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 :-)