Tour of RUPP

Earlier this year I won a contest in which I got lower level tickets to see the Wildcats play basketball at RUPP. Included in the contest was a tour of RUPP Arena and the Men's Basketball locker room. I was able to take a guest so I took Jennifer along for the experience and she ended up being my photographer. It ended up being an amazing time and the only thing that would have made it better is if the players and coaches had actually been around for the tour.

Center court of RUPP. I can't imagine playing on this court in front of 24,000 screaming fans.

The front entrance to the locker room. Most of the flooring in the locker room is the actual floor from the 2012 National Championship that was played in New Orleans.

The last thing the players see before leaving the locker room is this wall of Kentucky players in the NBA. What is amazing about this wall is that it changes multiple times a year. This is because when a player gets traded to a new team they update the wall to reflect the change.

The wall opposite the players in the NBA is a wall commemorating all 8 of the Kentucky Championships.

Also in the front entrance is a replica trophy of the 2012 National Championship Trophy.

Sitting in Coach Calipari's chair in the locker room. I loved all the painted commemorative balls that he had up on the wall.The room also had tons of awesome photos of past players and they were all signed too. I would have loved to have added a few of these pictures to my memorabilia collection at home.

Here is the film room and where Coach Calipari talks with the players about game plan and where they also rest and make adjustments at halftime.

The actual locker room. The floor is the center court logo from the 2012 Championship game. The tour guide said that coach rarely talks to the players in this room. It is supposed to be an area where the players relax and get prepared mentally for the game.

I just had to take a picture with a few of my favorite's lockers from this years team. Tyler Ulis was an amazing player to watch and I am so glad that he came back for his sophomore season. He has an amazing heart and it more than makes up for his 5'9" size.

I couldn't help but shoot my bow and arrow in front of my favorite Wildcat. He is my favorite wildcat and I wish that he had been able to propel the team further in the tournament. He is such a natural talent and I can't wait to see what his future holds because I think it won't be long until he is a superstar.  

Another picture of the locker room so that you could see the championship banner that hangs from the ceiling.

There were a couple of large prints that I would love to have of the Final Fours that I was able to attend. This is from the 2014 Final Four in Dallas that I attended with my dad. The part that makes it awesome is that the entire team signed the print. Apparently Coach Calipari also uses this as part of his recruiting. He asks all the recruits what is wrong with this picture. If they can tell him then he knows that they are actually fans of Kentucky and that they care about the program. Do you know what is wrong with it? (Answer at the bottom.)

Here is one of the magical 38-1 season that is signed by the entire team. I still can't believe that this season ended the way it did. McKinley and I were present to see the only loss that this team had.

One last selfie with the 2012 Championship Trophy before leaving to finish the tour.

This is the visitors locker room. The entire locker room is just slightly larger than the front entrance to the Wildcats locker room. The lockers are the original lockers that were used by the Wildcats before the remodel in 2013. I also thank the blue and white checkerboard floor is a nice touch.

After the tour we decided to grab a bite to eat before going to pick up the kids. We stopped into Jennifer's favorite place downtown, Pies and Pints for some pizza.

It was an amazing experience to be able to see behind the scenes where all the players and coaches spend their time on game days. I wish that every Wildcat fan could see it in person. I also think it is awesome to think how many famous people have been in all of those same areas where we just walked. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Answer to what is wrong with the poster: Nerlens Noel did not play on the Final Four team in 2014. He was on the team the previous year when the team lost in the first round of the NIT.

Get Air - Trampoline Park

The other day we met some friends to try out something new, a trampoline park. Get Air is the name of the place and it turned out to be an amazing day. The place was running a special that if you bought an hour of jump time then you got an additional one for free. We weren't sure we would stay the whole 2 hours, but we at least had the option. We ended up being the only people in the place for about the first 45 minutes that we were there.

Jumping and playing with our buddies. 

Colton and Gabe playing with their daddy. Maggie and her mommy jumping too. 

The foam pits were probably the biggest hit of all. You could jump off of the trampoline into these huge pits of foam squares. The kids all would jump off at will and not even care that they can't even get out. We had to help most of them out each time. There was also a rule that said you could only jump one at a time, but the kids didn't seem to abide.

They even did some buddy jumps into the foam pit. Thankfully nobody got hurt by jumping on one another. These kids really are some of Brinley and Landon's favorite people. They ask about them almost everyday.

We also had a lot of fun in the dodgeball area. The kids liked attacking all of the adults. Also thankful that nobody got hurt in this area either. 

