22 Years

 Ashley and I celebrated our 22-year anniversary this weekend.  What better way to spend it than at an Auburn football game...and we even left Bode home alone (well, Nana and Papa watched him, so he wasn't flying solo).

We left around 8:00 am on Saturday.  Game time was not until 3:00 pm, so we had plenty of time to enjoy all the pregame fun.  First, here's a picture of Ashley taking a picture of the Auburn radio announcers.  It is hard to tell, but Jason Campbell, hero of the 2004 undefeated Auburn Tigers, is seated up there on the podium.

We tried to get a picture, but you can't really tell it's him with me in the photo with him.

Next is a picture of Ashley getting ready for the Tiger Walk.

The walk started promptly at 1:00 pm; Aubie got everyone riled up and ready to go.

Someone must have used my phone to take a picture of this pretty blond cheerleader...

Coach Harsin was next; note the two cops walking next to him.  They looked like they could play linebacker; neither one of them smiled at all.

Then the players arrived; many of them slapped five with Ashley as they went by.  One guy was all business...Bo Nix, the Auburn QB (more on him later).

Our seats were great--right on the 40-yard line.

Ashley took some videos of the band before the game.

I wish I had some highlights from the game, but there were very few.  We expected a route; we ended up with a nailbiter.  Auburn scored on 4th and goal from the 11 with 45 seconds left to take the lead for the first time all day; fortunately, they won the game, but it is what I would call a moral defeat :-)  Here are Ashley and me after the game.

For those that do not remember, on our wedding day, Auburn lost in overtime to Mississippi; fortunately, 22 years later, we got a W on our special day.  We got home early this morning, found Bode and the dogs alive and well, and did some minor chores the rest of the day.  We had a lovely 22nd anniversary.

Final Pictures

 The first part of MCU Phase 2 is complete.  Below are some pictures of what used to be where we parked our cars.

We are extremely pleased with how everything turned out.  Now, I guess I need to start filling up the bookshelves with some books!

Labor Day

We have had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  During the week, Meigs middle school had a home football game.  The band played before and during the game, but I don't have many pictures.  I didn't want to embarrass Bode, so I tried to surreptitiously take some pictures when the band arrived in the stands; below is the best I could do.

There were clouds in the area, so Ashley made the command decision to take our phones and the camera back to the car; she also had the foresight to bring back an umbrella.  As the band was playing the final part of the Star Spangled Banner, we could see the roofs of the houses located across from the field.  Rain was pouring onto them.  Despite the break in customs and courtesies, many people quickly deployed their umbrellas (Ashley included) as we were singing "...banner yet wave..."  The band didn't miss a note and finished (and then sprinted for cover under the bleachers).

Ashley did some waverunning yesterday.  I was busy at the pickleball court, so I didn't head out with her, but I did take some pictures of my lovely wife when she returned.

I also took a couple pictures of the dogs.

There was a meeting of cigar boats in Poquito Bayou.  We were sitting on the dock when these speed boats went cruising by.  Ashley took a quick movie.  

The cost of that boat (note the six engines!) is around $3.4 million; we decided against getting one, as we don't think it would fit on our dock.  We wanted to get some close-up photos of these awesome boats, so Ashley and I headed back to the bayou and snapped some pictures.  

We had a wonderful day today.  Ashley, Bode, and I, along with Bode's friend, Brendan, went to Big Kahunas water park and enjoyed some awesome sliding action (no pictures).  We are now exhausted (well, Ashley and I are; Bode wants to know what we are doing tomorrow :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Almost Done

 The old-garage-makeover is so close to being done.  All the shelves have been painted, and they look fabulous.

I calculated that I will have something like 950 linear feet of book space; I am very excited to get the library up and running.  The outlets and switches are also complete, as are the lights.  The only thing left to finish is the mounting of the desk.  The desk is sitting in the room; we are just waiting on our friend, Tim, to install it (his brother got sick last week, so he's been helping with that--he's fine now, but it was scary for a little bit).

The AC unit was installed this week; I set it to 70 degrees; a couple hours later, I went out to the office and just about froze :-)

Ashley and Tim also built an amazing table that is eventually going to go in the carriage house.  Here is a shot of the table-top.

We have started pricing air-hockey tables, ping-pong tables, and shuffle-board tables.  We look forward to having a game night (hopefully this fall :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Funny Looking Cucumber

 Ashley told Bode I had a "funny looking cucumber growing in the garden."

Not sure if you can tell or not, but it is actually a watermelon :-)  

8th Grade

 Bode started 8th grade a couple weeks ago; I started back to school this week, and I guess with not being used to having to work, I forgot to post some pictures.  It is hard to believe how old Bode looks.

Bode has been very busy with swimming, band, orchestra, and studying (well, the last doesn't happen all that often, but he has been doing geometry homework every night).  We are amazed that just three years ago, Ashely towered over him :-)

The dogs are doing well (per the usual, I won't say much so as not to jinx anything :-)  Pleasant day to all.

The Rankin Visit

 David, Teddy, and Charlie flew in from Colorado on Thursday and stayed with us.  The three boys stayed in Bode's bedroom (scary), while Uncle Dave stayed out in the carriage house.   We had a very nice visit--probably ate too much, but I guess we can work it off this week.  We went to lunch, dinner, played Goofy-golf, and visited with Nana and Papa.  This marked the first time the four Rankin-blooded grandchildren were together; they even managed to take a nice picture.

I didn't bring my camera out for the first couple of days.  I did snap a few pictures when we were out to dinner Saturday night--nothing spectacular, but there are some good ones.  First is an action shot of Ashley drinking some water.

Next we have three photos from the parking lot.  I'm including these because I don't know how Bode managed to have the same look on his face in all three shots.

The boys have all gotten big--definitely not the cute little fellas we used to juggle on our knees.  I did try to get a good one of the three boys, but below is the best I could do.

We spent a lot of time in the water, and we even put the waverunners in.  Here's Uncle Dave and Charlie zooming by.

Next we have Bode and Charlie in our "private pool."

A boy and his dog...need I say more?

Even Ashley got in the water; Bode tried to pull her around the lagoon.

Teddy amazed us all with his flipping prowess.

And here's a cute one of Bode and his mother.  Note the clouds were starting to roll in, so we had to cut the water activities short.

We had a wonderful visit with Uncle Dave et. al.  Sadly, it ended too soon, but we did get one final picture before they headed to the airport.  Charlie was going to be in this picture, but he had to return to the house to get his toothbrush.

Nothing much going on here now.  No more Olympics, and it is still four weeks until football season.  I guess we could read? :-)  Bode starts school on Tuesday.  He's thrilled.

Pleasant week to everyone.