Callaway #4

On Thursday, we did the wild animal safari.  This isn't part of Callaway Gardens, but it is located about 10 minutes from it.  It's basically a large property you drive though and feed various herbivores.  You rent one of the park's vans, as there is the potential for too much damage (and slobber upon) one's car.  Here we are driving into the park.  Note all the wild life on the road.

The animals have it all figured out--some just come right up to the window and open their mouth, waiting for you to throw in some park-provided food.

The little pigs were so cute, but they wouldn't come near the car, so we had to throw the food a ways to get to them.

The buffalos were huge, and also had the second-largest tongues.

The longest tongue had to have been from the giraffe.

There was even a male lion...

but obviously it stayed in a cage :-)  The safari was pretty cool--a bit messy, but no one lost any fingers, so we can consider it a win.

Callaway #3

As with previous trips to Callaway, the Florida State high-flying circus was on hand to teach the kids and adults some tricks.  Ashley and I both tried our hand on the high-trapeze bar.  Here's Ashley heading up to the platform.

And here she is doing the trick-series.  We were supposed to swing, pull our legs over, let go with our hands, reestablish a grip, and then dismount with a back flip.  Ashley nails it.

I did the same series, but sadly, the cameraman (Bode) must have fallen asleep and didn't document the entire (and beautiful) performance.

JoAnne and Frank came up for a visit, and we all ended up staying in the same cabin, which was very nice.  Here's Bode with Nana and Papa on the screened-in porch.

On Wednesday, the grandparents were nice enough to take us out to dinner and the country store.  It was a wonderful southern meal, and we all ate too much.

Afterwards, I took Bode's picture on the scenic overlook.

It was a very relaxing day--we also swam in the lake, which Bode loved to do, but we didn't bring the camera.  In fact, I don't think I have any lake-pictures, so you'll just have to trust me on this :-)

Callaway #2: Aqua Day

Monday was another fantastic day in the Gardens.  Ashley and I both went on a morning run, which was lovely due to the exorbitant amount of oxygen in the air.  Bode started the day learning some circus tricks such as the proper way to fall from a trapeze bar.  Very fun, and also very practical in today's modern world.  We all had a nice lunch, and then Bode headed over to Aqua Island, which is just a conglomeration of a lot of floating inflatables on the lake.  The kiddos suited up in their life vests...

and soon they were out exploring the grand (inflatable) island adventure.

Bode played for about an hour on these devices--Ashley and I did them by ourselves on Tuesday morning, and then the three of us did them together on Wednesday morning.  They are a ton of fun to play on, but also very tiring.  We lounged around the rest of the day on Monday because Monday evening, we went water skiing.  Here's a shot of Bode ready and raring to go.

The first boat-activity was some tubing.  Bode and Ashley went first.

I took the below movie of the two of them--it's long, and nothing too exciting happens (e.g. no wipe out).

After Bode and Mommy, Ashley and I went...

followed by Bode and me.

The only person that fell off was me during the ride with Ashley (I contend she elbowed me off).  After the tubing, Ashley did a little knee boarding...

as did I.

The highlight of the adventure had to have been Bode on water skis.  Here he is getting some instruction.

I was amazed how easily the instructor got Bode up.  He just set up behind Bode, the boat started, and next thing you know, the two of them are skiing.  On Bode's second time up on skis, the instructor let go of him, and he started to fall.  We all thought he was going down, including the instructor, who let go of the rope.  Bode's snow skiing must have paid off, because he saved himself, and was then skiing all by his lonesome.

He stayed up for almost a whole minute, when I finally realized to take a movie.

An incredible day on the water, so much so that we decided to go again later in the week.  Stay tuned for those pics!

Callaway #1

We are in the midst of summer vacation.  Rather than wait til the end, I have decided to do some posts mid-vacation.  This saves me time when I get home trying to remember all the cool things we did.  Sadly, I've (again) been remiss with my camera duties.  We flew into Atlanta on Thursday--not one picture from the plane!  I'm slipping in my old age.  Thursday night, we stayed with the Bledsoes (David, Kathy, Westin, and Keller), and had a wonderful dinner.  The boys played outside--in the rain, which was cool--and we just hung around (no pictures--starting to become a theme for this post).  On Friday, we woke up, did a little swimming, and then drove down to Callaway.  There was a huge storm that evening--I got soaked just going from the hotel room to the car.  I was nice enough to pull the car up onto a covered walkway to prevent Ashley and Bode from the same fate.  We had forgotten what warm rain feels like.  Whenever it rains in Colorado, it's rather cold, and usually some hail.  Here, it was a bit steamy, like after taking a hot shower.  My Dad and his wife, Miss Janet, drove down from South Carolina, and we had a wonderful seafood dinner (last time of no pics, promise).  Saturday, we woke up and did some golf.  Bode took over as the camera operator, so we have lots (and lots) of pictures.  First, a shot of my me on the practice green. Note the not-so-perfect form.

