August 2019

August is really a big month of change. It brings summer break to an end and the beginning of the school year. So, we tried to have as much fun as we could in the last few days of summer.

Brinley has began to really enjoy painting her nails. She has even started doing them on her own. Thankfully we haven't found too many messes around the house. 

I have tried to be more consistent with my running and exercise. I have been noticing that almost every run that I go on I find a rabbit at some point. It makes me think of Brinley because that is her favorite animal in the world. So, every time I spot one of these little rabbits then I get a smile on my face and think of my baby girl.

This giant sunflower was out in my garden. I think they are such a beautiful flower. 

Last day of summer camp. The kids had a blast at the YMCA summer camp. They met a lot of new friends and learned a lot of new games and activities.

As the garden season is winding down, I can't believe how much we have stocked up for the next year. We have tons of pickles, salsa, and chili base.

Home Depot kid workshop this month was a rocket ship shaped pencil box. The kids literally did this entire build by themselves. It is so awesome to see how much they have grown with their abilities. 

We also headed out to UK football fan day. I had never been to this event before but it was a lot of fun. There were huge crowds, but the lines went really quick. The kids enjoyed running around the Nutter Field House. We met the starting QB Terry Wilson. We also met the punters, who are 2 really nice guys who come visit kids at the hospital. I talk to them every time they come in so I wanted them to meet my own kids. We also met the entire offensive line. The kids also met the outside linebackers too. We also happened to catch AJ Rose and Kavosiey Smoke, who are two of the running backs. Coach Stoops also smiled for a picture with the kids before he had to run off to practice.

Another young man that we met was Josh Pascal. This young man was diagnosed with melanoma (skin cancer). He was able to meet and get to know one of my patients, and friend, that I take care of at the hospital who is battling cancer. They became good friends and I know that it really meant a lot to my friend. I thanked him and told him how much that meant for my friend. I had to get my picture with him. I also got to meet Coach Vince Marrow, the tight ends coach and head of recruiting. The kids were probably most happy to meet the wildcat and scratch.

The kdis and I enjoyed National Root Beer Float day on the way home from work. Who would pass up a free root beer float.

Landon had been asking to play real golf with me for a while, but I hadn't been able to find time for us to go. Well, I decided that it was finally time. After work one night we ate and then drove over to Meadowbrook Golf course to see if we could get a round in before the sun went down. We walked all 18 holes and had a good time. Landon got tired of golf for a little bit so he sat out a few holes to play on my phone. He said he had a lot of fun, so we will have to try it again.

I ran in the last race of the Bluegrass Trifecta, the Mid Summer Night's Run. This was the first time I had ever done this race, but it was a lot of fun. It started at night so that it wasn't too hot. This was actually the first race that Jennifer and the kids ever came to see me race in. I enjoyed getting to see them at the start and finish lines. I set a new PR for a 5K. I actually took a minute and 16 seconds off my previous best. I was hoping for better, but that just gives me room for improvement at my next race.

I signed Brinley up for a kid's triathlon. I told her that we needed to go out on a practice run and bike. So we biked a mile and then I made her get off and we ran a half mile because that is what she will have to do in her race. She did pretty well. Excited to see her become the first of all of us to do a triathlon!

I am so ready for football season! I took this picture at our Committee of 101 meeting. In a few weeks this place will be packed with all kinds of crazy UK fans!

On the kids last day of summer we asked if they would like to do anything fun. They picked going to jump at the trampoline park and then get snow cones. 

First day of school pictures. These two kids make us extremely happy. 

Of course I had to keep up the tradition of side walk chalk school pictures too. I wonder at what age the kids will tell me that they are not going to take these types of pictures any more.

The kids as we were walking into school. Also a good picture of their choice in backpacks. Landon picked Minecraft and Brinley chose a star backpack, but it has sequins that flip back and forth to change the color. She loves it.

Family picture before going into their classes.

We were extremely excited to have these two teachers this year. Brinley is in Mrs. Strait's class and Landon is in Mrs. Phillips class.

Well, last Christmas I made a big push about giving gifts that were experiences. I was tired of toys sitting around the house and not being played with just days after opening them. It worked out fairly well for the kids. Jennifer thought she was being funny and sent me this meme as a text one day and it said that she had an "experience" for me. I did not think it was funny, but the day after the start of school I actually used my gift. Ever since Landon was born Jennifer has been adamant that she didn't want any more children. I have been trying to talk her into another one for 6 years now and I finally decided that it was time to give up. The kids are both in school now and starting over would just be extremely difficult at this time. We are a happy family of four and that is how it is going to stay.....unless God intervenes! 

