Sunday December 31st, 2017

Today I got back to Ames after a fun trip down to Memphis to watch the Cyclones win the Liberty Bowl, 21-20 over the #19 ranked Memphis Tigers.  I drove down to O'Fallon, Missouri on Friday after work to meet up with my brother-in-law, Brian Gleason.  We left early the next morning and had a couple hours to tailgate prior to the 11:30 kickoff. 

The atmosphere for the bowl game was one of the best that I have been to for a live sporting event.  The game was a sell-out, and it was basically 50% Cyclone fans and 50% Memphis Tiger fans.  With every play there was one side of the stadium that cheered and one that booed.  Much different than the last time I was at the Liberty Bowl 5 years ago. 

The game was an exciting back-and-forth battle.  Iowa State scored on their opening drive via a 52-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Kempt to Hakeem Butler.  Later in the first quarter the Cyclones punter would bobble a snap and set the Tigers up with a short field, leading to their first score of the game.  In the second quarter, do-it-all player Joel Lanning came in to play QB and ran for a 2-yard touchdown.  Memphis would kick a field goal as time expired to make the score 14-10 in favor of Iowa State at halftime. 

In the second half, Memphis would take the lead on a 36-yard TD pass from Riley Ferguson to Phil Mayhue.  Iowa State would re-take the lead for good later in the third quarter when Allen Lazard made an amazing catch in the endzone after the ball was tipped by another ISU receiver.  Memphis tacked on a field goal late in the third quarter for the final score of the game, making it 21-20. 

There was plenty of stress in the fourth quarter.  Iowa State appeared to score another touchdown when David Montgomery clearly broke the plane of the goal line before fumbling the ball.  Somehow, the refs and replay officials managed to blow the call and ruled it a fumble and touchback for Memphis.  The Cyclones were able to overcome this adversity by stopping the Tiger's last chance drive.  After taking over on downs, Joel Lanning came in and ran the ball twice to get a first down, which was enough to then run out the clock. 

Lazard ended up with 10 catches for 142 yards and the one TD catch.  It was a heck of a performance in his last game as a Cyclone. 

After the game, we drove back up to St. Louis where Brian took me to a great BBQ place called Sugar Fire.  I ordered a combo of ribs and beef brisket, which came with two sides.  The brisket was probably the best I've ever had. 

The ISU band 

Panoramic picture from our seats in section 108

ISU 21, Memphis 20!

Our meal at Sugar Fire 

Wednesday, December 20th, 2017

Tonight I took Maxwell with me to Hilton Coliseum to watch the Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Maryland Eastern-Shore Hawks, 55-49.  In case you've never heard of UMES, it is an historically black university located in Princess Anne, Maryland.  The Hawks play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). 

The game itself was not the most exciting one that I've ever seen, but I suppose a win is a win.  The Cyclones led 34-17 at half time, but then it seemed like they sleep-walked through the second half.  The outcome of the game was never in doubt, as the Cyclones led by double-figures almost all the way.  A couple of last-minute, garbage-time baskets by UMES made the final score look closer than the game really was.  Only two Cyclones scored in double figures... Cameron Lard scored 15 points and Donovan Jackson added 12. 

Maxwell was very well behaved for the entire game, and the people sitting behind us even congratulated him for being such a good boy at the end of the game.  As we left, Maxwell was loudly saying in his cute little voice "goodbye everybody" over and over to the crowd of people. 

 I believe that this was Maxwell's 6th men's basketball game at Hilton Coliseum.

Maxwell was all smiles at the start of the game.

Tip-off between ISU and UMES.

Saturday, December 16th, 2017

Today we had a fun little family trip down to Des Moines, where we visited the Blank Park Zoo.  We were able to get into the Christmas spirit by seeing real reindeer there!  Nolan also was able to write a letter to Santa Claus and mail it to him.  Nolan wished for a race car and a PJ Mask coloring book.  Santa was actually at the zoo, but because of a 45-minute line we decided to skip seeing him at the zoo and check out the animals instead.  There were X-mas decorations up around the zoo, and Nolan enjoyed looking for all of the hidden giant candy canes around the place.  

After the zoo, we headed over to Zombie Burger for lunch.  I had "The Walking Ched", which is a double bacon cheeseburger with deep-fried mac & cheese patties for "buns".  It also had extra mac & cheese and onions on the sandwich.  Wow... it was good but very messy.  

