March 2019

March is one of my favorite months for many different reasons. It kicks off with my birthday on the first day of the month. Then it brings the most exciting time of the sports year with college basketball tournaments and all of March Madness. We were pretty busy during the month doing all kinds of things.

I had been in KSBar a couple of times for various reasons, but had yet to sit down and eat a meal. I thought that was the perfect place to have lunch for my birthday. The food was delicious and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Great sports bar and tons of UK memorabilia around the place.  

Landon painted me a picture for my birthday. It is a picture of our family. I love it.

Brinley also painted me a picture for my birthday. It is of our family and a bunny

While we were gone on our trip out west my dad taught Landon how to play the card game Rook. Landon really loved it and asked me to play quite a bit. So, on my birthday when enough people were present that knew how to play we decided to play a game. Landon even won a bid and had to make trumps for one round. He did a really awesome job and I think he is really smart for a little 5 year old!

Back to KSBar for a meet and greet with a couple of awesome UK football players. Josh Allen was recently drafted as the 7th pick in the NFL Draft to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was a really nice young man and we wished him all the best in the NFL. CJ Conrad is an amazing young man too. I got to interact all season long with him because he came by the hospital every Tuesday to visit patients. I thanked him and told him how much it meant to all of those kids that he came to see. I also wished him the best because he had just been informed of a heart condition that could have possibly kept him from going to the NFL. Thankfully he was cleared to play. He was not drafted, but was picked up as a free agent for the New York Giants. I wish nothing but the best for both of these guys.

This was a really interesting and fun game that I played with my brother called Photosynthesis. Never in my life would I have thought I would have played a game about planting and growing trees. If you ever get a chance I would recommend it!

When McKinley and I get together to play games then it is a full day of board games. On this day we played 8 games and only two of them were games that I had played before. It is always a good time when I get to spend some time with my little brother. 

We had a family puzzle night and the kids didn't want Jennifer or me to help them with this dinosaur puzzle. 

Last year Brinley, Jennifer and I helped pack meals for Haiti at our church. Landon wasn't able to because he wasn't old enough. This year I was excited because we would all get to participate as a family and help feed so many that wouldn't have food otherwise. Both kids did awesome and I am so proud of how hard they worked for the entire hour. 

My girls working hard on the protein and vegetables. Brinley was a seasoned pro this year.

Landon was on the rice. It was a little hard for him to get a big scoop of it up into the bag but he was working really hard on it. Halfway through the hour the kids switched to see what the other one's job was. They kept up with the pace well.

March also brought an end to my first year in the Committee of 101. Both the football and basketball seasons proved to be very exciting. The basketball season was a lot of fun because I got to know some of my season ticket holders who sat in my section. It was always good to see familiar faces while I was walking the aisle during the TV timeouts. The Cats only lost twice at home during my inaugural year (Georgia in football and LSU in basketball). Can't wait for next year!

I had always heard people talk about going snow tubing. I mentioned it to Jennifer and she seemed to think it was a good idea. Turns out I was almost too late. We went on the very last weekend of the season. Let me tell you it was awesome! I know that we will definitely be back again next year!

After going down the hill for the first time the kids said that they wanted to stay all day! We had bought a 2 hour pass and I thought that would be plenty of time. Turns out I was right. Brinley needed a break after an hour and about 30 minutes later Landon was crying that he wanted to go home. They both complained that their legs were tired. Does this picture make it look like Landon's legs should be tired?

Brinley loved it! Jennifer and I would drag them from the bottom of the hill to the lift. If I had to pull them all the way up the hill I wouldn't have done it so many times. The moving walkway was so clutch!

They had a little carnival going on because it was the last day of the season. There was a lady doing face painting and the kids wanted to do it. Can you tell what makes this little man happy? Video games and it doesn't matter at all which one, but the little man does love some Mario!

Brinley wanted to be a tiger. We stopped to eat on the way back home and so many people thought we were Bengal fans. Nope, my daughter just loves animals!

My brother and I were even able to get out to the gorge to do a little bit of hiking. We unfortunately weren't able to do the trail we wanted because the road to it was closed. So, we made a return visit to Cloud Splitter. The last time we were there we forgot to go into a hidden little cave. We both wanted to see it so that was where we headed.

