One of the things I love the most about being a part of this team is the way we all come together as a group… it’s almost more like a family than a team. And with such a great group of guys it’s hard to get upset about the outcome of a hockey game… win or lose, we will all still be sharing beers and laughing about something after the final whistle blows. And because we bring it for every game… we can celebrate once again as the 2019 Fairfax Hockey League Winter Division ‘B’ Champions.
The Fairfax Bulldogs Hockey Club – 2019 FHL Division ‘B’ Winter Champions
Wow, what a nice feeling it is to be back on top! After having more than several seasons of bad luck in the playoffs at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, we finally fielded a full team for the playoffs and managed to put together a complete 45 minutes of hockey to overtake team Red Rum for the Cup! Here are some photos from the locker room and post game celebration.
Ballston Tropics Hockey Club – Winter 2018/2019 MCIAHL Lower C Division Champions
One of the things that every student of the graduating Falcon Class at the River School has to participate in is the 3rd Grade Science Fair. Dylan’s science fair project was about the different types of fidgets that kids use to help them focus in the school classroom environment. He did an awesome job of researching his topic, running his own trials on real subjects and then coming up with a hypothesis… and he did this all on his own at school! We are so proud of his work and how well he is doing both socially and academically at the River School. Keep up the great work Dylan!
Here’s a huge shout out to all my mates on the Fairfax Bulldogs Hockey Team for an awesome 6-1 championship win in our FHL 2018 Summer Division ‘B’ Hockey League. Let’s keep up the winning streak boys!
The Fairfax Bulldogs – 2018 FHL Summer Division ‘B’ Ice Hockey Champions
So guess who just won the NHL Stanley Cup Championship? That’s right… these guys… The Washington Capitals!!! I was born and raised in Northern Virginia and have been a native my whole life, so it should come as no surprise that as a hockey player myself, I’m a life long fan of my hometown team… the Capitals! It feels like I’ve waited a life time for the Caps to find the right chemistry to make a true run at the Cup, but as early as January this year I knew we had something special happening on the ice. Here’s a shout out to all the players, coaches and staff for the Washington Capitals… Congrats Boys!! WE ARE ALL CAPS!!!!
I not the type of dad to force my son to do something or play a particular sport just because I like and play it. Instead, I try to give him the chances and opportunities figure out what he likes. My son’s interests in sports have changes so much over the years and forcing him to play hockey at an early age might have caused him to resent both the game and me, but I’m happy to report that he has shown an interest in trying to learn to skate, which as we all know, is the first step towards playing hockey. I’ll be okay if he decides he never wants to play organized hockey for a team, but it sure would be nice if one day he could strap on the pads and play in a pickup game with his old man!
‘The view from the outdoor deck at the Homestead Ski Lodge’ – Hot Springs, VA
Several months ago we were invited to go skiing for the long Presidents Day weekend. Our good friends, the Baur’s, have been going to Hot Springs, Virginia for years and this year they asked us to join them. Nether their son nor ours has ever been on ski’s before, and they have told us that this is a great place for kids to learn to ski. The Omni Homestead Resort, located about 45 minutes southwest of JMU in Hot Springs, is about a three and a half hour drive from DC and surprisingly classy for an older hotel. The rooms are moderately priced go fast, so you have to book well ahead of time to get a holiday weekend reservation. The ski area is small compared to most local ski resorts, but they do have a nice size ski lodge with several fire places, including an outdoor one on the deck, a bar and food service for lunch. There is only one double chair lift which will take you to either the midway-station or the top of the hill. After seeing the operation I would totally agree that for young beginner skiers, this is a perfect place for them to learn. The ski instructors here are young and really good with the kids. We had Dylan and his friend take two lessons and they absolutely loved it! By the end of the second day they were almost ready to go to ride the lift up to the midway-station. Considering this was Dylan’s first time on ski’s ever… I thought he did very well!
Thanks to the Americas Cup races being held in Bermuda this year, our condo at Tucker’s Point was already rented out for our normal end-of-school vacation week. So instead of booking another place on the island we decided to change thing up a bit and spend the week in the Bahamas. It’s been over ten years since we’ve been to Grand Bahama Island and since we didn’t plan on doing any shark diving on this trip we decided to do the tourist thing and hang at Paradise Island instead. This would be our first time staying at the Atlantis Resort since they completely finished the park, including the marina and Cove & Reef Condo’s in 2007.
The Reef Atlantis had some of the best reviews, so we opted for one of their deluxe suites for the week while we took in as much of the water park as we could handle. We had a fabulous week and the service at the resort was top notch! Our only gripe was that the food situation at the on-resort restaurants could have been handled better (it almost felt like you were in a chow line on a cruse ship), but we made the best of things and tried to eat out at the marina as much as possible. All in all it was a great trip and we will definitely be going back for more in the future. Here is the first installment of pictures (80 of them) from our trip to Atlantis… enjoy! (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
Here are a couple of pictures from Dylan’s school soccer team which he played on for one season. His current school doesn’t have any sports teams, so some of the parents from his class put together a Saturday morning soccer team to compete in the DC Stoddard Soccer League. I think this gave him just enough exposure to team sports to get him interested and I know he really enjoyed playing with his classmates. Hopefully he will continue to participate in competitive team sports and become more of a team player in the future.
Our finished backyard living space & in-ground spa – Arlington, VA.
After months and months of work, our backyard overhaul and remodeling project is finally complete. We went slightly over budget for this project, but we feel that the extra costs were worth it. Some of the upgrades included recessed lighting, new gates, a large stone walkway and a dedicated stone equipment pad. We also upgraded our deck with the newest Zuri wood composite decking and custom powder coated iron railings. We couldn’t be more pleased with how the project turned out… and we absolutely love our new spa! This is the final installment of photos for our backyard project… enjoy! (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)