Final Soccer Game

The Sabertooths had their final game of the season yesterday.  To spoil the ending, I will tell you the team won 3-0, avenging a 4-0 loss to this same team a month ago.  The boys have improved a ton over the season, and everything came together at this final game.  Bode had a clean sheet (to use the soccer parlance as taught to me by my brother), and had a number of good saves.   I tried to take some action shots of the game, but no real gems surfaced even though I had the camera in burst-mode.  Bode's the one in the yellow jersey in all the pictures.

I did get a decent series of photos of Bode performing a goal kick.

After the victory, the boys were in a festive mood, especially since Frankie's mom brought cupcakes.  Coach Trista wouldn't give the boys the desserts until after they posed for a final team photograph.

It's sad to see the season come to an end, but we will surely try to get on the same team come spring.  What made Saturday even better was the Auburn victory over Ole Miss.  Auburn has climbed to #11 in the rankings, which is crazy considering they started 1-2.  Here's hoping they continue to roll.  Pleasant week to all.

Some Pictures

It's hard to believe Halloween is just around the corner.  To mark this event, Bode's school had its annual Fall Carnival.  Bode and Ashley used this opportunity to test-drive their costumes.  Here's a nice picture of the two of them.

Bode is Ghost Rider (from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and Mommy is some sort of creepy gothic/ghost creature.  The weather was unseasonably warm, so we were worried Bode would be too warm in the leather jacket, but fortunately, he was fine.  At the carnival, Bode and Ashley got this nice picture taken.

The fond memories :-)  October marked the ending of Bode's cross country season.  Like I've said before, the boy wasn't made to run, but he tried real hard and competed in every event.  The team had a season-ending ice-cream party one day after school and took the below picture--can you find Bode?

We have also been very busy with soccer--practices twice a week, and games on Saturdays, and we've been fortunate that no game has conflicted with the Auburn football games.  Here are some pictures--first is Bode's official photo, and below that is one with the team, and they were told to act goofy for this one.

I've tried to take some pictures of Bode during the games, but I have found I'm usually pacing the sidelines and trying to keep calm :-)  But I did get some warm-up shots of Bode and Austin practicing.

Bode really likes being in goal--in fact, his coach said we should think of putting Bode on a competitive team.  We were flattered, but we need to think about the time commitment that would entail--it might cut into our ski time :-)

We are riding high on the Auburn-victory endorphins that have flooded our body with the beat-downs of Mississippi State and Arkansas.  Ashley, as always, is still nervous, but Auburn is now ranked #15 in the nation--that's gotta be worth something, right?

All else is going well in Colorado.  A-basin opened up for skiing this past weekend.  We will likely hold off a bit until there's some more snow...but (as the Starks say), "Winter is coming."  Pleasant week to all.

Stark Vegas

We took our biennial trip to Starkville for the Auburn-Mississippi State football game.  We headed out this past Friday and I stayed until today (Sunday), and Ashley and Bode will return tomorrow (I have to teach my class on Monday).  We had a fabulous time, and not just because Auburn was victorious.

Unlike most past trips, the camera didn't come out that much--I failed to get pictures of Jon, Meghan, Elliot, and Oscar.  The only real pictures were from the football game.  We all had hoped for a real treat on Friday night, which as the annual Bulldawg Bash, which is a big street party very near Jon and Meghan's house.  The coolest part would have been the concert by Flo-Rida, who was scheduled to perform.  Sadly, Flo-Rida "missed his flight" and didn't make it, which had to have stunk for everyone who was out there (we were on Jon and Meghan's porch--we couldn't see anything, but we sure would have heard it).  I'm sure the organizers were bummed.  My biggest question is, "Does Flo-Rida really fly commercial?"  I would have thought a big-time rap/pop artist would have a charter.  But I digress.

Saturday morning, Ashley and I took Bode to the Tiger Walk, which is where a bunch of Auburn fans gather where the Auburn team buses will stop when they are bringing the team to the stadium.  There are Auburn students that go around and hand out shakers to get everybody in the the spirit.  Bode and Ashley had fun with theirs.

I think I insulted the guy that was passing out shakers.  He asked if I needed one.  I responded, "I'm an adult male."  Evidently that wasn't very spirited of me.  The buses showed up, and we even saw Gus sitting on the front seat (Gus Malzahn is the head coach of Auburn).  Other than that, we didn't see much, as we didn't plan our location.  But it was fun to see it, and we did get high-fives from Aubie.

The game was awesome--there wasn't a cloud in the sky (despite Hurricane Matthew a few hundred miles to the east).  We were all smiles before the game started.