While I was out of commission from my procedure Jennifer had to take care of the garden. I had the kids take a picture of Jennifer while she was looking for produce. The worst part of my weekend recovery was actually resting. I can't stand just sitting around and doing nothing and that is what I was informed I should do. Well, it only lasted 2 days because I had things to do.

On Saturday night the kids and Jennifer ran in the Big Blue 4 Miler. The kids participated in the kids dash which was a half mile race around Kroger Field. The kids did awesome. Landon came in about 15th overall and there were kids much older than him running in it. Brinley finished about a minute after Landon. Apparently her shoes were not tied on tight enough and they kept falling off. Proud of both of these kids. We met the wildcats and even met Coach Mingione, the UK baseball coach.

Some more pictures of the kids running their race. The top picture was taken at the start of the race. I think it is so crazy that Landon kept up with the kid in the grey and green clothes. Landon also enjoyed sticking his head out of the giant inflatable corn hole board. This was the third time that the kids ran in this race.

Jennifer ran the Big Blue 4 Miler. The kids ran around the field while Jennifer was running. She said it was really hot and she struggled. It was a nice wake up call for her because she was has been slacking on her training for her upcoming half marathon in Chicago. The kids were excited to see their mommy coming up the finish line. They even ran the last little bit with her.

I heard somewhere about Eckert's Orchard having a kid's weekend. They allowed kids to pick a bag of apples each for completely free! So, of course we packed up and headed out to see what it was all about. 

On Tuesday the Movie Tavern has a deal for $5 tickets all day long and they even give you a free bag of popcorn. I thought this would make for a perfect excuse to take the kids to watch the new movie, The Lion King. Brinley couldn't believe how they got all those animals to do all of that stuff. I told her that they were made with computers. She had a hard time wrapping her head around that. She said they looked so real. Landon was upset because he said it had the same story as the cartoon.

We got Landon a bat and tee for his birthday. With fall ball coming up I decided that we needed to get out and get in a little practice. The kids didn't want to practice as much as they wanted to play on the playground. The kids will be playing on the same team again for fall ball which starts in September.

The playground had a set of monkey bars. Landon showed me how he had learned how to do them at school this year. I was really impressed by the little man. I think Brinley was a little jealous of her little brother. She tried and could only make it to the second rung. I felt so bad for her because she really wanted to be able to do it. She tried and tried. 

Then something happened and it all clicked together for her. She made her way across and I couldn't have been any more proud of her for not giving up. As soon as she made it across the monkey bars and I told her good job, I looked up and Landon was clapping and cheering for her. We were both so proud of her.

We took some of those apples that the kids picked at Eckert's and turned them into a delicious pie.  

I had found out about a kid's triathlon that is held here in town every year. I asked Brinley if she was interested in doing it After I explained to her what it was she said that she wanted to do it. Landon has trouble getting started on his bicycle by himself so I didn't even want to ask him because I knew that he wouldn't be able to complete the race and someone can't walk the path with him. Race day arrived and we got there extremely early and set up Brinley's transition area. First up was her swimming portion of the triathlon. After her down and back swim in the pool she got out and ran over to the transition area.

Landon was ready to cheer on his sister, but he was so cold. I had told him to get a jacket before we left the house, but he didn't listen. His only option was a random shirt that I had left in my car. 

Off to the next portion of the triathlon, which was the 1 mile bike ride. After her ride she took her bike back to the transition area and then headed out for the final leg, the half mile run. 

I am so proud of Brinley! She is the first triathlete in the family. As you can tell in our family photo, Landon was upset when Brinley crossed the finish line and got her medal. He kept asking why he didn't get to be in the race. I told him that he couldn't get his bike started on his own. He tried to tell me that he could. I told him that if he kept working at it then he could do the triathlon next year. Brinley was also really happy to see MiMi there to cheer her on.

After the triathlon we had to head back home and quickly get ready for one of my favorite days of the year, the Pediatric Cancer Survivor Picnic. This group of my co-workers and I fund raise and plan this day for a full year because the kids that we take care of with cancer are worth every single bit of it. Every year we try to out do ourselves from the previous picnic. I am so proud of this group and everyone's commitment to make the picnic the special day for our patients. I love this day because the patients get to see us outside of the hospital, where the kid's don't always feel the best. 

I bring my kids along with me because I feel that it is important for the biggest parts of my life to meet. While I am at the hospital taking care of my patients I am always talking about my life, which my kiddos are a big portion of it. I also try to introduce them to one another. My kiddos clearly thought the picnic was awesome. 

