Birthday Dog

We had another birthday in the house today, this one of the four-legged variety.  Harley-dog is now two years old.  We expect she's just about full-grown.  Here's a shot of the big girl, me, and Bode-man.

She's a pretty good dog, although this past weekend, I gave her a bone.  Usually, she keeps them out in the yard, but every now and then, she tries to sneak one inside.  Yesterday, I caught her on the sofa "burying" the bone next to the cushion.  Lovely.

Mommy bought Candyland for Bode, and it has quickly become his favorite game.  We seem to play every night, which is fine--some good ol' family fun :-)

Bode has a swim-lesson tomorrow.  Here's hoping he graduates from being a sea-monkey and joins the ranks of the otters :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Sledding and Skating

For those of us who are federal employees, Monday, 18 Feb was a holiday.  Thus, we had a three-day weekend.  Saturday, we didn't do a whole lot.  Ashley and I did some yoga in the morning (no full moons this time), and then the three of us went swimming.  Bode is getting very comfortable in the water, and has almost graduated from being a sea monkey to an otter.  He has to do a dive-down, which is basically going underwater and touching the bottom, and then surface and float in a starfish position for five seconds.  We'll see if he gets there this week, although I think it might take him a couple more lessons.

Sunday, we headed up to the mountains.  Dave and Kathy (Ashley's brother and sister-in-law) have family who own a 3-bedroom condo in Breckenridge.  They invited us up for Sunday and Monday.  We arrived for lunch, and then decided to so some sledding.  Bode had never been, and we wondered if he would like it.  Turns out, he loved it.  Here are some pictures.  First up, the clan trudging through the snow to get to the sledding hill.  Note it was a beautiful day.

Next is a shot of Ashley, Bode, and Teddy at the base of the "mountain."

Bode and I went on the first run together.  I thought he'd be a little scared, based on the incredible speeds we achieved.  Surprisingly, he really liked it.

After a number of runs, Bode wanted to go on his own.  Here is a movie.  We were prepared for a yard sale, but he made it down on his own in one piece.  Note at the start of the video, Bode is sitting down in a group near the middle of the picture.  Once he starts going, I was able to track him down the mountain.

Finally, here is a picture of Mommy and Bode finishing up a run in the tube.  Lots of fun!

Sunday night was rather tame.  We went to dinner, and afterwards, Cars was on TV, so we watched that.  Monday morning, Mommy was nice enough to make us some pancakes.  Here is a shot of the boys anxiously awaiting their food.  Bode really enjoys hanging out with his cousins, although there are an inordinate number of burp and fart jokes...

Monday, we went ice skating.  Bode hadn't been ice-skating since we tried it when he was three years old.  That time did not go well.  We were hopeful for a better result.  Initially, Bode was very timid on his skates.

However, once Teddy and Charlie showed up, he really started to zoom around, albeit with the assist from the walker.

As always, we had a wonderful time with the Denver Rankins.  Charlie turned four today, and Kathy made a delicious birthday cake, which Bode thoroughly enjoyed.  We got home in the mid-afternoon, did some chores, and are now all ready for bed.  Evidently the lack of oxygen takes its toll on all of us.  Pleasant week to all.

Another February Weekend

Twas another ordinary weekend in Colorado Springs.  The weather has been teasing us with snow--we get a few flakes, and then the sun comes out.  I think the mountains are getting some, but not enough to relieve the drought conditions.  Saturday, Bode had another swim lesson.  No pictures this time--we think the camera has been making him nervous (not really).  We should have taken movies, because he did great this time.  He floated as a starfish for five seconds, and would then flip over on his face and swim to the wall.  He even "sat-dove" in the water from the side.  He's not quite in the "Sea Otter" category, but we think he'll be there in a couple weeks.  We've decided to have him take two lessons a week, so the additional exposure should be good for him.

I woke up this morning, and realized Harley was in a tizzy.  I looked outside and saw this:

You can probably see Harley (the black shape near the right-middle).  She was running back and forth along the fence line.  If you look above her and to her left, you might be able to make out five or six deer.  I took a zoomed shot, but the focus was not good...

There was also this lone female, sitting down by herself.  She's just about in the exact center of the photograph.

It is neat having all these deer around.  Of course, where there is food, there are predators.  We have never seen any mountain lions, and I don't think there have been any in our neighborhood in years.  Still, it'd be quite a shock to run into big cat while getting the newspaper early in the morning.

