Bode on a Bicycle

Bode has learned how to ride a bike.  Yes, we are bad parents in that we waited so long to teach him.  However, both in Ohio and in Colorado, we do not live on a street that was/is conducive to learning to ride a bicycle.  This is not to say we live in a heavily trafficked area.  Quite the contrary.  Here in Colorado, we live at the very top of a dead-end street.  Traffic is not the issue.  The large, 10% incline is what is troublesome to a first-time bike rider.  What got Bode on his bike sans training wheels?  Peer pressure.  There are some neighbors down the street.  They have a six-year old and a four-year old.  Bode saw the four-year old riding a bike, and that is really all it took, plus some encouragement (goading) by dear-old Dad.  Here are some action photos.

For the time being, we are staying in the driveway (which is still steep in some areas).  However, we did walk Bode and the bike to the bottom of the hill, where he was able to ride a bit further.  Also, we ate dinner at Grammy's house, and she lives on a nice flat street.  After dinner, we took a walk around the block.  Bode rode the whole way.  He's yet to have a major wipe-out...we have stocked up on band-aids and bandages knowing it will surely happen :-)

Ashley took the below movie.  Not the most thrilling of footage, but those riders who post videos of themselves on Youtube going off 20-foot jumps have to start somewhere.

We are both impressed how quickly Bode learned how to ride.  He did have one of those Stride-Rite bikes (pedal-less bikes).  He learned how to balance himself on that, so getting on a real bike wasn't that big of a difference.  We did have to work on using the bike's break as opposed to his feet, but we think he has that down.

Nothing too exciting in Colorado Springs--hot, dry, and fire-danger is high.  Makes us miss the humidity of the east coast (yes, really).  Pleasant week to all.

Nana and Papa

Ashley's parents are here for a month.  No, they're not staying with us--Harley would probably drive Frank nuts.  They have a camper, and they hauled it up here from Florida and are staying in the Famcamp playground on the Air Force Academy.  Bode loves the camper, and he'd stay there every night if he was allowed.  Over the weekend, David came down with Teddy and Charlie.  The boys love playing together.  Here's a nice shot of Bode and me on a big rock with Charlie in the foreground.

The boys went to a playground and did some running around.  Here is a cute one of Bode.

On Monday, we all went to the zoo.  The kids love feeding the giraffes.  Look how big that tongue is!

Next time we need to remember to bring a whole head of lettuce.  The zoo sells five pieces of lettuce for two bucks.  Seems like a scam.

The zoo upgraded their elephant exhibit.  Still doesn't seem like a large enough area for elephants to be happy...

The Cheyenne Mountain zoo has probably the most scenic view of all zoos in the country (not that I've been to more that three of them, but as I blogger, I feel qualified to give an expert opinion on anything).

Near the play area was an old, wrecked airplane (or some sheet metal painted as such).

The peacocks get to run wild at the zoo.  Charlie managed to p*ss one off :-)

We stopped at the leopard cage.  For the longest time, we couldn't see anything--some folks concluded the leopard wasn't even in the cage.  Fortunately, I used my tracking skills, honed by 18 years in the military, and located the beast.  Despite the photographic evidence, Nana still couldn't see the leopard.  Those spots do work.

The tiger was very active, probably because he lives right next to the eatery.  I could smell the food cooking, so I can only imagine what the tiger must think.  Thank heavens this fence was between us, or I would have been his lunch.

No trip to the zoo is complete without a ride on the carousel.  We need to time this better, because we always seem to do this after lunch.

We had a lovely time at the zoo.  Afterwards, we treated ourselves with a trip to Jersey Mikes, our favorite sub shop from Dayton that finally has a franchise in Colorado Springs :-)  This past Sunday, I ran the Garden of the Gods 10-mile run, and finished in 71:50.  I ran this same race over 10 years ago.  My time was 79:45.  Thus, every ten years, I drop seven minutes from my time.  Imagine how fast I'll be when I'm 50! Pleasant day to all.

