All Saint's Eve

We went trick-or-treating tonight.  Bode went as Zoom, one of the evil speedsters from The Flash television series.  Ashley surprised Bode and wouldn't tell him her costume until today when she debuted it.  Bode was not amused.

An explanation is probably in order.  Bode hates unicorns.  Well, I don't know if he would hate them on his own accord.  However, ever since he was young, we would joke that he was watching My Little Pony or something with Rainbow Unicorns.  Thus, it's been a running gag--anytime we see something unicorn-esque, we tell Bode we're gonna get it for him.  This is why he was less than amused with Ashley's costume.  Still, he did pose for some nice pictures with his cool-as-hell-Mom.

We went down to the park with some friends and did the trunk-or-treat, and then we headed up Poplar Street, which is just packed with trick-or-treaters.  We were out for about an hour--it was surprisingly chilly (I wore a hat and gloves---Brrr!).  Happy Halloween to all!

FBJ

Joey is a bit heavy.  At the vet's office, he weighed 101 pounds; he probably should be closer to 85 pounds, so he's on a diet.  Hence, until he's shed the weight, he's "Fat Boy Joey."  Of course, the acronym could also stand for "Fat Boy Jeffy," so I guess we'll all watch what we eat over the next few weeks to prepare for the impending holiday gluttony.

Bode's been doing great.  He got his first middle school report card and earned all A's and one B (in Language).  We are very proud of how hard he is working.  The beginning band also had an introductory night (I forgot the camera).  It wasn't really a concert--the teacher walked all the parents through some of the things the students do in band.  It's impressive how far they've come--some kids started without ever having played an instrument.  As part of the evening, the band did play three or four songs, some with solo sections.  Bode volunteered to do one of the solos and did awesome--no wrong or bad sounding notes.

Bode has also made some friends at Meigs.  The football team was in the championship game last week, so we all went.  Bode didn't watch a single down--he was off doing whatever it is kids do at these things.  I didn't embarrass him by whipping out the camera, but I did try to take some shots.

His best friend (I think) is Olivia.  She's a very nice girl, and she's come over to the house a lot after school.  Here's a picture of Bode and Olivia swimming (again, I had to sneak in the picture-taking so I didn't embarrass the young fellow).

There was a trunk-or-treat at our neighbor's church last night.  I tried to convince Bode he was a little old for most of the things (targeted more towards toddlers), but he wanted the free candy.  I took him, and he wasn't all that interested in the games, but he did like petting this dog (looks a little like FBJ).

We had a nice relaxing weekend.  Ashley and Barkley took a little nap.

Work has started (sort of) on the carriage house.  Some trees have been removed and some sand has been brought to the site and pushed around.

Another week of the same ol' stuff this week...with some trick-or-treating on Thursday night.  It might be "cool" in that the temps might be in the 70's :-)  The temps are getting lower in the evenings, so I decided to pick my watermelon...it's not very impressive.

I will try to refine my gardening methods for next season; I think I need to be much more proactive in fighting bugs and fungi.  Pleasant week to all.

The Carriage House

We spent about seven hours this weekend on the Destin pool deck.  Bode had a swim meet, and since he doesn't have school tomorrow, we loaded him up with events.  He swam the 100-IM, 50-free, and 100-back on Saturday, and also did a 50-free as part of the relay.  Today, he swam the 100-free, 50-back, and 50-butterfly.  In the IM, he shaved five seconds off his best time, while in the butterfly, he took off four seconds.  In the other events, he was right on his best times, or slightly slower, but it is hard to say our timing is down to tenths of a second because the timers are manually stopping the clock.

Here are some good pictures and movies.  First, Ashley hanging out at the pool.

Here's one of Bode getting ready to start.  I'm in the picture because I volunteered to be a timer for both days.  Bode certainly doesn't miss any meals...

Nana and Papa were able to make it to the pool to watch Bode swim.

Here's a movie of Bode's 50-fly race.  He's looking very good.

Overall, he had a great meet.  He's probably tired now, so it's good that he has Monday off; sadly, Ashley and I both have to work.

We were told work will (might) start this week on the carriage house.  We think this will just be some staking as well as some tree removal; here's hoping.  I thought I'd document what the property looks like before construction.  Hopefully by spring, there's be a nice two-car detached garage with mini-apartment up top and a small area for Ashley's workshop and a space for a gym...fingers are crossed.

Happy Columbus Day to all.

Last Day of Summer

We had a very nice weekend.  The mighty Auburn Tigers beat Texas A&M yesterday.  JoAnne and Frank came over, and we all watched together--so nice when Auburn wins :-)  I've been freezing the garden okra for JoAnne...we get three or four good-sized okra every other day...if only these were some type of berry...

Ashley and Bode went for a paddle board this morning...it was nice and calm, but still very warm.

Here are Ashley and Bode getting ready to launch.

A nice picture as they are heading out.

Finally, one more of them both on the water.

They had a nice time on the water.  They saw a lot of jelly fish, which are neat to see.  However, Bode fell in at one point, and was very afraid--he thought he was going to get stung.  It does hurt a little bit if you get stung, but Ashley said Bode acted like there was a swarm of circling sharks just waiting to get him :-)

The dogs do enjoy their time out in the yard.  There must have been something in a tree that was taunting Barkley.