Landon tried a little bit of everything just like his sister. Our biggest addition this year was the hot air balloon rides. Pretty soon we will begin planning for next year's picnic.

Brinley was a little traumatized the last time we pulled her tooth. She got another loose one and wouldn't let anyone near it. She was wiggling it all day long but even she wouldn't pull it. The far left is what it looked like in her mouth. Then she finally gave me one attempt at pulling it. It was very quickly removed. I had never seen a tooth with a little tail on it. We called it a unicorn tooth, which made Brinley love it even more. This made tooth number 6 for her. Landon still has yet to lose a tooth, but he currently has one loose tooth so it might not be long.

Well, a couple of months ago I was contacted and asked if I would like to help the football team with their game day recruiting. According to a new SEC rule they could no longer use student interns so they found me and 3 other volunteers. They supplied us with UK Nike apparel, including shoes, polos, rain gear, and hats so that we could drive recruits to and from their cars on game days. The home opener was our first time doing it and it was pretty awesome! I get to sit in the recruiting section during the game and they even threw in tickets to every home game so that my family could come enjoy the game too! Pretty nice little gig. So, if you see me on game day's in the golf cart it is very likely that I could have a future Wildcat on board with me! This does interfere with my responsibilities as a member of the Committee of 101, but I am trying to see if there is anything that I can do to remain in the club. I will keep you updated.

We had a lot of fun in the month of August even though it brought our summer to an end. The kids both really like their teachers. We are excited for everything that they are going to learn this year. I am so proud of both of them. Within the first 2 weeks of school we have gotten messages from both of their teachers saying how much they enjoy having them in class. The University of Kentucky sporting season has officially started and I do believe that we will be attending quite a few of them again this year. Go CATS! Thanks for reading and God bless!

July 2019

July was another busy month, but if you know us then that is how every month is with us. Here is everything that we got into.

For the 3rd year in a row I ran the Bluegrass 10,000. I hadn't been able to train like I wanted to because of an injury to my leg, but I ran the entire time and finished in 58 minutes. This was the third race in the Bluegrass Trifecta series. Only one more left until I get my medal!

We also headed back downtown during the heat of the day for the 4th of July parade. The parade wasn't the greatest because it was just a ton of political people handing out stuff to try and get you to vote for them. I just love this picture of the kids. Landon trying to get the picture over with and Brinley being a goof and refusing to smile.

One highlight was the big Pikachu balloon. They also had a craft station where the kids made bracelets and foam American flags. They were also extremely excited to see the Ale-8 truck handing out free baby cherry Ale-8's.

After the parade we headed home and got out of the heat and made our first batch of pickles for the year. We only like bread and butter pickles in this house and these turned out awesome. 

One of my co-workers gave me the game of Life for the kids to play. We played it the first day I brought it home and they were hooked! I was just happy because it was shorter than a game of monolopy!

We made our monthly trip to the Home Depot for the kid's workshop. They built tow trucks. They are getting so good at doing these by themselves. I only have to help them occasionally. So proud of their developing handyman skills.

I also signed us up for a night hike at Raven's Run. It was a guided trail hike which also included some night vision experiments. We all had a lot of fun and we all got to see a shooting star as well while we were also doing a little bit of star gazing. Unfortunately, this was the best picture that I could get because we weren't even able to use regular flashlights on the walk. 

Now that both kids finally figured out how to ride a bike we met up with our friends Scott and Sydney to ride bikes. The kids rode around the parking lot of the school and had a blast.

Brinley lost her 5th tooth. She was excited to show off her new smile. Landon thinks he will never loose his first tooth.

I had the privilege of "working" camp again for my older pediatric oncology patients. I use the word work loosely because I just got to hang out and participate in all the stuff with all the kids. It was awesome seeing these kids run around and just be kids. They are warriors and are such fighters. I got to be there on talent show night and when they said their goodbyes to the graduating seniors. It was so awesome to see how much these kids have bonded together over the years. I also got to be at camp for the paper lantern release. I can't wait until next summer when I get to go back again!

Ever since the kids have been able to eat real food we have been participating in Chick-Fil-A dress like a cow day. Who could pass up free food!

The past couple of years right before Landon's birthday it has been burger week here in Lexington. Chris, McKinley, and I went out and had back to back to back burgers. We started at Harry's with a PB&J brie burger. Next we headed over to Ted's Montana Grill and had a spicy jalepeno, pepper jack burger. Lastly we headed to Bar Louie with a fried cheese, cheesesteak, and queso burger. We decided to call it after three burgers. We unanimously said we like the Ted's burger best of the three.