Of course I joined in all the fun too! I did a front flip off the trampoline into the foam pit and I ended up making it all the way around. I also was able to get up and dunk a basketball. Now if only I could do both of these things without the trampoline it would be really awesome.

We ended up staying the whole 2 hours and these kids were exhausted! 

If you haven't been to a trampoline park then I would recommend that you do sometime soon. It is a ton of fun and great for all ages. I am not sure if I had more fun than the kids. I will warn you that more than likely you will be sore the next morning. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Easter with the Heflin's

Here is how we celebrated Easter around the Heflin house. The kids love egg hunts, dyeing eggs, and the candy and treats that come along with the Easter bunny. Maybe in a few years we will be able to focus more on the real meaning of Easter when they are able to comprehend a little more. Until then we will just let them enjoy being a kid.

We found a church that was having an Easter celebration so the kids and I decided to give it a shot. I think they enjoyed the little bouncy houses more than the actual egg hunt, but we had a lot of fun. Here they were before the mad dash for eggs. They said that there were over 10,000 eggs, but they were all picked up in about 3-4 minutes.

Landon on the hunt.

Brinley did pretty good darting in between all the kids to pick up her eggs.

I didn't care how many eggs the kids got, I was just happy that they both didn't run off in different directions. They were pretty good about staying close together and near me.

Looking through all their eggs for any prizes.

Landon climbing through the bounce house.

The kids also enjoyed seeing the petting zoo too!

We hid eggs in the backyard for the kids to compete against each other. They are so funny because they get so focused on a certain egg that they walk right by multiple eggs to go and retrieve that one they had seen.

We have taken the kids to meet the Easter bunny and live bunnies for a few years now. This was the best picture of our little man and of course the bunny decided to turn around in the box.

The bunny really liked how Landon smelled. He kept coming out of the box to sniff around on Landon. Brinley was making some silly faces. It is so hard to get both kids to look at the camera and smile too!

Brinley loved the little bunny. Such a beautiful smile too!

The customary creepy Easter bunny picture. Our kids have never been scared of this Easter bunny, much to my dismay. I think the screaming and crying pictures are always the best!

Dying Easter eggs is always an exciting night. 

The kids are working so hard on their independence that they don't want to have any help with anything, including putting the eggs in and getting them out. To help with the mess we dyed eggs at the kids play table because it cleans up better.

The Easter bunny was nice to the kids. They got fishing poles, play dough, water shooters, peeps, and a chocolate rabbit.

Even though I had just worked a 12 hour shift at the hospital, we all got up Sunday morning and headed to church. The message by Jon Weece at Southland Christian was awesome. After church we headed home so that I could get some sleep.

The kids eating their chocolate bunnies. I find it funny that Brinley ate her's ears first and Landon ate his from the bottom first.

This Easter was a lot more fun with the kids because they were able to do so much more of the activities and were able to enjoy it more. I love these kids so much and it is such a blessing to be their dad. I am just enjoying the journey seeing them grow up. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Glow in the Dark Easter Egg Hunt

I have a co-worker at the hospital that throws a Glow in the Dark Easter Egg Hunt every year at her house so I decided that this was the year that we needed to attend. We arrived early so that we could visit and see everything on the farm.

We first headed out to see the turkey, peacocks and duck. The kids were excited to see all the animals, but when we got close they got scared. This was about as close as we got.

The kids also loved the trampoline. I even had trouble getting them off to come inside for dinner.

There was a pot luck breakfast as well. The kids must have been starving because they both ate all their food.

We had a pretty nice view for dinner too. The back deck overlooked the Kentucky River.

The Heflin kids and their buddy Maggie.

Landon decorated his own cookie for dessert too.

Brinley and her cookie she decorated.

Landon had a friend that wanted to try a bite of his cookie, but Landon didn't want to share. I guess the dog didn't want to try that bad because I think he could have easily snagged it away.

Warming up by the fire place before heading out for the Easter Egg Hunt.

Some of the little ones that were ready for the hunt. They had their flashlights ready to help with finding the eggs.

Landon spotting another egg.

My little minions out on the hunt.

Looking for any eggs on the way back up to the house with their flashlights.

Opening up all our eggs to see what prizes were inside. They were filled with candy, money and tokens which could be redeemed at the prize table.

Brinley and her buddy Maggie.

Landon and his buddy Mac.

We had so much fun at our first glow in the dark hunt and we are so thankful for our host Joey and her family. The kids and I are ready to come back out to the farm and do it again! Thanks so much for reading and God bless!