Swimming at the Lexington Public Pools

This summer we got season passes to the local pools. This turned out to be a lot of fun for both the kids and myself. We tried out all 5 of the pools that had kid areas and our two favorites were Southland and Woodland. The kids still haven't figured out swimming yet, but they both get around pretty good in their floaties. The kids only made it about 2 hours each time, but that proved to be more than enough time for the kids to get worn out before heading home. Here are some pictures from all of our adventures at the pools this summer.

Sliding down the pirate slide.

Drying off after a fun day at the pool.

My favorite swimming buddies.

Fun at Southland pool

Mommy and Landon swimming.

Brinley just hanging out on the big crocodile.

Landon trying to get up on the crocodile.

Sometimes the pool can be too much and it is just the perfect time for a nap with mommy.

My little girl.

Little man climbed up on top of the big turtle.

Riding on my daddy's back.

My favorite little people.

Some of the kids favorite time was the 10 minute break when all the kids had to get out for a break. The kids enjoyed this time off to eat some snacks. I took advantage of the kids being out of the pool to swim some laps and jump off the diving board.

Later on in the season the pools were almost deserted. The kids took full advantage of having the place all to their selves. Here they are enjoying some time up on the big crocodile.

Landon working on his swimming technique.

Brinley going down the pirate slide.

Landon going down the pirate slide too!

Landon getting ready to jump off the stairs into the water.

The kids and I getting ready for the big bucket of water to fall on our heads.

Having the pool passes turned out to be a great investment. Now we just need to get the kids into some swim lessons so that they can stop wearing their floats and they can go on the big slides and the diving board when they get brave enough. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Holiday World

At the beginning of summer my parents mentioned something about going to Holiday World for just a nice day vacation. Things just never worked out until just a few weeks ago when our schedules and the weather both gave us the all go. I had worked the night before, but I figured that I could make it as long as I didn't have to drive to the park. I knew that as long as I was busy doing something then I would be able to stay awake. The thought of taking a nap on the 2 hour drive crossed my mind, but the kids had other plans. On the way home from work I grabbed some donuts so that we could have breakfast on the road.

The kids enjoying their breakfast.

Our first stop of the day after getting through the gates was the kiddie rides. They had some up front that brought back memories for my parents because it was some of the same ones I rode as a little child.

Riding some more rides with the kids in the kiddie area.

Riding the Flying Eagles. The girls rode together and you can see Landon and myself right behind them.

The kids and grandparents both really liked the Turkey Caller ride. You ride through and shoot targets to help call out all the turkeys so they can get ready for Thanksgiving. The kids liked shooting the guns and the grandparents enjoyed being in the cool shaded indoor ride. We took advantage of this and while the grandparents were watching the kids Jennifer and I rode a few roller coasters.

The kids as scarecrows and ghosts.

The next few hours were spent playing in the water at Splashing Safari. The kids both had so much fun playing in this little Splash Land that had about 7 or 8 little kiddie water slides. We even got to take both kids on their first big 4-seated water slide.

Landon enjoying a little Dole pineapple whip and strawberry twist. It was pretty good.

The wifey and I enjoyed having a little time to go ride on some of the rides together while grandma and grandpa watched the kids.

My favorite ride of the day was the log ride. I have always enjoyed this ride and it was the first time that Landon was getting to ride something like this. (Brinley had rode Splash Mountain at Disney World) I knew that Landon would love it and he did! We rode it twice and the second time he put his arms up in the air on the big drop.

A little known fact is that Santa spends the majority of his off time at Holiday World. So, the kids went by to tell him hello. Jennifer and I settled for getting our picture with the big Santa statue.

As we were leaving we spotted Holidog and we just had to meet him. We also got a group shot of the whole crew with the big Santa statue.

We had so much fun at Holiday World for the kids first visit that I am sure we will be back again. Holiday World is so family friendly with its free soft drinks, free parking, and free sunscreen. If you haven't been then I would highly recommend it. The kids really enjoyed getting to see grandma and grandpa the whole day. The kids were having so much fun and I really don't remember anybody getting upset at all. After leaving the park we grabbed a bite to eat and then started on the drive home. The kids were quick to fall asleep, but I actually stayed awake and talked with Jennifer. It is amazing that I was still even functioning at all after being awake for over 24 hours. Thanks for reading and God bless!

NFL Hall of Fame 2016

I had an opportunity to go to the NFL Hall of Fame weekend festivities this year when my sister called me up and told me that she had an extra ticket to the events. As soon as I was able to make some trades for my weekend work schedule I packed up my bags and headed north to Canton, Ohio. It was going to be a fun filled weekend and I couldn't wait to spend some time with my big sister. I arrived at the hotel on Friday afternoon and after catching up with my sister I headed out to do a quick tour of the NFL Hall of Fame.

So excited to be here to experience this awesome weekend and see these 8 men receive the credit that they are due and have their bust revealed for the Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame set up lockers of all the Hall of Fame inductee's. Here is the locker of one of the greatest to ever play the game, Brett Favre.

Andrea also got me some tickets to the tailgate party before the Tim McGraw concert. It just so happens that there were some Hall of Fame members just hanging out in the tailgate tent too. I just had to meet them and get a picture. There were a few that got away before I could meet them, but I did catch Randal Cunningham, Mean Joe Greene, and Jim Kelly. It was definately an experience meeting all of them.

