PeteSamMemories

Mom drove out to Harrisonburg after school to pick up Pete. He made it back in time to play his trumpet with Sam and the band at the Broad R...

Sam scooped up some snow from the back deck and was eating it. Dad had a bite, and decided he would get a whole cup. This eventually escalat...

Pete signed his lease today and is officially set for his housing next year. Apparently he seems to like going to JMU (or at least hopefully...

Sam and Dad talked for a while about the word “skosh” as Sam was getting into bed. Sam said his Science teacher told them that the proper pr...

Sam is just about as tall as mom now. Mom’s shoulders are a smidge higher, but the tops of their heads are within about one centimeter of ea...

The upstairs heater has been broken for almost a week, so Sam has the radiator space heater running in his room. The guys are coming tomorro...

Dad was getting ready for bed around 11:30pm, and was looking for Sam to say good night. He finally found him in the basement, sitting with ...

Sam asked an interesting question today: “Do you think the most talented person in the world is famous?” Dad said probably not. A lot of lay...

A few days ago, Pete texted Mom "I think I am going to need a warmer jacket before Thanksgiving break." Mom found a jacket on Amaz...

Today was Senior Night at the Broad Run football game. Sam said they gave a decent halftime performance, even though their heart was not int...

Pete asked Dad for his advice on his Spring class schedule. He sent Dad two sample schedules. The first was impossibly full, and the second ...

The band had a get-together at the Lakes Rec Center and gave out their end of seasons awards. Sam got the “Lil Theorist Award” and “Most Lik...

Sam went to sleep over at Travis’s mom’s house. William is coming for the evening, but is not sleeping over. Apparently William’s mom decide...

Sam woke up today and thought it was Sunday. But when he went to watch football, it was not on. That is when he realized that it was actuall...

Catherine and Sam came into the kitchen around midnight. They came to grab all of the pots and pans for Catherine to bring to Pete during he...

Tonight was the final football game of the season (it got moved up to Thursday due to the forecast for hard rains on Friday). Which means it...

Tonight was the last night before Nana and Poppy headed back to Myrtle Beach for the holidays. So the gang had dinner at Blue Ridge Grill, a...

Today was the day that Pete found out his SAT score of 1500, meaning he can probably go to almost any college that he chooses to. This was w...

Tonight’s Boy Scout Troop meeting was even more insufferable than the typical meeting, which is saying a lot. One bright spot was that Sam w...

Dad took Sam to get a haircut. This is always a crapshoot, since he doesn’t know how to describe how he wants it. (Which is “not too short” ...

Sam and Dad went to Harris Teeter to get some Twix and Kit Kat bars to replace the ones that Garrett stole from Sam’s Halloween stash. They ...

Today Sam prepared his meal for FACS class. Mom helped with the preparation and Dad took pictures for use in the assignment. The meal was “b...

Dad made pancakes in the morning and then Nana and Poppy came over for Thanksgiving. Pete was not feeling well in the morning, but better as...

Pete had a party at work where they asked him to bring a dish to share. He decided to bake some brownies, which turned out to be a big hit.

Sam’s new chess rating came out today. He went up from 421 to 640, after going 3-1 at the tournament last weekend. Dinner tonight was at IHO...

Sam brings up interesting perspectives sometimes. Tonight he was having dinner at Scotto’s before the “Court of Honor” for Boy Scouts. He po...

The “Low Tire Pressure” light had been flashing in Pete’s car for a few days. He texted a picture of it to Dad. This is the modern method of...

Sam had a busy Saturday. Two basketball scrimmages in the morning and then a stop at Scotto’s before his chess tournament in the afternoon. ...

Today Dad went in to school early with Sam for “Donuts With Dad.” They enjoyed some donuts with Ethan W, William, John D, and Garrett. Then ...

Pete texted Dad to let him know that he could pick up Sam from school after chess club. This turned out to be not as glamorous as expected, ...

Pete turned 16 and 3 months today, so Dad watched as he backed the Kia out of the garage and drove himself to school. Dad reminded him earli...

Pete usually does his homework at the kitchen table. You may be wondering why he doesn’t use the nice desk that he has in his room. Take a c...

Dad put up the new mailbox today. The old one was destroyed by Eve, who picked up Pete on Friday and backed straight through it at a very hi...

