Tuesday, December 31st, 2019

Well, it is almost the new year, and I could sure use a fresh start with the ISU basketball team.  Tonight I took Maxwell with me to Hilton, where the Cyclones were upset by Florida A&M, 70-68.  Going into the game, the Cyclones were something like a 25 point favorite over the Rattlers.  The Cyclones were without their star player Tyrese Haliburton, but still they should have easily handled a team that was rated as the #324th best team in the country by KenPom, and the Rattlers were 1-9 coming into today's game.  Woof.

This was Maxwell's 13th men's basketball game that he has been to.  Unfortunately, that was an unlucky 13. 

The Cyclones were leading by 9 at halftime, 33-24.  Everything seemed to be in control, but then 10 second half turnovers, bad offense by Iowa State, and some timely shooting by the Rattlers was enough to pull off the upset.  Rasir Bolton was about the only source of offense in the game for Iowa State, as he finished with 29 points. 

I would have to say that tonight was the worst ISU basketball performance that I have seen in person.  The only other game that was close to this was 2017's season opener against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

Sunday, December 22nd, 2019

Today I took Nolan over to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the Iowa State Cyclones take down the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons, 89-59.  The Mastodons are part of the Summit League, and they have a funny name... Mastodons. 

Tyrese Haliburton was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he led all scorers with 22 points.  He connected on 6 three pointers, and had 6 assists.  He was joined in double figures by Solomon Young (15) and Terrence Lewis (11).  Since the students were mostly gone due to Christmas break, and the game being a blowout, it was a relatively quiet arena in the second half. 

Today marks the 19th ISU men's basketball game that I have taken Nolan to.  The previous game was also to a team with a funny name, the Kangaroos of UMKC. 

The weather today was unusually warm for being just a few days from Christmas.  When we left Hilton the temperature was 55 degrees!  Walking out of the stadium I ended up bumping into my 4th grade teacher and her family, which was fun to visit with them for a moment. 

Go STATE!

Sunday, December 8th, 2019

Today was a good day.  For starters, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the New England Patriots.  Iowa State's Football team was invited to the Camping World Bowl in Orlando, where they will face off against Notre Dame on December 28th.  Finally, Iowa State's basketball team defeated the 16th-ranked Seton Hall Pirates, 76-66. 

I took Jeremy with me today to watch the game.  Iowa State really was cold shooting the ball to start the game, as they started 2-17 from the field.  Thankfully, a strong defensive effort kept them in the game, and the Cyclones managed to lead at halftime, 28-26.  Iowa State kept up the intensity in the second half, and made enough shots to get some separation.  The Cyclones then made their free-throws down the stretch to help seal the upset.

It's hard to pick a player of the game, as three Cyclones tied for the lead with 17 points each.  I guess that I will go with Haliburton yet again, as he did a good job running the offense, had 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and he made a clutch 3-pointer down the stretch.  He was joined in double figures scoring by Rasir Bolton (17), George Conditt (17), and Prentiss Nixon (10).  The last time I attended a basketball game where the Cyclones defeated a ranked team was against #5 Kansas last season.

Tip-off between Iowa State and Seton Hall.

Wednesday, December 4th, 2019

Tonight I took Nolan with me to watch the Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Kangaroos of UMKC, 79-61.  This is actually the third time that Nolan has been to a game between the Cyclones and Kangaroos (2014 and 2013 being the previous times).  That 2013 game was actually his very first game.  As of now, Nolan has been to 18 basketball games... at least ISU men's games that is. 

Anyways, tonight's game was actually fairly close even midway through the second half.  Thankfully the Cyclones kicked it in gear towards the end of the game and pulled away for the comfortable victory.  Tyrese Haliburton I would say was the player of the game, as he scored 19 points to go along with 7 assists and 6 rebounds.  He tied with Michael Jacobson and Rasir Bolton as the scoring leaders, as they all finished with 19 points.  They were joined by George Conditt in double figures, as he added 12 points.  Nolan was pretty good about paying attention to the first half of the game, as he would cheer for the Cyclones and try to keep track of the score.  By the middle of the second half he was so sleepy that he decided to pass out though...

Here we are with a clone cone before the game.

Cyclones win!

