Eighteen Years

Ashley and I have been married for 18 years (as of tomorrow).  We celebrated with a family brunch to the Broadmoor, a place we love to go and make pigs of ourselves.  We all planned ahead by eating dinner the previous night at 6:30 pm.  None of us ate breakfast nor lunch.  We were seated for brunch at 12:30, so we were all famished.  Let the carnage begin.  I think Bode had four plates of food.

We feasted on ham, roast beef, potatoes, shrimp, crab claws, lovely meats, cheeses, and raw fish, salads, fruits, and pastries.  We topped things off with dessert.  Ashley loves the Banana's Foster, while Bode is a connoisseur of the iced creams.

Afterwards, we took some family pictures.  It was rather cold and rainy here, so the weather wasn't perfect, but we did have a wonderful day together especially since Auburn won yesterday.

What a wonderful 18 years together.  The last 10 have been especially awesome since Bode's been around for almost a decade.  Time sure flies.  Pleasant week to all.

The Pumpkin Patch

McGuirk Farms continues to produce.  In the previous post, I showed a picture of my cucumbers.  Well those were probably half, if not less, of the total harvest.  I had close to 30 cucumbers this year.  What to do with them?  I decided to try my hand at pickling.  I now have close to 20 jars in the basement, all in the process of producing (what I hope to be) fabulous pickles.  I'll take some pictures of them when we get closer to eating time.  I'm worried they'll be horrible, and then I'll be stuck with a bunch of jars of bad pickles (Christmas gifts?)

Bode's soccer season is in full swing.  The team has won one game, and lost two.  One of the losses was a tough match--3-2, with the other team scoring in the closing seconds.  We won't talk about the other loss.  I think the boys are having fun and learning a lot (at least I have to keep reminding myself of that fact--it's fun for the boys, and the wins don't matter :-)  Ashley took a few pictures with the camera.  First, a team photo that she surreptitiously took while the photographer wasn't looking.

She took a lot of action shots, but no real ones you can tell that the particular player is Bode.  In the below picture, Bode is the kid holding the ball.

We also have a nice shot of the boys and me at half time.

Bode is also back in swimming, having moved up to Class 2.  He does swim practice twice a week, soccer twice a week, piano lessons once a week, and he joined the school orchestra and does the violin.  While I love soccer, I can't wait for 28 Oct, which is when the season ends, and Bode's (my) schedule will get much easier.

My pumpkins have gone nuts.  They've left the garden and are making their way through the yard.  Barkley also likes to keep an eye on them.

 

I have five or six good-sized pumpkins.  I had another one, but it was growing on the vine in a position such that its weight wasn't well-supported, so it snapped off.  Below is a nice picture--I can't imagine how big it would've gotten if it had continued to grow on the vine.

Not much else going on here...except that Ashley is UNEMPLOYED :-)  This was planned, as she has taken a new job with a different company.  Her last day with Harris/Peraton was Friday, and she doesn't start up until 2 October.  Thus, for the first time in over 17 years, she has no responsibilities whatsoever.  She certainly deserves the rest.  She plans to spend some quality R&R in Breckenridge this week.  Bode and I will keep the home fires burning.  Pleasant week to all.

Labor Day

Summer's over, football is here, and we're all back in school...well, I guess one of us was never really off, but let's not split hairs.  We spent a couple days up at the mountain estate.  There's usually a big crowd in Breckenridge, which is fine.  We're sort of home-bodies on these weekends.  We went up Friday afternoon and just enjoyed the day and scenery.  We took the dogs down to the river behind the house.  Bode and I were feeling brave, so we each got in...brrr.

The little spot is quite scenic.  I also got some other shots of Bode wading through the water.

Keep in mind Hoosier pass is just five miles to the south of us.  For those that failed geography in elementary school, Hoosier pass is part of the continental divide (if this confuses you, Google it).  Thus, the water is pretty much fresh snow-melt.  It almost hurts when you put your feet it, but the air temperature was quite warm, so once you got out, it actually felt quite good.  Bode and I spent about 30 minutes walking up and down-stream--some good father-son time.  Barkley liked the water...

while Joey wanted nothing to do with it.

