Bobbers

Great day to swim in Sylvan.

Tree Monkies

I played golf with Marsh and Finn while the rest of the clan went zip lining. They had fun, as did we.

Man Catch Fish

The boys caught some fish. Small fish and Dylan's could have been bait for a bigger fish but they had a good time. Karen caught a big northern and Finn caught a really big bass. Good day on the lake.

Mae

The last snow up north was eight weeks ago.

Gull Lake Selfie

Very good dinner last night at Maddens Lodge. Perfect first night up north.

First Night Dinner

We tried a new restaurant at Maddens. Very good with great views of Gull lake.

Healing Waters

I think it's important to swim in natural bodies of water every so often. Lake Sylvan was cold today but refreshing and recharged my Minnesota mojo.

Warriors

Dylan is working out with the Fort Hunt Warriors Rugby Club tonight and appears to be loving it. One could argue it's a more civilized game than American football.

Bye Bye Freshman

Last tests and the beginning of summer.

Finals

The boys start finals next week and then freshman year will be over. They both had a good first year as Eagles.

Search for he Source

Woke up to water coming down from the ceiling, on to the kitchen floor and onto the basement. We have not found the source yet but Servpro has been here to deliver fans and dehumidifiers and contractors are coming on Tuesday.

Last Orchestra Concert

Sam's last hurrah on viola.

Basketball Banquet

Sam got the most improved award. Seems fitting since he's the only freshman.

12 More Miles

I haven't taken a lot of photos lately but Nicole has been supplying many from her early runs on the photo stream. It's a low key long weekend for the Durpenters. Workouts, movies and games to watch.

Shoes at Dawn

Early runner gets a shot of the bridge from Old Town at dawn.

Last Concert

This is likely Dylan's last band concert. He still has to play at graduation but I won't be there to see it. Band lasted longer than I thought it would but it takes a whole block of school time that he wants to use for other stuff. 5 year's of sax is coming to an end.

Sam has his last concert next week. The music world mourns.

Devil Dog Double

Nicole ran a 5 mile race, followed by a 13 mile race on Sunday morning. I'm not sure why that's fun but she seemed to enjoy it. Got three medals out of the deal.

Ankle Issues

Sam did some damage to his ankle on Wednesday night basketball game. Game down on another players foot. The X-ray was clear but he's in a boot for the next few weeks as it heals. We were planning on traveling to Hampton for AAU games this weekend but will be home hiding from the rain instead.

Shearing

Sam got some of that reverse mullet chopped off yesterday. It will be cooler without it in the summer months.

Don’t Smile

Team Pro Look 15U. Tough looking bunch.

Hair

Sam and Nate showing how good man buns can look.

Early Run

This is what happens when you wake up and run at 4am.

Whiffle Ball Season

Never fails. It gets warm, turns green and the boys start playing whiffle ball. They were also throwing a real baseball around for a while and liked pretty good. It's been about two years since they last played baseball.

Spooky Nook

Sam and I drove up to Lancaster PA and in the middle of Amish country, you find the biggest sports center I've ever seen. 30 basketball courts, 4 indoor soccer and field hockey fields, an indoor baseball diamond, weight rooms, running tracks, a hotel, restaurant and bar as well as a food court and ginormous video arcade. Wild stuff. We lost our first game on Friday night, won the second this morning and have our third at 7 pm tonight. We are going to head home at the crack of dawn on Sunday.

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.