Tuesday, November 19th, 2019

Today marks the third Tuesday in a row that I took one of the boys to Hilton for a basketball game.  Tonight Maxwell was the lucky kid, and he saw the Cyclones defeat the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss, 73-45.  This is the 12th time that I have taken Maxwell to a men's basketball game.  He was a good boy for the entire game tonight.  He didn't fall asleep or anything, and he was even participating in some of the cheering / chanting.  We split a popcorn, and he even got another picture with Cy!

As for the game, the Cyclones were firmly in control from about halfway through the opening period onward.  I would say that Tyrese Haliburton was the player of the game, as he scored 12 points to go along with 9 assists.  He was joined in double figures scoring by Solomon Young (14) and Prentiss Nixon (13).  Southern Miss as a team went 0-16 from three point range, and generally they did not look very good. 

Our first scoreboard picture of the season.  Cyclones 73, Golden Eagles 45.

Hi Cy!

Sunday, November 17th, 2019

Today has been a lazy day hanging around the house, mostly because I'm hungover from partying a little too hard last night.  The reason I was so eager to celebrate yesterday was Iowa State's down-to-the-wire 23-21 victory over the #22 Texas Longhorns. 

I had originally planned to have a big tailgate for a bunch of my cousins for the game, but for one reason or another all that could attend were Mark and David. The grass tailgate lots ended up being closed yesterday due to melting snow, so we just tailgated at my house instead before the game.  We had a "Beefy" menu, since the game was against the Longhorns.  I grilled hamburgers, t-bone steaks, made some all beef little smokies in BBQ sauce, and made mashed potatoes with beef gravy.  Quite the meal.

As far as the game goes, it seemed like Iowa State was the better team for most of the day.  The Cyclones out-gained the Longhorns in total yardage, 466 to 327.  Iowa State built a 20-7 lead going into the fourth quarter, but Texas managed to come back to take a 21-20 lead with a pair of touchdown passes.  On Iowa State's last possession, they drove down the field and milked the clock to set up a game-winning 36 yard field goal from Connor Assalley.  His kick split the uprights and sent the fans at Jack Trice into a frenzy. 

Afterwards, we walked to the bars and had a few drinks at Welch Ave Station, Mickey's, Cy's Roost, Cafe B, Sips, and Paddy's. 

This was the third time that I have seen Iowa State play Texas in football.  The previous times were a win back in 2015 and a loss in 2011. 

Tuesday, November 12th, 2019

Tonight I took Maxwell with me to watch the Cyclones defeat the Northern Illinois Huskies, 70-52.  Prior to the game, Maxwell had his heart set on having a Clone Cone, but it was such a cold walk into Hilton that we decided to go with popcorn instead :)  Anyways, tonight marks the 11th time that I have taken Maxwell to a Cyclone men's basketball game.  The last time I took him to a game was against Kansas State last year.  One fun thing about tonight's game was that Maxwell was able to take a nice picture with Cy!

The Cyclones began the game ice cold from the field, and Northern Illinois actually led at halftime 34-31.  Iowa State was especially bad from the 3-point line tonight, making only 3 of 25 attempts.  Iowa State was able to clamp down on defense in the second half, which ended up being the difference in the game.  I would say that Solomon Young was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he scored 15 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.  Rasir Bolton was the only other Cyclone in double figures scoring, with 17 points. 

Tonight is the third time that I have witnessed the Cyclones play (and defeat) the Huskies.  Previous games were back in 2017 and 2013. 

Maxwell had such a nice smile with Cy.  He wasn't even afraid to stand next to him all bu himself!

Here we are in our seats in section 216.  Notice my gradually growing beard... I'm doing "No Shave November" with the guys at work.

Tuesday, November 5th, 2019

Tonight I took Nolan with me to watch the Iowa State men's basketball season opening victory over the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State, 110-74.  If that team sounds familiar, it's because tonight marks the fourth time that I have seen the Cyclones play (and defeat) the Delta Devils.  Previous games were back in 2016, 2014, and in 2011.  Mississippi Valley State plays in the SWAC conference, and they are from Itta Bena, Mississippi. 

