First Day of Kindergarten

Bode started kindergarten on Monday.  His last day of preschool was Friday.  He made me sad when he said, "I'm going to miss Rylan.  He's my best friend."  Sniff sniff.  Anyways, he seemed to get over that, because he was very excited for school Monday morning.  Ashley and I dropped him off and met his teacher, Miss Sandoval.  She looks like a teenager (actually, she probably looks her age, which is likely mid-20's; it's simply I refuse to believe I look that much older :-)

Ashley got Bode all duded out with a cool backpack.  Here are some pictures at the school in the morning.  The first picture is a little blurry--Ashley was using her phone.

Next is a picture of Bode in the classroom in front of his chair.

Little man had no problems saying good-bye--he's been going to daycare since he was two months old, so saying bye-bye to Mommy and Daddy is no big thing.  He's so independent.  School ended at 2:30.  Ashley and I decided to be there at the end of his first day of school.  Here's a picture of Bode waiting for us.  He looks like such a big-kid to me (he's the little fellow in the middle of the picture).

Ashley and I have arranged for Bode to have a nanny.  Miss Jeanice will pick Bode up after school and take care of him until we get home from work.  We like this option, because it's nice coming home from work and having Bode already be at the house.  Here's a shot of Bode, Ashley, and Miss Jeanice walking to the car.  I showed this picture to Bode, and he asked, "Why do I have my arms up?"  If only I knew, buddy.

Miss Jeanice is the girl next to Ashley.  Bode really likes her, and I think she's going to work out great. Bode had his second day of kindergarten today, and all went well.  I guess he is now in the capable hands of the public schools :-)  Pleasant week to all.

A Visit to Teddy and Charlie's

Today, the three of us drove up to Denver.  We hadn't seen Uncle Dave, Teddy, and Charlie in awhile, and with the advent of the school year, we figured we better get up to see them pronto.  We first went to lunch at Mustard's, which is a little hot-dog joint about a mile from Dave's house.  The kids all feasted on hot dogs, fries, and juice.  We then went back to Dave's for a little rest and conversation.  The boys spent time with nature's babysitter, the Wii.

It was a beautiful day--a little overcast, so not too hot.  There's a nice park a couple blocks away, so we walked to it...well, the adults walked.  The kids ran, and stopped when we shouted at them to stop.  I guess we all could have run, but I think the fascination with running everywhere ends around age nine.

Once we got to the park, it was all playtime.  Somehow Uncle Dave got the responsibility of being the swing-pusher.

The kids also played on some four-seat teeter-totter device.

At some point, they got tired and wanted to go home.

Dave was kind enough to have some beers at his place, so we relaxed on his porch talking, again allowing Wii to watch the kids.  Gotta love technology :-)  We left in the late afternoon.  It's always fun seeing the Rankins.

On the car ride home, I tried to surreptitiously record Bode playing with Mommy's phone.  Obviously I was not successful.

Overall, we had a nice weekend.  We did have a scare on Saturday.  I received a call from our neighbor, who informed us Harley was out in the cul-de-sac.  Evidently the little bitch dug a hole through the fence.  He said she seemed out of breath--he thinks she made a trek around the neighborhood, chasing rabbits and what not, and then came home (thankfully).  He managed to get her back in the fence, and temporarily plugged the hole.  I spent Saturday evening with hammer and nails, securing the perimeter.  She's a mischievous little dog.

First day of kindergarten tomorrow.  We'll all nervous.  Well, I'm nervous.  Bode seems fine :-)

Falcon Football

Today was Kid's Day at Falcon Stadium.  We are two weeks out from the start of the season, and the Mighty Air Force Falcons had a scrimmage.  It was a beautiful day, so we decided to go watch some football, albeit of the preseason variety.  Here's a picture of Bode and Mommy outside Falcon Stadium.

I'm trying to convince Ashley Falcon Stadium and Jordan Hare are roughly the same size.  She's not buying it.  The scrimmage was decent, but a little unrealistic.  Air Force runs the wishbone, which means the quarterback runs the ball a lot.  However, the QB was wearing a "don't touch" jersey, so it was up to the refs to determine if the QB would have been tackled.  The coaches must beat the fact players cannot touch a QB into the players heads, because no one laid a finger on them.  Bode was interested in the game...for a little while.  He liked it a lot more when Mommy got him some flavored ice.

