Vacation Post #4: The Events

Our week at Tybee Island was packed with activities. Well, maybe not packed. Sprinkled with activities but with plenty of time left for leisure. Ashley, Bode, and I would start each day with a walk on the beach. Bode really seemed to enjoy the ocean, although the one time we tried putting him in the water, he cried like he was being given shots. However, provided he remained in his stroller, he was quite content.On Monday, we went in to the city of Savannah. It's very beautiful there, and since there would be so much to photograph, I forgot to bring my camera (stupid, stupid Jeffy). The parks and houses in the old section of town are quite charming. For lunch, the entire group ate at Paula Dean's restaurant. Afterwards, we walked around town, going into various shops but not really finding anything that tickled our fancies.

On Tuesday, seven of us went golfing (Milton, Josh, David, Jason, Frank, Ashley, and me). Nana et al. were kind enough to watch the children. Fortunately, I did remember to bring my camera . The following sequence shows Ashley smashing one off the tee.



Ashley had her best day ever on a golf course and shot a 48-56 for a 104. The 48 was the first time she broke 50 for nine holes, so it does seem the less she practices, the better she gets. Ashley was kind enough to take a picture of me mid-swing. I think the shot was actually quite bad (I blame shutter noise).

On Wednesday, a gaggle of us went to the movies (it looked like it might rain). Dave, Kathy, Jason, Ashley, Josh, and I saw The Dark Knight while Chelsea, Cricket, and Callie went to Wall E. We thought The Dark Knight was great--the Joker was really cool. We did think Batman could have used a lozeng (you'll get the joke once you see the movie); otherwise, it was top marks. Wednesday night, we feasted at a sea food joint called Uncle Bubba's Oyster House (again, I forgot the camera). Thursday was another day to relax, and Ashley and I spent some quality time swimming in the ocean and hanging with the little man. We also took some time to shoot some family photos.Friday, six of us went miniature golfing. Josh managed to win with Jason a close second (the rest of the finishing order is not important, but you can probably guess that since I'm not mentioning it, I finished near the bottom).


Friday night, we again dined on seafood at The Crabtrap. Ashley and I ate shrimp and crab legs, and realized cuisine in Ohio is severely lacking. After dinner, Ashley went on a ghost-tour of Savannah with Penny, Milton, Chelsea, JoAnne, and David. Ashley loved it and highly recommends it to anyone that is going to Savannah.

Sadly, the vacation came to an end early Saturday morning. Ashley, Bode, and I hit the road at 0600 and got all the way to Kentucky before having to stop. Sunday morning, we got home to two excited doggies and a mountain of mail. We are amazed how well Bode did in the car. He napped a lot and seemed content to sit in his chair and play with his toys. Here's a final shot of Bode napping while holding his giraffe.We had a wonderful vacation and look forward to the next one. When do we leave?

Pleasant day to all.

Vacation Post #3: The Setting

As stated in previous posts, we just returned from Tybee Island. While there, we stayed with 14 of Ashley relatives (reference Vacation Post #2). A big question on your mind is where exactly did we stay--did we try to be frugal and squeeze all 17 of us into three discount motel rooms (no, that wasn't my idea--sheesh!)? Heavens no. Ashley and Penny managed to find us a beautiful house right on the beach (well, very close as you'll soon see). First, a shot of the house with my favorite two people standing in front.Note Bode's head-attire--it's an Auburn hat for those not able to figure out how to zoom. In the next picture, I simply turned to my right. That bridge at the end of the street leads over the sand dunes to the beach. Thus, we weren't right on the beach but certainly were within spitting distance.There were six bedrooms inside, each with their own bathroom. I'd show a picture of one of the bedrooms but it's nothing too special--just a queen bed with a flat-screen TV (thank heavens the house got Versus so I could watch Le Tour). The kitchen and living areas are shown below.



There were decks on each floor. The third floor deck is where folks spent a lot of time--it would have been utopian had the ceiling fan worked. As it was, it was still very relaxing especially since the bugs tended to feed on JoAnne and Ashley. Obviously the blue in the distance is the ocean.



