Murph

In what has become another tradition much like the polar plunge, the McGuirk Trio did the Memorial Day Murph workout this morning. This consists of running one mile, doing 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and 300 air-squats, and then running another mile. The real warriors wear a weighted-vest when doing this; we opted against this part. Ashley and Bode each did one-half of Murph (they both ran the two miles), while I did the full workout, coming in at 47:14, which is two seconds slower than my time from last year. I guess it is hard to beat Father Time :-) Here are some pictures. First, Bode and Ashley preworkout.

Next, a good one of me and the "little" man.

We also took a pic with Sondra, her daughter Mia, and her friend, Sam. Mia and Sam both go to Choctaw and are a year ahead of Bode. 

After a brief warm-up, the starting gun sounded, and we were off. I took a quick break mid-workout to take the following pictures. You can see Ashley repping out her push-ups, Sondra and Sam are doing air-squats, and Mia is off to mark another successful round.

Here's Bode getting ready to tear that pull-up bar down.

After it was all said and done, we posed for a family photo.

The garden is going great. We have had a number of handfuls of blackberries thanks to the bird net keeping the birds away.

This could also be the first year we get blueberries. There are close to fifty growing right now; here is hoping the pests don't get to them. It is hard to see them through the net, but they are there.

We are exhausted :-) Ashley is asleep in her hammock while Bode and I are going to watch something on TV.  Perhaps later we'll relax in the bay and take Rowdy for a swim--he's becoming quite the water dog! Happy Memorial Day to all!

Panama City Meet

Bode had his first long-course meet of the season today, which means he's swimming in a 50-meter pool. The warm-ups were at 0640 in Panama City, so we had to leave the house a little after 5 am; an early start to our Sunday :-)

Bode's first event was the 50-meter freestyle. Here's a pre-race shot.

Below is the race. Bode finished is :29.5 seconds, a best for him.

After the swim, I took a quick shot of Bode and Ashley.

Bode's next event was the 100-meter backstroke. He'd never done this race before, so obviously it was a best time for him. He finished in 1:16 or so. I didn't film this one, but I did take some action shots. First, here's Bode at the start.

Here's Bode in the center lane coming into and out of his turn.

Bode was also going to swim the 100-meter butterfly, but you can tell by the sky that weather was approaching. Shortly after Bode finished his backstroke, the skies opened up, and it poured. The rest of the morning session was cancelled, so we came home.

I keep meaning to post some pictures of the dogs. Here are a couple pictures the first time Rowdy was down on the dock.

I would have posted more pictures, but Rowdy doesn't understand that you can't mess around on the dock due to the limited footing, and he promptly fell in. It was up to me to jump in and save him :-) He's fine, and I bet we'll be able to convince him to swim with us (unlike Barkley). Pleasant week to all.

Final Band Concert

We had Bode's final middle school band concert this past week. It was nice to see the Meigs Band play one last time. They called it the Legacy Concert. I think this is due to the fact the graduating 8th graders had three different band instructors during their time, and they were all at the concert.

The first piece was a version of Loch Lomond.  It was conducted by Mr Harris, who had been the band teacher at Meigs for 37 years, and he helps a lot during the year.

They also played a fun version of the theme from The Incredibles. I didn't record this one--not sure why; I think I just forgot to hit record :-( Towards the end of the concert, they presented various awards and certificates for achievement. Bode received three awards: one for playing in the solo and ensemble event in April, one for making the All-County band, and one for making the All-State band. I recorded all three presentations, but I only included the All-State one.

The band finished the night with a wonderful rendition of some music from Harry Potter. Ms Leffard conducted, and she was Bode's 6th-grade band teacher.

Afterwards, we took some pictures. First is a lovely picture of Bode and Ms Tordi, his current band instructor.

Ms Noe was at the concert as well. She was Bode's 7th-grade band instructor. Here's a cute picture of Bode, Ms Noe, and Brendan.

Finally, I got a picture (a blurry one) of Bode and Ms Leffard.

Ms Tordi put together a grade slide show with some pictures and movies of the kids throughout the year. I am trying to get a copy; if I get one, I will post it (or a link to it) here.

It is hard to believe middle school is over; done in the blink of an eye ;-) Hopefully high school will be just as fun, and we all hope a pandemic doesn't strike halfway through! Pleasant week to all.

Matriculation Ceremony

 Meigs Middle School had their 8th grade matriculation ceremony last night. It is hard to believe Bode will be starting high school this fall...the class of 2026 at Choctawhatchee High School, 38 years after Ashley graduated waaaay back in 1988.

We took the time to get some pictures. Bode now towers over his mother.

I think I still have him by a hair, although it is hard to tell in this picture.

The venue was very nice and festively decorated.  All the "graduates" were called and walked across this stage.

Bode was thrilled--he loves being up by himself in front of large groups of people :-)

The moment came when Bode's name was called; we should have brought the foghorn...

Bode was on the A/B honor roll, and he earned the President's Award, which is given to students that have a 3.5 GPA or higher. We need to work on his hand-shaking with the adults...

Afterwards, we took a nice picture of Bode with his medals.

Such a fine-looking young man. He only has eight more days of eighth grade; Bode is a little upset that he still has to go to school even though they had the ceremony. Life is so unfair to him :-)

County Swim Meet

 Bode's final middle school meet (ever) was yesterday.  I think there were eight or nine middle schools from the area competing.  Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and it was a beautiful day.  Before he swam, Bode took a nice picture with his mother.

Bode swam the 200 freestyle and the 50 butterfly. Here he is getting ready for his first event.

He swam well and improved his 200-time by one second; he finished second overall, which is outstanding for our little orca.

His next event was the 50-fly. Here is another pre-race shot.

The guy to Bode's right is Juan, and he swims on Bode's club team.  Juan has the fastest 50-fly and 50-free times this year for a kid his age (amazingly, Juan is only 12). Here's a video of the race; Bode too the bronze :-)

While we are sad to see the middle school season end, we are thrilled that we no longer have to get up at 4:20 am three times a week for practice...then again, maybe we shouldn't be thrilled because he'll have to do this five times a week for high school practice :-)  Happy Mother's Day to all.