Last night we went bowling at The White House! Well, technically the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, but it’s right next to the West Wing so that counts. Harry S. Truman had the lanes originally built in the basement of the White House, but they were moved to their current location in 1955. (Nixon reinstalled a single lane back in the White House in 1970, so there are actually lanes in both places now.) Anyways, our friend Alisa was kind enough to get us the invite and escort in, and once you add in the bowling shoes, it WAS as amazing as it sounds. We brought our own beer and snacks and got to enjoy photos of all the past presidents and their wives on the walls. Also, I won! …with a whopping 97. Out of 10 adults, we were not able to break 100. WOOOO!!
shoes!
good form Matthew
W and Obama
now this is a great shot! …and some trivia for you: it was in The Big Lebowski over the dudes tiki bar
keeping score by hand, much more complicated than the computerized way
It was October 14, 2012, a warm, breezy, perfect fall afternoon when the Minnesota Vikings were playing the Redskins at FedEx field. That very same day, Matthew Steenhoek wore his very first Redskins jersey. #59, London Fletcher. A proud moment for this wife.
The football gods were shining upon me yesterday indeed when RG3 ran 76 yards for a touchdown that sealed the win. Unfortunately that meant that Ty and Val, Vikings fans, had to endure some heckling (or haggling, as Val eloquently put it) from the surrounding Skins fans. All I can say is that at least they were not wearing Eagles jerseys, or they would have endured a lot worse.
Anyways, we had a lovely tailgate beforehand, where we were also joined by Mike and Lindsey, who made the most delcious banana bread for us all. The afternoon and the big win almost made up for the dismal playoff exit earlier in the week by the Nats… and the DC sports rollercoaster of emotions rides on..
we spotted a Fanbulance! which of course reminds me of a Bambulance
(warning: adult language at the link)
Last night we watched the Kastles tennis team maintain their unbeaten streak of games against Philly, putting their consecutive wins at 27. This surpasses the second-longest winning streak in major U.S. pro sports history before the Kastles, which was the 1916 MLB New York Giants with 26 wins. I just wanted to politely point that out to everyone who likes to remind me how much DC sports teams suck. Eat it! Also, the Nats are now in first in the NL East. Double eat it!! GOOOO DC.
Now that I’ve likely jinxed everything, I’ll get back to work.
stilt man and cheerleaders, what more could you want.
Aww, boo hoo Pats fans! Sorry you lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl. Again. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the Giants, but no one likes New England, so last nights outcome was all one could have hoped for, especially Bradshaw’s slow butt-roll into the end zone. Classic!
We watched the game at our neighbors place, with the main emphasis of the night being the food theme – everything deep fried. Of next order of importance was the halftime puppy bowl, funny commercials, then the Madonna halftime show, and then finally the actual football game. I made jalepeno poppers (photo above) stuffed with goat cheese, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon, and topped with Panko bread crumbs. They were a hit, and not as spicy as they’d seem like they’d be, but still some kick.
I was also introduced to the concept of fried macaroni and cheese balls, above, which were every bit as delicious as they’d seem. By the time the deep fried Oreo’s and bananas were coming out to be served, I was just too full.
Yesterday afternoon we attended our first DC Roller Girls match at the DC Armory over by RFK. The tickets were a Christmas gift from Val and Ty, and though we’d heard about the league before and seen pictures from the games, we still had no idea what to expect. We were really surprised by the masses of people getting off the metro and filing into the ticket lines. It draws a pretty large crowd.
The court is an oval ring centered between the bleacher stands. There were lots of awesome costumes, like the man dressed as a pickle throwing candy to the crowd, and the DC Cherry Bomb. All on roller skates, too. The names of the players were things like “Helen Killah,” “Nasty Pelosi,” and “Ivana Tripabitch.” There was also a bake sale table on the way in. How had we not been to this before?!
Luckily the guy sitting in front of us overheard our confused conversation and was nice enough to explain the rules of the game to us. That definitely helped. So we drank our PBR Tallboys from the front row, did some spectacular people watching, and enjoyed the game! Highly recommended event for any DC peeps that haven’t yet been.
Last night we watched the opening matches of the Washington Kastles World Team Tennis league at their new stadium at The Wharf in southwest. They beat the Kansas City Explorers in overtime, 21-18, but more importantly we were thisclose to Venus Williams! ahhhhh! I’m pretty sure if I stood on the other side of the net to receive one of her serves, I wouldn’t even see it go by me. It’s that fast.
Tennis is pretty awesome to watch in person, though. The speed that they change directions, the ball control, and how they know just where to send it to be out of reach. SLAM! The instant replays are also one of my favorites parts — watching the little ball diagram in slow motion to see if the line calls are correct. Is the shadow inside, outside, or on the line? Aaaand, now I am feeling really pumped to go play some tennis sometime soon!!! The last time I went (not counting the Wii) was with Matt when we lived in Silver Spring. If I remember, it ended in many tennis balls being lost over the fence and a couple of adult temper tantrums.
Now THIS is a great spot to play some hoops (extra points for hitting a shot off the tree, but you have to call it first). It also seems like it could be the very place that the alley-oop was named for… However, according to Wikipedia, “The term “alley-oop” is derived from the French term allez hop!, the cry of a circus acrobat about to leap. It was first used in the 50s by the San Francisco 49ers to describe a high arcing pass to wide receiver R.C. Owens, who would out-leap cornerbacks for touchdown receptions, but later became more well-known for its use in basketball.
I suppose the only problem I see here is not enough range to practice your three-point shot, and especially not for the long-shot in Bob-Ball ™
Matt and I both completed The Nation’s Triathlon yesterday! It was our second time doing the race, but the first time training without the help of Team in Training. I think we both easily admitted that we were far more prepared for last year’s race, but it was fun nonetheless jumping into the Potomac river again, seeing our training friends from last year, and of course crossing the finish line! Thanks to our families and Bowser for coming out to watch us!