Finally, a shot of the ocean. I found the beach to be quite serene in the morning . The tide cleanses the beach by wiping away all traces from the previous day. It's like a new canvas, full of endless possibilities (not to mention void of almost everyone except we, the early risers).
To Be Concluded...

Vacation Post #2: The Characters

Our primary destination for this vacation was Tybee Island, Georgia, which is right next to Savannah (known by many due to the book/movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). Many members of Ashley's family were joining us at Tybee. To prevent confusion, I will introduce all parties. Think of this post as a dramatis personae (Latin for "The Masks of the Drama").

First, we have Frank "Papatank" Rankin, shown here with Ashley and Bode. Frank is Ashley's father and spent many hours watching Bode while relaxing on the porch. Bode really loves his Papatank.Next, we have three of the six Watsons. In the middle is Penny "The Good Planner" Watson, who is Ashley's first cousin. She is married to Milton "Big Oil" Watson, named because he works for one of those evil oil companies. Penny and Milton have four children. Their second oldest, Chelsea "The Running (Wo)man" Watson, is on the far left holding Bode. Chelsea is going to be a senior in high school and has been made captain of her cross country team.
Continuing around the porch, we again have Chelsea holding Bode (evidently Bode had a bit too much to drink). To Chelsea's left, we have Penny and Milton's oldest child, Josh "The Couch" Watson, called The Couch because this picture was the only time he wasn't on it. To Josh's left is JoAnne "Nana" Rankin, Ashley's mother. Finally, we have Patty "The Godmother" Barnhardt, Ashley's Aunt and de Facto boss of the family.
Next, we have Dwight "Boss" Barnhardt, who is Ashley's Uncle, married to Patty and thinks he's in charge. Dwight is a big fan of the Houston Cougars. Obviously in this picture, he's talking about his favorite team, while Ashley and Bode "listen" attentively.Here we have pictures of Callie "Wii Apprentice" Watson and Cricket "Wii Master" Watson (with a name like Cricket, do you really need another nickname?) Callie and Cricket are Penny and Milton's youngest children, starting the third and fifth grades this fall respectively.
Up next is Ashley's brother, Dave "Maverick" Rankin (he works for an aircraft company) and his son, Teddy "Every Day's a Party" Rankin. Don't ever mention birthday party around Teddy. If you do, it is your responsibility to ensure he gets some type of birthday cake or ice cream.Teddy's Mommy aka Dave's wife, Kathy "Plus One" Rankin, is shown below hanging out with Bode. Bode loves his Aunt Kathy. On the couch is Ashley's other brother, Jason "Light Sleeper" Rankin, who for some reason got mad because we kept putting the dishes away at 0700.
Ok, that does it for the introductions. Bode loved meeting everyone, but he was a bit overwhelmed by it all and needed a nap before exploring our new surroundings.To Be Continued...

Vacation Post #1: The Prologue (18-19 July)

Sorry it's been so long since we posted, but we've been unplugged from the world the past couple weeks. We took a vacation down to Georgia. These next few posts will detail the adventures of our trip.

Our odyssey began very early in the morning on Friday, 18 July. We were driving to Atlanta to visit some friends (to be shown later). The alarm clock rung precisely at 0500, to which Ashley immediately says, "Hey Jeffy, why aren't we flying?" I replied, in my best Clark Griswald impression, "Because getting there is half the fun." Bode was excited from the get-go, and while we prepared for the deployment, he worked on his standing up skills.He can't really pull himself to a standing position, but he is able to get into that half-standing slouch shown above (I see him like that and my back just starts hurting). Before we left, Bode needed a drink, as trying to stand up is very strenuous.
I told the kid he better not drink too much because we had a long drive ahead of us. He looked at me and said, "Daddy, that's why I wear these diapers--just like that astronaut lady." Anyways, without further adieu, we were off at 0613, an amazing seventeen minutes before my targeted departure time.

