King's Island

Yesterday was the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.  Seeing that my thirty days annual leave plus twelve federal holidays aren't enough, the US Air Force was nice enough to give me the day off :-)  Ashley took leave, which, in Bode's language, equates to four stay home days.  King's Island is an amusement park just north of Cincinnati.  They are having a military appreciation weekend, which meant I got in free and Ashley and Bode got discounted tickets.

It was a beautiful May-Day--actually, it was probably too hot, but we did get some cloud cover for part of the day.  Here's a cute picture of Bode and Mommy.

What's cute (annoying) is whenever we take a picture of Bode, he then wants to take a picture of us.  Here is his return shot.

Bode would surely point out that I didn't say cheese.  Bode is almost 42 inches tall, so he was able to right some of the rides, but not the big ones.  He's almost at that stage where the little rides might be too little, but he was excited to ride everything he could.  Here he is flying the Red Baron's plane.

Next was a little roller coaster.  He really liked it, and would scream and put his arms up during the big drops.  He then drove the roadster himself and had a grand time, dreaming he was in the Indy 500 (or maybe the Coca Cola 600 if he chooses to do the NASCAR thing).

Bode and I rode the next ride together.  We were strapped in, taken up thousands of feet (writer's license to exaggerate just a bit), and then dropped.  He loved it.  I was glad we hadn't eaten lunch.

We also rode the log ride (didn't get too wet) and some monster ride that spins you around and takes you up and down (when I say we, I mean Ashley and Bode).  We spent a solid five hours at the park.  We took a final set of pictures before we left.

Note I tried to do some photo-shopping on the pictures in an effort to add some color to Ashley's legs.  Teeth-white was the best that I could do :-)  We don't have any major plans for this holiday weekend.  We'll relax as much as we can because come June, we will be in moving-mode.  Pleasant day to all. 

Busy Weekend

We have had a very busy weekend.  It all started Friday afternoon with the Preschool Extravaganza.  Each preschool class (four of them) at Bode's daycare performed three songs.  While the performances probably weren't on par with anything on TV (not saying much), it was enjoyable and funny to see the little ones on stage.  Some were not shy, grabbing the microphones, others sat and stared, while others cried and screamed.  Like I said, similar to an episode of the Kardashians...

Without further adieu, here are some shots of the little man in action.  He's the one in the blue and white striped shirt sitting down.

Bode's class sang three songs.  First was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star followed by a rousing rendition of Old MacDonald Had a Farm.  The big finale was When We All Get Together.  It was worthy of an encore (although we didn't get one).

We were very proud of our performer, although he isn't pining for the spot light.  He is starting to play the individual keys on the piano, which is a marked improvement to banging with his fists.

This morning, Ashley and I ran in the Oakwood 5K and 10K road race.  The course is somewhat challenging, as there is a significant hill on the 10K route.  Plus, it was rather warm this morning (yes, I'm putting the excuses out there now because I did not do as well as I had hoped).  Ashley finished the 5K in 26:22, earning a 3rd place trophy in her age group.  I did the 10K in 41:01, earning a 1st place trophy in my age group (was it wrong to sign up as a 53-year old?).  Our neighbor was nice enough to watch Bode while we raced, and for that, we are very grateful.

This afternoon, we went to a party.  It was a great party, but the reason for the party was somewhat depressing.  As you all know, we are moving, and this was our neighborhood's way of saying good-bye.  Doug and Tom cooked up an awesome pot of shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes, spiced up but not too much.  Doug was tempted to add a second bag of spice, but he figured most of us wouldn't be able to handle the Louisiana Hot he would have obtained (he was right).  Below are some pictures.

The party was a great time.  We ate too much, drank in moderation, and had a relaxing afternoon.

In preparation for this post, I downloaded all the images from the camera.  Bode takes a lot of pictures. He even posed his "friends" aka his stuffed animals on the bed and snapped some shots.  Here's the best one.

It's late right now--almost 9:00 pm.  Ashley and Bode are both asleep.  Evidently the day's events zonked them out.  I suppose I should get some sleep as well, but I think X Men: First Class is on HBO.  Maybe I'll watch...but probably for five minutes, and then I'll be out too.  Pleasant day to all.

Mommy's Day

Today was Mommy's Day.  I wanted to do something special, so I borrowed the car and got Mommy some presents.  We've done puzzles in the past, and I recently learned a lot about the solar system (did you know Saturn floats??).  I found this great puzzle in the book store that I knew Mommy and I could do together.  Here is an action shot of us working on it.  Note my cool haircut--I look sharp!

It took Mommy and me awhile to finish it.  Well, I should say it took Mommy and Daddy awhile to finish it.  I got a little tired and needed a break.  The two of them spent almost two hours working on it.  They were sweet enough to let me put in the final piece.  Here's a picture of Mommy and me in front of the finished product.

I'm really learning a lot at preschool.  I've even learned to spell and write my name.

Finally, I like to draw.  Along with the solar system theme, below is a picture of the sun.  I know, it's not that great, but I tried really hard.

We are having a great time in Ohio, although Mommy and Daddy seemed stressed.  They keep talking about "the move."  I've no idea what that is, but I'm sure they're worried for nothing.

Happy week to all.

New House

Things are going along in Ohio.  In case you haven't heard, we are moving to Colorado Springs.  We should be back there by 30 June.  In the mean time, we've been trying to sell our house here (20+ showings and no bites...sheesh).  We did have success finding a new home in Colorado.  Ashley picked it out with help from her Mom and my Mom.  I'm really no help in this arena, because, as they say, as long as she's happy, we're all happy.

The house is quite close to where we used to live.  Our previously house in Colorado was around 2,000 square feet.  The one we are buying tops out at 4800+.  Evidently we are getting bigger (although I think I weigh less now than I did back in 2000...interesting).  Here are some pictures of our new home.  We close in mid-June, so I guess I shouldn't call it ours until it actually is.

First, a shot of the kitchen--always an important feature in any house.

The house is a 3-bedroom home with an office nook, which I'm claiming as mine.  Here's a shot of the place where that novel will be finished :-)

The front of the house is nothing but windows.  In the basement is a little sun-room, which the current owners have been using as a workout area.  Note the installed pull-up bar!

What is likely the highlight of the house is the outdoor space.  The yard is fenced, so Harley is going to love her new empire.  The yard needs a bit of work, but we are very excited about have a nice, flat area for the four of us to play.

We are excited about moving back to Colorado, but very sad to be leaving all our dear friends in Ohio. We've really grown to like it here, and it's going to be difficult to say good-bye.  Unfortunately, moving was part of the deal when I signed up for the Air Force.  Here's hoping this is my last USAF-forced move :-)  Pleasant week to all.