For the second year in a row I got up early to get in line for for some fresh Georgia peaches from the Peach Truck. We split them up because 49 peaches is too many for just one family.

We even canned some of them after they got ripe. These peaches were delicious! 

Aunt Andrea, Uncle Chris, and Olivia came to visit for Landon's birthday. We took them to the Y for Olivia to experience her first swim. The kids enjoyed playing with Olivia. Olivia wasn't too sure about the pool, but she liked playing with the kids!

Since the whole family was together we decided to celebrate Andrea's birthday early. We had dinner at Malone's and then we had some ice cream cake.

Uncle McKinley gave Landon an early birthday present, Pokemon Monopoly. Landon was completely obsessed with this game when we played it with Uncle McKinley. He kept saying for a few days after that it was the only thing he wanted for his birthday. Well, this game was about 20 years old because it was McKinley's when he was a little kid. Landon was shocked when McKinley told him that he could take it home with him.

Last night as a 5 year old!

Muffins for our little bed head six year old. I started asking him months before his birthday to tell me what he wanted to do for his special day. He never told me anything. I finally told him about a month before his actual birthday that we needed to know right then or else he wouldn't have a party. He said that he just wanted to spend the day playing games with his family. So, I decided we would do everything the little man wanted, especially playing all the games he wanted.

We started the day off by going to church at Southland. Next we headed to Landon's favorite restaurant, Goodfellas. 

He especially loves the bread sticks and "red sauce", which is just marinara sauce.

Landon picked out the entire design of his cookie cake too! He said that he loves soccer the best out of all the sports. He also specifically wanted the number to be red. No idea why, but the kid was happy. We also had an issue when I went to pick it up because they spelled his name wrong. They spelled it Landen, but were able to fix it. 

Landon loved his farming lego set that MiMi and Pap got him for his birthday.

Landon and his cousin Miss Olivia. Landon enjoyed reading her a book. He also passed on his rocking giraffe that Grandma and Grandpa gave him when he turned 1. Landon hadn't rode on it in a long time and even said that it was creepy. We decided to pass it on because Olivia is going to collect giraffes so we just wanted to add to her starter collection.

Landon with his gifts and then what it all turned out to be. The little man got way more than what he needed. He got a ton of legos that kept him busy for well over a month putting them together. 

I still can't believe how lucky we are to be this little guy's parents. He and his sister are two of the biggest blessings in our life and we are extremely proud of them.

Let the board games begin! We started off with one of Landon's favorites, Five Minute Marvels. Look at that little man's smile.

The rest of the day's games. As soon as one finished he was already picking out the next game to play.

We got an original Heflin family picture with all the grandkids. Every body also had to take some time to play with Olivia because she just isn't quite ready for board games yet. Olivia is such a good little girl. 

Our little family. These two kids really are growing up so fast. Excited to be on the journey and help them along the way. 

The collection of games that we ended up playing for Landon's board game birthday extravaganza. 

First tomatoes finally turned red out in the garden. We are also over flowing with zucchini and cucumbers.

The only other thing that Landon had said he wanted to do for his birthday was to go jump on the trampolines at Adrenaline. Well, I took a day off so that we could go hang out and jump. This was about the only picture I was able to take because I was jumping the whole time with them.

The month of July was also a time for us to have work done to Brinley's teeth. According to her dentist she was just born with poorly spaced teeth causing her to be at increased risk for developing cavities. She does everything that is asked of her with her teeth, but she still develops small cavities. During the month she had to have 3 of her baby teeth filled.

Landon got a 2x2 Rubix cube for his birthday. I learned the pattern of how to solve it and have been trying to teach Landon how to do it too. He was able to solve it with me telling him all the steps and was so excited. Now to just learn it on his own.

On the way home one night the kids and I spotted this double rainbow after a little storm. 

I had another week of vacation and we were having trouble figuring out what to do. We finally decided that the best thing would be to just go and visit all of our family. So we started our journey off with a little trip up to Columbus to visit Aunt Andrea, Uncle Chris, and Olivia.

We made a visit to the Columbus Zoo. Olivia even met us there to see some of her favorite animals. Brinley loves animals more than just about anything in this world. She had a lot of fun seeing all the animals. This is such a nice zoo and we would highly recommend if you are ever in Columbus.

More of the animals that we spotted on the hike around the zoo. 

