys running around and getting the general idea of how to play soccer. They are going to be on team Ireland for the last day of camp tomorrow. It's the world cup.

Check out the pictures here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157605831363777/

Equalizer


Revamped Graphic Equalizer from Marcelo Costa on Vimeo.


Here's a fun little video with some funky music to brighten your day. I did just realize that I need to re-submit the picture for my last post about Baywood Greens. It's a lovely shot of the 18th tee box, fairway and clubhouse that got axed somehow. I'll do that later.

Baywood Greens

One of the nicest courses down the shore hon. We had never played it before because it's up near Rohobeth and Dewey which is further then the dozen courses about 5 miles from Steve's place in OC. I had a pretty good round going then threw my back out on the 11th hole and hobbled my way thru the last 7 holes. We proceeded to the Jam Session at the Bottle and Cork that night in Dewey and relived a typical Saturday night of 1o years ago. That was a good time but we were pretty much all done by the time we got back to OC. Bad back and unable to muster the energy to go out on a Saturday night. Sad.

Made it home yesterday around 2 after deciding I couldn't play another round of golf. I missed Nicole and the boys anyway.

Nothing to say

Nothing to say
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Goin to the jam?

Goin to the jam?
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Yes I am. Bottle and cork, Dewey Beach Delaware. I spent 6 summers here, now i'm old.

Happy hour

Happy hour
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

With bruce and stacey.

Late Nights, No More

Nicole got back tonight to a couple of happy little boys but the last couple nights of me allowing them to lay in bed with me and watch TV till 10 or 11 are over. They really liked the whole gig and I enjoyed their company as I read my kindle but it's really not sustainable to allow two 60 pound kids sleep with us. Just not enough room in a king bed.

I had a happy hour with the old WSO crew from AARP tonight and had a great time talking about days gone by. A lot of the crew has moved on but their are still a few people calling AARP home. We had some good times there and I will probably see these folks for years to come I hope.

I've recently noticed my blogging has slowed down a bit over the past few months and I need to do something about that. I'm finding that I'm not stopping enough to notice something stupid and taking a quick picture with my phone as often as I used to. I hate to think I'm always busy trying to get somewhere to bother to look around but I'm afraid that's what's happening. I'm going to try to change that in the next few weeks so prepare for pure stupidity. Good times...

Father's Day Frame

Father's Day Frame
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

The boys made me a ceramic frame for father's day and took me out to eat last night, well sort of. Nicole is in Berkeley so its all boys for the next couple nights. We will all be up late.

The Pirate Oath

Sam, Dylan and their friend Charlie in the red hat took the pirate oath with these other kids and a really hot pirate dude. It was 90 and really humid today at the Alexandria Waterfront Festival. This was their sixth trip which includes the first one when they were in Mama's belly. We met Charlies parent there and watched the kids ride a bunch of carnival rides and get all sweaty. We've been mostly indoors since getting back and staying cool.

Nicole and patty

Nicole and patty
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

At rem with very little light. Great concert by the way.

R.E.M

R.E.M
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

At merriweather post pavilion. Good stuff.

First Karate Class

Well, the Korean flavored version of the matial arts anyway. Taekwondo is the Korean National Sport and the boys were pretty good today. A couple kids got there first belt and one boy got an upgrade which made Sam all pouty because he wanted a belt too but I think he understands that it will take a few classes and some listening before he gets his first belt. An air conditioned karate studio was a good place to be for an hour on a hot day like today. 105 heat index, good times....

Standing Still

Standing Still
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

For the first time in months.

Tae Kwan Do

Tae Kwan Do
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

We are going to watch a kids class today to see if the boys have interest in taking a class this summer. Hi ya.

Fashion 101

Sam asked me to come upstairs with him tonight when I got home to get some fashion advice. He got down in front of his dresser and dug around a bit to find a red polo shirt with a Ralph Lauren logo on it and then asked me what shorts he should wear with that shirt. I said that I thought either jean or kaki shorts would probably work well so he laid the shirt out on the bed and grabbed two pair of shorts and compared them. We decided together that the kaki shorts were and red shirt were a much hotter combination and high fived on the decision. He made his underwear decision by himself but bunched the whole combo together and put them on his night stand.