I filmed a couple of plays and thought about emailing them to the Notre Dame folks.  I'm sure they are sweating bullets about the prospect of facing the Falcon attack.  This particular play was interesting.  I think the DB was nice--he could have leveled the RB but chose a less violent hit.

After the scrimmage ended, we could go down on the field.

Bode posed with Mommy at mid-field.  If he plays his cards right, he could be in this same spot 13 years from now wearing a Falcon jersey.  Hopefully he is blessed with more athletic ability than his parents.

Some of the players came out to sign autographs (for free) and pose for pictures.  I had both of these kids in class.  Steph is a starting DB and did quite well in electrical engineering.

Briceton doesn't start, but I think he plays in the nickel defense.  He did amazingly well in my class--so much for the dumb-jock stereotype.  I'd like to see the any starter for Alabama take an EE class and pass :-)  (I'm sure the Auburn team would do much better...)

Bode starts kindergarten on Monday.  He's amped for it.  I'm sure they'll be pictures.  Pleasant day.

Almost a Shark

Bode has really progressed with his swim lessons.  We started in January--I think it was the first post of this year.  We started the lessons because Bode didn't like putting his face in the water, and any attempt by Ashley or me to teach him to swim was met with shrieks and cries.  Fast-forward eight months, and we have a boy who can swim the entire length of the pool (sort of--it is a combination of freestyle aka rainbow arms with some side-stroke to take breaths), has gone the entire length of the pool doing the back stroke, and is starting to learn the butterfly and breast strokes.  Amazing.  Here are some pictures from today's lesson.  First, Bode making a goofy face.

Next, we have Miss Alyssa working with Bode on the proper position of his arms during the butterfly.

This movie shows Bode's progress doing butterfly.  Don't expect anything Phelpsian--he's still learning, but after the first stroke, he really gets his body doing the correct motion.

Bode finished the lesson with an introduction to frog-kicks.  I think it will take awhile for him to get good at the breast stroke because there are complicated motions for both the arms and legs.  Miss Alyssa calls the different arm positions stages of a pizza-making operation--spread the sauce, put the pizza in the oven, etc.  We'll have to work on this at home.  He needs two more stickers in his progress book, and he'll be an official shark.  Too bad shark week just ended on Discovery.  After a hard lesson, it was play time.

Ashley and I are busy at work.  Ashley always seems to have a lot to do, while classes have started up again for the cadets.  Thus, we must take advantage of our weekends.  We took Bode to see Planes today, which he loved.  We also did some yard work yesterday, and just relaxed.  I also went for a nice long run this morning.  Afterward long runs, I like to sit in a cold bath to cool down and soothe the muscles.  Today, I discovered it is possible to spend too much time in the cold bath.  After I got out, I went to the grocery store.  I could not warm up--teeth were chattering and I was shivering (it was 80+ degrees outside).  I was fine after I rode home in the car with the heater on high.  Live and learn I guess :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Summer Vacation Part VII

Sadly, our time in Ventura came to an end.  We flew our of LAX on Monday night around 7 pm, so we spent the first half of the day in Ventura.  We checked out the harbor--a bit of a touristy thing to do, but they had a neat arcade, the weather was nice, and we had the time.  A big incentive to go to the harbor was the promise of a carousel.  Bode loves these, and as soon as he saw it, he was ready to ride.

There were also the requisite goofy plywood pictures with holes to put your heads in.  Bode couldn't resist.

After a hearty meal, we needed to get moving.  Alas, we took one more picture of Bode in front of the beach before we left for good.

We made it to LAX with no problems.  We were delayed about a half-hour on departure, but otherwise, a smooth flight.  Bode planned on sleeping, so he brought Buzz along for the ride.

Most of the stuff on our trip simply happened--no real planning, just family members enjoying the beach, and figuring out what to do next.  We could not have planned a more relaxing vacation--well, relaxing for us.  Bode was wiped out due to the extensive playing with "the Friends."  We've promised him we will return.  I go back to work tomorrow.  My Endless Summer is no more.  Oh well--there's always another vacation just around the corner :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Summer Vacation Part VI

Saturday night (I think it was Saturday...not really sure), John and Leea (Eileen's son and daughter-in-law) had everyone over to their house for lasagna.  By the McDermott standards, this was a small gathering of maybe 25 people.  Leea makes a great lasagna--I think she comes from an Italian family, and she cooked enough for a small army.  Ashley and I played the part of Japanese tourists, snapping pictures and trying not to be intrusive.  In no particular order, here are some pictures of the group.  First up is Charlie and Jessica, who are very happy to be alive.  Jessica ran the Boston Marathon this year.  Evidently Charlie was standing right next to bomb #2.  Fortunately, Jessica is quite the runner, so she finished well before the detonation.