We took Bode bowling this afternoon.  We brought the camera, but sadly, we left it in the car.  Little man did great--was running up to the lane with the ball and throwing in down the alley.  He got two spares (although the bumpers get an assist).  Now, we're just hanging out.  For lunch, we went to Firehouse Subs.  Bode got this cool fireman's hat.

Another week of work ahead.  Only two years, three months, eighteen days until I am eligible to retire. With my luck, just as I can retire, the government will be insolvent, so no pension :-(  Pleasant week to all.

The Mighty Falcons

Today was a busy day.  Ashley and I woke up early and did an Asylum workout.  Asylum is one of Shaun T's video workouts--he is the guy that you see doing Insanity on those infomercials.  Asylum is different that Insanity--not as much cardio, but very tough.  For some reason, I was motivated as soon as I woke up and wanted to work out.  I think it has something to do with my ninth place age-group finish in a recent race, so I'm hoping to improve on that performance.  And I also think it's because I've had Bonnie Tyler's Holding on for a Hero song running through my head ever since I heard it on the radio the other day.

After our workout, we grabbed Bode and headed for his third swim lesson.  Bode was really excited for his lesson, but today wasn't his best day, at least in his eyes.  He started off with a review of what he knew--leg kicks, blowing bubbles, etc.

After the beginning, things got difficult.  The first two lessons were rather simple, but today, they were wanting him to step (swim) out of his comfort zone.  This included floating on his back without any support from the instructor.  The position is called the Starfish because his legs and arms are spread out and his head is back.

Bode is not very buoyant, or at least he has not figured out how to be.  Thus, when the teacher would let go of his head, he would sink.  He got some water up his nose a few times, and got a little scared.  However, he did try to do the Starfish three more times on his own, and for that, we are proud of him.  He then successfully kicked himself to the wall...(and yes, that is Mommy's butt).

After some hard swimming, they finished with some entertainment and fun.

On the car ride home, Bode said, "I didn't do the Starfish very well." (Actually he said, "very good," but we are grammatically correct on this blog).  We told him the standard, practice-makes-perfect encouragement (parental B.S.), so we'll see how he responds.

After swimming, we rushed home, showered up, and then headed out to lunch.  Bode loves Souper Salad, which is a salad and soup buffet that also has pizza, mac-n-cheese, and ice cream for dessert.  Bode was very concerned when we arrived, because the last time we went there, the ice cream machine was broken--talk about disappointment!  Fortunately, the machine was in working order and after we dined, we all enjoyed some ice cream.  We then headed up to the Air Force Academy for the Falcon's basketball game against San Diego St, who were ranked #22 heading into the game.  This was Bode's first college basketball game, and he was excited.

And before I go on, yes, it was a beautiful day--high in the 50's!  Bode was even more excited when we got inside and he saw there was popcorn.

Air Force Academy basketball is not, at least historically, competitive.  They had a couple strong years in 2003 and 2004, but recently, they have stunk.  They were picked to finish last in the Mountain West prior to the start of the season.  Surprisingly, USAFA is doing well, amassing a 13-6 record and riding a 4-game winning streak.  More folks than usual turned out for the game--maybe close to 6,000--so the place was rocking.  Here is a game photo (should I sell it to SI?)

Bode paid attention...for a little while.  After the first-half, he was ready to go.  Fortunately Ashley's phone has Angry Birds and Bad Piggies, so he was content.

The game was extremely exciting.  USAFA was up five at the half, went down three at the start of the second half, and then it was back and forth.  I was determined to get a movie of USAFA doing something good, but every time I filmed, they would screw up.  Finally, I was able to capture the following footage.  And the voice you hear saying, "They're gonna score" is me, trying to will the team to some points.

This three-pointer put them up by nine with about five minutes to go.  Unfortunately, SDSU whittled away at the lead, and with fifteen seconds left, USAFA was up by 1.  We drew a foul, and our guy made both free-throws.  Then, SDSU had the ball for one last chance, but they missed a three-pointer, got the rebound, tried another three, missed again, and then the buzzer sounded.  The crowd went wild, and many cadets stormed the court.  We remained in our seats and applauded conservatively :-)

We didn't do much the rest of the day.  I walked Harley, did some tax work, while Ashley did some real work.  Bode relaxed--he played real hard today.  Super Bowl tomorrow...we may watch...or not :-)