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.

Spring Snow

We finally got a reasonable snow storm in this winter of the dc snow hole. Most storms either hit south or north of us. While 4-6 inches is not crippling, it is a welcome taste of winter on this 2nd day of spring. I returned from New Orleans a day early to avoid travel issues and an sitting with the whole family at home with a fire going in the fireplace.

Morning Walks

I have gotten up early the last couple of days and walked the French quarter. I found a nice little cafe about a mile and a half from the hotel on Frenchman street and eaten a healthy breakfast then zigzagged my way back to burn it off. It's amazing how quiet some of the quarter is just blocks from bourbon street. It's a very pretty city with an air of decay that you know will eventually overcome all the attempts to hold it back. It's only a question of when.

New Orleans

Calling this place home for a few days. I'm gonna stay with official business today. The saint Patrick's day craziness has already started and it only 10am.

Hype Squad

Dylan and Sam can be seen on the left part of this image getting ready to cheer on the Edison Girls Varsity basketball team in their state championship game. I know they both wish they were playing but supported the program like they should.

Girls Final

The boys lost their semi final game on Tuesday but the girls won. We are all in Richmond cheering for the Edison girls in the state final. Go Eagles!!

Final Four

The boys are heading to a state semi final game against our division foe Wakefield on Tuesday after beating the #1 rated team in the state of Virginia. The winner on Tuesday goes to the state final in Richmond.

Yesterday's game had a fair amount of drama attached with the bus getting caught behind a downed, high tension power line that fell on interstate 64 outside of Charlottesville. They ended up sitting n the highway for 3 hours and arriving for the game an hour and 15 minutes late. Nicole, Dylan and I drove down in 70 mph gusts of wind and downed trees along along route 29 but were unscathed. The drive home was trickier but we made it back by 1am.

The eagles played well when they finally got to the gym. They warmed up for 30 minutes minutes and then pressed Albemarle High School until they broke. We trailed the entire game until going up by 1 with 3 minutes left then building an 8 point winning margin. It's fun but stressful. Tuesday will be no different.

Big Hair

Sam is ending his time in orchestra next year because it just isn't conducive to sports and some electives he's interested in. It's too bad because he was getting pretty good but he doesn't love it.
See if you can find his floppy blond hair in this shot.

Oh Man

The eagles played a nearly perfect game last night in the Regional final against division rival Wakefield. The have had our number all season but we stayed neck and neck with them all night even after the refs decided to tip the balance with a ridiculous bench technical which resulted in a 4 point swing. The refs had no business playing that much of a role in a close game when their foul calls were obviously questionable. They can make poor calls and they all do at times but don't throw the game for a minor outburst after two really questionable blocking fouls that could have could easily been called charges. The refs on Thursday night ignored two big outbursts from the Stone Bridge coach because they wanted the kids to determine the outcome. The refs last night seemed to be more concerned about their own feelings.

Regardless, we tied it up with 17 seconds left but let their senior star score on a nice drive to win the game. This picture is of a bunch of really pissed off Regional runner ups with their trophy.

At this point, we are either traveling to Charlottesville or Harrisonburg for a state quarter final game next weekend and if we win that, we may be right back to playing Wakefield in a semi-final matchup.

State Bound

The Eagles played a good three point shooting team tonight but held them in check for a 65-51 victory. Stone Bridge came in with a higher state ranking and a little attitude but got run to death by the Eagle defense and fast break offense. They had 3 or 4 really good shooters but they all seemed to lose their legs by the 4 quarter.

We have a regional final tomorrow that will decide our seed in the state tournament and whether we get a home game or not. Regardless of tomorrow's outcome, we will be playing at home or somewhere else in the great state of Virginia next Saturday.

Go Eagles!!!

It’s Up

Sam actually got this shot off and was not fouled. It seems like it would be a block or a foul but it wasn't. #23 is about 6-6!i believe.