This behavior and his desire to pick out my clothes in the morning shows a certain flare for fashion. Dylan likes to dress well too but doesn't seem to have a need to plan a day in advance. I have to admit, I think about what I'm going to where the night before but don't lay it out. Just some ramblings of an ever surprised papa.

Ace of Cakes

We went to dinner at Steve and Patty's on Saturday to enjoy a chef prepared meal and a wine barrel themed cake, complete with bunghole (the thing on the top) created by the people at Charm City Cakes. Yes, the Ace of Cakes for you food channel people. It was a nice night with lots of good food. We got home that night and found the 3 year old refrigerator had stopped working and ice was leaking on the floor. We moved everything downstairs and had a repair guy out tonight. It will be Saturday before he and the part can come back to fix it. It's tough to run to the basement to get what you want to eat. Could be worse.

I spent Sunday scheduling repairs for that, buying then installing a new cable model and battling with Cox Cable for three hours to get it back on the network. Fios can't arrive fast enough. But then again, Verizon sucks too. I'm going to build my own internet. I need some cable, lots and lots of cable....

Mario Kart

The boys do love Mario Kart on the Wii. They have been playing it on the DS for a year or so now but they totally dig the little wireless steering wheels and really cool graphics of this game. I let them play last night for about 45 minutes while I had a glass of wine and listened to some music upstairs. Having the Wii in the basement reduces the competition to watch either a kids show or play the Xbox 360 in the family room. Leaving it to me and Nicole for some grown up time. At least one grown up anyway.

Big Frog

Big Frog
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

My new office is across the street from National Geographic and they currently have a frog show going on. Not sure how similar it is to the one we took the boys to in nyc last summer but I bet they would get a kick out of it.

Beautiful day here on the east coast. On my way to get my colesteral checked. Needles = good times, not so much.

kindle

kindle
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

I forgot to blog about a new toy in the eletronics arsenal. This one is actually a Nicole birthday benefit. Adam sent kindles to me, Linda, Gil and Nicole for her birthday which was pretty sweet for us. Its a cool ebook ready device from amazon.com. The screen is something called digital ink and is not back lit like a typical laptop. You can read it at an angle and the whole thing is lighter than a paperback. It can hold hundreds of books, magazines, blogs and newspapers. You can listen to audio as well and it downloads the latest edition of whatever and allows you to buy books wherever you have a cell phone signal. Oh yeah, I can also send work documents to it via an email address for easy storage and reading. Very cool little device.

Ouch

Ouch
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Not a good round but it was a nice day.

Water Squirters

Water Squirters
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

The boys didn't want to leave the water guns in the car as it got washed. Off to Lowes next.

Haircuts!

The boys got some really short cuts today. Patrick wanted to go even shorter but we didn't want to get to close to a buzz cut. Just got down with a few games on the Wii. Hot Momma (her wii mii) beat me and the boys in bowling then I knocked her out in the third round of boxing. Dylan knocked Sam out in the 2nd as well. Had to turn the ceiling fan on high to keep us cool with all that action. Good times...

Snug as bugs

Sam has a habit of getting into Dylan's bed in the middle of the night or as soon as he falls asleep. I don't think Dylan minds much because he sleeps like a rock but usually gets crowded out eventually and moves over to Sam's bed.

Another Busy Week

Having to learn so much at once can really fill your brain space and take away from things like blogging semi interesting things I see on the street and other random thoughts. I'm finishing up week five on the new job and am starting to put some of the pieces together but have a giant list of things I need to do at home and in the personal life. I have been getting home most nights at a real reasonable hour and spending time with the boys but things like calling an electrician, plumber and contractor to do some maintenance and upgrades to the house have fallen way behind. I need to spend some time this weekend organizing some things and catching up with people.

Grandma Duritz and Aunt Florence were there this week so I had competition for kid attention. When Dylan was heading upstairs for a story Grandma was going to read before bed he said "Grandma, your the best" in a matter of fact kind of way. Florence and Linda played a little Wii bowling on Wednesday night and Florence pulled out a victory in the last frame. It's a fun game. Anyway, not much happening this weekend and I'm kind of looking forward to that.

Raining Again

Raining Again
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

On my way to Columbus for the day. Should be back in time for dinner.

