Orange Beach

We spent the last few days over in Orange Beach, Alabama, visiting with Jon and Meghan and their two boys, Elliot and Oscar.  Ashley and I spent some time one morning walking on the beach.

I then tried to give Ashley the paparazzi treatment; she was not amused.

Bode brought his Oculus system and introduced Jon to the VR-world.

 We all went putt-putting and Ashley, Bode, and I did some go-kart-racing (I didn't bring the camera so no pictures).  Bode does not like it when you bump him when you're racing; he quickly points out all the signs say bumping is prohibited.  To that I say, "What bumping?  It's just rubbin' and rubbin' is racin'."  We awoke Sunday to a beautiful sunny sky.

We decided to do some golfing.  I tried to get a movie of Jon, but sadly, something distracted me right before he hit.

Ashley was nice enough to film one of my shots; good to see the swing is still a thing of beauty :-)

Finally, here's a shot of Ashley--not her best drive, but certainly not her worst.

After one of Ashley's shots, I again gave her the paparazzi treatment, and she again was not amused.

We played nine holes and didn't set any records.  Still, it was nice to get out on the course.  When we got back to the condo, Meghan was in the parking lot with Brody (the dog).  I have him the paparazzi treatment as well :-)

While in Orange Beach, we also spent some time in the pool and, more importantly, the hot-tub.  We had some wonderful food (too much food) and enjoyed the three days there.  We returned home today in order to prepare for the big New Year's bash (probably something that will involve more eating).  Pleasant day to all.

Happy Christmas to All

We have spent the past few days in a food-coma.  Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were very wonderful days--didn't do a whole lot, but sometimes those are the most fun.  The night before, we were curled up in our warm living room.  Ashley was working a puzzle...

while Bode and the dogs were curled up on the couch.

We went to church and heard some lovely Christmas music.  We then settled in for the evening, remembering to put cookies and milk out for the big man.  Christmas arrived in all its splendor, complete with stocking stuffers for the dogs.  Both dogs really liked the pull toys, but Barkley seems to enjoy them the most (as does Bode).

 

We then spent the morning opening gifts and lounging.

You might remember that Joey was put on a diet a couple months ago.  We are happy to report he has lost over fifteen pounds and looks great (but he's still as lazy as ever).

Ashley made some crab-legs for the traditional Christmas dinner, and we also ate far too many cookies and candies (I think I'll have to follow Joey down the diet past come the New Year...)  I'm happy to report that after hours of hard work, we all finished the 1,000-piece puzzle!

I suppose at some point we'll have to emerge from our holiday slumber...maybe tomorrow :-)

Global Warming?

The tides are quite low right now...probably having to do with it being close to the winter equinox as well as just having had a full moon, but I'd be lying if I said I know exactly what causes higher or lower tides (although I do know it's something to do with gravity :-)

Below are some pictures of our beach.  I'd always considered it to be a low tide if the bottom step was not underwater.  Today, our steps were completely dry.

Beautiful day here--water was very calm, and temperatures were in the 60s.  Still a little cool at night, but that is why we have our little heaters. 

Bode continues to like his Oculus (his virtual reality game player).  Ashley and I find it amusing because Bode is not aware of his surroundings when he's in game mode so we have some fun with him.  The first video is just of Bode playing, while the second video is of Ashley and me goofing on him.

I think Ashley and I find this more amusing than Bode does :-)  For those of you that want to know what Bode is seeing in the goggles, go here--it's a youtube video of someone else playing, but it gives you an idea of what is going on.  Bode is done with school for the year (for the decade!), I'm off until 2020, and Ashley's final day is tomorrow.  It should be a nice little break for us.  Pleasant weekend to all.

The Little Trumpet Boy

The Meigs Middle School band had their winter concert last night.  It was (surprisingly) quite good.  Bode is in the Beginner Band (it's his first semester playing the trumpet).  There was also a Concert Band, a Jazz Band, and a Symphonic Band.  The Jazz Band was very neat--we were trying to point this out to Bode, hoping he'd want to try to join next year, but he said he wants to be in the Concert Band.  The Beginner Band played four songs.  First up is a somewhat reserved edition of The Dreidel Song.

It's nice that Bode was seated near the front so we got some good video of him.  The next song they performed was Jolly Old St Nicholas.

Finally, they finished their performance with an old favorite, Jingle Bells.

I also took some still photographs.  Here was a shot of Bode setting up.  Note how big the boy next to Bode is--this is Brad.  He's 6'3" tall and is 12 years old.  Bode said he's the nicest kid as well--they both play the trumpet.

At the end of the concert, all the bands joined together and played Up on the Housetop.  I didn't record it, but I did take a couple pictures.

The fat-man comes in seven days.  We are all decorated up and ready for some action.  Here's a shot of our living room and the tree.

I also took a couple shots of our "exterior illumination."

Bode's last day of school is Thursday.  My semester is over, but I told a friend I'd work through some of the labs he rewrote in preparation for next semester, but for all intents and purposes, I am done.  Ashley will work the rest of this, and then we are ready for some holiday fun.  Perhaps we'll go see the new Star Wars movie!!!  Pleasant week to all.