The game started off poorly, with Auburn throwing an interception on their third play from scrimmage.  Mississippi St drove to the ten yard line, but missed the field goal attempt.  After that, the route was on, and by half-time, Auburn was up 35-0, which sounds cool, but I would have preferred a closer game (You shut your mouth--it was AU-some!!!)  I took the below movie in the second half.  It appears Auburn scores a TD, but sadly, it was called back by a holding penalty.

Here's a shot of the score-board.  Note it's Auburn 38-14.  Quite the game :-)

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and visiting with Jon and Meghan.  I wish I could say we went out partying, but I think we just hung out in their living room.

I got home this afternoon, and took care of the dogs and cleaned up the house.  I also checked the garden.  Apparently, we had a frost this weekend, so all my pumpkin vines were dead.  This isn't a bad thing--it just meant it was time to pick the pumpkins.  I'm quite pleased with my harvest--I got three or four good-sized ones and a couple of small ones.

I suppose I should go take a shower and get ready for work.  What fun :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Seventeen Years

Bode continues to like his new soccer team--the Sabertooths.  The boys aren't really winning their games, but they are actually passing the ball and playing like a real team.  Bode is getting better each week in the goal, but more importantly, he's accepted the fact he will get scored on, and when he does, he doesn't pout.  I think that's what I'm most proudest of--he's maturing very fast.  They had a double-header Saturday morning--it was a beautiful few hours at the soccer fields, and the boys loved it.  While they lost both games (something like 4-2 and 6-4), it was loads of fun.  Here's a picture of Bode in the goal.

I took some other pictures, but I didn't really get any decent shots.  Plus, I was too busy cheering on the team to take many photos (and Ashley has reminded me this is a developmental league, so cheering is fine, but no berating or complaining about anything) :-)

Today marks Ashley and my 17th anniversary--traditional gift is furniture, which we both ignored.  We did go out to brunch with Bode at the Broadmoor.  We fasted all morning, and headed down for our reservation at 12.  We also took some premeal pictures.  First, Bode and Mommy.

And then me and my bride.

We also took some pictures from the balcony.  Bode is getting too tall--I think the pants he is wearing are size 10's, and they are almost too short.

There was also a nice chess table in one of the waiting areas.  I can no longer just sit down and defeat Bode.  He's very good at defending his pieces.  Sure, I'll nudge him occasionally against making certain moves, but for the most part, he's on his own.

His next step in his chess development is become more offensive and creating a strategy with tactics to win games (of course, that's also what I need to do :-)

We had a lovely meal, and spent the rest of our day digesting.

The best anniversary present had to come last night during the Auburn-LSU game.  It was a very tight game with Auburn up by five points with about two minutes to go.  I thought Auburn would win, so I surreptitiously filmed the McGuirk viewing area.  As you watch, realize Bode and I have to live with this every week.

Obviously from the video, it looks like Auburn lost...and we thought the same thing.  Hence the quick turning off of the camera.  However, I should have left the camera rolling until...

A happy coda:  Upon further review, LSU did not get their final play off before the play clock expired.  Thus, the TD didn't count.  And, I might add, the refs also missed two penalties on the final play--the LSU wide-receiver never set before the snap, and the QB was likely across the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball.  Thus, Auburn wins!  Seventeen years ago, Auburn lost in overtime on our wedding day--they missed a field goal at the end of regulation (and it was an easy field goal).  Thankfully they won last night :-)  Happy week to all!

A Clean Sheet

With the start of the school year, we are now much busier than we used to be.  Bode is doing swimming twice a week, and is still taking his piano lessons.  I also signed him up for a soccer team.  I didn't realize this team would practice twice a week with games on Saturdays.  And then Bode wanted to do cross country.  Thus, our evenings are jam-packed.  We'll be happy (or at least better rested) come the end of October.

The first cross country meet was Tuesday.  We have realized Bode is anything but a runner.  He enjoys the team, but I think it's just to hang out with some friends, which is perfectly fine.  Here's a group of the boys before the first race.

Next, we have the start of the race.  The first race was an 800-meter run.

Finally, here's a shot of Bode towards the end.  He ran the whole way and finished with a surge (a small surge).

I was impressed with the winner--the kid looked like a real runner, and I don't know if I could have beaten him.  I'll have to start timing the races and use my GPS to get the exact distance.   I'd hate to think I've reached the point where kids Bode's age are faster than me :-)

The first soccer game was this past Saturday.  Earlier in the week, Bode told me he wanted to be the goalie.  As luck would have it, the soccer club does free goalie training on Friday nights.  Thus, we decided to attend to see if Bode really liked it.  He did great, although he has to work on some of the fundamentals, but it's really the first time I've seen him excited about something (other than video games).  The team's first game was Saturday (their name is the Sabertooths).  Bode started the game as the center forward.