The Mountains

We just got back from a quick weekend trip to Blue Ridge Mountains in Western Virginia. Basically, this is the Shenandoah area of Virginia and very beautiful. We stayed at the Massanuttin Resort, which turned out really well except for the food. You should definitely bring your own food when traveling here because the food situation on the resort is not good. Maybe restaurants in Harrisonburg are better but the restaurants on property are scary.

The condo was very nice and big and the trails, water park, go-kart track and giant arcade were great. I'd go there again. I swear we wore the kids out big time on Saturday but they just kept going and were up again at 7am this morning looking for more. We took the long way back today and stopped at Luray Caverns for a quick tour of the oldest caverns in Virginia. The boys liked it for the first 20 minutes but the hour tour started to drag and we couldn't understand a word the tour guide said. He didn't enunciate anything and it didn't matter if you were 20 feet away or standing right next to him.

Great birthday weekend for Nicole and the we topped it all off with some games on the new wii. I beat Nicole in our first bowling match by 3 points, let the reign begin.

Check out the pictures on Flickr.

The Tubes

The Tubes
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

At the Massanuttin water park. We spent all afternoon riding the slides and are back now for dinner. 4 mile hike on rocky terrain and about 25 trips up the three story slide complex has made mark a tired boy.

Top of Massanuttin

Top of Massanuttin
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Our morning hike has at about 3000 feet cell phone reception is still good. Beautiful day in western virginia.

Forgot

Nicole wanted to blog this picture of her in JuJu's birthday hat last night but she forgot the password to her own blog. I have nothing else to say today and I kind of like the green hat, orange wall shot in general so I'm posting it. I think Nicole had a great birthday with lots of cool gifts but I will let her blog about that. We are off to the mountains tomorrow for a quick get away and some hiking. No Wii until we get back and that's driving the kids insane. I didn't have in video games when I was a kid (obviously abused) and I turned out ok, in general. I think they will survive.

Happy Birthday Nicole

We all went out for a fairly grown up dinner at Stardust. At least the boys wanted to look grown up with their handsome jackets and I think they pulled it off pretty well. Dinner was good and we came home and to open a few presents. Nicole seemed to like my very thoughtful gift of a brand new Nintendo Wii. Yes, she is quite the gamer and actually was asking for one for months. It will be a ton of fun when I get it set up and will actually be something she will use particularily when I get the new Wii Fit setup.

I also sent flowers to work today but they didn't show up which kind of ruined the birthday surprise. I would not suggest anyone ever use FTD, ever again. THEY SUCK.....

Fancy Sam

Fancy Sam
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Sam trying on my jacket this morning. The boys have been into picking what I wear in the mornings lately. Today they made sure momma wore her shiney red dorothy shoes. They also brought her a big bunch of roses that they picked up with Blancas help yesterday. Happy birthday Nicole.

Ahoy Matey..

The Pirate Cruise today was a big hit and we got it in before the monsoon hit us around 4pm. The whole thing keeps the kids extremely busy trying to figure out how to find the treasure, complete with a map, message in a bottle and firing water canon at a pirate to get the keys to a treasure chest we find floating in the bay with a big x attached to it. We had lunch with Jud, Lisa, Maggie and Gage afterwords and then back home for a nap. It has rained 7 inches in four days in these parts. That's a lot of water and the lawn could now use some sun.

Here's a link to the whole set of pictures on flickr.

Hangin On

Hangin On
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

To winter that is. It got just chilly enough today to warrant one last fire until October or November. You can see dylan on the left surfing You Tube for chinese toy train videos on his laptop. He's turning into quite a computer geek. It won't be long before he has his own blog and you all stop reading mine. Pirate cruise this weekend, arggggg

First Happy Hour

Well, most of you know that I mean the first happy hour with my new colleagues at ACS. I'm a well known happy hour fly that hardly needs instruction in the successful happy hour, start early and end before clubbing time. The team in WSO planned and executed a great ACS get together at a place called Lime and I loosened up and had a great time with some of my new office mates.

Happy hour became a ritual at AARP for many years and they would tend to extend into the night because we knew each other so well and enjoyed having fun outside of work. This happy hour seemed like the beginning of all that. I met some new people and connected with some I met just a couple weeks ago. We are all older now and have more complicated lives but I get the impression that this group has potential to become close in our work and play making for a highly creative unit. Things are looking good.

PS, I think those pesky tent worms killed one of my trees, bastards.....