More Water Fun

We (Bode and Ashley) took another water skiing / wake boarding lesson.  I am amazed at the progress of both.  We took a picture before we started.  The little dude keeps getting taller and taller.

Bode really has progressed.  He got right up on every try, and he even went outside the wake on both sides (no jumps though :-)  First, some action photos.

 

Next, let's check out Ashley--she's looking like a real pro out there.

Towards the end, Ashley wanted to try to flip her feet while in motion.  Here are some of her tries.  She didn't quite get it on her first attempt.

On this one, she did it the first time, but when trying to flip back, she lost it.

Next, some photos where Bode really looks like a professional skier.

Finally, a movie of Bode.  I had one of Bode skiing, but it was almost five minutes long and it was too big to load to this website.  This movie is of Bode's first run of the day.

We are resting (sort of) this weekend.  Ashley is doing some painting, while I did some yard work.  Perhaps I'll take a dip in the pool (bay) and cool off.  Pleasant weekend to all.

Orchestra

Bode joined a youth orchestra.  He gets up early during the week and practices for 30 minutes, and then the who ensemble meets on Sundays for a 90-minute practice.  I'm very impressed with how hard he works.  I don't think I was waking up early to do anything when I was 10.  Here are some actions photos.  Note Bode just got a haircut yesterday, so he's looking sharp.

Here's a different view.

Finally a closeup--note the intense concentration.

We also took a movie; this is the group's second practice together, so they still have work to do.  Their winter concert isn't until December, so I'm sure they'll be sounding amazing by then.

The conductor (Ms Liz) is very good with the kids--very strict, but she really knows what she's doing.  Bode has a lesson once a week with her, and she'll let him know if he's not up to snuff (no false platitudes from her :-)

All is well here.  We've settled into the school year, and things aren't that much different than in Colorado, with the exception that I raked the yard last night from ~6 - 7 pm and was covered in sweat when I came inside.  I think the high today was 90+, and we also swam in the pool (bay) this morning, which we probably wouldn't be able to do in Colorado.  But come December, we probably won't be snow-skiing either ;-)  Pleasant week to all.

5th Grader

Bode started at Longwood elementary a couple weeks ago--he is now officially a Longwood Leopard.  He showed no signs of worry about starting a new school.

He likes his new teacher, and seems to be getting along with his classmates.  He rides his bike to school every day and seems to like it.  We have an open house on Thursday night, so we'll get a better chance to see how he's doing.

The dogs are getting along just fine--here's a little movie of the two of them playing.

Bode and Ashley took another water-skiing/wake-boarding lesson.  Bode was very excited to go.

Here's a picture of Bode getting his skies ready.

Bode did amazing--he started off on the poll, and then moved to the back of the boat.  By the end of the lesson, he was able to get up without any problems on his own--he's quite the little skier!  Here are some action photos.

Ashley did awesome on the wakeboard.  Here's a movie of her showing off her skills.

Finally here's a movie of Bode going around the lake.

We hope to go back for a few more lessons, and then perhaps we'll get a set of skies for Bode and see how he does behind the waverunner.

UWF starts back to school on Monday; I guess the summer is really coming to an end :-(  Pleasant week to all.

Skiing Bode

When we lived in Colorado, a "Skiing Bode" post would have referred to a trip to the mountains.  Today, this last day of summer before Bode heads back to school, Ashley brought Bode out to this water-ski school in Walton county.  Apparently, the instructors are world-class--the guy that drove the boat holds several world-records in ski-tricks.  He also was a fantastic instructor and quickly got Bode up on some skis.  First, here's a picture of Bode in his vest.

Next, here he is getting on the boat.  The other kids were phenomenal skiers--they came down for a week of lessons from Pennsylvania.  One of them was doing flips and all sorts of things.

Bode used a tow-bar to get up.  He first used the bar, and then he used the rope attached to the bar.  Next time we bring him out for a lesson, he'll use a rope behind the boat.  Here are some good movies.

Next, here's one of Bode starting from in the water.

He then switched over to the tow rope.  On this first one, he had some problems.