Anyways, the Cyclones basically dominated the entire game, as was expected.  It's hard to really get a feel for how the Cyclones will do this year yet, because the competition tonight was not exactly stellar.  There are quite a few new faces to get used to.  I would say that the player of the game for ISU was Tyrese Haliburton, who scored 12 points, dished out 14 assists, collected 7 rebounds, and had 6 steals.  It seemed like he was everywhere tonight, and he affected the game in a number of ways.  Haliburton was joined in double figures scoring for Iowa State by Michael Jacobson (20), Prentiss Nixon (16), Solomon Young (12), Zion Griffin (11), Tre Jackson (11), and George Conditt (10).  Wow, it's crazy to have seven players score in double-digits. 

I believe that tonight is the 17th game that Nolan has been to.  The last time I took him to a men's basketball game was vs TCU last season.  This was also the second time that Nolan has seen Iowa State play Mississippi Valley State, as I took him to the 2016 match-up.  Nolan seemed pretty tired tonight, as he actually slept in my lap for the entire second half of the game. 

Here we are in our seats (Section 216, row 16, seats 7&8).  Nolan really wanted a Dr. Pepper... 

The opening tip-off of the 2019-2020 basketball season.

Saturday, October 26th, 2019

Happy homecoming Cyclone Nation!

Today I helped with the ISU Alumni Band for the halftime show, which marks the sixth year in a row that I have pushed LaVonne on the field while she plays her clarinet.  It was fun to see the stadium from ground level and really be part of the action.  It does make for a long day though going through the morning practice routine at the Bergstrom practice facility, taking group pictures with the Alumni band, going over to the Scheman building for lunch and the Alumni band meeting, doing the spirit walk to the stadium, and then performing at halftime.  As for the halftime show, it was fairly simple.  We "swung" onto the field between the north 25 and 30 yard lines.  They band played Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird", along with the usual ISU fight song.  We marched off, and that was it.

As for the game, it was a disappointing loss for the Cyclones, 27-34 to Oklahoma State.  Iowa State came into the game ranked #23 in the country and was about a 10 point favorite.  The Cyclone defense gave up 3 big-play touchdowns of 50 yards or more in the first half, which was hard to overcome.  I have still never seen Iowa State defeat the Cowboys in football, one of only two Big 12 teams with that distinction.  Today was the third time that I have seen Iowa State play Oklahoma State in football, with the other games being in 2015 and 2013. 

Wednesday, October 16th, 2019

Tonight I took Nolan with me to watch the ISU women's volleyball team defeat the TCU Horned Frogs in straight sets, 25-23, 25-23, and 25-12.  Today's game was the "Pink Match" for breast cancer awareness.  They handed out pink pom-poms to everyone, which Nolan thought was pretty cool.  We also split a popcorn to keep him happy.  The first two sets of the match seemed to be very close and hard fought, and ISU was fortunate to win both.  Then in the third set it seemed like TCU almost gave up, as the Cyclones cruised to an easy victory.

Nolan did get to take his picture with Cy, which was fun.  This is the second volleyball game of the season that I've been to, as I also took Maxwell to the home opener against South Dakota.

Nolan and CY!!

Here we are having fun with out pink pom-poms.

A view of the action against TCU.  The Cyclones are wearing pink, while the Horned Frogs are in black.

Saturday, October 5th, 2019

Today I went to the Iowa State football game vs TCU, where the Cyclones defeated the Horned Frogs, 49-24. 

The game was originally scheduled for 11:00 this morning, but due to heavy rain the kickoff was pushed back to 1:00.  That just made for more time to tailgate!  I enjoyed myself with the usual group (Kyle Perkins, Dan Becker, Ryan Butler, Chris Schroeder...).  The tailgate involved three canopy tents lined up with everyone huddled underneath them trying to stay out of the rain.  All of the grass lots were closed, so we were parked over in the paved section of vet med.  Originally I had wanted to bring Nolan to this game, but with all of the rain forecast for today it seemed best not to.

Once the game started, the weather had actually turned quite nice.  I sat with Brian and Sullivan Gleason, who had made the trip up from St. Louis for the game.  We had pretty good seats, between the north 30 and 35 yard lines on the west side, in section 7.  Brock Purdy played well for Iowa State, accounting for 2 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns of his own.  The Cyclones also had a defensive touchdown by Eyioma Uwazurike, who scooped up a fumble on the 1 yard line, after the TCU quarterback was sacked by O'Rien Vance. 

Today marks the 4th football game that I have attended between Iowa State and TCU.  The Cyclones also won back in 2017, while TCU prevailed in 2015 and in the Houston Bowl back in 2005. 

