Hoya Hoops

The weather was brilliant once again today. 80s and sunny.

We look a leisurely start to the day today except for Purna who was in the gym before any of us got going. I had a bit of work to do on the computer that morning so once I had finished all of that we all went to Georgetown University to watch the school's basketball team play in a summer league game. The Hoyas are ranked as the sixth best team in the nation and a number of their best players, destined for the NBA upon graduation, play in an informal league whose games are free. We had a chance to see Jeff Green who will be a top pick in the coming draft as well as newcomers Dajuan Summers and Vernon Macklin who also seem to have big futures in front of them.

We also had a chance to walk around the Georgetown University campus and we all got Hoya T-shirts.

Back at the apartment, we spent the evening on the roofdeck, grilling at the barbecue and enjoying the view. There's a lot of construction going on around my apartment, as you can tell from the picture, but there's no construction Sundays so we had a pretty quiet dinner.

All Pictures at Flickr.com

Chairman Purna and Birthday Brownies

We woke up early this morning to play ultimate frisbee in Virgina. Ultimate is game that involves a lot of running and team work. I wish I had a picture or two to share, but we were so busy running around that we didn't get a chance to take any. In the first game, Purna and I played on the same team, but the second time around all three of us got to play together. It was only Sanjeev's second time playing, but after the three of us starting playing together we really started to play well. Purna even scored.

After the game we ran a few errands, picking up a few items that would be important today because... it's Nora's birthday. The boys picked up some flowers that Nora just loved. We also went to the market for groceries.

I also took the boys to my office to show them the Judiciary Committee. Although without a gavel, Purna looks right at home in the Chairman's seat.

We had a great lunch/dinner around four pm that Nora put together complete with birthday brownies.

Afterwards we spent a couple hours at the 50 meter pool to swim and catch some sun. It was really nice out today. In the high 80s with a nice breeze.

Being Nora's birthday, the grownups went out to celebrate and the kids stayed home with pizza and watched movies. Those guys have some appetite.

All Pictures at Flickr.com

Arrival and Horseback Riding

Purna and Sanjeev arrived at Washington National Airport today a little after noon and upon their arrival we immediately set out to my friend Reuben's stables in rural Maryland. Reuben is an intern at the House Judiciary Committee and works pretty closely with me. His family trains horses and competes in show jumping. Although Reuben and his family are heading to Canada tomorrow, he suggested that the boys come by to ride horses before they leave town.

Poolesville is well outside the city limits, but it was worth the drive. Reuben's family has about 15 or so horses on over 100 acres of land. After we met his mom, Reuben picked out some horses for us and put their saddles on. It was Sanjeev's first time on a horse and I had forgotten some of the basics so Reuben gave us a lesson and we were off.

After crossing a road and going down a trail, we came across an open stretch of land and took them cantering back and forth. Sanjeev adjusted really well and seemed pretty confident for his first ride. I have to admit that, like riding a bike, after a few minutes riding seemed natural as if I had just gone last week. What I had forgotten was how sore your butt can get after a lot of trotting or cantering.

Upon returning to the stables we watched Reuben ride one of the show horses in some jumping exercises and then the Goetzl's put us right to work washing off the horses and taking them out to the corral. It might have been more work than we were expecting, but seeing as how we seldom get to ride horses, it seemed like a pretty fair deal.

We stopped for some dinner on the way back at a Peruvian place in Maryland. Arriving in DC, Purna and Sanjeev met Nora, got settled in, and then headed off to the gym in our building. Everyone was feeling a bit tired from all the day's activity, and although it's a late hour now, we are planning to get up tomorrow morning around 8:30 am to play soccer in the park.

Tomorrow is Nora's birthday so we'll help her celebrate and take plenty more pictures. I will also swing by my office to pick up the contraption which allows me to copy pictures from my camera to my computer so I can add pictures to this post later tomorrow.

We'll post again on Saturday. Hope everyone is doing well. Catch up with you all soon.

All Pictures at Flickr.com