First Band Performance

 The high school band takes up a lot of Bode's time. He has marching practice twice a week from 5 - 8 pm, which really cuts into his leisure activities. The first football game of the season was in late August, it really rained, so there was no half-time performance. The next home football game, the band wore their uniforms and they looked amazing. Sadly, Ashley and I volunteered to sell popcorn to support the band booster club. We thought selling popcorn would have been very easy, but over the course of three hours, we hardly have a break. We did stop when the band entered the field, and I did my best to take a picture and a movie; below are the best that I could do.

In the above picture, you can see the band all lined up. They march into the stadium and come around the track. It looks amazing, especially with those headdresses. I took a movie as they marched by, but I think I got interrupted and had to return to my popcorn duties.

They had a great half-time performance; we heard all of it but didn't see anything; popcorn sales go through the roof during the game break :-) Hopefully this weekend we can actually watch the whole show and get some good film. Pleasant week to all.

Labor Day Weekend

Over Labor Day, Dad and Janet came down for a visit. We had a wonderful time, but we probably ate too much :-) On Saturday, Dad and I went to play pickleball; we were worried because it had rained the night before, but the courts were dry, and we played for close to three hours with my friends. Sadly, no pictures were taken. We did get some lovely sunset pictures on the dock. First up is Bode and Grandpa.

Next is a nice one of Bode, Grandpa, and Janet.

Here is one of Dad and me.

And finally, one of Janet, Dad, and me. I think Ashley was busy cooking, which is why she is not pictured.

We did play a few hands of gin. I think Grandpa was the big winner, although I think Bode destroyed the score sheet :-)

We had a wonderful visit, and we have promised to make the trip up to South Carolina, although now that Bode is in high school, his schedule seems to dictate a lot of what we do :-)

Bode's First Day of High School

 This is a very late post; it is hard for me to get images from Ashley's phone, and this was the only place we had Bode's first day of school picture; he started back on 10 August, and I'm posting this in mid-September. I will promise to do better.

He was obviously thrilled to be going back. He is taking a lot of classes, and he has swim practice at 0500, so we are sleepy all the time :-)

The Headdress

After hours of gluing feathers as well as a lot of other tedious activity, Bode's Choctaw Headdress is just about finished.

There are a couple pieces of velco Ashley is going to sew on the ear flaps to attach some final ornamentation, but I think Bode is ready for band :-) All we have to do now is make sure a dog doesn't chew it up! 

The Rankin Visit

David, Teddy, and Charlie were in town this past weekend. It is always great to see the Denver Rankins in the state of Florida. We had a nice time visiting with them, although I probably ate too much :-) The first night, a large group of us went out for Mexican. I took some pictures, but nothing really staged, so they aren't the best images. First, here is a shot of Bode, Teddy, and Charlie.

I tried to get a picture of the folks around the dinner table. You can see JoAnne, Olivia, Jay, Teddy, Bode, Charlie, Queenie, and Jason.

After dinner, the boys came back to our house and played some air hockey.

I did take a movie of Teddy and Bode playing.

On Sunday, we had some of the family over for a cookout and some time in the water. Here are Bode and Teddy getting wet before they took the waverunners out for a spin.

Bode and Teddy were able to drive the watercraft unaccompanied. Sort of scary, but I guess that is part of kids growing up.

Charlie is just a year too young to drive on his own, so he went out with Uncle David and Ashley...although I do think they let him drive a little when no one was looking :-)

Teddy and Bode spent some time tossing the ball around in the water.

And after we finished in the water, we had a big feast.

While they were here, we also played a spirited round of Goofy Golf, but I didn't bring the camera. Sadly, no one got it in the snake's mouth :-( 

Parent Preview

Bode had band-camp for the past two weeks.  This was his first introduction to high-school band, and I think he likes it. They spent five hours a day for nine days learning the first part of their halftime routine. On Friday, the parents were invited to get a preview of the show. 

Here is a picture of some of the band.  Bode is near the center of the picture just to the left of the big guy.

Here is a close up of Bode; he looks angry :-)

Here is one of Bode actually playing.

They did both a static performance where they just played the music and also one with the marching around. I'll record the marching performances at the football games, which start in less than four weeks. I did take a movie of the band playing one of the Choctaw songs.

We are very excited about the start of high school. Well, maybe not all of us. I don't know if Bode is thrilled about returning to school just yet; in all honesty, neither am I :-)

A New Jeep

We decided to bite the bullet and get a new vehicle. The Xterra is over twenty years old, and even though it is running well (when the wheels stay on), we thought we should get a more reliable bigger vehicle.  Ashley had been searching the web, and this past Saturday, we ended up buying a 2020 Jeep Wrangler. 

We now own four cars. We hope to keep the Xterra for as long as possible.  Bode can get his learner's permit this fall, and we figure the Xterra is the perfect car for him when he starts driving :-)