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019

Tonight I was able to take Maxwell with me to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the Cyclones win their home opening volleyball game in straight sets over the Coyotes of South Dakota (25-19, 25-18, 25-19). 
The game started at 6:30 and was over by 8:00, so we were able to stay for the whole thing... which is not always the case when taking kids to a volleyball game.  I split a Clone Cone with Maxwell, which of course helped to keep his interest.  We also got to take a selfie with Cy and give him a high-five, which Maxwell got a kick out of.
Apparently this is the 4th straight home opening volleyball game that we have been to.  Last year we saw Iowa State defeat Ole Miss, two years ago Iowa State defeated Kent State, and three years ago they beat Wichita State.  It looks like all four of those matches the Cyclones won in straight sets.

Here is the opening serve between the Coyotes and the Cyclones.

Maxwell was excited to see Cy today!

Can you say too much ice cream?

Saturday, August 31st, 2019

Today I was able to take Maxwell to his first ever football game, where the 21st-ranked Iowa State Cyclones survived a triple OT game against the UNI Panthers, 29-26.

Kickoff for today's game was at 11:00, so we got up nice and early for the tailgate.  Maxwell and I arrived at the tailgate a little before 7:00.  Others that were there included Ryan Butler, Dan Becker, George, Kyle Perkins, Chris Schroeder, and eventually Dan's wife Anne.  One funny thing about the tailgate was how hungry Maxwell seemed.  Before we left the house, I made his a two egg cheese omelet, but clearly that wasn't enough.  While we were there, he ate two pieces of bacon, at least 3 breakfast sausage links, a cheese stick, a small bowl of strawberries, and a couple of pumpkin spice donut holes.

As for the game, I'm glad that Iowa State won, but at this point we really don't look like a top-25 team.  The Cyclone defense looked solid, but the offense needs to figure a few things out during their bye week coming up.  Maxwell and I only made it to halftime before we had to leave.  He actually slept for most of the second quarter, and was pretty cranky when he woke up just before halftime.  I guess all of that food made him sleepy.  The only scoring that we witnessed in the first half was a 42-yard field goal by Connor Assalley. 

I believe that this was the 6th time that I have seen Iowa State play the Panthers in football, the others being ISU victories in 2017, 2015, and 2011), and Panther wins in 2016 and 2013. 

Like I mentioned, this was Maxwell's first football game.  For reference, Nolan has only been to 3 games (Oklahoma 2018, UNI 2017, and UNI 2015). 

Maxwell posing at our seats in row 10 of section V.

He was a happy finally getting to see a football game in person!

Friday, August 23rd, 2019

Today was Nolan's first day of FIRST GRADE!!  It's crazy that he's getting so big now.  On Wednesday of this week he got to meet his new teacher, Mrs. Bruck.  Nolan was actually given some "homework" to complete before his first day... which was just a student survey.  As you can see in the picture below, according to Nolan his favorite food is apples, his favorite color is gold, his favorite book is Captain Underpants, he would like to get better at climbing, two activities that he likes to do outside of school are swimming and playing at a park, and he helps his family by "cleaning" and "putting away dishes".  What a stinker. 

Here Nolan is posing with the Edward's Elementary sign before being dropped off.

Nolan with his "homework" before his first day.

Sunday, July 21st, 2019

Today we just got back from our annual "Christmas in July" family reunion.  This year it was held at Rick & Marilyn's log cabin outside of Mount Ayr, IA.  To name everyone that attended... there was our family of 4 (Elizabeth, Brian, Nolan, Maxwell), Amy & Brandon Shostak plus their kids Emma and Logan, grandpa Eben, great-grandma Natalie, Chris & Marcia Langner, David Langner, Chris & Susan Irwin, Kent & Andrea (as well as Andrea's sister, who's name I didn't catch), Rick & Marilyn, Gary & LaVonne, and Aaron Salton. 

We headed down to the log cabin on Friday after work.  Even though it was a rather hot day, we camped in the backyard.  We had a pizza party for supper on Friday, and then spent most of the evening visiting with family.  By the time we brought the kids to the tent to sleep, it was about 10:30 (way past their bed time).  Still, Maxwell had lots of energy, and he would't stop talking for about an hour.  Eventually I had enough, so I told Maxwell to be quiet or the werewolves would hear him and come eat us.  That did the trick, and we were able to get some peace and quiet after that.