To get back to the little hidden cave and arch you had to climb up this 6 foot log and wiggle through a little area. It was much more difficult than I would have thought, but it was really neat on the other side.

McKinley and I under the arch inside the hidden cave. Really cool little spot.

We also took the short hike up to windows arch.  

Next we headed out to Miguel's Pizza. It is something that tons of people have told me about every time I talk about hiking at the gorge. We decided to mix things up a bit with the toppings and McKinley made me pick something unique off the menu. I ended up picking sweet potatoes. It was different, but delicious. 

In our household we always celebrate PI day and what better way then with some pie. This year we didn't have enough time to make anything homemade so we had to settle for some store bought. We had blueberry and caramel apple pie. Brinley wasn't excited about taking a picture with the mini pies.

Every March 15th I try to recreate a little of our past. On this date in 2005 I asked Jennifer if she would marry me. We were in New Orleans and had just eaten breakfast at Cafe du Monde. The kids really enjoy this little celebration. Hopefully one day I will take them back to the place where they make beignets.

March 20th is free cone day at Dairy Queen to celebrate the start of spring. The kids really enjoyed this sweet treat. 

Something that I am very passionate about is blood donation. I donate around every 2 months ,every time that they call and tell me that I am eligible to give again. It is really easy and believe me it makes so much difference to the people who receive your donation. So get out there and save a life!

I signed the kids up for T-ball and Landon was pumped about it. Brinley not so much. After trying to get her back on board with playing I decided that we needed to go out and practice. Well, look how serious one little lady got about practice!

March also was the end of my time at the University of Kentucky Children's Hospital. On my last day, one of my little patients made me a card. It meant so much to me! Thankfully I will still get to see the little guy in the clinic.

Somebody was a little upset that I made her go out to watch a tennis match. See if you can spot the pout pout Heflin.

Maybe she was just a little hangry! The UK tennis team must not have much of a crowd for their events because they were giving out free Papa Johns pizza at the gate. Win for the Heflin's!

We actually pulled a double header and after the tennis match we headed across the street to watch the baseball team play. 

High fives all around from the Heflin kids. I know I always say this, but I really do hope that both kids grow up to enjoy watching sports with their old man.

The kids weren't too excited about going on a hike, but just like I tell them, sometimes mommy and daddy do things they don't want to do so that they (the kids) can have fun. Well, on this day mommy and daddy wanted to take a hike in the woods. So, we took them out to Raven Run.

My little hikers.

We hiked down to the little waterfall. Landon kept showing everyone where his shoe went to the time it fell off and went down the waterfall and how Uncle McKinley went down to recover it.

My crew. Hopefully these 2 learn to enjoy taking hikes too!

I had seen advertisements for Monster Trucks coming to Rupp Arena. One of my patients at work loves monster trucks and even had me play with him on multiple occasions. He highly recommended going to see them in person so I thought the kids would like it. We just picked up some last minute upper level seats and decided to see what they were all about.

This boy loves some popcorn!

Landon kept changing who his favorite truck was during the night. He said at the end that the Saigon Shaker was his favorite, but I am assuming that was because it was declared the winner. 

My personal favorite was Grave Digger. It was the only one that I had heard of before the night and he put on a pretty good show. I would recommend everybody get to see the monster trucks at some point in their life, but I would suggest seeing them in a larger venue. Rupp Arena was just a little too small so they couldn't do as many crazy tricks.

The kids had been asking to go see the movie Dumbo ever since they saw the commercials for it. I found out about a indoor "carnival" that they were having on opening weekend at the Movie Tavern. So, after church we headed over and played a few games like ring the bottle, pick the sucker, and knock the can. The kids also got to meet Cambo the Clown, who made them some balloon animals. 

The kids really enjoyed the recliners, drinks and popcorn. The movie was a good remake of a Disney classic. 

To round out the month of March we had a family game night. Brinley was the big winner in her first ever game of Kingdomino. It is always fun playing games with the kids. Landon is still working on being a non-sore loser.

We had a lot of fun in March together as a family. I try to keep us busy with fun and new experiences. We only get one chance to raise these kids, so we are trying to let them see a little bit of everything. Thanks for reading and God bless!