Sam has been working on a juggling trick called “Mills Mess”. Here is a video of him doing a bit of it successfully.

Pete had his All-County Chorus concert today. He was in the Chamber Choir. There were 2 people picked from each school. Dad left his Scoutin...

Dad was home for Veterans Day (like every day), so he got to hang out with Sam, who was home sick. Pete was busy, with All-District Choir du...

Mom, Dad, and Pete went to trivia night at Greene Turtle (Sam was not feeling well and stayed home). There were questions on Simpsons, Golf,...

Dad drove Pete to school, since there was still a week before he could drive by himself. They were joking about the “I Voted” sticker in Dad...

The boys were home from school today. Dad took Sam to the mall at lunchtime to get a pair of black Vans. Pete joined them also (and drove). ...

Today was the first family crossword tournament. Dad printed out the weekly Patrick Blindauer “Piece of Cake” crossword and everyone compete...

Mom made the mistake of asking Sam to update the whiteboard weekly calendar after dinner. There were many lessons learned. One is that Pete ...

Dad dropped Pete off at 7:45 to take the SAT at Herndon High School. As Pete walked into the building, Dad had a confident feeling that Pete...

Pete had his first day of work tonight at Panther Laser Tag. He was pleased to discover that he gets tips from kids’ parties. He got about $...

Sam took the bus to Jackson Vickers’ house today for some sort of post-Halloween candy exchange. His backpack was about twice the normal wei...

Pete and Dad were watching game 7 of the Cubs/Indians world series game. The Cubs had a comfortable lead, so Pete went downstairs for a few ...

Continuing with Food Fest 2k16 while Mom is out of town, the boys went to Ledo for dinner. Hopefully there were no cancer patients within ea...

Sam went out with Jackson and Jackson for Halloween. He had pizza and Jackson’s house and then went around the Cheltenham Circle area. His c...

Mom headed to Philly today for her conference, which meant it was time for the commencement of “Food Fest” (renamed from “Pizza Fest” at the...

Pete had his VBODA band assessment today. They scored the highest rank (Superior). Dad and Sam went to Fredericksburg for a Smash tournament...

Everyone knows at this point that the Berman family motto is “Pretty good is good enough” (especially when it comes to finishing up homework...

Sam asked Dad if he could print out a Monday crossword from New York Times to bring in to school. This was to do in gym class, while waiting...

Pete had his interview tonight with Germania at Panther Laser Tag. Then he walked over to meet Mom and Dad at Arby’s. The interview seemed t...

Pete has joined the “Academic Team” at school. It is what Dad’s school used to call “Quiz Bowl” when he was on the team in 1987. This means ...

Pete declared at 11pm “if anyone wants to help with my Calculus homework, you can com downstairs”. So Dad turned off Monday Night Football, ...

Dad returned home from his camping trip in time to make steaks for dinner. Mom make chicken for Sam, since he hasn’t eaten the steak the las...

Today was Pete’s competition at James Madison University. They met up at school at 8:15am and returned home at the ripe hour of 2:30am on Su...

Dad headed off to the Webelos-o-ree with Sam’s Scout Troop. The only person missing from the equation was Sam. The Scoutmaster asked Dad why...

Tonight was Pete’s chorus concert (as well as the concert orchestra and chamber orchestra). He was a bit concerned, since Mr. Layne did not ...

Dad took a second ride with Pete over to Panther Laser Tag to turn in his job application. The good news is that the facility was open this ...

Dad dropped off Sam at his basketball evaluation and then took Pete to drop off his job application at Panther Laser Tag. There were only tw...

Dad got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa while everyone else went to work and school. He played golf with Grandpa. Everyone met up at 5p...

Mom and Dad picked up Pete’s coffee table this morning. It is a little bigger than he was expecting, but he will try it for a while to see i...

Pete’s band finished in 1st place again in their competition today. They actually had their uniforms this time, now that they finally arrive...

About once a week, there is a special day at Sam’s school. Something like “dress like your career day” or “80’s day”. Sam will generally dis...

It seems that the family may be dining out too frequently. One of the ways you can tell is when Pete or Sam ask “what’s for dinner” and the ...