Finally, here's a good one of Bode popping right up.

As I said before, today is the last day of summer vacation.  We met Bode's teacher on Friday--Mr Welch, and he seems like a very nice man.  I started back to work last Wednesday at the University of West Florida--I don't think my picture is up on the faculty profile page, but at some point, my info should be able to be seen here.

What an incredible summer--we are very grateful to have made the transition to Florida without any major mishaps.  We said before we moved that as long as the three of us, and the two dogs made it, we could adapt to anything else.  Bode also wanted his fish (Barry) to make, which he did.  For about three weeks, we thought Cisco (the snail) was no more, but just recently, he reappeared in the tank (we've no idea where he was hiding).  Here's hoping for a great start to the school year.

Lots of Fun

We had a wonderful day today.  It started early--Ashley wanted to get up and go paddle boarding.  I didn't join her, but I did sit on the beach.  Quite a calm morning.

After a little while, Ashley came into view, paddling away.

We did some odds and ends around the house this morning--I even made it to the gym.  After lunch, we met Jennie, Dave, and Charlie for some Goofy Golf.

I think a lot of us were able to get a hole in one, which was great.  However, no one was successful getting it into the snake's mouth on the last hole.

After the golf, we all headed back to our place for some water fun.

Bode and Charlie had a lot of fun on the boards...until one of them rocked the board just a bit too much.

JoAnne and Frank even came over and sat on the beach.

We whipped up an impromptu dinner and enjoyed some good quality family time.

Uncle Dave asked us why our new coach smells funny.  We've no idea why...(earlier today).

After the ice cream, we went out to the dock to let Dave and Jennie do some fishing.

Tomorrow is the first of August; I guess it's time to start thinking about going back to work (for me) and back to school (for Bode).  Pleasant week to all.

Waverunning

Uncle Dave, Aunt Jennie, and Cousin Charlie are in town.  We had the crew plus the parents (inlaws), Olivia, Jay, and Jasser over for some food and some water fun.  We boiled some shrimp and crap in a big pot--Papa caught the crab, so they were fresh from the sea.  We ate quite well, and then headed down to the beach.

Even the dogs were allowed on the beach.

We all took some turns on the waverunners.  Here are Ashley, Dave, and Jennie coming back from a cruise.

Even Nana and Papa went out--that's them in the distance, while Olivia and Jasser play with Jay.

At some point, Dave and Jennie headed over to crab island.  Ashley and I relaxed in the chairs while Bode and Charlie played inside (this generation has no idea what it means to play outdoors).

The dogs had to have their obligatory wrestle/fight...

but sometimes the camera sidetracked them.

Here's Jennie and Dave zooming back from Destin.

It turned out to be a beautiful day.

It's a rough life--I start work in nine days, so I need to get as much of "doing nothing" in as a I can :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Swim Meet

Bode had a swim meet yesterday.  He swam the 100 IM (swam in 1:40, beating his best time by six seconds), the 50-freestyle (tying his personal best of 39 seconds), the 100-back (I think he got a PB by six seconds, but I don't recall), and he also swam the opening leg of a 200-free relay.  It was quite warm--a very different swim-meet experience than what we experienced in Colorado.  The Destin pool is outside, so we were outside in the sun for four+ hours.  Here's a shot of the pool

Ashley and I brought some umbrellas to fight the shade.  We should have brought our big half-tent; the nice people next to us were kind enough to let us borrow some of their shade.

Here are a couple of shots of Bode starting the IM--Bode is in the far-left lane.

Here he is coming in for the first turn.

Bode's coach gave him a swim-cap to wear.  He looks very different without the mohawk.

We got Bode a smart phone.  We realize he's probably too young, but with school starting, and with walking to and from school, we thought he might need to contact us in case it's raining or something like that.  An added bonus is our house in Florida is just so big that instead of going from our room to Bode's room, we can just send him a text :-)  Here's Bode with his phone.

A little rainy here right now; hopefully it clears up, as we'd like to go wave-running.  Pleasant day to all.