Google tells us the trip to Atlanta is precisely 506 miles, with an estimated driving time of 7 hours, 55 minutes. In the years P.B. (pre-Bode), I'm sure we could have arrived at Dave and Cathy's house by 1400. However, as many of you with children know, driving with a small child requires a number of stops. And we quickly learned one cannot wait until the child is crying to stop, because there is no worse hell than riding in a car with a screaming baby as you pass a "Next Rest Stop: 43 Miles" sign. Here is a picture of us feeding Bode at a rest area in Kentucky.
We thought about stopping and buying some property in Tennessee, not because we found a great house or anything. Rather, we simply liked the names of the streets. For example, who wouldn't want to come visit us if we lived on Little Skunk Road? Or what better way to address a letter than to the McGuirks who live on Stinky Creek Highway (yes, these are real names of roads off I-75 in Tennessee).

The drive to Atlanta proceeded without incident. We arrived just before 1600, so we covered the 500 miles in just about 10 hours total time. Not bad, but certainly not going to qualify for the Cannonball Run.

It was great to see Cathy and Dave. They have a son named Westin who is two months older than Bode. Westin really flies around the house, looking a little like a bear because Westin crawls while standing on his feet and hands. It terrified me to see how quickly a kid can move. The phrase, "Constant vigalance!" (from Alastor Moody in the Harry Potter series) kept echoing in my mind as I tried to follow Westin from room to room and seeing what all he could get into (everything). Here are some pictures of Bode and Westin playing together. Note Bode's lack of mobility while Westin can go wherever he desires. I sort of hope Bode is a late bloomer--I really like his current sedentary lifestyle.

Friday night, we all stayed in and had pizza. Dave invited Gary and his daughter Sam to join us. Ashley hadn't seen Gary in three or four years, so she was very happy to see him. A few years ago, Gary had a stroke. He's had to relearn to do almost everything, but he seemed to us to be the same old Gary. He explained to us how the stroke affected him: "Basically, it's like a computer after a lightening strike. The input is ok. The output is ok. It's just there are some chunks of memory that are gone forever." As soon as he said this, Dave tried to convince Gary that he owed all of us $1,000 dollars but Gary wasn't buying it. Below is a picture of Ashley, Gary, and Sam.
Had this trip occurred ten years ago, I'm sure we would have all hit the town and ended up at the Waffle House for some greasy drunk food. Now that we're all "older," the night ended with us going to bed around 10 pm after tucking both kids into bed. Of course, ten years ago, we would have all slept in to noon or so. Now that we have portable alarm clocks (aka kids), we were up at the crack of dawn. Dave and Cathy took us to nice place for breakfast (I can't remember the name but it was wonderful). After feasting, Ashley, Bode, and I had to hit the road for our next destination. Before leaving, we snapped some photographs in the parking lot. First we have the proud mothers.Next, we have the four bulls. Note how Westin is already striking that Heisman trophy pose. Surely Dave and Cathy have a fight in their future regarding Westin's higher education, as they are a "mixed" marriage (Dave went to Auburn while Cathy attended Sh*tsville University, I mean, Georgia).We had a lovely visit with the Bledsoe threesome and hope to see them often as our boys, Auburn Future Class of 2030, grow up (Cathy, don't even think they're going to Georgia). We left Atlanta at 1100 Saturday morning. Next stop: Tybee Island, Georgia aka The Beach!

Long Time No Post

It's been almost two weeks since our last post. I do apologize for the lack of Bode-pictures, so to make up for it, you will be treated to ten (10) amazing photographs of Bode in action (well, 9 because there's one picture of just Mommy and Daddy).