Andrea and I getting ready for the concert to start.

Tim McGraw concert was pretty good considering I only knew his older songs. Thankfully he sang quite a few of his older hits. 

Saturday morning we headed to downtown Canton for the Hall of Fame Parade. It was a lot of fun to see all the enshrinee's past and present riding in the streets. There were also plenty of floats and quite a few big balloons floating down main street. 

Saturday night proved to be the absolute highlight of the entire weekend. The Hall of Fame enshrinement was a very special event and it was so cool to be in the presence of so many great NFL players and coaches. 

How many guys do you recognize? There were so many amazing people here I was in star struck overload. To name a few in this picture are Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Andre Reed, Bill Polian, and Bruce Matthews.

The other side of the stage was packed too. Derrick Brooks, Jerome Bettis, and Marcus Allen.

Here are 5 of the 6 men who were about to be enshrined into the Hall of Fame.

Here is the last one and the reason why about 75% of the people were at the Hall of Fame, Brett Favre. The stadium was full of the gold and green of the Green Bay Packers fans.

Marvin who was known as a guy of few words and he went first and it was cool to see him finally open up and speak about himself. Marvin was a guy that I grew up watching because we lived close to Indiana so we usually would get the Colts games at home on Sunday's. I got to see quite a few of the Manning to Harrison touchdowns. I was able to see him play in person about 3 times, including his second trip to the Superbowl. I was happy to see him get the credit for all of his hard work and dedication to his craft as a WR.

Next up was the big man, Orlando Pace. Being a former lineman made me excited to see this man finally get the credit he was due. I never got to see him play in person, but I watched quite a few St. Louis Rams games with Orlando leading the offensive line. He was such a dominate force for the Greatest Show on Turf. The coolest stat about Orlando was that he blocked for 3 straight NFL MVP's (2 Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk).

Kevin Greene was a bit of a surprise to me. I didn't become interested in football until I was about 10 or 11 years old. That is about the time that Kevin was near the end of his career and was playing for the Carolina Panthers. I learned so much more about the person and player, Kevin Greene, during the weekend and his speech. He told some funny stories and thanked all the people that got him to where he was today.

Mr. Ed DeBartolo Jr was another man that I was unfamiliar with until this weekend. After his speech I had great deal of respect for this man who truly put players first and treated all of his employees as family. I really enjoyed listening to him tell stories about his time being an owner for 23 years of the San Francisco 49ers. He is the only owner to win 5 championships.

In between speeches I would just wonder around down near the stage and I encountered so many famous people. I spotted so many that I couldn't keep track of them all. Most were there in support of one of the men being enshrined. Aaron Rodgers was present to see Brett Favre as well as play in the Hall of Fame game.

Tony Dungy was a man that I actually knew quite a bit about. He was Marvin's coach in Indianapolis and just earlier this year I read his biography, Quiet Strength, which I would highly recommend. I am glad to see that his contributions to the game were recognized with enshrinement. He is truly a great coach, but an even better person.

Spotted another soon to be Hall of Fame member, Peyton Manning. He was in the house to see his former receiver and coach give their speeches. Peyton is the man who beat the majority of Brett Favre's NFL records after he retired 5 years ago.

The man that most came to see was Brett Favre. The first NFL player that I loved watching was Reggie White when he played with the Green Bay Packers. It just so happened that Brett Favre played on the other side of the ball. I have seen few people play football with as much emotion as I did Brett Favre, which made it no surprise that he got so emotional during his induction speech. When he retired he was the top of every QB record. Brett spent some time talking about his father and how much he meant to him. After his father passed away he said he spent the rest of his career trying to make him proud. Well, I think I believe you did it Brett!

Sunday was another pretty cool experience at the Hall of Fame Game Day Roundtable event. It included lunch and then an open discussion in which the players, coach, and owner spoke about things during their careers. They talked about who they didn't like lining up against, who they would like to see in the Hall of Fame, and other stories that had probably never been heard before.

The teams coming out on the field for the Hall of Fame game. Wait, they don't have on their pads and helmets!

Head of the Hall of Fame making the announcement that the game is going to be cancelled due to problems with the field. There were many boos that were being made throughout the stadium.

My sister working her last sporting event as a member of the NFL. It has been a lot of fun getting to attend events over the years with her and I will never be able to thank her enough for all the perks she has given me over her 9 years with the NFL. 

The stadium was a high school stadium so you could easily see the players as they were leaving. Here the Packers were getting a bite to eat. None of the players were looking up or trying to acknowledge the fans screaming at them. Then one fan yelled that Clay Matthews was awesome in Pitch Perfect 2 which caught his attention and he looked up to say thanks. I thought it was pretty hilarious.

One last picture with my big sister before we both head back to our homes. I had a lot of fun getting to just hang out and relax. 

The Hall of Fame weekend proved to be a pretty awesome experience which was capped off by a rare cancelled game. It was just another event that I will never be able to thank my sister enough for getting me into all the events. I would highly recommend going to the Hall of Fame events anytime one of your favorite players is being inducted. Thanks for reading and God bless!