On Saturday, we watched some football--the mighty Auburn Tigers had an impressive (sort of) win; the big test is next week versus Clemson.  Sunday, we took a hike to the Blue River Tarn (a big lake).  It wasn't strenuous, but it was very nice.

We came home Sunday night and just lazed around today.  I harvested the cucumbers from my garden--I can't believe how many I got.  The garden was quite successful this year--potatoes, raspberries, green-beans, strawberries, lettuce, broccoli, peas, carrots, and green peppers.  There are still pumpkins ground, and I also have more carrots and potatoes in the ground.  I even started some onions in late August--the root veggies should last awhile.  The pumpkins grew until Halloween last year, so we'll see how that goes.

Our neighbor just sent us the below picture from our mountain estate...that is our front-door in the background.  Those moose are simply huge.

Swim practice starts up this week.  Thus, Ashley and I will spend some quality time on a pool deck--time to stock up on books.  We read some good reads over the summer--The Orphan Master's Son, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Nix, and a few others.  I tried reading The Chemist--it was well reviewed, but I just couldn't get into it.  Right now, I'm reading 1984 again--it was mentioned a lot in the Netflix documentary, Icarus, so I wanted to read it.  I plan to tackle Bleak House, which is one of Dickens's longest...should be fun.  Happy week to all.

Fourth Grade

Bode started the 4th grade last Thursday.  His teacher is Mister Glisson, and he is a very likeable guy.  Bode said he's not as strict as his 3rd grade teacher, so hopefully Bode will thrive in an environment where his creativity isn't stymied (which is code for a less lenient teacher who will tolerate Bode's incessant yapping to his friends :-)  Here's Bode on the first day--such a handsome young man.

Bode's buddy, Tylen, is in the same class, so Bode is excited.  Eli, sadly (but likely for the best, as Bode said), is not, but they do get to play together at recess.  Bode said he wants to join the orchestra this year, so we went and picked him out a violin.  We will see how this goes.

Barkley is getting bigger and bigger, but she still loves to sleep on her back next to the door.

She's getting quite big--not quite bigger than Joey, but getting there.

The summer is quickly coming to an end.  I started classes yesterday (bah), and am already looking forward to the winter break.  I did a lot of work on the yard, putting in over 300 square feet of sod (yes, I cheated--growing from seed was not an option with the two beasts).  We think the yard looks pretty good.

With fall quickly approaching, Ashley is anxiously awaiting the start of the Auburn football season.  The mighty Tigers are ranked 12th in the AP preseason poll--that has to be a typo :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Houston II

We had a couple of outings while in Houston--nothing major, and that is how we wanted it--why would we ever want to leave a private pool and slushy machine?  Milton was kind enough to get us tickets to the Astros-Bluejays baseball game.  Milton and Penny could not attend because Callie (their senior-to-be daughter) had a volleyball function.  Thus, the three of us and Cricket (their 19-year old college sophomore) made the trip.  First, here are Bode and Cricket outside of Minute Maid stadium.

Next, here are the three of them in the stadium.

The ball park is a very nice venue, and our seats were down the third-baseline.

It was an offensive showdown, with the Astros scoring nine runs in the bottom of the fourth.  There were an inordinate amount of home runs--if all baseball games were like this one, I'd be a bigger fan :-)  We also got some Jeff Bagwell jerseys because the team was celebrating Jeff's Hall-of-Fame induction.

On Sunday, we went to the lake and spent some time tubing.  Before leaving, Bode wanted a picture next to one of Milton's deer-heads.  I don't think Bode knew that Milton killed the deer--he just thought it was a stuffed toy :-)

The lake was loads of fun.  Here's Ashley relaxing...

and Bode, Cricket, and Callie prepping for some tubing.

Cricket made a big jump into the water...

and Bode followed shortly thereafter, albeit not with a big jump.

Bode and Cricket went first on the tube.  The movie isn't the best of quality, but I'll include it because it's all I've got.

