Swim Meet Part 1

 Bode had a swim meet today.  He swam two events--the 50-free and the 200-free (he has three events tomorrow).  Warm up started at 7:00 am, which was very early for the weekend.  Still, Bode doesn't complain about swimming, so I guess I shouldn't either ;-)

After the warm up, we took a quick picture of Bode and Ashley.

The first event was the 50-free.  Bode swam awesome, shaving a full second off his best time and finishing in 26:87.  Below is the race; Bode is in Lane 1.  

I think he was 4th or 5th overall , which was great because Bode swims against some fast kids.  And we think Bode is better suited for the longer distances.  Case in point, Bode had an hour of rest before the 200-free.  He won the event in a best time 2:09:99.  He beat his buddies Sawyer, Jai, and Madden, all of whom beat him in the 50-free.  I didn't take a movie; I guess I didn't think Bode would win :-)  But I did take some pictures.  First, we have Bode on the block.

Next, here he is just after the starting gun.

Finally, he's Bode on the 3rd lap; note he's out front and leading.  We thought he might not have enough in the tank, but he surprised us and finished strong and hard.

We are very proud of how hard he has been working.  He has three events tomorrow--100-free, 100-back, and the 100-fly; stay tuned!

Final 8th Grade Football Band

Meigs Middle School had its final football game of the season against crosstown rival Pryor.  It had been raining all week, but luckily, there was a break in the weather.  We took advantage of the sunshine to get some pregame pictures.  Bode looks like a giant standing next to Ashley.

The "little man" is giving me a run for my money...

We got to the game and found some seats.  We sit right next to the band, which is actually right on the 40-yard line.  I snuck a quick picture of Bode with his buddy hanging out before the game.

The game wasn't very competitive.  Meigs played well to start the game, but Bode told us their QB isn't that great; he was right in that the QB threw four or five interceptions, which certainly didn't help.  Still, there were some times we cheered, like when Meigs had a 75-yard TD run.  And it is always fun to listen to the band.  At halftime, the band played on the field; note the band is a little bigger because at the final game, members from the Choctaw High School band come and support the Meigs band.  First, here's a picture of Bode walking out to the field.

The band played three songs, and the final one was the Meigs school song.  The 8th-graders were up front and visible for all to see and cheer.

At the end of the game, the 8th-graders all headed over to the sideline for a final picture at their final football game.  I didn't want to run over and possibly embarrass Bode, so I tried to get something from a distance; this was the best I could do.

It is hard to believe the next football band game we watch will be when Bode is in high school...very scary :-)  Pleasant day to all!

22 Years

 Ashley and I celebrated our 22-year anniversary this weekend.  What better way to spend it than at an Auburn football game...and we even left Bode home alone (well, Nana and Papa watched him, so he wasn't flying solo).

We left around 8:00 am on Saturday.  Game time was not until 3:00 pm, so we had plenty of time to enjoy all the pregame fun.  First, here's a picture of Ashley taking a picture of the Auburn radio announcers.  It is hard to tell, but Jason Campbell, hero of the 2004 undefeated Auburn Tigers, is seated up there on the podium.

We tried to get a picture, but you can't really tell it's him with me in the photo with him.

Next is a picture of Ashley getting ready for the Tiger Walk.

The walk started promptly at 1:00 pm; Aubie got everyone riled up and ready to go.

Someone must have used my phone to take a picture of this pretty blond cheerleader...

Coach Harsin was next; note the two cops walking next to him.  They looked like they could play linebacker; neither one of them smiled at all.

Then the players arrived; many of them slapped five with Ashley as they went by.  One guy was all business...Bo Nix, the Auburn QB (more on him later).

Our seats were great--right on the 40-yard line.

Ashley took some videos of the band before the game.

I wish I had some highlights from the game, but there were very few.  We expected a route; we ended up with a nailbiter.  Auburn scored on 4th and goal from the 11 with 45 seconds left to take the lead for the first time all day; fortunately, they won the game, but it is what I would call a moral defeat :-)  Here are Ashley and me after the game.

For those that do not remember, on our wedding day, Auburn lost in overtime to Mississippi; fortunately, 22 years later, we got a W on our special day.  We got home early this morning, found Bode and the dogs alive and well, and did some minor chores the rest of the day.  We had a lovely 22nd anniversary.

Final Pictures

 The first part of MCU Phase 2 is complete.  Below are some pictures of what used to be where we parked our cars.

We are extremely pleased with how everything turned out.  Now, I guess I need to start filling up the bookshelves with some books!

Labor Day

We have had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  During the week, Meigs middle school had a home football game.  The band played before and during the game, but I don't have many pictures.  I didn't want to embarrass Bode, so I tried to surreptitiously take some pictures when the band arrived in the stands; below is the best I could do.

There were clouds in the area, so Ashley made the command decision to take our phones and the camera back to the car; she also had the foresight to bring back an umbrella.  As the band was playing the final part of the Star Spangled Banner, we could see the roofs of the houses located across from the field.  Rain was pouring onto them.  Despite the break in customs and courtesies, many people quickly deployed their umbrellas (Ashley included) as we were singing "...banner yet wave..."  The band didn't miss a note and finished (and then sprinted for cover under the bleachers).

Ashley did some waverunning yesterday.  I was busy at the pickleball court, so I didn't head out with her, but I did take some pictures of my lovely wife when she returned.

I also took a couple pictures of the dogs.

There was a meeting of cigar boats in Poquito Bayou.  We were sitting on the dock when these speed boats went cruising by.  Ashley took a quick movie.  

The cost of that boat (note the six engines!) is around $3.4 million; we decided against getting one, as we don't think it would fit on our dock.  We wanted to get some close-up photos of these awesome boats, so Ashley and I headed back to the bayou and snapped some pictures.  

We had a wonderful day today.  Ashley, Bode, and I, along with Bode's friend, Brendan, went to Big Kahunas water park and enjoyed some awesome sliding action (no pictures).  We are now exhausted (well, Ashley and I are; Bode wants to know what we are doing tomorrow :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Almost Done

 The old-garage-makeover is so close to being done.  All the shelves have been painted, and they look fabulous.

I calculated that I will have something like 950 linear feet of book space; I am very excited to get the library up and running.  The outlets and switches are also complete, as are the lights.  The only thing left to finish is the mounting of the desk.  The desk is sitting in the room; we are just waiting on our friend, Tim, to install it (his brother got sick last week, so he's been helping with that--he's fine now, but it was scary for a little bit).

The AC unit was installed this week; I set it to 70 degrees; a couple hours later, I went out to the office and just about froze :-)

Ashley and Tim also built an amazing table that is eventually going to go in the carriage house.  Here is a shot of the table-top.

We have started pricing air-hockey tables, ping-pong tables, and shuffle-board tables.  We look forward to having a game night (hopefully this fall :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Funny Looking Cucumber

 Ashley told Bode I had a "funny looking cucumber growing in the garden."

Not sure if you can tell or not, but it is actually a watermelon :-)