22 Years

 Ashley and I celebrated our 22-year anniversary this weekend.  What better way to spend it than at an Auburn football game...and we even left Bode home alone (well, Nana and Papa watched him, so he wasn't flying solo).

We left around 8:00 am on Saturday.  Game time was not until 3:00 pm, so we had plenty of time to enjoy all the pregame fun.  First, here's a picture of Ashley taking a picture of the Auburn radio announcers.  It is hard to tell, but Jason Campbell, hero of the 2004 undefeated Auburn Tigers, is seated up there on the podium.

We tried to get a picture, but you can't really tell it's him with me in the photo with him.

Next is a picture of Ashley getting ready for the Tiger Walk.

The walk started promptly at 1:00 pm; Aubie got everyone riled up and ready to go.

Someone must have used my phone to take a picture of this pretty blond cheerleader...

Coach Harsin was next; note the two cops walking next to him.  They looked like they could play linebacker; neither one of them smiled at all.

Then the players arrived; many of them slapped five with Ashley as they went by.  One guy was all business...Bo Nix, the Auburn QB (more on him later).

Our seats were great--right on the 40-yard line.

Ashley took some videos of the band before the game.

I wish I had some highlights from the game, but there were very few.  We expected a route; we ended up with a nailbiter.  Auburn scored on 4th and goal from the 11 with 45 seconds left to take the lead for the first time all day; fortunately, they won the game, but it is what I would call a moral defeat :-)  Here are Ashley and me after the game.

For those that do not remember, on our wedding day, Auburn lost in overtime to Mississippi; fortunately, 22 years later, we got a W on our special day.  We got home early this morning, found Bode and the dogs alive and well, and did some minor chores the rest of the day.  We had a lovely 22nd anniversary.

Final Pictures

 The first part of MCU Phase 2 is complete.  Below are some pictures of what used to be where we parked our cars.

We are extremely pleased with how everything turned out.  Now, I guess I need to start filling up the bookshelves with some books!

Labor Day

We have had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  During the week, Meigs middle school had a home football game.  The band played before and during the game, but I don't have many pictures.  I didn't want to embarrass Bode, so I tried to surreptitiously take some pictures when the band arrived in the stands; below is the best I could do.

There were clouds in the area, so Ashley made the command decision to take our phones and the camera back to the car; she also had the foresight to bring back an umbrella.  As the band was playing the final part of the Star Spangled Banner, we could see the roofs of the houses located across from the field.  Rain was pouring onto them.  Despite the break in customs and courtesies, many people quickly deployed their umbrellas (Ashley included) as we were singing "...banner yet wave..."  The band didn't miss a note and finished (and then sprinted for cover under the bleachers).

Ashley did some waverunning yesterday.  I was busy at the pickleball court, so I didn't head out with her, but I did take some pictures of my lovely wife when she returned.

I also took a couple pictures of the dogs.

There was a meeting of cigar boats in Poquito Bayou.  We were sitting on the dock when these speed boats went cruising by.  Ashley took a quick movie.  

The cost of that boat (note the six engines!) is around $3.4 million; we decided against getting one, as we don't think it would fit on our dock.  We wanted to get some close-up photos of these awesome boats, so Ashley and I headed back to the bayou and snapped some pictures.  

We had a wonderful day today.  Ashley, Bode, and I, along with Bode's friend, Brendan, went to Big Kahunas water park and enjoyed some awesome sliding action (no pictures).  We are now exhausted (well, Ashley and I are; Bode wants to know what we are doing tomorrow :-)  Pleasant week to all.