Archives 2008 - Jim McNelis' Website

Archives

12/30/2008 - Colin's first hockey tournament experience was last year for this team, but this year he's on the team. The "tourney" was held this past weekend in Maryland.

His team tied with three other teams in his group, but were eliminated by the count of the total goals each team scored against their opponents during regular tournament games. That's the 4th level of level of criteria for tiebreakers.

12/24/2008 - The almost the entire family was over for to celebrate Christmas and exchange gifts. Lots of food and more importantly lots of family time. We even got to see Jimmy and Ryan. We haven't seen them in a while. We miss Nathan though. Nathan is serving in the US Navy and is in Dubai for Christmas. Our thoughts prayers and are with you Nathan.

12/23/2008 - Spent a lot of time on the house this year (lighting the inside of the house that is). Changed out light styles for the tree, added the same style to the columns in the dining room and added a new feature in the foyer which took more time than I expected to hang.

Have a look at the pics. The foyer feature is made up of 12 balls, 12 snowflakes, 20 hanging star lights and a new chandelier.

12/22/2008 - Hockey pictures came in for Colin and two of his cousins (Noah and Joel) who play at Prince William Iceplex. Noah and Joel caught the hockey bug and are both playing hockey at their home rink. Both have scored goals for their teams this year. Noah made the Selects team for his division too! I'm very proud of both of them.

Colin recently had a a three game day, where he played for his house team, covered for another house team who's goalies were out, and played in a "Selects" game that afternoon. Three wins in one day!

12/04/2008 - Colin and I went to Caps game game and visited Colin's friend Cole and his father Cary. They sit directly behind the visitor's net. We stayed with them through the 3rd period and watched the Caps step up their lead to two goals.

Colin and I got to see Backstrom get an empty net goal and we even made it on television and on the Caps website (pic to the right).

12/01/2008 - School pictures are in. I posted a pic of Colin sporting the latest iteration of his "surfer dude" hair style. He loves it.....I 'm not crazy about it. Don't get me wrong, I like him having long hair. I think that it's just not the best hair style for him.

But, as long as he happy and keeps it clean, I'm happy.

11/11/2008 - A quick day trip down to see Thomas Jefferson's plantation, Monticello. Didn't get a chance to spend too much time down there. Was able to get in the tour and take a few pictures before heading back.

Spent too much time in Charlottesville finding a place to eat. If you do make a day trip down to Monticello, make sure you plan to spend some time in Charlottesville too. Nice little city with a college town feel (UVA).

10/31/2008 - Hope you had a nice Halloween. My neighborhood is great for this type of activity. Lots of houses close together and tons of kids.

I had 8 Jack-O'Lanterns in my front yard this year. I had help carving them. In fact, the really nice ones (the ship and "two-face") I didn't do myself. Neighbors loved the display. Several used my yard as a backdrop for taking photos of their kids.

10/19/2008 - I called is the "Fall Foliage Tour". It included Skyline Drive, the town of Luray, Luray Caverns and an alternate route back up route 340.

Drove along about a third of Skyline Drive and took about 50 pictures. Most looked better in person than on the computer, but I found a few that were worth posting.

Stopped off for lunch in Luray at the Artisan's Grill. If you're in Luray, stop in here for a sandwich. You won't regret it. What a great selection of sandwiches. Not one of those places where they have 100 or so sandwiches, just ten or so fantastic combinations of meat (or veggie) and bread.

I haven't been to Luray Caverns since I was a kid. I don't remember the caverns being this spectacular. Took over 100 photos in the caverns. When I look through the photos I took, I'm still in awe of what I saw.

10/18/2008 - Today it was the local yard sales, Colin's hockey games and tryouts for the all-star team, Court and Market Days in Leesburg and the Caps play tonight.

Colin's team tied and Colin made the all-star team. After that, we went to Leesburg for Court and Market Days. Not too bad.

10/12/2008 - One of my nephews, Noah, had his first ice hockey scrimmage today. Colin and I got there just after Noah scored his first goal.

As the scrimmage went on for another 75 minutes, Noah scored another two goals and thwarted several shots on goal.

10/11/2008 - Colin and I went to the Caps home opener. Caps beat the Blackhawks 4-2. We did get to see the Caps raise the Southeast Division Champions Banner!