A Week Off

Ashley and I took the week off from work.  Did we do anything exciting and fun?  Depends on your definition of those things.  If by fun you mean "not working your job" then yes, we had loads of fun.  If  by fun you mean some type of exotic vacation, definitely no.  We stayed in Colorado Springs, goofed off, sat around, went to lunch, played with Bode, and a bunch of other odds and ends.  The one thing I failed to do was update the blog, so this post is going to be a smorgasbord of pictures and different events.  First up is a picture of Bode and Harley dog.

Bode's relationship with Harley has really grown.  He's very nice to her, and she seems genuinely excited to see him when we get home from school.  Boy's best friend.  A couple weeks ago, we went out for brunch to the Broadmoor for my 40th birthday (yes, I'm old).  It was a beautiful day, and we got this nice picture of the three of us.

As usual, we ate too much.  Waaay too much.  At my age, I need to start making better decisions about what I eat.  Afterwards, Bode wanted to play in the fountain.  Fortunately, we managed to keep him from diving in.

Bode is in a little soccer group this summer with a gal who lives down the street.  Coach Maran played soccer in college, and she has some fun games for the kids to play.  It's not really soccer--more like fun activities that the kids associate with soccer, meaning when they hear the word soccer, they'll think fun. Or so that's the idea.  Here are some pictures of Bode running around.

Nana and Papa (Ashley's parents) are in Colorado Springs for a few weeks.  We went to the zoo on Monday.  Stay tuned for pictures.

Party and Swimming

Today, Bode attended Abby's birthday party.  Abby is the youngest girl in Bode's preschool class, and according to her parents, is very relieved to finally be five.  The party was held at a local bouncy house store.  The kids were thrilled.  Here are some pictures of Bode doing what he does best.

Bode and I raced through the obstacle course.  He won, although I don't think I tried as hard as I could have.

After some hard playing, it was time for some cupcakes and ice-cream, all with a Mickey Mouse theme.

After stuffing their bellies, we wanted to get a picture.  Unfortunately, as soon as the kids were back in the play area, they all took off on the obstacle course.

We managed to get the herd back together for a nice group photograph.

Bode had a lovely time at Abby's party.  Afterwards, Bode had a swim lesson.  You may recall Bode is a Dolphin (Level 4).  There are eight stickers which he needs to earn to become a Seal.  Before today's lesson, he only had two of them.  He's really starting to do stuff that looks like swimming--moving his arms, sort of breathing on the side, and doing the racing start from the side of the pool.  Of course, he hasn't quite mastered some of the fundamentals.  Here is Miss Jade showing Bode how to best alternate his arms.

Here's a movie of Bode putting together is entire swim arsenal.

After the lesson, Miss Jade said Bode earned three more stickers.  He's up to five on the Dolphin Level--three more and our little guy is a Seal.  Amazing!

Not much else going on today.  I had my 40th birthday and received lots of lovely presents.  Tomorrow, we are going to the Broadmoor for brunch.  Thus, we are fasting until then :-)  Pleasant day.

More Pictures

As promised, here are some pictures of Bode's day with the Albuquerque cousins.  They went to Seven Springs, which involved a lot of hiking and stair-climbing with lots of opportunities for cute pictures.  Here are Bode and Devin.

Next is a good picture of the kids in front of the water fall.

Here's a neat one of Sean giving Bode the rabbit ears.

In this next one, note the cheer-leader pose Ms Devin is striking.

Here's a nice one of the whole gang going across a rickety bridge.

Here's one of the whole ABQ troop.

Tuesday night, we all went to PF Chang's for dinner.  I was surprised with a premature birthday cake.  Bode helped me blow out the candles.

Finally, here is a decent picture of Ashley and me.

This is my last post as a 30-something :-(  At least I'll be in a different running age group.  Pleasant day.

Visit from Albuquerque

Pat, Dana, Brenna, Sean, and Devin were in Colorado for the Memorial Day Weekend.  Sean's soccer team, the Rio Red Devils (I think that's their name--they wear blue and white colors, so why they are red-devils is a mystery to me) had a tournament in Denver.  We went up to Denver to watch them play. Bode was very excited--he thinks Sean is somewhat of a deity.

The little fellow has started wearing my sunglasses (or "my sunglasses" as he now calls them).

