Matriculation Ceremony

 Meigs Middle School had their 8th grade matriculation ceremony last night. It is hard to believe Bode will be starting high school this fall...the class of 2026 at Choctawhatchee High School, 38 years after Ashley graduated waaaay back in 1988.

We took the time to get some pictures. Bode now towers over his mother.

I think I still have him by a hair, although it is hard to tell in this picture.

The venue was very nice and festively decorated.  All the "graduates" were called and walked across this stage.

Bode was thrilled--he loves being up by himself in front of large groups of people :-)

The moment came when Bode's name was called; we should have brought the foghorn...

Bode was on the A/B honor roll, and he earned the President's Award, which is given to students that have a 3.5 GPA or higher. We need to work on his hand-shaking with the adults...

Afterwards, we took a nice picture of Bode with his medals.

Such a fine-looking young man. He only has eight more days of eighth grade; Bode is a little upset that he still has to go to school even though they had the ceremony. Life is so unfair to him :-)

County Swim Meet

 Bode's final middle school meet (ever) was yesterday.  I think there were eight or nine middle schools from the area competing.  Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and it was a beautiful day.  Before he swam, Bode took a nice picture with his mother.

Bode swam the 200 freestyle and the 50 butterfly. Here he is getting ready for his first event.

He swam well and improved his 200-time by one second; he finished second overall, which is outstanding for our little orca.

His next event was the 50-fly. Here is another pre-race shot.

The guy to Bode's right is Juan, and he swims on Bode's club team.  Juan has the fastest 50-fly and 50-free times this year for a kid his age (amazingly, Juan is only 12). Here's a video of the race; Bode too the bronze :-)

While we are sad to see the middle school season end, we are thrilled that we no longer have to get up at 4:20 am three times a week for practice...then again, maybe we shouldn't be thrilled because he'll have to do this five times a week for high school practice :-)  Happy Mother's Day to all.

Spring Concert

 The Sinfonia Gulf Coast Youth Symphony had their spring concert.  Bode continues to play second violin and is doing very well (more on that later).  Nana and Papa made the long drive out to Destin, and it was very nice to see them.

As usual, Bode was all smiles before the concert.

They played four pieces.  Two of them are in the video below--they are a couple pieces by Tchaikovsky, and the last part is the ever-popular 1812 Overture.

The next piece was by Igor Stravinsky called Danse Infernale.

Finally, they finished with Warrior Legacy, which I think sounds a little like Pirates of the Caribbean in some places.

We got a big surprise during this concert.  Part way through, Aaron gave out some awards.  We were surprised when Aaron announced Bode as one (of two) of the Rising Stars.  I didn't quite get it on video; all I got was Bode standing up.

Afterwards, we took some pictures.  It looks like Bode is taller than his grandparents.

He is definitely taller than his mother...hard to tell if he's taller than me, although he does outweigh me by a few pounds.

Below is a picture of the award Bode received; we are very proud of our young musician.

Only one more month of middle school until Bode is a high-schooler. Yikes :-)

Ski Trip Part 2

 Bode and Ashley spent Sunday through Thursday morning in Breckenridge.  They stayed at a little condo, and they skied, swam/hot-tubbed, and ate (probably too much :-) Here's a picture at the top of Peak 10.

In a crazy coincidence, Tim Tobik and his son, Carter, happened to be in Breckenridge, also doing some skiing.  Here is a picture of Bode and Carter.

And here is one of the four of them warming up at the top of Quicksilver lift.

Here is a shot of the four of them on the mountain.

The four of them skied together for a few days.  Wednesday was a very pretty day, so much so that they all went up Imperial Lift to the top of Peak 9.  The views from there are wonderful.

The group went to dinner at Breckenridge Brewery, and they also played some games in the condo.  Ashley said it was a wonderful time.  On their way back through Denver, they stopped at Dave's office for lunch.  Dave has an avionics company, and he rents his space from a famous landlord, John Elway.  John's private plane is shown below--note the tail-number.

The two of them had a wonderful trip, and they plan to do it again next year.  The dogs were thrilled when they got home (as was I :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Ski Trip Part 1

 Ashley and Bode spent a week up in Colorado.  I had to work because Bode's and my spring breaks do not overlap.  Ashley said it was some awesome mother-son time.  They arrived on Thursday night to some snow in Denver.

They spent Thursday and Friday at Dave's house.  Here is a nice picture of Ashley and her brother, and an old friend, Nathan.

One night, they went to an arcade with Teddy and Charlie.  Here are Bode and Teddy playing some games.

And here is a nice picture of Bode and Charlie.

Bode also played pool for the first time.

One night, they all went out to Korean barbecue.

On Saturday, they all went up to Frisco to do some tubing.

Ashley took a movie of one ride down with the boys.

Ashley and Bode took a nice selfie.

On Sunday, they all skied at Arapahoe Basin.  This is a nice picture of Bode.

The four days with David and the cousins was a great start to their vacation.  Next up, Bode and Ashley go to Breckenridge :-)

Best Time

The first middle school swim meet of the season was on Saturday.  This was a very small meet.  Bode swam the 50-free and the 100-free, winning both events.  First, here he is swimming the 50.

In the 100, Bode swam the fastest he had ever swum coming in at 58.1 seconds.

Ashley and I did some garden prep this weekend.  We put a large bird net over the berries; hopefully this will let us eat the fruit as opposed to the birds.

I also put some chicken wire around the other two beds.  I have beans and peas growing, and I think I also planted some cucumbers.  We'll see what kind of harvest we get this year.

Nothing else too exciting is going on.  I got a touch of the flu on Sunday, and I had to miss work today (Monday).  I hope to be better by tomorrow.  Pleasant week to all.

Buddies

Barkley and Rowdy have become the best of friends.  They play most of the day together, although I'm sure Barkley gets a little worn out.

She is rather sweet to let Rowdy climb all over her like that.  Rowdy had a visit to the vet today; he is now just under 21 pounds and healthy.  He is getting better going to the door when he needs to go outside, but there is still plenty of room for improvement :-)

The Meigs band has their Music Performance Assessment concert next Wednesday.  Apparently this is a very big deal for the music programs, so they had a dry run last night.  I recorded the introduction from Ms Tordi, the band director, explaining a little bit about the MPA.  And before you say anything, I don't know why the movies are so blurry; all but the last one is like this.

Next, we have their first performance of a piece called Crosswinds March.  You can't see Bode in the videos, as he is near the middle; I should have chosen my seat better.

The second piece is a little more musical and is called Maesong.

Finally, they brought the house down with a great rendition of the Sea Song Trilogy.

We have no major plans for the weekend.  I think Bode has a swim meet, but it is a very small one, so it should be quick.  I might try to get some pickleball in, but we'll see what the weather does--it might be too hot :-)  Pleasant weekend to all.