Not sure why Joey was giving me the stink-eye...

We will probably watch a little football...of course, the dogs will probably take a nap.

Happy autumn to everyone.

More Projects

A number of years ago, Ashley got me a basketball hoop for my birthday.  This was when we were living in Colorado, and we never found the time or right place to put the hoop up.  We don't have a perfect spot yet in Florida for the hoop since we do not have a paved driveway.  However, we anticipate having one...some day.  Thus, I spent a few days and got the basketball hoop installed, complete with 500+ pounds of cement holding the poll in place.

To  paraphrase Billy Hoyle: "That sh*t is regulation" (give or take a couple inches).  The height is easily adjustable, so I usually put it as low as it can be when Bode and I play horse...the little man has yet to beat me.

The other project was a pull-up bar.  Bode asked for one--they've been doing dry-land for 20 minutes at swim practice, and pull-ups are part of the work outs.  He can't quite do one on his own yet--we'll get him some bands so he can start working out on his own.

Right now, the bar is on our back patio, which isn't the final home for it.  We hope to break ground on the carriage house in the next month, and we have space designated in the carriage house for a home-gym.  This bar can also serve as a weight-rack for squats, overhead lifts, and has place to store 45-lb weights, so we think it'll be great once the carriage house is done (hopefully by spring).

The garden continues to provide, although not the food we'd prefer.

We get four or five okra every day--I'm amazed how fast it grows.  Sadly, the only real way to eat okra (that we like) is fried, which isn't very convenient.  Thus, lots of okra, but not much eating of okra.  We also have a number of green beans ripening up, and I also have three watermelons and four cantaloupes; let's hope the bugs don't get them.  Speaking of eating, here's a shot of Bode making himself some dinner.

All is well--work is still work, and we try to relax and enjoy ourselves on the weekend.  Bode is doing fine in school, and the dogs seem content.  Here's hoping this continues :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Auburn Game

We went to the Auburn-Tulane game on Saturday.  Thankfully Auburn won, so it wasn't a wasted weekend :-)  We drove up Saturday morning and arrived in Auburn close to 2:00.  We decided to get some lunch at the Waffle House.

We headed over to the stadium a couple hours before kickoff.  We saw an autograph line and thought it must cost money to get signatures.  To our amazement, it was free.  Ashley and Bode were both wearing hats, so they were able to get some cool signatures.  First up was Jarred Harper, star point guard for Auburn's Final Four basketball team this past spring.

Next was Kenny Irons, a running back who we loved watching and was drafted by the Bengals when we were in Ohio (but got injured in the preseason and never made it back).  He was just the nicest guy to talk with.  Obviously he asked me about how to maintain a good athletic physique because he's let himself go after football... :-)

After a few more signatures, we headed into the stadium.  Fortunately we were in the shade because even though it was a night game, it was hot.

The Auburn band does a pretty cool march around the field before the game starts--it's quite the hoopla.

Auburn has a tradition where on of its eagles swoops down to midfield before the game starts.  I didn't get a movie of this, but I did get some shots of the bird on the handler's arm--very neat looking.

The game eventually started, and I tried to get a picture of Gus Malzahn; below is the best I could do (he's the one in the visor with his back to us).

It was a decent game--Auburn's offense needs a little work.  Still, they were up 24-6 in the 4th quarter when we decided to pack it in.

We have a busy week--school and grading for me, work for Ashley, and band, swim, and school for Bode.  We all could use a break :-)

Dental Hygiene

We've started to brush Joey and Barkley's teeth.  The toothpaste is meat-flavored, and the dogs love it.  It's gotten to the point where if we are brushing our teeth, Joey will come and sit by the vanity in the bathroom expecting his teeth to be brushed.  We made a couple videos of brushing the dogs' teeth (yes, this is what we've digressed to...dog-teeth-brushing videos...)

It has been a weekend of projects for us.  Ashley decided to redo one of our outdoor showers.  The wood had rotted about a bit and had become quite soft at the bottom.  She's become a very adept carpenter.

I think she just has to finish the door, do some painting, and we'll be showering outside again in no time :-)  Actually, the shower is quite handy if we've been swimming in the ocean, but it also can serve as a great place to wash dogs.  I finished up laying some sod and installing a flagstone path in our backyard that goes down to our beach.  It was far more work than I had anticipated, and I've very happy to be done with it.  First up, the new sod.

 Here's a shot of the entire sodded area of the backyard.  We've done from the deck all the way out since May. 

The grass has taken very nicely--it's far easier here in the south where it's humid to install sod compared to Colorado.  Next is a picture of the walkway.

It's hard to tell, but the path runs all the way down to our fence.  Since Tuesday, I've moved a pallet of sod (about a ton), two pallets of flagstone (almost three tons) and two one-ton bags of gravel.  All this had to be done using a wheel-barrel since we can't get a forklift through our fence.

Bode's first week of school was a smashing success.  He managed to find the school, found all his classrooms, and even submitted his assignments.  He's also purchased his gym t-shirt and has all his supplies--he even got a calculator for his math class.  We'll see how things go this week when the real work starts.  Bode spent today preparing by playing on his computer.

Pleasant week to all.