Life In Pictures

I take pictures for myself and my family, and I like to share some of them online. And then they sit on my phone for months if not years. So today, I'm putting together a post showing some of the things I saw and did over the last few months.

I took my kids to a high school baseball game in the late spring, and Pedro Tulo noticed the ring of the guy sitting next to us. It turns out that he is a retired baseball scout who spent most of his career in the Detroit Tigers organization. This ring is from the team winning the American League in either 2006 or 2012. I ended up talking with him for much of the game but the conversation mostly focused on Northern Virginia high school baseball. He still likes going to games.

The Baseball Project is a band who sings songs about baseball. They have a song about Ted Williams. A song about how Dale Murphy should be in the Hall of Fame. The video below is part of a song about Harvey Haddix and perfect games from when I saw them in September. I should probably mention that two members of The Baseball Project are Peter Buck and Mike Mills. They were also in another band you may have heard of called R.E.M.

To various degrees, my kids are all obsessed with sports. So every once in a while, I try to mix in a little culture. Twice over the last few months, I was able to mix sports and culture. In June, I took The Moose to Round House Theatre to see a 2-man show titled "King James." The show takes place in Cleveland and has four quarters: LeBron James' rookie season, after LeBron leaves, when he returns, and when the Cavs win the NBA Championship. Yes, there's plenty of sports talk, but the show is really about the relationship/friendship of the two characters over this time. 

Then, last month, I took The Moose and Pedro Tulo to see a revival of Damn Yankees at Arena Stage. I had never seen the show before, but I really enjoyed it. I'm also a big fan of seeing theater in the round. The run of Damn Yankees ended in DC, but I think the plan is for the show to go to Broadway. Both shows were big hits for the kids. 

In early September, I saw Ben Schwartz (Parks & Recreation, The Afterparty, the voice of Sonic) & Friends do an improv show at the MGM National Harbor. I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time. Highly recommend seeing the show if they are in your neighborhood. It's improv, so every show is completely different. For those who saw the show in the DC area, you may remember the "Attentive" song for years.

Oh, I definitely did not expect to see a Steelers' Crosby jersey at the show!

I went to a late-season Nationals-Pirates game with the lowest attendance I had ever seen at Nats Park. We also shared an elevator with the Nats mascot, Screech. I have some pictures of him posing with my kids, and um, this one of the mascot avoiding the paparazzi. Also not pictures is my kids getting pictures or autographs with Spencer Horwitz and Cam Devanney of the Pirates.

As a staff development activity, we did some painting. Even though my pumpkin doesn't look quite like the model, I'm very proud of my work. This could be worth thousands some day!

Try to guess which one is mine!