Dawg

Sam committed to be a Drake University Bulldog on Saturday night. Exciting times and the realization the boys are heading out into the world in a few short months.

Christmas Sweater

Nicole helped Rocky try on his new Christmas sweater and bow tie at Robbies last night. He's ready for the holidays.

Bulldog?

Only time will tell. Sam enjoyed his visit to Des Moines and Drake this weekend and may decide to be a Bulldog in the next week or so. He's doing an official football video visit with them now and we had a perfect day to do the self guided campus tour yesterday.

Robbie and Rocky

Visited Robs and Rocky tonight after a full day of touring Drake and Des Moines. It was nice seeing her and the house where we used to come as kids and hang with the cousins. Everyone masked up, except Rocky.

Post Halloween Gathering

Lots of lit pumpkins for an early morning run.

Birthday Friends

The boys and their friends after a nice dinner in old town. It was the real birthday night after an actual birthday night with football games going til 10:30.

And.......Biden/Harris. Hopefully the games of the current admin won't make this transition difficult.

Happy Birthday

The boys turned 18 today. Some sleepless nights all that time ago but then again, I have trouble sleeping now at times, hoping they are alright.

It's clear that the hair I have left is much more gray these days from all the fun. 

I love you boys and look forward to watching you become adults. 

Sent from my iPhone

Vote

She voted weeks ago, I voted this morning and waited about 30 minutes. Now we wait.

Spooky

Some nieghbors go all in for Halloween. Nicole and I walked the hood after dark and found a ton of great decorations and plenty of goals and goblins. The boys both out and at different parties.

Pumpkin Warming

It's getting down to 39 degrees tonight. Perfect Halloween weather.

The Patch

Grabbing some pumpkins after a hard day of home schooling.

Concentration

Wet and cold but he had a great first practice.

Marine Corp Marathon

Nicole ran a virtual MCM today with a small group of friends. Virtual in the sense that it was not run with thousands of others with a common route. It was 26.2 miles around the streets of northern Virginia. They decide to meet up at the traditional ending point and celebrate.

Interception

Our friend Carrie got a few pictures of the last flag game in probably forever. Here's Sam intercepting a ball intended for the guy it was intended for with his mouth wide open in dis-belief. We lost this game but the boys had fun with each other and the other team. Sam knew a few of the Panthers from football and basketball and the smack talking was thick but well meaning. The Panthers are by far the best team in this little flag league but it was a fun thing to do on Saturday mornings in the time of COVID.

Flag Fellas

They didn't win a lot of games but they finally had the whole crew together for one last go. Time to burn those Packers jerseys.

Mary Washington

Dylan and Nicole went down to Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg yesterday to tour campus and meet the rugby team. Dylan ended up practicing a bit with the boys and spent time afterwards learning more about the team and University. One of his old team mates from Fort Hunt is on the team and he really likes the whole scene down there. It is definitely on the list of schools right now and the benefit to Nicole and I is it's only an hour drive south.

One of Twenty Five

Dylan tried out for the Old Glory Academy with a 120 kids on Sunday and ended up being one of the 25 they invited to be part of the team. In case you aren't up on how professional sports academy's work, I added some language from their website.  

"As Old Glory becomes established as a professional organization in USA Rugby and the MLR, it is important we start growing the franchise's high-performance pathway," said Head Coach Andrew Douglas. "The Old Glory Academy is an essential step in that pathway. It gives high school players a genuine avenue to professional rugby. It exposes them to professional coaching and practices that will not only make them successful rugby players but, more importantly, better people."

It will be a lot of practices for now but they plan to play the other professional clubs academy teams up and down the east coast this summer. Dylan is pretty excited to be chosen and can't wait to get started, which would be this coming Sunday. 

Sent from my iPad

Study Pals

A group shot of the remote study group in North Carolina. I think they had a good time and hopefully kept their grades up.

Old Glory

Dylan participated in the DC Rugby clubs Academy try outs today. This would be a junior team for the professional rugby club Old Glory which started a couple years ago. He looked good in all the drills.

Spooky

Oldtowne haunts.

Remote Study

Sam is doing school remotely with friends and parents of friends in Duck , North Carolina this week. This activity may be associated with gym class, not sure.

Forrest Bathing

I took advantage of a cool fall day to get a 5 mile hike in the woods. Not a lot of color yet but plenty of signs of color to come.