First thing after getting up on Saturday, Maxwell was still concerned that the werewolves might be around.  Haha... he really was quite worried about them, but we needed some sleep, so I didn't feel too bad.  On Saturday Amy & Elizabeth helped the kids tie-dye t-shirts.  We brought deli meat and cheese for people to make sandwiches for lunch on Saturday.  In the afternoon, Brandon and I paddled Rick's canoe around his farm pond, and we took Nolan and Logan for canoe rides.  Around supper time a thunderstorm rolled through and really dumped rain for a while, so we all hung out in the garage.  After that cleared, we made a camp fire and roasted marshmallows to make smores.  I played a few games of cribbage with David, Chris, and Rick.  Nolan ended up passing out in the living room, so I slept in the living room with him while Maxwell and Elizabeth went to the tent.  Around midnight another thunderstorm rolled in, so Elizabeth brought Maxwell inside just to be safe. 

Overall, this was our 25th Christmas in July... the first year was 1994. 

Sunday, July 14th, 2019

Happy 6th birthday to Nolan!!

This weekend was a fun-filled birthday weekend for Nolan.  Yesterday we held his birthday party at Surefire Fitness.  We had the place reserved from 10:00 until 11:30.  They had set up all kinds of obstacles, kind of like a kid's version of America Ninja Warrior.  There were PVC pipes low to the ground that the kids had to crawl under, a big net that they had to climb, an actual rock climbing wall, a big rope that they had to crawl across upside down, an obstacle called "the earthquake" that had tennis balls balancing on the top of narrow PVC pipes sticking up (so if you shook it too much the balls would fall off)... you get the idea.  To start with there was just a free play time where all the kids could practice each obstacle as they pleased.  Then all of the kids took turns running through the whole course, and at the end there was a button they hit that would sound a siren and have smoke shoot out from above.  All in all, it was a lot of fun for the kids, and it got them worn out which was nice.

There were probably close to a dozen kids that attended.  Nolan and Maxwell of course.  Also Maddie and Drew, Sebastian (Bash) and Lara, Nico (from Nolan's school), Luka and Mia, and some others from school that I was not as familiar with.  We had Pizza Hut deliver some pizzas for the kids, along with ice cream treats, chips, juice boxes, and fruit.  Grandma Becky, Grandpa Eben, and Great-grandma Natalie all came to the party as well. 

Nolan enjoying some pizza at his birthday party.

This morning Nolan opened some presents.  He was lucky enough to get to remote controlled cars!  Luka's family gave him a Toy Story RC car, and we had bought him a blue Mustang RC car.  Nolan ended up wanting both of them... we were worried that we may need to return one of them.  Then later this morning we took the whole family to Perfect Games.  Tonight for supper Nolan wanted ice cream at Orange Leaf... followed by supper at Burger King (so that he could play in the play area).  We did have the ice cream first, as per the birthday boy's wishes. 

Nolan and his birthday ice cream at Orange Leaf.

Saturday, June 22nd, 2019

I just got back from a fun but quick trip to Kansas City with Nolan and Eben.  We headed down there yesterday after I was done with work, and we stayed at the American Inn in North Kansas City.  It wasn't the fanciest hotel, but it worked.  After we checked into the hotel, we went out for some yummy BBQ at Smokin' Guns.  Eben had a 1/2 rack of spare ribs with fries and corn, I had a 1/2 chicken with BBQ beans and onion rings, and Nolan had a hot dog with fries and a cookie.  It was all very good, and I liked their sweet BBQ sauce the best.  After dinner, we found a nice playground for Nolan to burn off some energy.

Today, after checking out of the hotel, we headed over to the Kaleidoscope near Crown Center in KC.  It's an interactive children's center where kids can make their own arts and crafts.  They can paint, make their own puzzles, there is a dark room with black lights, and just lots of crazy weird things for kids to explore.  Nolan had a lot of fun, and he made his own "dragonfly" out of some construction paper, markers, and tape.  After that, we headed over for an early lunch to Fritz's.   The best thing about Fritz's it that your meal is delivered to you via a miniature train!  Honestly, that's the only reason we go there, because kids love trains.  The food is "meh" at best.  Although I did enjoy the Oreo shake that I had there.