Afterwards, Cricket and I tubed, and then Ashley and I tubed, and then Cricket and I went again, and finally it was Callie and Cricket.  We had a great time on the lake, and topped of the evening with trip to some country kitchen serving catfish (and a side of alliteration).

Sadly, we returned home (back to reality) today, and Ashley has to work tomorrow.  While in Houston, we also went to Top Golf, and saw Uncle Dwight and Aunt Patti, but I don't have any pictures.  I'm hoping I can get Ashley to download her phone's pictures to the computer, so when she does, I'll post one more Houston adventure.  Bode starts school on 17 Aug, and UCCS starts up on 21 Aug.  Is summer really almost over?  Bah.

Houston I

We spent the last five days down in Houston, Texas.  Yes, we just had a nice vacation to Georgia in July, but we felt the need to get back down to the heat and humidity.  Last year, Bode and Ashley made the trip (I had to stay home to take care of Harley...)  This year, all three made the quick flight down to Houston.  We woke up Wednesday morning in (relatively) cold Colorado, and by mid-afternoon, we were soaking it up in the pool.

Bode and I (and Ashley too--she's more than willing to swim when the temperature is 90+) spent some quality time in Penny and Milton's pool.

But swimming in the hot sun is exhausting, as Ashley can attest.

Our first night, Josh, Sarah, and Owen came over for dinner.  I did a poor job getting pictures, but I did try to get one towards the end of the evening.  Josh is at the end of the table, Penny is across from Ashley, and Milton and Sarah are on the far right.

Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the slushy machine, but it was running strong with lemonade slushies the entire time we were there.  I am convinced we need one of the these machines, and have charged my executive assistant with getting us one :-)

Col de Teakwood

Summer is rapidly approaching an end.  I only have two more weeks until I have to go back to work (but I guess I shouldn't complain about not having to work for the next 14 days :-)  Bode and I have been hanging out.  The other day, we went for an 11.54-mile bike ride.  This was Bode's first ride at altitude since returning from Florida, so it's understandable if he didn't have his mountain lungs. Over the summer, Bode has successfully ridden his bike the whole way up Teakwood Terrace.  The total distance is only 0.25 miles, but the elevation gain is 95 feet.  This equates to an average elevation of 4%, but the last 0.08 of a mile are killer--a 7% grade.  Little man is in shape.  Plus, on the last day of summer swim practice, Coach Eriko told Bode he is going to try out for Class 2 when practice resumes.  If successful, Bode will be swimming with the bigger kids.  And not to brag on Bode, but he also just finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  Yes, I'm sure there are much younger kids who have read the whole Potter series, but getting Bode to read is a lot like getting Ashley into the pool when the weather isn't so warm: all but impossible.  Thus, we're proud of how hard he has been working, and I have to continue to tell myself he's only nine :-)  No real pictures of Bode.  Ashley has some of him while at Disney this summer on her phone, but getting Ashley to get me those pictures is a lot like trying to get Ashley into the pool... :-)

I played golf the other day with my Mom.  I failed to get a group shot, but I did capture the perfect golf swing in action.

We had a lovely day on the course--I even had an eagle putt (ended up with a par...so sad).  The dogs are doing great--Barkley, while still much smaller than Joey, is starting to get taller and thicken up.  She really seems to like playing with (tormenting) Joey.

She's pretty spunky and won't take any flack from her big brother.

But she's also very sweet and won't hesitate to beg for a belly rub.

And now for a garden/back yard update.  Recall, back in the summer of 2014, I started to redo our backyard.  Here is what we started with.

Not much there.  Now, we have a great garden that has produced a ton of lettuce, lots of peas, carrots, and beans, four or five cup-fulls of raspberries, and plenty of potatoes.  We've also had the occasional strawberry or two :-)  We have successfully planted six trees (despite all of the efforts from Barkley who was trying to dig them up):  two peach, two apple, a pear, and a plum.  Finally, this summer we added some sprinkler system zones and about 300 square feet of sod.  It's really nice back there, especially since we've had so much rain this month.

Not much else to report.  Ashley continues to be the bread winner of the family, and wishes she had a time machine so she could go back and nip the woman's liberation movement in the bud :-)  Pleasant week to all.