First Fire

It's only 55 degrees but I got a whiff of someone else's fire in the general vicinity and decided to build my own. Had the chimney sweep here on Tuesday so the flue is nice and clean.

Coach Cory

Cory has coached the boys in flag football since they were 4 feet tall. Now Cory is the ankle biter. He has agreed to coach the Edison 7's football team in a league at the indoor St. James facility. Its nice to have some sort of Friday football back and the boys won both games. Sam is still nursing a hamstring and played assistant coach but Dylan is back at it after his own hamstring issues. Go Eagles.

Bridge

Early run under the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Girls Run Wild

Nicole's running buddies that meet at 4:30am to run most days of the week. Old Town is clearly quiet that time of day.

Halloween Season

Some neighbors are getting into the Halloween grove.

Drake

Sam got his first Division 1 offer tonight. He's rather excited and interested in spending four years in Des Moines.

Hiking Weather

We've had 4 days of perfect Fall weather which means more walks in the neighborhoods and parks for me. Nicole walks and runs in most weather.

Vote Nasty

One of us got their vote in early.

Notorious RBG

Nicole and Dylan went down to mourn at the Supreme Court last night. Sad time for America.

2021

Dylan and friends at a winery out west without the wine. It was a beautiful fall day to head to the foothills of the blue ridge for pictures.

Never too Early

I believe Halloween season starts on September 1st. So does this person or they really did leave the kid out too long.

Changing Seasons

The days are getting shorter and the runs longer. Early morning pictures it's the pumpkin man.

School’s Going Well

First week of distance learning done and hoping they can get back in the classroom soon because this will not be effective all year.

12th Grade

No drive or bus ride to school this year.

Getaway

We all went out to Bryce Mountain in western Virginia for a night. Our friends the Lorenger's have a great house on the slopes but summer offers a lakes, hiking and a fire pit. The weather is starting to cool down and it's even nicer in the mountains. Good way to close out summer and get back to school tomorrow, online.

Little Chair

The boys got physicals today so that they could start phase 3 football practice with an actual ball. Based on the furniture in their doctors office, it may be time to move on from their pediatrician. They are both well.

Morning Fog

Nicole had a screening procedure at 6:45am this morning and I used the time to get a three mile walk. Some soccer clubs were taking advantage of the last of the early summer light to play some games. It's warm and humid now but feeling more like Fall this weekend. Nicole's procedure went well and doesn't need to starve herself for two days for another 5 years.

Rugby Workouts

We got some Fall feeling weather on Sunday which was perfect for some early training. We are just hoping a rugby season happens this year. Dylan is ready.

Butterfly Effect

Running happy.

Turbulence

It's been a difficult month in a general status of the world kinda way. The pandemic still has us in its grip, the political world is as messed up as it's ever been and violence is everywhere. I haven't posted much this month because we aren't traveling very much and the days tend to be a little repetitive. We are getting to the gym, going on runs, working out with our teams and seeing some friends but the general flow is a little messed up. Let's hope September brings some cooler air and sense of hope for the future.

Arms

Nicole and I have been working out with a trainer the past few weeks and she has helped us find muscles we didn't know we had. That's her smirking at Nicole doing some curls.

Champs

Sam's 7's team won their tournament yesterday. It's was much cooler than the tournament in Florida in June and Sam played all 7 games opposed to the 3 plays, one catch and a pulled hamstring of Orlando.

Socially Distant

Sam and I toured Bloomsburg University and talked with the football department. Great program, good school and nice Pennsylvania town. We dropped the masks for a few minutes to get the picture in Husky Stadium.

Kitty

This is one of the other three wild animals we are watching this week. This is the only one of the three cats that comes out when we arrive to walk the dog.

Oh Deer

This guy was waiting for Nicole in our driveway this morning at 5am. His spouse was across the street.

Grange Movement

Sent from my iPhoneNicole walked while Dylan practiced in Great Falls this morning and happened upon this community building built on 1929 as part of the Grange Movement. Basically a building designed to promote family and community. It's listed as a National Historic Landmark and still in use today.

Doggie Daycare

We are watching this energetic dog for the next 10 days at his house. It's to big and excitable to stay with us at this point. He was here for a bit yesterday and we may try again at some point. He's a beast.

Night Runners

Nicole's, heat beating, early runs continue with the Mom's group.