After getting back to Ames and "taking naps"... they really didn't nap... we went to the mall to have the kids sit on Santa's lap.  Of course Maxwell fell asleep during the drive to the mall, so the pictures of him with Santa were taken just seconds after he woke up.  

Reindeer!  I believe that this is the first time that I have seen reindeer in person before.

Elizabeth and Nolan pose with the reindeer.

Nolan with his wish list for Santa.

Nolan getting ready to mail his letter.

Maxwell with the sea lions at the zoo.

The boys pose in the Jeep next to the lion exhibit.

Santa!

Sunday, December 10th 2017

Tonight Elizabeth and I brought both boys over to Hilton to watch the Cyclones defeat Alcorn State, 78-58.  The boys seemed to have fun for the most part, but I'm not sure that they payed much attention to the game at all... mostly they were just being goof balls and playing in our row of seats.  Luckily there were a number of open seats next to us tonight, so they had a little space to roam around in.  We bought some cotton candy to help keep them happy.

As for the game, the Cyclones got off to a slow start and only led by 1 point at halftime, 33-32.  Donovan Jackson was the player of the game for ISU, as he led the team in scoring with 25 points.  He connected on 7 of 15 three-point attempts.  Lindell Wigginton (16) and Cameron Lard (15) also scored in double-digits for Iowa State. 

Tonight was Nolan's 12th basketball game that he has been to (previous games can be found here), and it was Maxwell's 5th (last year vs. The Citadel, Baylor, and TCU, and this year vs. Emporia State were the other games).  We didn't bother with my usual scoreboard picture after the game because we had to get the kids home and put them to bed at a reasonable hour.

It's hard to get both boys to look at the camera at the same time, let alone smile...

Thursday, December 7th, 2017

Once again, I am proud to say that... IT'S A CYCLONE STATE!!!

Tonight I was able to attend the Cyclones 84-78 triumph over that team out east, the miserable, no-good Hawkeyes.  This was the third time that I have watched the Cy-Hawk basketball game in person, and I am glad to say that the Cyclones are 3-0 in those games.  The previous games I have seen were back in 2015 and 2013.  It always makes my heart happy to defeat the hoks, especially since it means I will not have to hear any smack talk from them about basketball for the next year.

Lindell Wigginton was the player of the game for Iowa State.  I have a feeling that I will be typing that quite a bit this year.  Our phenomenal freshman guard scored a game-high 24 points, including going 4-8 from three point range.  He was joined in double-figures scoring by Nick Weiler-Babb (15) and Donovan Jackson (12).  The Hawkeyes actually led by 5 points at halftime (36-41), before the Cyclones outscored them by 11 in the second half.  One fun thing that I will remember about the game is that there were foam light sticks on every seat in the arena, which added to the fun atmosphere.

The Hawkeyes won the opening tip...

...but the Cyclones won the game!

Monday, December 4th, 2017

Today I spent the morning home with Nolan as he has been a little under the weather lately.  So we cuddled and watched cartoons on the couch most of the morning, I fed him some crackers & applesauce, and put him down for a nap.  Hopefully he will be feeling better soon.  Elizabeth came home in the afternoon so I could go to work for a bit.

The real reason I'm blogging tonight though is to document the ISU basketball game tonight, where the Cyclones defeated the Huskies of Northern Illinois, 94-80.  It was a much more enjoyable game to watch as an Iowa State fan as compared to the last time I was in Hilton...

Freshman Lindell Wigginton was the player of the game for Iowa State.  He led the team with 28 points, added 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.  He was very quick and athletic with the ball in his hands, and I am really looking forward to watching him develop as a Cyclone.  Donovan Jackson also had a great game for the Cyclones as he scored 24 points, including 6 made three-pointers.  Cameron Lard (14) and Nick Weiler-Babb (12) also scored in double-figures for ISU. 

I believe this was the second time that I have seen Iowa State play (and defeat) Northern Illinois.  The first time was a 99-63 victory back in 2013. 

Here Nick Weiler-Babb shot (and made) a three-pointer from the corner.  Yes, ISU was wearing gray jerseys for the game.

Iowa State 94, Northern Illinois 80.