Before the game, six sticks were lodged in a block of ice and Caps fans tried to pull the sticks out for prizes. Colin and I tried several times to pull hockey sticks out, but no luck.

10/7/2008 - Big day. Colin had a double-header today. Two hockey games back to back. He had a 90% save percentage in the first game and,...well, he didn't do as well in the second game. He shook it off and he's ready for the rest of the season.

After Colin's games, it was off to the Cherokee Nation Pow-Wow at Claude Moore Park. I saw different tribes lining up for the opening ceremony, so I started snapping pics. The ceremony was certainly something to remember, especially the music. Look for Chief Red Deer, he was kind enough to let me take a few pics of him.

Waterford was next. This was the first time I made it to this well-known fair. Let me tell ya, I've been missing out. This is a fantastic fair! I'll need at least two days next year to see it all. I missed out on at least half of the fair this year. Couldn't do it all on one day. Check the photo gallery for some of the pics I shot. There were lots of people dressed in period clothing from the time when the town first formed (1733). It's been a historical landmark for some time now.

10/03/2008 - Colin and I went to the Washington Capital's Season Ticket Holder Party last night. It was held at Six Flags America in their Gotham City section.

Colin and I had a great time. We stood in line for two signatures (Michael Nylander and Chris Bourque). We were too busy riding the rides with the Caps the rest of the time we were there.

09/27/2008 - Today we went to Walkersville Maryland to ride the antique train. What a great idea, run an antique up and down a track, see the countryside and learn a bit about the B&O railroad's history.

You definitely wan to engage "The Conductor" in conversation about the railroad. Mr. Wireman really made the trip worthwhile. I highly recommend this little adventure.

09/19/2008 - Went to the Blackthorne Inn's "Halfway to St. Paddy's Day" party and saw 2U "The World's 2nd Best U2 Show". The Blackthorne Inn has great food and a wonderful venue just outside of Upperville, Va.

2U was technically dead on and put on a great show for the 100 or so in attendance. "Bono" worked every area of the venue so no one felt left out. Looking forward to seeing these guys again!

09/14/2008 - Colin and I went to Busch Gardens for the day to check out the "Bud and BBQ Festival". Well we didn't do much of the festival because we were busy on the rides. No lines! We rode the Griffon, Alpengeist, Apollo's Chariot, The Big Bad Wolf (only once, we forgot that it was a "starter" rollercoaster), Corkscrew Hill, Curse of DarKastle, Escape from Pompeii and the Loch Ness Monster.

09/13/2008 - Colin and I went to see Live Wire at the State Theater. What a show! We got the closest table to the stage, met Jack and Linda (long time AC/DC fans) and watched the opening act; "Dead Horse" (quite good). Took a few photos of Dead Horse and Live Wire from the table and then moved right up to the stage for the rest of the show. Colin got jam with Mike the guitarist, and Billy the drummer gave Colin his sticks (pictured with the poster). What a night!

You can see Colin in their "Rock and Roll Train" video on You Tube 2:23 into the song in the lower left corner of the frame.

09/07/2008 - Went to the West Virginia State BBQ and Bluegrass Festival in Hedgesville. Didn't get to stay too long, but did catch a couple of songs from the Bluegrass bands and eat some BBQ sandwiches. Definitely recommend this festival to anyone who loves BBQ and Bluegrass. Missed the 1st Annual Irish Festival in Upperville too. I'll catch it next year.

09/02/2008 - So, I went to see my Godson, Joel off to school this morning. He started first grade today. I got there early enough to see Joel and his older brother Noah step off the school bus and start their first day of school.

09/01/2008 - Colin and I went fishing this morning and I was the only one who caught something. The funny part is this was the ONLY fish I caught all summer. Pitiful.

The highlight of the day was when Colin presented me with my birthday present (it arrived late in the mail). Colin got me two hot sauces; "Rectal Rocket Fuel" and "Ass Kickin Wasabi" sauce. Can't wait to taste the rocket fuel.

08/31/2008 - Yet another opportunity to see Andrew McKnight and his new band again this weekend. This time, his daughter Madeleine made an appearance.

The venue, a cool little place called Beans in the Belfry...a 100 year old church converted into a coffee house.