 

Next we have Ashley sinking a few putts.

I managed to steal the camera from Bode for a quick second to take a picture with Bode and his Grandpa, who turned 70 the day of this outing.

Bode then took control of the camera and took a picture of Dad and me...

and then Ashley and me.

The golf was great--we could all have played a little better, but I did finish with a birdie on 18, which ensured we would be back the next day.  Saturday night we all went to dinner for a wonderful birthday meal (I guess we all forgot to sing, which I guess isn't a bad thing considering only Bode seems to show any musical talent in our family).  After dinner, we went to the fireworks (which didn't show up well on camera).  A couple people also got some ice-cream--Bode is eating the smallest portion size they had.

Sunday was a beautiful day, which meant more golf.  Janet was nice enough to take Bode for the morning (he got a little bored taking pictures, although we did let him drive the cart).  The weather could not have been nicer.  Here's an action shot of Ashley.

 

 

 

Such perfect form :-)  I also took a sequence of Dad.

And I took a movie of Ashley, who ended up having a wonderful drive.

I took another movie of Ashley, but, uh, err, the video quality wasn't quite as good (nor was the shot :-)  Today is another lovely day.  Bode spent the morning learning some trapeze tricks, and now wants to go swim in the lake.  I, of course, will oblige him.

Happy 4th!

We spent a lovely Independence Day up in Denver visiting David and Jennie and (of course) Teddy and Charlie.  We got there before lunch and headed over to the neighborhood pool for a big bash and some sun.  The pool was packed, but that didn't deter the boys from swimming.

Bode surprised me by going off the diving board--nothing too daring, but he did jump in.

We all took in some rays...

and had some burgers and hot dogs.

We spent some quality time at the pool.  Afterwards, we rested a bit while the boys started on the next generation of Facebook.

Jennie and Dave made a fabulous dinner--hamburgers and a wonderful macaroni salad.  We all ate too much so we decided to walk off some of the pounds.  We took Wags, their new golden retriever puppy who is just over 12 weeks old.

We didn't stay too late, and Teddy was nice enough to light off some of their fireworks while it was still light out (fireworks are banned in Colorado Springs--if you are caught setting them off, the penalty is a $2,500 fine plus up to 179 days in jail--yikes).

I also took a movie of them lighting one off.

We had a wonderful visit to Denver and hope to do it again, but next time, we'll bring Barkley so the two puppies can square off :-)

The ABQ

Per a previous post, Bode spent the last week down in Albuquerque.  Pat and Dana et al. were nice enough to host Bode, and Brenna did a lot of the heavy lifting acting as a chauffeur for the week.  I already posted some of the pictures that Pat sent me.  I went down there this past weekend to get Bode and bring him back home.  I stayed for a night, and we had a very nice time.  We swam in the pool...

and played some chess--Bode, while winless against Uncle Pat and me, has improved dramatically.  He does very well in the opening, but just needs to work on looking at the whole board--protecting the kid sometimes seems to be a lower priority for the little dude.  Still, I'm quite impressed with his abilities.

We also made smores in the backyard, with Sean getting the fire going.

Bode and Devin played a mean game of tetherball, with Kona, the new dog, trying to get into the action.

As always, Bode was sad to leave the Albuquerque McGuirks, but he was also rather sweet telling Mommy and me how much he missed us.  It is nice to have Bode home, and the dogs also expressed their joy when he returned.

While Bode was gone, Kristine Wolfe and her daughters Abbie and Avery came to dinner.  They were in Denver for Abbie's softball tournament and were able to come for some pizza and Scrabble (which I won, meaning I've won FOUR in a row!)...although I must admit I should not have won Friday's game.  Abbie, a teenager and not as cutthroat at Scrabble, played before me, and towards the end of the game, set me up for a lovely triple word score which enabled me to win.  I'll still take the win, but I do need to tip the ol' cap for the assist.

Barkley and Joey are getting along.  They play and romp, but the cutest is when they sleep next to each other.  Ashley and I came home the other day, and the two dogs were napping.

Very cute...until you realize they are sleeping a top some flowers I had recently planted :-(  We are going to visit Uncle Dave for the 4th of July--should be fun, although I think fireworks are banned in most places in Colorado (I'm sure there will be some lawbreakers setting them off though...)  Pleasant 4th to all.