Monday, November 13th, 2017

Well, tonight I took Nolan with me to Hilton Coliseum to watch the ISU men's basketball season home-opening game.  It wasn't one that I would exactly like to remember, as the Cyclones lost to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 56-74.  It was just an all-around bad game for Iowa State, and it makes me think that this may be a very long season for ISU.  The Cyclones committed 18 turnovers and only dished out 5 assists all game long.  Jeff Beverly and Nick Weiler-Babb were the only two Cyclones to score in double-fugures.  They both had 11 points.  Of all the basketball games that I have watched at Iowa State, this has to be about the most demoralizing loss as it seems to indicate that the rest of the season will not be much fun :(

So this was Nolan's 11th basketball game that he has been to.  I'll list them out here, but I'm not going to do that for each post in the future... just refer back to this list. 

• 2013-14 ISU 110, UMKC 51.
• 2013-14 ISU 84, TCU 69.
• 2014-15 ISU 73, UMKC 56.  
• 2015-16 ISU 106, Grand Valley State, 60 (exhibition).
• 2015-16 ISU 106, Chicago State 64.
• 2015-16 ISU 80, Kansas State 61.  
• 2016-17 ISU 130, The Citadel 63. 
• 2016-17 ISU 91, Nebraska-Omaha 47.  
• 2016-17 ISU 88, Mississippi Valley State 60.
• 2016-17 ISU 63, Texas Tech 56.
• 2017-18 ISU 56, Wisconin-Milwaukee 74.

We did meet up with Mike O'Donnell and Maddie at the game, which was fun for Nolan that he could sit with a friend at the game.

Nolan and myself before tip-off.

Nolan & Maddie!

Tip-off between Iowa State and UW-Milwaukee.

Sunday, November 5th, 2017

Today marks the start of another Iowa State Cyclone basketball season!  I was able to take Maxwell along with me to watch Iowa State's exhibition victory vs. the Emporia State Hornets, 77-68. 

The game today was much closer than I would have liked, considering Emporia State is a division 2 school.  It was understandable though that Iowa State would have some growing pains considering all of the talent that graduated from the team last year (Morris, Thomas, Burton, Long).  Iowa State was also without two players today due to a disciplinary reason of some sorts... Lard and Lewis both sat out today's game. 

Donovan Jackson was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he led the team with 20 points and connected on 4-of-7 from three point range.  Lindell Wigginton also had a nice game for the Cyclones in his first action at Hilton Coliseum as he added 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals.  Although he is a freshman, I am hoping for big things from him this year if the Cyclones are going to be successful.  Jackson and Wigginton were joined in double-figures scoring for Iowa State by Nick Weiler-Babb (12) and Jakolby Long (11). 

This is the fourth time that I have taken Maxwell to an ISU basketball game.  The others were last season vs. The Citadel, vs. TCU, and vs. Baylor. 

The last exhibition game that I attended was against Grand Valley State back in 2015.  I have also seen exhibitions vs. Viterbo in 2014 and vs. Minnesota State in 2012. 

Maxwell was all smiles for the game :)

A view of the game action from our seats in section 216.

This past weekend I also drove Nolan up to grandpa Eben's place with the idea that we would help him combine some corn.  Saturday ended up being a fairly wet and foggy day, so we did not get much combining done at all.  We did try a little in the afternoon, but after a couple of passes through the field we had to stop because the corn was still too wet.  At least Nolan was able to ride in the combine for a bit.  We also helped Eben feed some hay to cattle in the pasture and around the farm, which Nolan thought was pretty neat. 

Nolan posing on the combine.

Saturday, October 28th, 2017

Right now I am drinking a cold beverage and enjoying the huge win for the Iowa State football team today.  The #25 Iowa State Cyclones upset #4 TCU, 14-7.  That is the second top-5 team that Iowa State has beaten this month (they beat #3 Oklahoma 38-31 three weeks ago)!!  With the win, Iowa State became bowl-eligible.  Kyle Kempt threw two touchdown passes for the Cyclones, and the ISU defense came up huge by forcing 3 TCU turnovers and not allowing an offensive touchdown (the Horned Frogs scored on the opening kickoff of the second half).

As this was ISU's Homecoming game, I helped to push LaVonne in her wheelchair for today's festivities.  This morning we went over to the Bergstrom practice facility where the ISU Alumni Band practiced the songs and went through the choreography for the formations.  After that we took group pictures, had lunch in the Scheman building, and eventually marched our way towards the football stadium.  I stood on the sidelines with LaVonne, aunt Susan, and LaVonne's friend Gail.  This was the fourth year in a row that I have helped push LaVonne onto the field while she performed with the Alumni Band.  Last year Kansas State defeated ISU, two years ago Iowa State beat Texas, and three years ago ISU defeated Toledo for homecoming.  It's not bad that ISU is 3-1 in the homecoming games I have helped with :)

It has been quite a while since I've seen two top-25 football teams play.  I believe the last game I attended that matched two ranked teams was back in 2002 when Seneca Wallace led the #19 Cyclones over #20 Nebraska, 36-14.  As far as I can remember, those have been the only two games I've been to that have been top-25 showdowns, and I am glad to say that ISU is 2-0 in them!