08/28/2008 - Went to see Andrew McKnight tonight at Bangkok Blues (nice venue and good food). This was the second time I've seen Andrew with a full band with him. This show was a lot of fun. Each member of the band added character and style to Andrew's songs (and in Les' case...comedy).

The name of the band...Beyond Borders who are Les Thompson (bass, banjo, vocals, comedy), Stephanie Thompson (vocals, bass and percussion) and Lisa Taylor (drums, vocals and percussion). Lisa also performed a song (Icarus) from her CD "True North".

08/07/2008 - Metal Masters Tour! Colin asked if he could go see Judas Priest and so we went. The lineup went like this; Testament, Motorhead, Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath w/Dio) and Judas Priest. Colin and I had a great time and really enjoyed the music. Sabbath and Judas Priest put on great shows. Testament and Motorhead were good too, it's just that the sound guys really didn't have their act together until Sabbath was well into their set.

07/19/2008 - RUSH!!!! Took Colin to see Rush for the second year in a row. Again, Rush played without an opening act. Two sets of about 15 songs each. There was plenty of music to satisfy a young Rush fan and his Dad. One of Colin's favorite parts was South Park's introduction of Tom Sawyer. Colin and I thought that one of the best parts of the show was Neil Peart's drum solo.

07/12/2008 - The Washington Capitals held their Fanfest today and I showed up late. I did get a chance to take a few pics of Coach Boudreau and some of the rookies. One of the Caps promising goal tenders is Simeon Varlamov. I asked him what he thought of the event. He smiled, raised his hand with a "thumbs up" and said; "I don't speak English. I am Russian". I can't wait for the season to start.

After the Fanfest, I went to the Reston Festival to catch my friend Andrew McKnight's performance. Andrew just released his 5th CD, "Something Worth Standing For". It is wonderful. You've got to hear Andrew's interpretation of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads".

Some of the pics I took are of Andrew and Madeliene (his one year old daughter) being interviewed by the local Cox cable station. It was kinda cute to see Madeliene get most of the spotlight.

07/04/2008 - It's the 4th of July and we've stocked up on fireworks from one of the local shops ("real" fireworks are legal in South Carolina). I snapped a few shots of the golf cart parade in our community and a shot of the shepherd's pie I made the night before. At dusk, we went to the beach and lit off fireworks along with a hundred or so other enthusiasts.

07/03/2008 - Another local town on the Strand is Murrell's Inlet. A small town focusing on two things, fishing and seafood restaurants. Some of the best restaurants on the Strand are here in Murrell's Inlet. I got a chance to take my time snapping pics of the sunset and a pelican that took flight from the pier.

07/01/2008 - The beach at Surfside was at it's best. The temperature was in the mid 80s all week, had one rainfall (and that was overnight) and only a little bit if wind (more at night). Waves were a bit small, but I didn't come to surf.

06/29/2008 - Ready for a week in Surfside, SC. Just south of Myrtle Beach and north of Garden City. I highly recommend this part of the Grand Strand. First a few pics of the local wildlife (turtles, ducks and heron) and a few shots of us fishing.

06/19/2008 - Went on my first camping trip in twenty years over the weekend. We went to Luray, Virginia to a camp site called Camp Luray (a Jellystone Park).

Also visited the town of Luray. Great food, great people and some good music. Luray's Friday night concert series kicked off while we were there and Colin got autographs from the band, the Steve Carter Connextion

06/16/2008 - Colin's Elementary school held a graduation ceremony for the 5th grade class. I was able to snap a few photos, but not too many. Some of the photos have Colin's friends Brendan and Abby in them and the last photo is of Colin's class party.

06/12/2008 - Colin and I went to the Washington Capitals party for the NHL Awards Ceremony held at the Verizon Center. Not much of a crowd, but we had a good time and Colin got autographs from Rod Langway and Boyd Gordon on his red jersey. The best part was Ovechkin getting the MVP award and Boudreau getting the Coach of the year!

06/11/2008 - I was one of the chaperones for Colin's field trip to the Baltimore Science Center and Aquarium. I had three boys in my group including Colin. We had a great time and I got some great shots at the Science Center and the Aquarium.

The boys had a chance to extract DNA from yeast at the Science Center and catch the Dolphin show at the Aquarium.