Today was Dad’s birthday. To celebrate, everyone went to pick up Pete after band practice and then met Brian and Patti at Escape Room Loudou...

The boys have been watching all of the episodes of The Office again over the past few days. It is not clear what got them started on it. It ...

Dad and Pete walked over to the Fultonham Pokemon gym and quickly defeated it. Then Pete had a good idea to walk over to the Cheltenham gym ...

Pete joined Dad this evening to watch some of the Trump/Clinton debate. It was horrible, but there was some funny stuff if you listened clos...

Pete went to “Homecoming” tonight, which means that he went with Eve’s friends to take some pictures, then got dragged to “Not Your Average ...

Mom and Dad rode their bikes out to Faulkner Parkway to watch Pete and the band march in the Homecoming Parade. They stopped at Bertuccis on...

Pete and Dad watched the Thursday night football game and rooted for Dad’s defense (49ers) against the Cardinals. They took a break at 10pm ...

Dad is having more and more trouble each day getting Pete and Sam out of bed in the morning. The concern is that it is only the beginning of...

Pete has started working on the “Teensmart” program which will get Dad a 10% discount on the auto insurance premium. It is pretty boring, so...

Sam was home sick today, so he and Dad did not go to the Scout Troop meeting. In the evening, Dad showed Pete the Hillary Clinton video that...

Pete did the “Dr Panic” escape room this evening with Jennifer. He escaped the room, but did not fare as well escaping her car, jamming his...

After dinner, Dad went up to Pete’s room with Pete and Sam and they did the Sunday New York Times Crossword together. They sat on Pete’s new...

Today was “Hat Day” for Sam at school. They have various spirit days on Fridays throughout the year. Usually Sam disregards them, since they...

Pete seemed a bit tired this evening. He fell asleep with the huge ottoman on top of him like a blanket. 

Tonight was “Breakfast for Dinner” night. Everyone enjoyed some pancakes, eggs, toast, and bacon. And Sam helped Dad with the cooking too...

Pete has decided to apply to National Honor Society. This may sound glamorous, but at the moment it means that there are papers and envelope...

Pete and Dad watched some of the Presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. They enjoyed a good laugh every time Trump sa...

Mom and Dad went with Pete and Eve to the College Fair at Briar Woods. There were representatives there from about 200 colleges. Dad was wor...

Mom and Dad went to Pete’s band competition today at Herndon High School. They also watched about 6 other bands in Pete’s division. Dad t...

Occasionally Dad will wander into the playroom (aka "Mom’s hidey hole") and pull out a few games from the archives. Pictured ab...

Pete has been putting his English class to good use. Mom was crafting a letter to the Principal (Mr. Spage) to get permission for Pete to ta...

Sometimes Dad feels like he is living in a cartoon. Case in point, the other day he found this banana peel at the top of the stairs. If t...

Sam has interesting descriptions for why he doesn't like to eat certain things. Above is a picture of a Pop Tart with one bite in it....

After band practice and Boy Scouts, Dad and Pete went to Tom’s house to watch the Eagles/Bears Monday Night game.  Reagan let them play with...

Dad was able to mount Pete’s TV on the wall above his bed, so he finished getting that hooked up today. In case Dad thought he was done afte...

Pete and the Broad Run Marching Spartans were away at a competition from 8:15am until 9:30pm at the Millbrook HS "Battle on the Blue Ri...

Today was an URF day on League of Legends so Sam used his time before school to play a quick game. Dad dropped Sam at the bus since he was d...

Everyone piled into Nana and Poppy’s car to pick Pete up from band practice and go up to La Villa Roma for dinner. There was a Pokestop reac...

This morning was Sam's orthodontist appointment. He asked Dr. D not to rip any teeth out this time. This is the appointment where Dad fo...

Pete and Dad walked over to the “Cheltenham Gym” around 10:45pm to defeat it. They put a Flareon and Scyther in there. The paths in Ashburn ...

Dad left at 7am for golf with Doug, so Pete and Sam had to get themselves out the door this morning for school. They did a good job. Also, M...

Dad told his “Raj” story at dinner this evening, which he had been saving up for 3 days. The punchline of the story was “My Uber is here”...

Sam decided to skip the W&OD Trail Cleanup again today for his Boy Scout Troop, so once again Dad went by himself.  Mom went out with ...