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!