This was the 3rd time that I have seen ISU play TCU in football.  The first time was back in 2005 when TCU beat Iowa State in the Houston Bowl.  Then in 2015 TCU beat ISU in Ames, 45-21.  It was nice to get a little revenge for those games with the win today!

Happy Halloween, and Go Cyclones!

Wednesday, October 18th, 2017

Today after work Elizabeth and I took the boys over to Hilton to watch the #22-ranked ISU volleyball team defeat West Virginia in 4 sets (25-18, 25-18, 24-26, 25-11).  The Cyclones piled up an impressive 19.5 blocks during the match. 

We only managed to stay until the end of the second set because it was getting to be the kid's bed time, but it was still fun to go and support the Cyclones.  Of course we had to get a clone cone to split... Nolan seems insistent on ice cream every time we go there!  Maxwell was a really good boy for most of the first two sets.  He was actually watching the game, and he would clap along with the rest of the crowd.

This was the second volleyball game that we have been to this season.  We also saw ISU defeat Kent State in the season-opener. 

Here is the opening serve of the match between ISU and West Virginia.

Saturday, October 14th, 2017

Grandma Becky very kindly agreed to watch the boys this weekend, so today Elizabeth and myself were able to enjoy an ISU tailgate and attend the game vs Kansas.  It is kind of weird not having the boys around, but I think that it's good to have a little "adult time" once in a while, plus it gives the kids some bonding time with grandma.  Anyways, Elizabeth and I enjoyed ourselves quite a bit at today's game.

Kickoff was set at 11:00, so we had to get up early to have time to tailgate.  Unfortunately, it has been raining for most of the week, so the G7 grass lot that we normally tailgate in was closed.  Our group was re-directed to a paved lot just southwest of Hilton Coliseum.  It did rain most of the morning, which made tailgating difficult.  Everyone huddled around under three tents that were set up to stay out of the rain.  It was our usual group of friends from Wide Right Natty Light... Dan Becker, Tim & Lydia Nevins, Kyle Perkins, Ryan Butler, etc.  I'm glad the kids were not with us because they would not have enjoyed being huddled under a tent just trying to stay dry.  Everyone brought food to make breakfast burritos, and we all enjoyed our adult drinks quite a bit :)

I headed into the game with Elizabeth around 11:00, but little did we know, there was a 30 minute rain delay.  We had our rain gear on, but it was still hard not to get soaked.  Luckily by the middle of the first half most of the rain had quit. Our seats were pretty nice as we were in the 16th row of section 30.  The game itself was fun for us to watch, as the Cyclones completely destroyed the Jayhawks, 45-0.  Trever Ryen had a nice 68-yard punt return for a touchdown, and David Montgomery rushed for 3 touchdowns.  

This was the fifth time that I have seen an Iowa State football game vs Kansas.  Iowa State has won all five games as well :)  The previous years were 2015, 2013, 2011, and 2002.  

A view of the game action in the first half.  Kansas's offense only managed 106 yards all game.

The Cyclones driving the ball in the second half.   Kyle Kempt would complete a pass to Allen Lazard for 19 yards on this play, and on the next play Montgomery would run 4 yards for the touchdown.

Sunday, October 8th, 2017

This weekend I took Maxwell with me to Omaha to visit Amy, Brandon, and baby Logan.  Eben also drove down for the family weekend, but Elizabeth and Nolan stayed back in Ames because Nolan was running a fever.  Anyways, it turned out to be a fun and memorable family weekend :)

This morning before driving back we spent a few hours exploring Vala's Pumpkin Patch.  There were all kinds of things to see & do there, and honestly I probably only experienced a third of what was there.  We saw a big mechanical dragon that ate pumpkins, a "pumpkin chunkin" cannon that shot a small pumpkin far across a field, I walked Maxwell through a haunted house, there were pig races, all kinds of games (throwing footballs or baseballs through holes like at a carnival), the sledgehammer game where if you hit it hard enough it rings a bell... not to mention a pumpkin patch, lots of animals, a big slide, and lots of places to eat.

