Summit County Day 2

We had a wonderful second day in Summit County.  We woke up early and went skiing.  Bode was still feeling a little under the weather, so we let him sleep (I think he's fine--just being a lazy bum).  Ashley and I had a great day skiing together.  We got there when the lifts opened and headed up Quicksilver.  We were hoping Falcon Chair would have been open, but it wasn't quite ready, so we did a ride up Mercury and stopped for a picture.

We had an awesome run to start--first tracks in about three inches of snow--wonderful conditions.  We then headed over to Falcon Chair, and did three or four runs there.

After spending some time on Peak 10, we headed over to Peak 8.  I think the below picture is my favorite part of this mountain.

For the final runs of the day, we headed up 6-Chair to just above treeline.  We weren't feeling the Imperial lift, as it looked a little scary.

After skiing, we headed over to the pool and the hot-tubs.  I brought my camera today; sadly, no moose.

Bode and I were swimming in the pool, and I asked Ashley to take some pictures.  She somehow took one-second movies for each shot...

We then did an escape room.  We managed to find Big Foot and successfully completed the room :-)

I forgot to post this picture before we left--the carriage house is really coming along!

It will be neat to see how much progress there is when we get home...but before that, we have more skiing to do!  Pleasant day to all.

Summit County Day 1

We decided to take a little spring vacation--we wanted to spend some time in the airports due to the Corona virus :-)  My spring break is this week; Bode's is the following week, so the little man gets an extended break from school.

We flew into Denver on Friday and stayed with David (Ashley's brother).  He was nice enough to feed us some pizza after a long trip.  The next day, we went for lunch before heading up to the mountains.

We got to our condo and just hung out.  Sunday morning, we woke up and headed to A-basin, where we met up with David, Teddy, and Charlie.  The boys were all excited to ski.

Ashley then took some selfies with her two favorite adult males.

It was time to head to the lifts--once again, Bode demonstrated some remarkable enthusiasm.

We got to the top and admired the view--we hadn't seen snow in awhile :-)

After some runs, we headed inside for some refreshments and relaxation.

Bode wasn't feeling all that great--he had a headache and didn't feel himself.  I think it was the lack of oxygen--we had spent a number of months at sea level, and the rapid ascent to 10,000 feet was taxing.  We got him a hit of oxygen in a bottle.

The oxygen helped him feel better, but I could tell he wasn't himself.  We ended around 1230 and came back to the condo.  We decided to sit in the condo's hot-tub.  Before leaving, I said, "Should I bring the camera?"  Ashley and Bode said, "No, there's nothing interesting to take pictures of."  Famous last words.  A mama moose and her baby moose (two meese! (sic)) came walking by--fortunately, there was a fence between us.  The other people that were there were all taking pictures...sadly, I have nothing to show :-)

We ate at Mi Casa (one of our old haunts) and turned in early--I think the skiing and the daylight savings time change took its toll on us.  More skiing tomorrow!

Walls

We have walls...sort of.  More like the frame for the walls, but we are definitely seeing progress.

 

 

As you can imagine, we are quite pleased.  The dogs, of course, are thrilled.

Pleasant mid-week to all.

First Meigs Swim Meet

Bode and the Meigs Wildcats had their first swim meet of the season today.  It was a very small meet--only freestyle events.  This was due to the fact this was the first swim meet for a lot of the swimmers.  Before the meet, I tried to get a couple pictures of Bode and Ashley.

 

Bode swam the 100-yard free and the 50-yard free.  He swam personal bests in each event.  Here's Bode getting ready for the 100.

Here's one of Bode in mid-swim--not really a good picture, but it was the best I got.

Bode's time of 1:08:41 was good enough for second place overall at the meet out of 33 swimmers.  He also placed 5th in the 50-yard free with a time of 31:38.  Everything was hand-timed, and the 3rd place swimmer's time was 31:27, so I think Bode could have been in the top three if the timing had been electronic (and just to be fair, the 3rd place boy in the 100-free was one second behind Bode, so I'm pretty sure Bode was second :-)

The carriage house is under construction!  After some false starts, we finally got a permit, and the foundation was poured this past week.

 

 As part of the construction, we now have a port-o-pot in the yard.  It really adds to the decour...

Ashley is traveling to Washington DC this week, so it will just be Bode and me (and Joey and Barkley, Ralphie (the fish), and Cisco (the snail...))  Pleasant week to all.