For the July 4th holiday, Ashley, Bode, and I make the trek to Chicago to visit my Dad. My brother and his family (wife and three kids) also came up from Albuquerque, so this was the first chance the four McGuirk cousins had of being together. Our journey started early Wednesday morning. We managed to get out of the house and on the road at 0634, only 4 minutes beyond our target departure time (I blame Ashley for our tardiness). The drive started smoothly, and Bode did great in the car (and we made great time). He slept for a couple hours, played with his toys, and was quite pleasant. At 1100 EDT, we (Ashley) decided we should stop at a Cracker Barrel for lunch (stopping really puts a dent into our miles per hour average). However I decided it would probably be nice to let her and the boy feed. Unbeknownst to us, we had crossed into Central Time, so the waitress gave us a strange look when we asked for the lunch menu.

Bode sucked down a bottle--here's a shot of him and Ashley sitting in the rocking chairs in front of the restaurant.After topping off our tanks (the car included), we hit the road again. We were passing Gary, Indiana, about 90 miles from our destination when Ashley says, "Jeffy, it's getting hot in here. Is the air conditioning on?" I placed my hand in front of the vent and felt hot air. The dial was set to cool, so I checked the gauges. The service engine soon light was glaring at me, and the temperature gauge was pegged beyond H. "Oh Fudge!" I said (but I didn't say fudge). There really was nowhere to pull over, so we quickly shut off the air and cranked on the heater to help vent the engine. Fortunately, the temperature came back down, but we did drive the rest of the way with the heat on and the windows open (sort of unpleasant), and we also kept the speed to a very reasonable level (needless to say, we didn't set any time records for the Dayton to Chicago journey). Thankfully, a Nissan store was only a few minutes from Dad's house, and we were able to get the car fixed (they also offered to recharge the Halogen in the lights, but they couldn't fool a car-guy like me and get me to bite on this :-)

Fortunately, that was the only drama on the trip. Everyone made it safely to Chicago, and the kids had a grand time getting to know each other. Brenna (age 7) and Sean (age 5) were sooo good with Bode. They were so gentle and cute when they played with him, so much so that Ashley decided she wants at least three more kids (only "kidding"). Here's a shot of the three cousins playing in the yard.
There was a little park within walking distance, so we strolled over and played on some of the equipment. We managed to pry Brenna and Sean off the jungle-gym long enough to take the following picture.Next, we have "Aunt Ashley (aka Mommy)", Brenna, and Bode. If only Brenna had on some type of Auburn attire, we'd consider her part of our family. As such, she's just some vagrant from New Mexico...Here's Uncle Pat holding his 1-year old daughter, Devin, while watching Bode (sort of looks like he's more interested in his i-Phone, doesn't it?)Devin is actually walking, so seeing her was like a glimpse into what the future holds for Bode. The two of them were very cute together. Obviously in the picture below, Devin is saying, "Daddy, why don't I have a cool Auburn Tigers hat?"A cute one of Bode and Daddy.Another cute one, this time of Bode and Mommy. Evidently one of Bode's cousin's stole the Auburn lid...why else would Bode be wearing that goofy sun-hat?One of the day's, Ashley, Dad, and I managed to sneak away for some golf. Here's a shot of Ashley and me on the first tee (obviously the first tee because we are still smiling). I think Dad ended up winning (home-course advantage), but we had fun. Ashley shot a personal best 54-51 for a 105. Evidently having kids improves her golf game...After a hard day on the course, it was Miller Time (someone call child services!)We had a nice time in Chicago, but since we haven't won the lottery, we had to return to Ohio for work. Actually, Ashley spent less than 24 hours in Dayton because on Monday, she flew out to Colorado for the week, leaving Bode and me to fend for ourselves (thankfully Auburn and Dudley were here to help me). We had a fine week--nothing exciting (i.e. no fires). Ashley returned Friday and we had a nice dinner Friday night. Unfortunately, Bode got sick on Saturday--he wasn't screaming or crying or anything like that, but he just wasn't himself (no smiles at all). We took his temperature and it was 101.5. He slept a lot yesterday and most of this morning. Thankfully, he's smiling again, and we're so happy to have our little guy back. We may go to the park or to hit some golf balls this afternoon. It's a short week at the office for us, as on Friday, we leave for a week-long vacation to Georgia.

Pleasant week to all.