April 2022

Our adventures in Ohio were coming to an end on April Fool's day. I pulled one over on the kids that morning. I told them all that I was going out for donuts, when I came in from the donut place I only brought in an empty box. Nobody was really excited about that, but quickly forgave me when I brought in the real box of donuts. Apparently Olivia stills talks about the time I brought an empty donut box.

The cousin crew with their newest member. 

The February birthday crew. 

Grandma and Grandpa came by the house to visit and we got in a quick game of life.

I worked the UK Football Spring Game and just happened to run into an old friend and Georgetown Tiger, Chad Spencer. His nephew Dane Key is a freshman wide receiver for UK. Looks like I will be seeing him often over the next 3-4 years. 

My view for the UK Football Spring game. 

Brinley's softball team had a team outing at the UK Softball game. 

While Brinley and her friends were in the stands Landon and I were out in the outfield chasing down home run balls. Landon beat a group of kids running to get this one. You get a prize for turning the ball in which made Landon happy, but no so much for Brinley.

Landon happened to have one of his first games of the season while Brinley was with her softball team outing. This is his last season in coach pitch. I have always been happy to help out with any thing my kids have been involved with. This year I moved from dug out dad to coaching 1st base. 

They got to go out on the field and be recognized.

They were able to meet and greet with the players after the games. Brinley got so excited about meeting the players.

Brinley with her eggs that we decorated. The left one says "Your just as sane as I am" a phrase from Harry Potter. The right one says "May the 4th be with you" a nod to her birthday being on Star Wars Day. 

Landon did a great job decorating as well. On these two he wrote Rampage, Brinley's softball team, and Mason, his best friend.

We signed the kids up for a supplemental learning academy called Kumon. For completing the first workbook Landon got a treat from Mondelli's Bakery. 

Really not the way that we wanted the basketball season to end, but we wanted to go meet Kellan Grady. Landon and I got so excited at games when he would start draining 3's!

The day before Easter I got up and made bunny and egg shaped beignets for breakfast. On Easter morning I made the kids their bunny pancakes like I have done for years.

The kids took both bunnies to meet the Easter bunny. The kids got entirely too many treats from the Easter bunny this year.

We ended up not making it to any Easter egg hunts around town this year so we decided to hide about 200 eggs in our small backyard. The kids had a blast finding them all. They even made us hide them a second time.

Easter morning service at Southland Christian Church. It turned out to be a beautiful day with a wonderful service. Most of the people at church didn't recognize me because I was wearing long pants!

Jennifer and the kids went to see the next Fantastic Beasts movie. I had never really gotten into this series, so I let them go enjoy it together.

Landon's coach pitch season was in full swing as well. I changed my coaching duties a couple of games into the season when they asked me to be the pitcher. It was more nerve racking pitching to the kids than being the first base coach, but it was also a lot of fun getting an up close view of some of the kids getting hits.

A Buc-ee's opened up right outside of Richmond, Ky and I knew that I had to take the kids. The place was packed, but the kids were excited because I told them that they could get two things in the store. They both ended up with icees and a bag of candy each.

Brinley's team came in second place. She got drilled in the leg with a pitch with a girl who threw with a lot of power, but not a lot of accuracy. Brinley was the third girl in a row to be hit by a pitch.

Great Granddaddy and Memom came up to visit and they were able to catch the kids at all of their sporting events. They got to see Landon play baseball and soccer. They were also able to see Brinley play softball. They were just a few minutes from getting to see Brinley catch her first ever pop fly. 

I loved these pictures of Brinley. This is the only sport that she has played that I haven't had to beg her to go to practice. She really enjoys playing with all the girls and they are gaining confidence with every tournament they play. 

Loco Ice finally opened up for the season and the kids were really excited about getting one. 

Brinley has really been putting in the work with softball. It is the only sport that she has actually enjoyed going to practice. It might be because of the girls on the team. Either way she is turning into a good little ball player.

 team was starting to play even more often in tournaments. She was starting to lock up the position at 2nd base, but she was struggling bad at the plate. She was terrified of being hit by a ball again.

McKinley's bachelor party had a survivor theme to it. Everyone's name already written on the parchment.