Next is a great shot of Charlie and his daughter, Jamie, and Tom, the youngest of Eileen's kids.  Tom is a pharmacist by trade, but he spends at least an hour a day getting in a surf (you don't think that hair just happens, do you?).  I do not think you could meet a more laid back person than Tom.

Next up is a nice picture of me, Bode, and Great Aunt Eileen.

Here is John holding his nephew, Dane (Charlie's youngest).

For this next picture, Ashley let me take some pictures.  Ashley, Eileen, and her son, Jim, Ashley's surf instructor (although if you want to split hairs, these pictures were taken before the day in the surf, so Jim had not yet earned the title of instructor.  I'll claim writer's discretion--the facts don't have to be completely accurate if the narrative is improved).

Kristen and I posed for a good picture.  Kristen remembers when I was just a little kid--maybe seven or eight?  I think we both look the same as we did those many years ago.

At some point, John opened up the hot-tub.  This was probably the second-best part of the evening for the kids.

In the tub with Bode are Charlie, Locklund, Jamie, and Dane.  Playing the roll of life guards are...

Jared, Rory, Max, and Shannon.  I'm pretty sure the above four all participated in the six-week junior life-guards course on the beach, so the youngsters could not have been in better hands.  Recall, I said the hot-tub was the second best part of the evening.  The highlight had to have been eating cake in the hot-tub.  I think I heard one of the kids say, "You know boys, it doesn't get any better than this." (Wait until they discover beer).

I'm pretty sure on this particular day, Bode was busy from wakeup until the cake.  After the sugar wore off, Bode came up to us and said, "I want to go home and go to sleep."  Simply awesome.  Before leaving, we snapped this picture with Shannon, who did a heroic job watching the kids.

Maybe two more posts summarizing the California trip.  I can't believe we did as much as we did.

Summer Vacation Part V

Bode called all the cousins "The Friends," probably because there were so many kids' names to remember.  One night, we went over to Jim's house (Eileen's son).  Jim is married to Lisa, and they have three kids: Little Jim (who is 6'4" or so), Shannon (who is in 11th grade and also 6' tall) and Jared, who, I think, is in 9th grade.  He might not be 6' tall, but he'll get there.  Eileen's two other sons, Charlie and John, and their families, were there.  Charlie and his wife Jessica have four kids (three were mentioned in a previous post; their fourth is their oldest son, Charlie).  John and his wife, Leea, also have four kids.  Jake and Tara are both in college, while Rory and Max were at the beach with us.  The entire family has a great setup--Jim and Lisa live in Ventura, while John and Leea have a beach house a few doors over from Eileen.  Tom (the youngest of Eileen's children) and his family also live in Ventura.  They all live within a one mile radius of each other, so there is always someone around, which is why Bode had such a good time.  Charlie and Jessica have lived near San Diego, but are moving to Boston for a two-year stint (why they are leaving the beach is a long story, and hopefully it works out).  Should be a big change for them (there will be pictures of the adults in a later post; for now, let's focus on the kids).

Like I said, Bode had so many friends around.  He often had to ask me, "Daddy, what's his name?"  Just as often, I had to ask the same to Aunt Eileen.  At Jim and Lisa's, a number of the kids watched a movie.

In the above, we have Shannon and Jared on the coach, and Jamie and Rory on the ground.  There was also a mean game of foosball being played.

In the above, the adults are me and Charlie.  In front of Charlie is Dane, and we were whipping up on little Charlie, Max, and Locklund.  Tons of fun.

Night-time brought what amounted to a big slumber party.  The top floor of Eileen's house is a big dormitory.  Along the back wall is a row of bunks.  Find a spot, grab a blanket and pillow, and you better not snore.  To my surprise, Eileen has a TV with cable in this room.  Growing up, the McDermotts did not have television, and they turned out pretty good.  Perhaps Eileen has mellowed.  Here's a shot of Bode, Dane, and Jamie getting ready for bed while watching some Disney.

Finally, here's a movie of this same scene, because it's always nice to hear the kids' voices.

When we got home yesterday, it was a bit sad to see Bode going to sleep in his room...by himself.  Hopefully he had some great dreams of all the fun he had to keep him company.