A trip to Columbus wouldn't be the same without a trip to Jeni's Ice Cream. They have such unique and delicious flavors.

Olivia and Aunt Andrea took us to see their local library. The kids had a blast playing in the children's area. We also stopped by a local bar that has all kinds of arcade games and ski ball. They allow kids in on the weekend and Landon would have stayed there the whole day if we would have let him.

We quickly completed the Irish Fairy Door Trail in downtown Dublin. We have done it before, but we wanted to take Olivia around to see them all. They expanded to 12 businesses who placed a fairy door for little kids to find. The kids had a lot of fun trying to be the first one to find the door.

Brinley and Landon really do love their little cousin Olivia. They tried to help her take her 9 month picture. Landon even fed her a bottle one morning. We also stopped in and had some Duck Donuts too. The bottom right picture is of us with our fairy door shirts on.

We also went to probably one of the coolest children's museums that we have ever been too. COSI is an awesome place. The kids had a lot of fun running around and playing with everything that it had to offer. Olivia got to play at the water table and she even took a nap right before it was time to leave. We will most definitely be back because we decided to become members while we were there.

Tuesday morning we got up really early and headed back towards home. We made a stop at Kings Island for the kids first trip to the park. They had a blast! Although they weren't able to ride any of the big roller coasters they had a lot of fun in the Snoopy kids area. 

More exploring around Kings Island. The only thing that I wanted while at the park was to try the blue ice cream for the first time ever. It was delicious.

We had a good finish at the park by watching the fireworks show with the Eiffel Tower light show.

We made a quick pit stop home to clean our clothes and to take care of the garden. We canned some more pickles and salsa. I even made the kids go out and take a picture with our huge sunflowers. This year they grew to about 12 foot tall. 

Next half of our vacation week we headed to western Kentucky. We headed back to McLean County to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We had a picnic over at the Island Dairy Freeze. Then we took the kids to see the old Island Wooden Bridge. We even stopped into an old friend's sweet shop for a cupcake treat.

Next we headed to Owensboro where we explored Grandma's old work place, the library. Then we had dinner with my Aunt Mary Ruth and some of her kids, grand kids, and a great grandchild. It was good to catch up with them and to finally get to play with Preston. It has been some difficult times for Aunt Mary Ruth with some medical issues, but she looked a whole lot better than the last time we had seen her. Lastly, we stopped by Dairy Queen for a blizzard because it was Miracle Treat Day and for every blizzard bought they donated money to the local children's hospital.

Next we headed down to Scottsville to visit Jennifer's sister and her family. Since it was Friday and they had to go to work we headed out to the local amusement park to have a little fun. The kids could almost ride everything in the park. It seemed like the majority of the rides involved spinning around in circles. Jennifer doesn't do well with spinning rides so I took one for the team and rode with Landon because he required an adult since he is a little shorter. The kids favorite ride was the Starship 4000. They rode it 5 times straight before we left. Brinley was the only one that was tall enough to ride the Kentucky Rumbler. This was her first wooden roller coaster and boy did it jerk you around. 

The kids love playing with Elam. Elam sometimes can be a little rough because he is a little power ranger. The next minute he can be the most loving little guy. Landon and Elam are like best buddies, maybe it has something to do with the fact that they are born on the same day. While we were in Scottsville we explored some of the Amish farms and country stores. The kids even taught Elam how to play Cinco Linko. It was so good to spend some time with the Prock's. Pretty soon they will be welcoming home another little boy and we can't wait to meet him.

The kids and I decided that we wanted to celebrate National Cheesecake Day. We weren't able to get into the Cheesecake Factory before Jennifer had to go to work, so the kids and I celebrated together. I did get a slice to bring back home for Jennifer.

I turned the last of the zucchini from the garden into some loaves of bread. I placed these in the deep freezer so that we could enjoy them later in the year when the garden has long since died.

Landon told me that he wanted to sign up for baseball again. I told him that if he wanted to then we were going to have to start practicing more. So, we set up the tee he got for his birthday and we hit baseballs into the trampoline so that we wouldn't break the neighbor's windows. Come to find out Brinley can still play tee ball with Landon for another season. Thrilled to have them start fall ball soon.

July was in fact a very busy month. We had a lot of fun seeing friends and family while celebrating birthdays. The kids are growing up so much and I am so excited to see what they grow up to be like. I am going to help them explore and see as much of this world so that they can hopefully grow up to be well rounded, educated human beings with many life experiences. I so truly happy to be their father. Thanks for reading and God bless you!