This chair is a little too big for me...

Family photo :)

Amy posing with the goats

Logan is such a little "pumpkin"

Here I am helping Maxwell make a basket

Yesterday was also quite the memorable day.  First, it was Logan's 8-month birthday.  Second, my Iowa State Cyclones shocked the college football world by upsetting the 3rd-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, 38-31.  I won't have to go into much detail about the game here because I doubt that I ever really forget it :)

Monday, September 11th, 2017

I took last Thursday and Friday off from work to take Nolan fishing up at Cass Lake in Minnesota.  Eben had rented a cabin at the Stony Point Resort along with my uncle Terry.  The DeYoung brothers (Dave and Paul) also were up there fishing.  They had all been up there since Monday the 4th.

I arrived with Nolan at Cass Lake around noon on Thursday.  We had spent Wednesday night at Grandma Becky's place in Mason City, which made the drive up there a little easier.  After picking up my fishing license, we were able to go fishing with Eben & Paul that afternoon, and Nolan managed to catch his first fish ever!!  He was really excited about that.  We were fishing right off the side of the boat, so it wasn't like he had to worry about casting or anything (all he had to do was push the button to let some line out).  I may have helped quite a bit with the actual setting the hook and everything, but he helped real it in, and was proud of his catch:

He did pretty well holding his fishing pole and letting the line out and everything that trip out, but waiting for a fish to bite got a little boring for him after that.  After that he really wasn't interested in holding a pole and sitting around, but he found other ways to entertain himself on the boat.  Playing with the minnows or looking at the fish we caught in the live well entertained him quite a bit.  So he really only "fished" on Thursday, and after that he was our official minnow-catcher and would grab a minnow for anyone that needed more bait.

Most of the fishing that I did was on Friday morning and on Saturday morning.  Friday I caught 19 perch (13 of them were keepers), and on Saturday I caught 20 (with only 9 keepers).  Generally the perch were on the small size.  So overall I must have had 22 perch worth keeping and 39 total that I reeled in.  The fish that we caught Friday morning really all were caught within about an hour's time.  We had a place along the reeds somewhere on Cass Lake, and it seemed like for a while the fish would bite within seconds of putting the bait in the water.  I'm not sure on the exact number, but between the 5 fisherman we caught around 60 perch on Friday.  The outing on Saturday I went with Terry and both DeYoung brothers to Pike Bay (while Eben stayed at the cabin to play with Nolan).  We came back with over 30 fish on that trip.

Each night we tried a little trolling for Northern.  Eben and Terry each caught 1 Northern (they were average to smallish in size, with Terry's being a little bigger).  Terry almost caught a large one, but it got off his line.

Friday for lunch we had the traditional fish fry.  Eben was our fry cook, and he made fried perch, northern pike, onion rings, potatoes, and donuts.  I even filled a few donuts with lemon pie filling, which turned out pretty well.

Each night we also built a campfire, and we enjoyed traditional campfire treats like smores or hot dogs.

Here Nolan and Eben were getting ready to head to the fishing boat on Thursday.

Eben with the northern pike that he caught.  I helped to net it. 

Nolan and Eben had plenty of quality play time during the trip :)

Here I am with one of the perch that I caught.

Nolan actually enjoyed the fried fish quite a bit.   Of course he enjoyed the homemade donuts as well.

Eben manning the fryer as Paul & Dave DeYoung sample the goodies.

Saturday, September 2nd, 2017

Today I celebrated the return of the college football season by watching the Iowa State Cyclones defeat the UNI Panthers, 42-24.  I headed over the the tailgate lot around noon and had plenty of time to enjoy some tailgate festivities before the 7:00 kickoff.  Elizabeth brought the kids over to the tailgate after the boys had finished their naps, and then I took Nolan into the game with me.  We met up with Mike & Jamie and their two kids, Maddie & Drew.  Nolan really enjoyed watching the game with friends.  This was the second time that Nolan has been to a football game (the first time was another Cyclone victory over UNI back in 2015).  This was also the fifth time that I have seen the Cyclones play the Panthers in football.  I've seen ISU win this year, in 2015, and also in 2011.  The Panthers came out on top in 2016 and in 2013.  

Nolan enjoying the football game from my shoulders.

Nolan and Maddie had fun sitting with each other at the game!

Our view of the game from the North-East hillside.