He did fine--got winded pretty quickly, and he (along with all the other boys) need to learn their positions better.  But I'm very impressed with the coach, and know Bode will learn a lot this season.  The team was down 1-0 at the end of the first half.  At the start of the second half, we saw Bode putting on the goalie shirt and the gloves.  Oh boy.

He did surprisingly well.  No one scored on him, and he had some great saves.  But he also had some help from 1) a shot off the post and 2) some misses by the other team.

Still, he did great.  He does have to learn when to come off the line and when not to.  He'd end up in no-man's land a number of times, but otherwise, he's out little Hope Solo...oh, wait, that's not a very good comparison :-)

Back to the grind tomorrow.  Pleasant week to all.

Labor Day in Breck

We spent Labor Day weekend up in Breckenridge.  We didn't do too much, because it's usually crowded, but it is nice to get away.  We did go to town for the annual rubber ducky race in the Blue River.  You can buy a rubber duck, and it gets thrown in a big bin.  The ducks are dumped into the river, and the first 57 ducks downstream got prizes (there were 800+ entries).  Sadly, we didn't win, but it was a beautiful day.

The picture on the left is Bode and me at the "finish line" which was just a temporary bridge built across the river.  The people wading in the water had to have been cold, because that wasn't is anything but warm.  Also, I don't like the above picture of me, because it looks like I have a gut.  I've started running (a lot) again to correct this problem :-)

On Saturday night, we watched the Auburn-Clemson game.  Auburn lost.  I have no more words on this matter.

On Sunday, we recovered our spirits and headed to the rec-center.  We had an awesome time.  Ashley and Bode tried their hands at the climbing wall.  We were impressed that Bode went as high as he did, because he usually gets a little scared when he gets too high.  Ashley also impressed us but completing a 5.9 rated climb (if you don't know rock-climbing, just google it).

We also swam, but didn't get any pictures.  The coolest part was the pool has this rope you can swing from and drop into the water.  Bode didn't want to do it at first; once he did it, he didn't do anything else the rest of the day.

We also did the usual things while in Breck--chopped and stacked wood, did some home-maintenance, and we also sat in the hot-tub.  We came home on Monday, and started back to work and school on Tuesday.  Sadly, no holidays until Thanksgiving for me (UCCS does have class on Columbus Day and Veteran's Day--what's up with that???)

Pleasant week to all.

Some Missed Posts

It's almost mid-September, and I haven't posted anything since early August.  I wish I could say it's because I've been busy doing all sorts of things...but I think I've just been lazy.  This first post, I'm going to post some pictures of some things that happened back in August.

There's a new indoor go-kart racetrack in Colorado Springs.  We decided to check it out.  Bottom line first is that it was pretty cool, and Bode liked the driving experience.  However, neither Ashley nor I did any driving because 1) there are separate races for kids under 16 and 2) it's a bit pricey (and Ashley gets enough drag-racing done when she's in her little rocket sled).  But Bode had a good time, even though he wasn't super risky.  He was probably the youngest person in the race, and I don't think he liked it when he got bumped.  But all in all, an enjoyable experience.  Now for some pictures.  First is Bode getting fit for a helmet.

Next we have Bode coming out of pit-row as the race is about to start.

And finally, an action shot.  Note how blurry the picture is, likely due to the tremendous speed Bode was carrying into the turn.

School started up towards the end of August.  The weekend before, Ashley and Bode spent a weekend up in Breckenridge.  They had a lovely time--went for a bike ride, saw some street art, and even went ice-skating.  First, Bode doing some goofy stuff by some neat animal art.

Next, a nice one of Bode and Mommy just chilling in the shade.

Bode and Ashley went for both a bike ride and ice-skating.  Safety first in this family :-)

Ashley and Bode had a wonderful time in Breckenridge, although I think Bode had a hard fall right at the end of their little ice-skating adventure.  

Sadly, summer had to come to an end, and Bode headed back to school.  He's now in 3rd grade, which is amazing.  He's not a fan of school--says it's boring, but I guess I sad the same thing when I was a kid.  Here's Bode before his first day of school with both Mommy and me.

Little man is getting so grown up :-)  Note my attire.  I have started my new job at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.  It's nice--like most jobs, I wouldn't do it if I wasn't paid, but it gives me something to do during the day :-)  Ashley is still doing her job at Harris, although I know she'd like to be a snow-bum.  We'll see if we can make that happen.  Pleasant week to all.