Xbox Kinect

Bode and Ashley have been playing Once Upon a Monster on our new Xbox. It's a pretty nifty setup. There is an IR sensor that captures images within its field of view. Prior to playing, you go through some recognition exercises that enable the machine to recognize you. When someone enters the camera's view, the display says something like, "Bode recognized." The games are interactive, and require you to do some running, jumping, squatting, and catching. Here are some photos of Bode and Mommy in action.

Today, we invited Emma over to play. She's our neighbor's granddaughter. Bode loves Emma. He was hesitant to play on the Xbox with Mommy, but when Emma shows up, he dives right in. It was fun watching the two of them play.

Ashley and I are a bit sore today. We ordered the Insanity workout videos and have done two workouts. It is quite a workout. Plus, I'm sore at USAFA for going for two at the end of the game in their game versus Toledo. I was thrilled they went for two, but they tried a fake PAT, which was foolish because I think everyone in the stadium was ready for that call. Oh well. Big Auburn game tomorrow night. War Eagle to all!

Marble Maze

Yesterday, I spent a solid two hours assembling a marble maze. Bode really likes it, and is enthralled watching the marbles go up and down. Here is a movie.

We have been the epitome of lazy today. Slept in, no exercise (at least for me--Ashley did a P90-X2 video). Bode has played a lot of trucks, which is great, but he always wants someone to play with him. Trucks are fun...the first few times. After awhile, I almost miss work :-) (I said almost)

We are both working tomorrow and Wednesday, and then it's another five days off, which can only mean more trucks. Ashley and I also got this dance game for the Wii, which is fun to play, although I'm sure we both look like idiots.

Christmas 2011

Happy Christmas, everyone! We've had a great day here in Ohio. We didn't travel, mostly because this might be our last year here, and we wanted to spend it in our home. We slept in until nine, I got up and walked Harley, and when I got back, we were ready to dive into the loot. Bode was happy to see the cookies he had left for Santa Claus were eaten (burp), and the milk drained. His stocking was full of gifts, and there were some big presents present that weren't there when he had gone to bed.

We received quite the hall of goods. Below is a shot of most of the presents prior to opening them. Note Bode's huge pile in front of the fireplace.

We do the opening of gifts in the living room. We have a Christmas tree, but it is in the sun-room, and in December, it is not the warmest place in the house. We proceeded to open the gifts with reckless abandon, only stopping briefly to take pictures and go potty (which was usually Bode, but not always). Here's a shot of me modeling my new shades and also trying to keep Harley from tearing into the gifts.

Here's a picture of Mommy opening her new digital camera. You should expect a noticeable improvement in the picture quality from this point on.

Here's a video of Bode opening his excavator. I've no idea why the audio is so bad.

Finally, here is a picture of the fleet of trucks that now occupies our home. We may have to get a third garage.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We spent most of today, playing with our toys. I spent a good two hours putting together a 200-part marble maze. It was time consuming, but worth it (what else was I going to do--nap?). We're off tomorrow, so we're sure to play some of our new Wii games or, even better, our new Xbox 360 with Kinect! Pleasant Christmas to all!

Grove Park Inn Photos

As I mentioned in a previous post, we had some professional photographs taken while we were at the Grove Park Inn over Thanksgiving. Here are a couple of them. Note we were given a CD with 115 high resolution images, and we are allowed to print as many copies of them as we want. Therefore, if you want a printed copy, let us know and we'll be glad to print them. To see all the photographs, go to http://www.berksonphotography.com. Click on login and type "mcguirk" in lowercase.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures. First is a nice black and white picture of Bode and Mommy.

Next is a family shot with the Inn in the background.

Finally a goofy one.

Pleasant week to all.

Bode's Birthday Party

Yesterday was Bode's Birthday Bash (check out that alliteration). We had the party at Bounce U, which is just a place with all sorts of bouncy things--we certainly weren't going to host 20 kids at our house :-) We invited the kids in Bode's preschool class and some neighbors. The kids had a blast. Here are some of the action photos. First is a shot of Bode taking some BP. Air blew up through that cone and the ball simply hovered there. He's getting quite adept at hitting, although he did have a few whiffs.

The highlight for the kids had to have been the big slide. At first, Bode didn't want to do it. However, Mommy convinced him to try it (I think she just wanted to do it).

After the first go, all he wanted to do was the slide. There was a constant stream of kids going up and down the slide. They seemed to have a blast, even when they went barreling into one another.

Next up was an obstacle course. Here's Bode climbing up the back of one of the obstacles.

During a break, it was time for a group photograph. It was hard to get them to sit still, but we managed to get a few shots. First was smiles, and then funny faces.

After the playing, it was time for pizza, juice, cake, and presents. Note in the invitations, we stated gifts weren't necessary, but some folks brought them anyways. Bode is spoiled :-)

At one point, the lights were turned down and we sang Happy Birthday.

After the cake, they put Bode in the big chair, and we all gathered around to watch him open his presents. All the kids were so excited.

Afterwards, BounceU provided gift-bags for all the kids, which was a nice touch. All the kids (and the adults too) had a wonderful time. Bode fell asleep on the drive home.

Christmas Lights

The Kettering Christmas Tree lighting bonanza was Friday night. The weather was good (sort of), so we braved the elements and headed out to watch. Bode was very excited. Here's Bode and Mommy all bundled up. Note Bode has on his new Mickey Mouse jacket--very cool.

The elementary school choir sang some Christmas songs, the mayor said some words (a bit too many if you ask me), and then the countdown to light the tree was on. Five--four--three--two--one...!!!

You can't see Bode too well in the picture above--night photography isn't my speciality. This final shot is of the road leading up to the tree. The city does a nice job of decorating.

We got our lights up yesterday. The weather was somewhat warm, especially when the sun came out. Only 21 days to go until the big man arrives!