Here are some cute pictures of Bode, Devin, and Brenna playing on an empty field.

The game wasn't all that exciting.  Rio whooped the other team by some extreme score.  I think we stopped counting after it was 6 - 0.  Sean is number , and here he is in action.

No post can be complete without a movie of a screaming Bode-man.  The sound is horrible, but I think you can tell he was a little upset at the end.

I don't know why he was crying--probably some minuscule injury.  Fortunately he quickly recovered and was back to playing.  Sean's team ended up winning the tournament, going undefeated.  The whole clan came to the house for a Memorial Day cookout.  Sadly, I took no pictures.  Bode also got to spend the whole day on Tuesday with his cousins.  Pat took lots of pictures, so I'll be sure to load those when I get them.  Pleasant week to all.

A Bode-less Post

As the title suggests, there is nothing in this post about Bode.  Therefore, if he is the only reason you come to this page, you should just move on with your day because there are no Bode-tales to be found.  This post is about me.  Yes, a bit self-centered, but one out of two hundred doesn't make me an egotist (or does it?)

I was gone this weekend.  I went to Omaha to visit an old friend.  Well, not an old friend, as we both decided to characterize ourselves as "young old-friends."  That sounds much better, especially to me, as I'm about to turn 40 (and have the gray hair to prove it).  Ashley and Bode did not accompany me--they would have, but they knew it was going to be a quick trip.  Spending 17 of 48 hours in a car did not appeal to them, so I flew solo.

The drive on I-76 and then I-80 hasn't changed much in the past 20 years.  However, back in the late 1990's, the Great Platte River Roach Archway was added as some type of frontier memorial.  It's basically a big bridge going over the interstate.  I've never stopped, but did snap this photo on my way out.

I think there is some type of museum inside.  I'm sure I'll stop and visit...some day.  I arrived at Kristine and Patrick Wolfe's home Saturday afternoon.  We went to dinner with their four children (Paige, Abbey, Parker, and Avery).  We also played a quick game of Scrabble--sadly, we weren't done before we went to dinner, and Avery put the board away before we were done.  I believe I was winning, but don't have the score sheet to prove it.

Sunday morning was the Papillion Half Marathon.  I ran this little race, and Kristine ran the associated 5K.  Here is a nice pre-race photo of the two of us.

Note the pretty sunny day.  However, see those clouds in the background?  They became a small issue later.  I had hoped to break the 1:30:00 barrier--no altitude, no hills (so I thought) should have equated to a fast time.  The course was harder than I anticipated.  Rolling hills, but nothing too bad...until mile 12. I was (mis)informed it was "all downhill from here" as I passed the 10.5 mile point.  Liar!  I knew we finished in the stadium, and noticed we were going down hill towards it.  However, we proceeded into a river-valley, and mile 12 to mile 13 was the climb out.  It was tough, and I lost precious time on these hills (you'd think a Colorado boy wouldn't be affected by a Nebraska pimple-sized incline, but I was).  Kristine was nice enough to snap the below photo as I sprinted (sort of) to the finish.

I'm not sure if you can make out the clock, but the photo shows 1:30:14.   My friend Eric pointed out I simply needed to run each mile one second faster and I would have achieved my goal.  I thanked him profusely for his insight.  Complaining aside, I was happy with my results, especially since we had a diagonal rain to contend with the last three miles (yes, another excuse).  Before we left, Kristine and I snapped this self-portrait of the two runners.

Post-race, we relaxed and rested.  During the afternoon, I attended a play/musical in which Kristine played the oboe and her daughter, Paige, played the role of a maid.  Afterwards, the Wolfes were kind enough to feed me a fine dinner of burritos and other Mexican cuisine.  We then played a mean game of Just Dance 4 on their Wii.  I think Parker videoed us playing, and I pray to the Almighty that video never makes it to the web.  It was a wonderful (and too short) of trip to Omaha, especially since I won the final Scrabble game, retaining my crown.  I got home around 1, and am now resting my sore legs and doing my laundry.  I must return to work tomorrow, so I probably should do some prep work.

This concludes the Jeff-only post; future works will be Bode-centric.  Pleasant week to all.