Once we were finished with lunch, we headed over to Kauffman Stadium for the Twins-Royals game.  The starting pitchers for today were Jose Berrios for the Twins and Danny Duffy for the Royals.  I thought that Berrios pitched very well, and he held the Royals scoreless through the first 7  innings.  However, he was pulled in the 8th after a walk and a single... and both of those inherited runners ended up scoring, as the Twins blew a 3-run lead in the 8th.  Three Twins hit solo HRs to build that lead (Miguel Sano, Jake Cave, and C.J. Cron).  My favorite moment in the game was the home run by Cron.  We were sitting in left field (section 105, row B, seats 9-11 to be exact), and his homer ended up landing like 20 feet from us.  I saw the ball make contact with Cron's bat, and I could see the ball coming towards us the whole way.  For a moment I thought maybe we could catch it.  I guess that we were on TV then, and if you look closely at ESPN's highlights of the home run, we are in the stands close to where it lands.  Anyways, the game ended up going 10 innings, where Cron and Eddie Rosario provided RBIs to break the tie and help secure the Twins' 5-3 victory. 

I believe that this was the 8th MLB game that I have been to (if you don't count the three spring training games that I saw in 2008).  Those games would be:

• 8/7/05 - Red Sox @ Twins (Red Sox won 11-7). Manny Ramirez hit a HR
• 7/25/06 - Twins @ White Sox (Twins won 4-3). Johan Santana was the Twin's pitcher.
• 7/4/10 - Reds @ Cubs (Reds won 14-3).  Drew Stubbs hit 3 HRs that game!  
• 5/29/11 - Pirates @ Cubs (Cubs won 3-2).  There was a rain delay, and we drank a lot.
• 6/9/12 - Cubs @ Twins (Twins won 11-3).  
• 7/7/14 - Twins @ Mariners (Mariners won 2-0).  Hisashi Iwakuma struck out 10 Twins.
• 6/21/15 - Cubs @ Twins (Cubs won 8-0).  Jake Arrieta pitched a complete game shutout.
• Then of course, today's game.  Twins @ Royals (Twins win 5-3 in 10 innings). 

The view from our seats in section 105.  We were two rows up from the bullpen.

Monday, May 27th, 2019

Happy Memorial Day!

This weekend we drove out to Omaha to meet the newest addition to the family.  It was cute having the boys meet Emma and see how little she is!

Emma was a little cranky when I first held her, but she calmed down soon.  She was a very good cuddler :)

Nolan holding his cousin Emma!

Nolan just had to hold up a dinosaur mask...

Saturday, May 11th, 2019

I just wanted to make a quick post tonight to recognize the newest member to our family.  Earlier this afternoon Amy & Brandon welcomed Emma Lynn Shostak into the world!!  I believe that Brandon said that baby Emma arrived at 1:15 this afternoon, weighing 8 pounds and 9 ounces.  I can't wait to go out and see her sometime!

Monday, May 6th, 2019

This past weekend I took Nolan with me for my annual trout fishing trip up to Yellow River in Northeast Iowa. On Friday I picked Nolan up an hour early from school, and we made the drive up there in about 3 hours and 45 minutes.  We set up camp... I believe at campsite #120.  The Seagos were there (Jon and Matt anyways), and Tyler was there.  Jeremy would not get to the campsite until early Saturday morning.  Anyways, on Friday we enjoyed a nice campfire, and I made some s'mores and roasted marshmallows.  Nolan did not want a s'more... only a roasted marshmallow.

Nolan at the Harpers Ferry sign.

Here we are at our tent!

On Saturday, I got up with Nolan early, had a quick breakfast, and we set out to go fishing by 7:00.  First we tried the big fishing hole by camp which is my favorite spot, but after 30 minutes with no luck we decided to move on.  We walked down the trail to the first fork and took a left and followed it all the way to the rock wall.  Again, not even a nibble at that spot.  Finally, we went further upstream to the next hole (it would be straight at the first fork and then immediately left at the second fork).  There we caught a nice rainbow trout using Nolan's spiderman fishing pole, and Nolan used the net at the water's edge to bring it in.  At that point Nolan wanted to head back to camp and show off our fish to everyone.

Nolan carried the trout all the way back to camp with his net.

