Sunday, September 27th, 2026

 Yesterday I took Nolan over to Jack Trice Stadium, where we watched the Cyclones fall to #15 Utah, 31-17.  

The game did not start out well at all for Iowa State, as Wayshawn Parker ran 54 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.  After trailing 24-3 at halftime, the Cyclones did show some life in the second half, as they did get within 24-17 and had possession of the ball.  Unfortunately, the Cyclones could not make enough plays when it counted. 

Before the game we hung out in the RV lots during a rainy tailgate.  Dan cooked up some burgers with pretzel buns, which were yummy. I enjoyed some Paulaner Oktoberfest bier with it. 

Today's game was the 16th football game that I have taken Nolan to.  The previous game was last year against Kansas.  As for myself, this is the first time that I have attended a game between the Cyclones and Utes. 

Saturday, September 5th, 2026

 Today was the first ISU football game of the season, and it marked the start of the Jimmy Rogers era at Iowa State.  

I took Maxwell with me to the game, where we watched the Cyclones defeat Southeast Missouri, 38-10.  It will take a while to get used to all of the new players on the team, as most of the players from last year transferred with the coaching change. Anyways, ISU quarterback Jaylen Raynor threw for two touchdowns and ran for another two scores. The play of the game came from Beni Ngoyi, who made an amazing one-handed interception.  Today's game was the 11th Cyclone football game that Maxwell has attended.  It is also the second time that we have seen the Cyclones play against SEMO (2022).

Before the game our whole family went over to the RV lots for a big tailgate party.  Dan cooked breakfast tacos for everyone.  The weather today was fairly hot and humid, which did make sitting through the game somewhat uncomfortable. 

Go Cyclones!

Friday, August 28th, 2026

 Today after work I took Nolan over to Hilton, where we watched the season-opener for the ISU volleyball team, as the Cyclones defeated Loyola Chicago in straight sets (25-12, 25-20, and 25-22). 

It was fun to be back inside Hilton.  Nolan enjoyed a Clone Cone, and we both made it on the jumbotron!  

I don't keep track of the volleyball games that we've attended nearly as well as other sports, but here are a few past games:

• West Virginia 2025 (win 3-1)
• Toledo 2024 (win 3-0)
• TCU 2019 (win 3-0)
• South Dakota 2019 (win 3-0)
• Ole Miss 2018 (win 3-0)
• West Virginia 2017 (win 3-1)
• Kent State 2017 (win 3-0)
• Wichita State 2016 (win 3-0)
• West Virginia 2015 (win 3-0)
• Kansas 2014 (win 3-2)
• Kansas State 2013 (win 3-0)

Tuesday, August 25th, 2026

 It's back to school time!  On one hand it is sad that the summer is over, but it is good to look forward to what the next school year will bring.  Maxwell started 5th grade yesterday, and he has Mrs. Goodman for his teacher.  Today, Nolan started 8th grade.  Next year will be quite the change when Maxwell starts middle school and Nolan begins high school!

Maxwell on his first day of 5th grade.

Nolan on his first day of 8th grade.

Tuesday, July 14th, 2026

 HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY NOLAN!!

Today I took the day off from work to stay home and have fun with the kids.  I took Nolan and Maxwell over to Perfect Games, where they played arcade games for a good hour.  Next, we went to the Furman Aquatic Center, where we spent about three and a half hours.  We had lots of time going down the tube slides, the red drop slide, jumping from the spring board and high platform, and floating in the lazy river. For supper tonight Elizabeth and grandma Becky joined us at Nolan's favorite pizza place... Blaze.  Finally, we came home and Nolan opened presents. Hopefully it was a fun day for our newest TEENAGER!

Nolan and Maxwell with some of the prizes they won at Perfect Games.

Nolan with his birthday cake.

Saturday, June 27th, 2026

 Our family just got home from a great vacation down to Riviera Maya in Mexico!  

We flew out of Des Moines on Friday the 19th, and we had an overnight layover in Dallas.  We were lucky enough to get switched to a different flight, because the original flight we had booked was delayed for 5 hours and eventually was cancelled.

On Saturday we arrived to our resort around noon.  We stayed in the Iberostar Paraiso Maya Suites, which is a family friendly all-inclusive resort.  To make it even more fun, Amy & Brandon brought their kids down as well!  It was fun to be able to share a great vacation with them.

While we were at the resort, we enjoyed plenty of good food (both buffets and sit down restaurants), we enjoyed the swimming pools, wave simulator, water parks (complete with water slides and a lazy river), we played on the beach and in the ocean, Elizabeth and Brandon both sang karaoke, and we went to a variety of shows at night (there was a circus with aerial acrobats, a fire show, a Michael Jackson performer, and we watched a world cup match at a sports pub). 

The sit down restaurants that we tried included La Geisha (teppanyaki), Taki-to (taco stand in the shopping mall), Lemon & Spices (Greek), and El Museo (Italian). 

The Saltons went on an excursion on Monday, June 22nd. This included exploring the Mayan ruins at Coba, swimming in a cenote, and going to a local Mayan restaurant. I thought the Coba ruins were really neat to see.  We rented bicycles to ride around the site, and we were able to climb the main pyramid at Coba, Nohoch Mul. We also saw the ball courts where the ancient Mayans played their ball game.  Our guide told us that it is not clear if there were human sacrifices from these games or not.

Our flight home included a layover in Charlotte before returning to Des Moines on a late flight. It was about 1 AM this morning when our family got back to Ames.  Overall, it was a great vacation, and I think we are all pretty worn out from the long trip!  Here is a link to the last time our family went to an all-inclusive resort... Beaches Turks & Caicos in 2023.

Here is a nice picture of both families at the "snake bar" at our resort.

The Salton family by Nohoch Mul in Coba.

The kids had fun on the water slides!

Nolan jumping into the main pool at the resort. 

 

Sunday, May 24th, 2026

 Happy Memorial Day weekend!

This weekend our family went over to Platte River State Park in Nebraska to go camping with Amy, Brandon, Logan, and Emma. This was the second time that we have gone camping over there, as we did the same thing for Memorial Day in 2024.

It was a good time to have all of the cousins hang out. We went hiking to see a small waterfall, we climbed up a viewing tower, we sang karaoke and played games back at the cabin, and of course we had a campfire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.  

Today before driving home we all went out to eat at Ashland Brewing Company.  Overall it was a fun weekend with family, but I do think that I will sleep well in my own bed tonight!

I also wanted to mention that Nolan and Maxwell only have 4 more days of school!  They are looking forward to wrapping up the school year and having a fun summer. Who knows, maybe we will even see more of the Shostaks soon...

Here we are with the view from the observation tower at Platte River State Park.