06/07/2008 - Went to the Frederick Arts Festival in the 99 degree heat. Got a chance to see lots of artwork before taking cover in the Greene Turtle for lunch. After the Arts Festival, we went to the Brunswick for the "Great Brunswick River Race", but unfortunately the race was cancelled due to high water. On the way back to Virginia, we stopped in at Beans in the Belfry, a 100 year old restored church converted into a coffee house and had one of the best milk shakes I've had in a long time.

06/05/2008 - Colin had a part in his 5th grade musical "Rock the Jukebox". The musical covered several decades of music. Colin got the opportunity to cover the 60s. His costume was homemade; tie-dyed t-shirt with some iron-on patches, frayed jeans, sunglasses and flip-flops. He had a blast with this musical. I shot a short video of his performance.

06/01/2008 - Found a British Car show in Maryland. Great drive and what a neat display of old and not-so-old cars. Aston Martin, Jaguar, Triumph, Lotus, Land Rover and lots of MG cars were on display at the "Lilypons Water Gardens" in Adamstown, MD.

05/25/2008 - What a great Memorial day weekend! Although, you can't tell from the size of the fish Colin caught! He laughed when he pulled it out of the water. We went to a Frederick Keys game Friday night, putt putt golf and bowling on Saturday, fishing on Sunday, Colin had a sleep over at a friends house and on Monday morning Colin and I were back on the reservoir fishing again.

05/19/2008 - On the way to Frederick, Maryland I stopped and took some pictures of 3 covered bridges.

Also got a chance to eat a fantastic gyro at the Greek Festival in town. On to Jennifer's (an Irish restaurant) after the Greek festival, for some Irish lamb stew.

05/18/2008 - Colin sang and performed on the xylophone for his school's chorus concert at the Loudoun Art festival at the mall today. Watch the video and see him crack a smile when he's dancing the Macarena.

Colin and his friend Brendan laughed in between songs. You can see both of them wearing straw hats for one of the parts in a song.

05/12/2008 - Colin is an artist...well at least I think he is and apparently so does his 5th grade art teacher. Colin had a piece of art (a bell pepper made out of clay) on display at Dulles Town Center.

05/10/2008 - Colin and I went to the Frederick Celtic Festival today. What a great time we had. Colin got two shirts; "Got Kilt" and "Sham Rock Cafe" and he bought his mother a Claddagh necklace for Mother's day.

We watched only part of the Highland games. We saw the National Champion of the Heavy Hammer toss throw the hammer 113 feet (the heavy hammer is a 22 lb. steel ball at the end of 50" of rattan, the light hammer weighs 16 lb.)

05/03/2008 - My nephew Noah received his 1st Communion today. I attended Mass with the rest of my family and, no I didn't burst into flames!

I got some great shots of my sister's family, Antwahn's mother and brother, my mother and our "adopted" sister Mary.

4/29/2008 - I got a chance to catch Noah and Joel's baseball games this week. Both played very well. Noah is in single A and made a great play at 3rd base and in center field. Joel is in "coach pitch" and loves to get on base and cross home plate.

I also went to see my niece, Olivia practice gymnastics. She was a little nervous with Uncle Jim there. I'm now barred from going to her practices now.

04/28/2008 - We celebrated Joel and Noah's birthdays yesterday. Noah was sick on the day his birthday was going to be celebrated, so my sister combined their parties this year.

It was held at Lake Ridge Marina. One of those best kept secrets in the neighborhood. Batting practice, kickball, throwing the football around and a game of bean bag toss.....not bad for birthday party.

04/27/2008 - First fishing trip this season and Colin pulls in a nice size large mouth bass. Over the past year, we've tried different spinners, worms, slugs, top bait and bottom bait. Finally, we found one that got hits rights away, a spinner from Beetle Spinners. In a couple of weeks, Colin and will get back out there and try our luck again. Same spot, same spinner.

04/22/2008 - Caps got knocked out of the playoffs in game 7 of the quarterfinals. To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement. On a lighter note, Colin and I got there early and watched the Caps practice from the glass. I got a chance to snap a lot of photos of the team. Great shots of OV, Semin, Brashear and Laich. I hope the team stays together for the next season.

04/19/2008 - Went to the Bedford BBQ and Blues Festival in Bedford, Va. Nice road trip. 4 hours down 81 and arrived just in time to see the last band play, grab a BBQ sandwich and relax for a little while before heading back.