After hanging around camp for a while and having lunch, I would head out again with Nolan to go fishing.  Nolan, Jon, and myself went back to the hole where we caught the first fish.  Jon caught a small brown trout there (and Nolan helped to net the fish), and he released it back to the water since it was small.  Shortly thereafter Nolan's spiderman fishing pole broke, so we headed back to camp to grab our backup pole (Maxwell's Paw Patrol pole).  Since we were at camp, we just started fishing at the hole close by camp.  There I managed to catch 3 more fish (two rainbow and one brown trout), and Jon caught one nice rainbow trout.  During that time, Nolan was half bored and would wander back and forth from camp and the fishing hole.  He was excited to see 4 fish on the stringer!

Nolan holding our stringer of 4 fish.

My favorite fishing hole by camp.

By the time I had cleaned our fish, Nolan had passed out back in our tent.  He took a 3 hour nap!  That's something since he usually doesn't nap at all.  Once he woke up we made a little supper for him and hung out around the campfire.  Matthew made some roasted duck for the adults, which was quite good.  I cooked one of the trout we had caught in some aluminum foil with butter and lemon, and it was very tasty. Nolan enjoyed throwing pieces of cardboard into the fire. 

On Sunday, I packed up camp and headed home around 8:30.  So the only fishing we did was on Saturday, and between Nolan and myself we caught 4 fish.  All in all, it was a very fun weekend, but I was happy to sleep in my own bed last night!  Here are links to previous fishing trips to yellow river: 2018, 2017, 2014, 2013, and 2012. 

Saturday, April 13th, 2019

Well to start with I would like to say that today is a sad day in general for me as it marks the 4th anniversary of Lynn's passing  :(

However, on a happier note, today was also the 13th annual Cy's House of Trivia contest at Hilton Coliseum.  Our table name for this evening was "Best Kempt Secret", in honor of Kyle Kempt, who led Iowa State to an upset win over the Oklahoma Sooners a couple of years ago.  In fact, we had the honor of having Kyle sit at our table for one of the trivia rounds tonight!  He came across as very polite... and he didn't really help with any of the trivia questions, but it was fun having him at our table.  One funny story about him... during one of the intermissions, I was in line for the bathroom, and Kyle came in line a couple of places behind me.  I talked with the rest of the people in line for the bathroom, and we were in agreement that Kyle should cut in line to the front... but he was too modest and insisted that he did not want to cut in line.  So, he really did seem like the humble or modest type.

Our table consisted of myself, Elizabeth, Tim Nevins & George (from WRNL and tailgating), Dan & Anne Becker, and Mike & Jaime O'Donnell.  Besides Kyle Kempt, we did have John Walters (the voice of the Cyclones) sit at our table.  I believe that we finished in 36th place, out of 100.  One of the rounds was all about beer, which we did well in.  There was also a round about identifying which American war it was referring to, based on a few small clues.  Another fun note, but I did win a raffle prize of two tickets to the ISU vs Texas football game for the upcoming football season!

Previous blog posts for Cy's House of trivia include:

• 2017
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012

Saturday, March 23rd, 2019

Well, it's the best time of the year for basketball fans.  March Madness is well under way, and today I was able to be a part of that for the Women's tournament at least.  Since the "Twister Sisters" are a top 4 seed (a 3 seed to be exact), they get to host the first two rounds of the tournament at Hilton.  So tonight I was joined by Amy, Logan, Elizabeth, Nolan, and Maxwell to watch the 3-seed Cyclones blow past the 14-seed Aggies of New Mexico State, 97-61.  This was Logan's first time at an ISU sporting event.  It was cute watching him eat the clone cone, because he just couldn't get enough of it, and he definitely wanted more when it was gone :)

Bridget Carleton was the player of the game for Iowa State, as she led the team with 23 points.  I guess that should be no surprise, as she is currently in second place on ISU's all-time scoring list, and she has a shot to take over the #1 spot if she does well in the tournament.  Carleton was joined in double figures scoring by Alexa Middleton (15), Ashley Joens (14), and Kristin Scott (12).  This is the third time that I have been in attendance for an ISU NCAA tournament game.  The other times were oddly enough both against Florida State.  The first time was back in 2001, when the Cyclones won to move onto the Sweet 16, and the other time was a victory for the Seminoles in the first round back in 2014.  

Logan enjoying his first clone cone!

A view of the action in the first half between Iowa State and New Mexico State.