While I was at the bachelor party I was still keeping up with Brinley's softball game. I would much rather be there to see her play, but I am very thankful that someone keeps the book on this app so that I can see how they are doing. 

My view for the hour long ride that we were kayaking at the underground adventure. It was really cold in there and the water was frigid!

Hard hats and lights I guess are necessary when kayaking in an old mine.

After the underground kayak adventure. It was a lot of fun and I would highly recommend it. I still can't believe that in just over a month McKinley will be getting married. 

April was a lot of fun, but we were extremely busy. We spent a lot of time working on softball and baseball skills. We were also able to spend some great time with family too. Thanks for reading and God bless!

March 2022

A couple of years ago I started running half my age on my birthday. This year I decided to bike my age, so I got up nice and early and rode 4 different Peloton classes and one free ride until I got to the desired 37 miles. Much easier than running it, but still a big effort when you have never rode that much at one time. 

After 37 miles on the bike, it is time to eat some donuts in the shape of 37!

The kids were at school so Jennifer and my parents made our way downtown for my birthday lunch at KSBar. Ryan and Drew were there doing the show so I went over to talk with them and grab a picture.

This year my birthday fell on Mardi Gras and the UK basketball home finale. I asked for a king cake for my birthday this year (won't do that again) and we even shoved a baby Jesus in it to see who would find it. I opened my gifts and then Landon and I headed downtown to see the CATS play!

We of course had to stop at Goodfellas for a breadstick and then headed on into Rupp. The wildcats won and ended the regular season undefeated at home. We went down to high five the players and Landon was pumped to see Oscar again. Landon also had one of the coaches hand him one of the players towels. Landon was really excited to get that. 

I ended my birthday celebration with one of my favorite treats, a cream horn from Desserts by Rebecca. It is one of the most delicious things that I have ever eaten. I have tried so hard to make them at home, but mine just aren't the same. 

The party didn't stop the next day when I went to work. They decorated my work space with my favorite, UK sports. 

I had also gotten a card from one of my patients. She finished up therapy and wasn't going to be coming to see us at the clinic anymore. She got me a new charm for my crocs. I was very happy that my friend didn't have to get treatment anymore, but am sad that I won't get to visit and talk with them anymore. 

DanceBlue Marathon Day finally arrived and the kids were excited to go to the in person event. We started off playing Bingo with all my friends (patients) on zoom. 

I was talking and interacting with co-workers and patient families while the kids ran around and played with some of the patients that they knew. I knew the students were about to do the big reveal and I went in the game room to find the kids. However, they were no where to be found. I started getting a little nervous and then I looked and saw them up on the stage. They asked them to go up and be a part of the reveal. I can't believe how much money the students were able to raise for all the patients in my clinic. It will be very helpful to all the families. 

This was a really neat puzzle that my sister got me for my birthday. It had lots of uniquely shaped pieces and even had some shaped like animals. 

We finally got a chance to go to Ohio to meet Miss Eliana. She is a very happy baby. We watched her and Olivia one night so Andrea and Chris could go out. Aunt Jennifer enjoyed snuggling and little baby bath time. 

The kids and I stopped by the Pins bowling location in Dublin, Ohio for a little time in the arcade. All the games are free so the kids and especially my wallet love it! It has tons of classic arcade games. 

We went on a seek and find in Dublin trying to locate the fairy doors. It is a really cool marketing idea to try and get you into local businesses. The kids were able to locate them all so they could turn it in for their prize. Their favorite locations were the ones that included sampling the goods.

Olivia wanted to show us a new place that we hadn't been in Columbus, the Conservatory. Inside they have a butterfly sanctuary that was really neat. The butterflies flew all around you. 

One even landed on Eliana's stroller while she was taking a nap. 

The conservatory also had a really neat children's garden for the kids to play and run around in. Olivia was excited to show her cousins around because she was the only one who had been there before. 

The cousins playing together in the children's garden. 

The kids were really excited about going to the ice cream shop for a treat. I'm glad I got the picture when I did because right after this Olivia dropped her cone. Needless to say the ice cream wasn't the only thing melting down.

Brinley is such a big helper. I know that she is going to be a great mom one day, just like her mommy. Landon is going to be a good dad too. