Birthday

Matias is an exchange student from the Czech Republic on Bode's swim team. He had his 18th birthday party today. His host-mother had the party at her family's property on the Sound, and Bode had a great time. First, here's Bode and one of his friends (I know this isn't Matias) jumping off the dock.

Next is a picture of the group carving pumpkins. Matias is the boy with the blue shades on his head.

Bode said he had a lot of fun at the party. Hopefully not too much fun because this is a big week for the CHS swim-team; the district meet is Wednesday. Bode will be swimming the 100-butterfly, the 200-IM, and he is on the medley relay and the 4x100 relay. Hopefully they swim well :-)

Finally, I'm sure you have read this somewhere else, but I thought I would let you know Ending the Cycles, the long-awaited sequel to my first book, has hit the market.

Get your copy now before they are sold out :-) Pleasant week to all.

Homecoming

Choctawhatchee High School had its 70th anniversary this week. Things kicked off with a big football win and a great performance by the band (Ashley and I worked, first in the parking lot and then selling band merchandise, so don't ask us about the game :-)

Saturday night was the big homecoming dance. Bode went with a lovely young lady named Grace along with a large group of friends. The theme was Hollywood Glam; I wasn't sure what that meant, but the kids all looked amazing. First is a picture of the group; I have no idea who all the kids are, but I do know Bode and Grace are on the far right.

Next is a good one of all the boys, err, young men. They all wore goofy socks.

Next are some nice ones of Bode and Grace.

Finally, here is a picture from the dance.

I think Bode had a nice time--it is so hard to get more than two words from a teenager :-)

Busy Weekend

Bode had a very busy weekend. He had swim practice Friday morning from 0500 - 700; what a great way to start the day. He then had school, after which he got home around 2:15. Choctaw was playing an away football game, so the band had to be ready to travel at 4:00, so we had to feed him a quick meal and send him on his way. The band played well (according to Bode; Ashley and I opted to skip this game), and Bode got back home shortly before midnight. Nothing like a 20-hour day to start the weekend.

Bode had to be back up at the school at 11:00 on Saturday morning. The band had their Music Performance Assessment (MPA). MPAs are a very big deal, and the band had to take the hour-long bus ride over to Tate High School where all the local schools were gathering for their evaluations. Choctaw did great--they earned all Superiors, which is the best they could do. The below movies are snippets of their performance; I have no idea where Bode is in these videos :-)

Bode got back Saturday night around 9:30. He promptly ate a big snack and went to bed. We were up at 5:30 this morning for a swim meet out in Destin. Bode swam the 100-back, 100-butterfly, 200-IM, and 100-freestyle. He was within one second of his best times for the first three events--he figured he would be a little slow today, but then he amazed us and took one second off his 100-free time finishing in 55.5 seconds. Below are his butterfly and freestyle races.

Bode is off from school tomorrow due to the holiday, but he does have swim practice at 0500. He plans to go to practice and then sleep the rest of the day. Ashley and I will work, as someone has to earn money to feed this kid :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Swimming Odds and Ends

 Apparently there is a Choctawhatchee High School swimming Facebook page. Ashley has given me access, and I have downloaded some past pictures of Bode and his friends. These aren't in any particular order--I just like seeing pictures of Bode with the team. First, here is a picture of Bode with his 4 x 100 freestyle relay team. It's nice to see the boys relaxed for the picture :-)

Before the meet this past weekend, the team had an area where they relaxed between swims. Here is Bode wearing some goofy glasses.

After the meet last week versus Navarre, the team went out for pizza. Here is a nice shot of a bunch of the kiddos.

Below is a picture of the team waiting for Coach to arrive one morning. Note there isn't any light in the sky, and Bode is at the far right of the picture.

To raise money, the team collects parking fees at home football games.

Here is a nice picture of Bode at one of the meets

This is a neat one of Bode cheering on a teammate.

This next one is a picture of the relay team.

The team had one Friday night where they volunteered to pick up trash for one hour on the beach and then we had a pot-luck dinner.

This is a good shot of Bode on the blocks. I think he is getting ready to do the 500-yard freestyle. Bode is in the center of the picture.

I'm not sure what the boys are celebrating here, but they look happy.

I think this picture was from the meet this past Saturday.

This is a cute one of Bode and Kate; Kate is the niece of the guy that built our carriage house.

That is probably enough pictures for now. Below are some results from the meet. The IM relay team took third, and the 4 x 100 freestyle relay team took fourth out of sixteen schools.

Bode took ninth (out of thirty) in the 200 IM and seventh (out of twenty-one) in the 500-free.

That is probably enough for this one post. Bode has an away football Friday night, a band performance Saturday, and a swim meet Sunday; he'll be exhausted come Sunday night :-)