Speaking of March Madness, I was bummed yesterday when the ISU men lost a close game to Ohio State in the first round of the tournament.  Since their season is now finished, I thought I would look back to the men's games I attended this season:

I saw Cyclone victories against...

• Alabama State
• Missouri
• Omaha
• North Dakota State
• Eastern Illinois
• Kansas
• Oklahoma State
• West Virginia
• Oklahoma

...and I attended losses vs:

• Kansas State
• TCU
• Baylor

All in all, it was a fun season.  Having the Cyclones go 9-3 in games I attended was pretty good, but it is always disappointing to watch them lose.  My favorite game of the year had to be the Kansas game.  In case you were wondering, the Cyclones went 8-4 in the games I attended last year.

Sunday, March 17th, 2019

Well, I've got a lot on my mind today after a fun weekend trip to Chicago with the family.  Today is also one of my favorite days of the year, as it is Selection Sunday, and it's St. Patrick's Day.

First, I wanted to review our fun trip to the Windy City.

• Thursday: We left Ames early on Thursday morning to head to Chicago.  We were able to drop off our bags at our hotel, the Warwick Allerton.  We were very happy with the hotel, and the doorman was very helpful during our stay.  Anyways, after dropping off our bags and having the valet park our car, we walked over to Macy's where the kids got to check out the Lego store.  They enjoyed building their own Lego figurines.  Then we took a little detour you could say.  Nolan got a bad "Owie" when he stumbled stepping up a curb and ended up hitting his right ear against a fire hydrant as he fell.  His poor ear turned all black and blue, and it was really hurting him.  Poor guy.  We tried to find a doctor to look at him, but after a while it seemed like he would be ok with some TLC and a cold pack... so we didn't bother with the doctor.  After all of that, we did manage to have a nice supper at Gino's East.  Well, Elizabeth and I did.  Maxwell tried some pizza I believe, but Nolan didn't think that looked like pizza.  So we fed him some cashews and snacks that we had on hand.  The pizza was great though.  We ordered a large deep dish half sausage and half spinach.  
• Friday: We headed over to the Field Museum to be there when it opened, and we were able to get a good amount of exploring done.  My favorite part was of course all of the dinosaur fossils... Sue to T-rex, the stegosaurus, triceratops, titanosaur, apatosaurus, parasaurolophus... they were all great to see.  Nolan enjoyed the "Grainger Hall of Gems", where he was able to see all types of precious gems such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, amber, topaz, etc.  We also went to an "Underground" exhibit, where you pretended to be shrunk down to 1/2 an inch tall and looked at bugs and all things under the soil.  We were also able to see some mummies, which were cool.  Friday afternoon, we took the kids to Navy Pier where they had fun at the Children's Museum.  It was basically full of all sorts of interactive things for kids, like digging up pretend dinosaur bones, playing with toy cars on different tracks, being able to dress up like a fire fighter, etc.  Friday night for supper we went to a place called FTW (For the Win).  It was a bar/arcade, kind of like a Dave & Busters.  One memorable thing from that was when Maxwell won 1000 tickets playing some plinko-style fishbowl game.
• Saturday: We grabbed a quick breakfast from a local donut shop before watching the Chicago river get dyed green for St. Patrick's day.  Then we rode the "El" up to Belmont and back, just so the kids could experience the train.  After checking out of our hotel, we headed to the suburbs where we saw a performance at Medieval Times.  We ended up being sat in the Black&White knight's section, and of course he was the winner!  The boys seemed to enjoy the show, and they especially liked the toy swords that we bought them.  

Nolan and myself at Gino's East.

Pizza!!

Here I am posing with the stegosaurus at the Field Museum.

Elizabeth and Maxwell in front of the triceratops.

Elizabeth and Nolan in front of the Field Museum.

Sue the T-rex!

Here Maxwell had just won 1000 tickets at the arcade.

Dying of the Chicago River.

Medieval Times

Now today I also have quite a bit of basketball on my mind.  Iowa State had an amazing run over the weekend by defeating Baylor, Kansas State, and Kansas en route to their 4th Big 12 tournament championship in the last 6 years.  The Cyclones were selected as a 6-seed in the Midwest region today, and they will face Ohio State this coming Friday.  I am really looking forward to that game and hoping the Cyclones can get revenge for that Aaron Craft game from a few years ago.  I suppose I will save my end-of the season listing of which basketball games I attended this year for another day... as I need to start filling out my bracket!