Regional Win

The Eagles played extremely well tonight against Tuscadora from Loudon County. Beating the Tusky's 84-64 for their first win in the regional tournament. They have the National District 2 seed and in other good news, the number 1 Potomac district seed lost to the Potomac Division 5th seed, meaning we don't need to drive out past Dulles for the next game on Thursday. That saves at least 90 minutes of rush hour pain and gives the Eagles a double home game (lady eagles are playing at home too) with lots of loud fans.

Sam got a few minutes in the win and had a couple of rebounds and a very nice move underneath for a bucket.

Volleyball Madness

Dylan and Nicole went down to the convention center to see some volleyball yesterday. It's a yearly event with nearly 300 courts in action. Two friends of the boys were playing on different teams and Nicole got to hang out with some girlfriends too (Hanna and Carrie).

Fly Guy

Flyer is visiting for a few days. I don't think he slept at all last night, nor did I.

0-3

Sam got some minutes and a couple points in the third straight loss to Wakefield this season. That team defiantly has a height advantage and they are quick but the Eagles shot about 30% from the field while Wakefield was closer to 60%. We seem to save our worst shooting for this team and it's possible we will see them again in regionals.

A Quarter

Sam was in the entire 4th quarter of the Eagles 60-33 district playoff win against Stuart last night. The win puts them in a semi final game against Wakefield tonight but also puts them in the regional tournament starting next week. Wakefield will be a little tougher opponent.

Cookie

The had to share mommas valentine cookie. Poor kids.

Old School

We went to Edison to watch their old coaches 6th grade team play. I seems like they were playing 6th grade basketball the other day.

Half Head

Nicole needs to work on getting her full head in these shots. I believe this is in front of the George Washington Masonic temple in old town.

Last Game

The freshman season is officially a wrap. Dylan played hard against a tough Wakefield team but the boys lost by a dozen. The Wakefield coach obviously wanted to win since he only played 7 of his 16 kids. Freshman basketball is supposed to be about everyone getting in the game and improving, but our coach kept two kids benched the whole game too. He tried a little harder than the Wakefield coach. The freshman standings are not posted or shared anywhere and their are no playoffs. Not sure why these coaches exclude kids for no reason. Maybe it's about them more than the kids. As orange Julius would say, sad.

Auto Fun

Grandma, grandpa, Nicole, Dylan, Jenna and I went to the auto show on Sunday. Nicole needs a new car this year and grandma is getting another Subaru. Dylan would like a Ferrari or something similar. Sam stayed home and will get nothing, and like it.

Morning Bridge

Nicole ran over the Woodrow Wilson bridge early this morning and got this pretty shot of Old Town. I enhanced it a bit.

Ballers

The freshman boys lookin tough.

Disappointing

The Eagles lost a close one to Marshall last night. They seemed to abandon their strengths and fall into Marshall's game but what do I know, I was in Dallas. Sam got some playing time and kept their big man in check.

Where’s Waldo

Nicole and I made the Edison home page this week. You can obviously see Sam with the basketball team but Nicole and I are in the background somewhere.

25 K

Nicole and Patty ran a 25 kilometer trail race today. It was cold but I think it went well. They are stuck in traffic in northern Maryland currently.

First Start

Coach decided to start Sammy against TJ last night. First start for his high school career and he won the tip and played hard against a scrappy TJ squad. It was fun to see him announced and come out in the pre-game routine. He got 7 or 8 minutes total but the TJ student section chanted his name a bunch of the game. I guess they wanted to see more of the freshman varsity player. The Eagles won 81-69.

Carpet

We had new carpet put in on Monday and what a painful process that was. The entire second floor is wall to wall and the family room on the the first floor. Had to move everything to the wood floor portions of the house or basement, then endured 12 hours of installation. This happening after School had been cancelled for the third day in a row and we all had no where to retreat to besides the basement.

Now, you don't feel like you can walk on the floors in fear of getting the carpet dirty. I may have liked the 15 year old stained carpet better.

Hey Coach

Sam wants permission to shoot a three.

Inside Move

Sam taking on a 6 and a half foot jaguar.

Jags

The freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity all beat Falls Church last night. Here's Dylan looking for someone to break for the basket.

Happy New Year

We spent the early evening at the McCarrick's house just like the past 8 years then rang in the new year at home in front of the fire.