The Big Man's Wedding

No, don't think the title is referring to Bode; this is going to be a Bode-free post :-)  I spent the last couple of days out in Phoenix for Steve's (a friend from high school) wedding.  It was a quick two days, but I had a wonderful time, meeting Melissa (the bride), and seeing some old friends.  I arrived Thursday afternoon and hustled over to the wedding venue, which was at a golf course.  I quickly found Steve enjoying a pre-wedding glass of water with his Mom, Sue.

We headed outside for some pictures.  First is a shot of the whole Lauritsen-Berner family.

Obviously Melissa is the one in the wedding dress with the flowers.  Others pictured include Scott (Steve's brother) and Sue.  The two boys are Alex (left) and Noah (right), Melissa's kids that really love Steve.  Other members are Melissa's mother, brother, and some cousins and other family.  Next up is a great shot of the Lauritsen brothers.

I even managed to sneak in a picture with the Big Man, and my shirt and shoes sort of make it look like I belonged :-)

Here is a nice shot of Steve and the two boys.

Finally, the last of the pre-ceremony pictures is one of Steve and Melissa.  I actually think this is a pretty good picture, and should probably start charging for my services (and this is obviously a joke when you consider the tree-branch hanging down just behind Steve's head :-)

The ceremony took place on the first tee just around sunset.  The weather was perfect and the backdrop stunning.

Scott and Sue walked with Steve down the aisle, while Melissa's brother and Mom walked with her.  The person doing the ceremony (I don't remember his name, but he has known Melissa for a number of years) had some great things to say and really made it a wonderful event.  At one point, Steve, Melissa, Noah, and Alex poured sand from separate vials into one large jar, signifying the blending of their families from this point forward.

I loved the shoes that Steve and Melissa wore (as well as Alex and Noah).

At the end, Steve stomped the glass and we all yelled "Mazel tov!" 

And just like that, the two are now legally bound together for mutually beneficial tax purposes :-)

The reception was nice--good food, lots of good conversation, and awesome desserts.  The day after the wedding, seven of us went golfing.  I took the camera, but didn't really take any pictures, except one movie of Steve showing off with a 7-iron.

If you couldn't tell, his ball found the water.  Following the golf, Melissa's mother hosted a fantastic dinner at her house; what was even better was she had all the uneaten desserts from the wedding reception.  Thus, I'm feeling a bit heavy today :-)

It was an awesome time seeing Stiv again and meeting Melissa, Alex, and Noah--very neat to see how they're now a family.

I flew home and got back to some happy dogs, a fairly happy son, and wife that seemed rather nonchalant about my return--if only my coming home equated to the same level of happiness as an Auburn win :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Lego McGuirks

For Christmas, Ashley had our trip to Jordan Hare stadium Legoized.  She sent some company a couple pictures of the three of us, and they then created a pretty neat looking Lego picture.  First, here are the pictures Ashley sent.

Based on the photos above, we received the following.

I think it's pretty cool, although I don't think the my Lego hair is an accurate portrayal.  Otherwise, it is spot-on :-)

Bode had a swim meet yesterday, so we spent the morning sitting on some pool-deck bleachers, which really helps to flatten our behinds.  Bode swam four events:  100-free, 50-back, 50-butterfly, and the 200-free.  He did great in all four, shaving 1 - 2 seconds off his personal best times in the first three events while shaving 11 seconds off his 200-free time.  In the 100-free, it looked like he went out too fast, so coach told him to concentrate on technique the first 100, and then pour on the speed the second 100.  I'm very impressed that he actually did what he wanted to do.  Here are some action photos.  First, we have Bode getting ready behind the blocks.

Here's Bode during the 100-free.

The start of the back-stroke is always kind of neat.

 I like this next one, as it shows Bode just emerging from the underwater portion of his backstroke.

We are very proud of how hard Bode has worked, both in swimming and in school; keep up the great work, little buddy :-)

On a much sadder note, I am headed to Pennsylvania this week for a funeral.  My Aunt Geri died suddenly--she was in great health, but got an infection, and that's all it took.  She's gone much too soon, and she will be missed by so many people.

The Polar Plunge

Since it is the start of the new year, we decided to again do the polar (temperate) plunge.  Similar to last year, Ashley volunteered to be the cinematographer of the event, thereby allowing her to stay dry.  The sun was shining and the temperatures were moderate, so we headed out, excited for the start of 2020.

Bode and I paused for a photo on the dock.

The water was quite low so instead of jumping in, I eased into the water.  It was surprisingly (shockingly) cold!

Happy 2020 to all!