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. 

Friday, August 25th, 2017

Tonight our family enjoyed a trip to Hilton Coliseum to watch the ISU volleyball team defeat the Kent State Golden Flashes in 3 sets (25-19, 25-23, 25-18).  This was the season opener for the volleyball team.  We also went to the season opening match last year as well :)

The boys still do not exactly sit still and watch the match.  Basically right when we sat down in our seats Nolan began to beg and cry and plead for us to buy some ice cream... so eventually I took him to buy a Clone Cone that was big enough for the family to split.  A few minutes after finishing our treat, the boys get antsy and want to run around.  So Elizabeth and I took turns following them around as they ran around the concourse that encircles the court.  We did manage to catch most of the first two sets of the match and a bit of the third despite all of this, but then we decided to home early as we were doing as much running circles as we were watching the match.  Still, it is always fun to go to an ISU sporting event, and now that the fall sports are starting I should have plenty of entertainment for the next few months!

This was the opening serve of the match (and season).  Kent State won this point.

Nolan was happy after he filled his belly with ice cream!

Sunday, August 6th, 2017

Today we got back home after our first true vacation as a family of 4 (trips to relatives don't count).  Elizabeth, Nolan, Maxwell, and myself enjoyed a fun-filled trip to Branson, Missouri.  We left on Wednesday after work, so it was late getting down there (like 2:30 in the morning).

On Thursday morning we went out for breakfast at the Uptown Cafe.  They had a man playing live music while we enjoyed a nice breakfast buffet.  He played Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire among other things.  After breakfast, we "rode the ducks" around Branson and out on the water.  The "ducks" are really an old army vehicle that was spelled DUKW but pronounced "ducks".  They are basically like a big boat with wheels that go from land to water easily.  Later on that day we checked out the local fish hatchery, Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery.  They showed us a short video that explained the general operations at the hatchery, and then we had the kids toss some fish food to the trout.  That night we also went swimming back at where we were staying, and we went out to eat again at Mel's Hard Luck Diner.

On Friday we had Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast before checking out Talking Rocks Cavern.  The cave was really fun for us to explore.  We walked down a series of steps down to the bottom of the cave, then they turned off all of the lights so we could see how pitch black it was.  Next there was a little music and light show before we hiked back up to the top of the cave.  All of the rock formations were very beautiful, and it was interesting how it took thousands and thousands of years to form most of them.  Later on that day, Elizabeth took Nolan with her to the Titanic Museum while I stayed with Maxwell at the condo during his nap.  That night we went out once again for supper.  This time we stopped by the Fall Creek Steak & Catfish House.  I enjoyed the catfish dinner, Elizabeth had a burger with onion rings on it, and Nolan & Maxwell each basically ate only french fries and dinner rolls even though we bought them each a meal.

Saturday was another fun-filled day.  That morning we went to The Runaway Mountain Coaster, where Elizabeth & Nolan enjoyed a quick ride.  I guess that Nolan kept telling her to go "faster", but she was going fast enough for her liking already :)  Next, we stopped by Curling Vine Winery where we sampled a few of their wines before buying four bottles to take home as souvenirs.  The Chambourcin was my favorite.  The main attraction that we went to on Saturday was Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede.  It was quite the show and meal.  For the meal they served us whole Cornish game hens, pork loin, creamy vegetable soup, biscuits, corn on the cob, potatoes, and an apple turnover for dessert.  The show had so much going on that it's hard to describe.  The audience was seated in a large arena with the North half being the "Union" and the South half making up the "Confederate" side.  This way we could cheer against the other side during competitions during the show.  There was a lumberjack competition, a pig race, a chicken chase (little kids from the audience chased them), a dog show, barrel racing horses, etc.  The program also had trick riding of horses... one lady rode two horses at once while standing up (one foot on each horse), and then she jumped the horses through a burning ring of fire.  There were also buffalo, doves flying, singing, dancing, all kinds of stuff to watch. Naturally, the North ended up winning the competition (the same side that we sat on). After the show (and after some naps), we took the kids downtown to check out Branson Landing.  There was live music and a water show, but we did not stay very long for this.

Today we headed home, but we did manage to stop by Fritz's Railroad Restaurant in Kansas City.  It was a neat place to eat as small train engines delivered your food to your table!

Elizabeth and the boys outside of the Uptown Cafe

Nolan had fun blowing his "quacker" 

Nolan and I riding the duck

Here Nolan is checking out the trout at the fish hatchery.

I am sneaking through a narrow opening in the cave.

...more cave pictures...

Here I am holding Maxwell outside of the cave entrance. The kids enjoyed the playground pictured here.    

My catfish dinner.

Curling Vine Winery.

Getting ready for our meal at the Dixie Stampede.

The lady jumping two horses through a ring of fire!

...more Dixie Stampede.

Posing at the Runaway sign.

Elizabeth and Nolan just finishing up their ride.