03/10/2008 - Colin's ice hockey team (the Red Team) won the division finals 4-0. The entire team played their best and Colin had another shut out! The team celebrated with a dog pile in front of their goal.

Afterwards, they lined up to shake hands with their opponents, received trophies from their coach and took team photos.

03/08/2008 - The "finals" game was moved to Monday night so Colin's team had a practice followed by their end of season party. Each player received gifts from Coach Hughes and the team pitched in and got the coaches some personalized hats. Good practice and a great party. Can't wait until the finals game Monday night.

03/01/2008 - Colin's ice hockey team played in the semi-finals this morning. Not that big of a deal since there are only four teams, but what was a big deal is that Colin's team, the last place team, beat the first place team. They not only beat them, but shut them out. Colin's first shout out this season (15 shots on goal). Scoreboard picture and video to the right.

02/16/2008 - The goalie for the Ashburn Selects (travel team for the house league) was sick and so Colin got the call to go play for the team in a tournament in Bowie, Maryland. Colin had a great time! There were lots of shots on goal and lots of saves. To make an exciting game even better, the game ended in a shootout. This was Colin's first shootout. He saved shots 1 and 3 (shot 2 hit his glove and trickled over it into the goal). Colin's teammates scored on shots 2 and 3. So, we won!

02/15/2008 - Help the brewers of Guinness stout get 1 million signatures by midnight on March 16th to help make St. Patrick’s Day an official holiday. Go to proposition317.com to sign the petition or simply text “SIGN” to 65579 to make a difference. Get a Rally Kit that contains a printable petition, Guinness Recipes and rally posters

02/14/2008 - Valentine's Day. When you don't have someone to be your valentine, this day can suck. This year, Valentine's Day looked like it was going to be one of those days. Then, I saw Cathy standing in the snow. We talked. She asked me to email her. And now, Valentine's Day doesn't suck!

Why the walking cast for a vase you ask? While hanging a clock above her fireplace, Cathy (my valentine), dropped a power drill on her left foot, breaking it (her foot that is). This, on top of the fact that she was recovering from a concussion (that's another story). So, the walking cast & vase combo? It's another way for me to poke fun at her.

02/09/2008 - My niece Olivia and her Dad got to go to their first Father/Daughter dance. Pictures turned out pretty nice. My sister gets tears in her eyes when she talks about the event. I can only imagine that my Brother-in-Law feels the same (if not more). Olivia had her hair done just for the event. She looked really cute.

02/03/2009 - Super Bowl party at my sister's house. My Dad, a long time Giants fan, was in heaven! Everyone at the party was rooting for the Giants (since they beat the Cowboys). All Redskins fans root for anyone who plays Dallas. Giants beat the Cowboys and went on to the Super Bowl.

01/27/2008 - Just got back from a whale watching tour put on by the Virginia Aquarium. The tour included a 2 hour tour from Virginia Beach, a 3D IMAX movie, a tour of the aquarium and one night's stay at a local hotel. The whale watching tour was fun, but no whales or dolphins in site. I did get some great shots of the sunrise this morning from my balcony and a few hosts at the aquarium. I may try the tour again in February while the humpback whales are still moving through the area.

01/10/2008 - Tonight was the Cap's "Meet the Team Party". A big event for any fan of the Washington Capitals. Tonight, we got autograph's from Kolzig, Nylander, Cassivi, Gordon, Bradley, Semin and coaches; Boudreau, Evason, and Leach.

While I was getting autographs from the coaching staff, Colin took part in the slap shot competition and street hockey game. Afterwards, Colin and I toured the locker room. We then found one of Colin's baseball teammates, Joey and his Dad, Kyle. At then end of the night, Colin and I stopped outside the Verizon Center for a bite to eat at Sushi-Go-Round. What a great night!

01/05/2008 - I had a party for Colin today. He had a great time playing games and opening gifts. I cooked too much food; chili, baked beans, sweet and sour sausage and the bang bang shrimp never got cooked because everyone was full.

01/02/2008 - Happy New Year! I held an open house yesterday, similar to the one I had last year, but a bi shorter. Colin and I had a Caps game to go to at 4:00 pm. This year, family and friends stopped by and enjoyed Bang Bang Shrimp, "Jimbalaya", black-eyed peas, and lost of appetizers.

More Archives - 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

Archives

Archived Photos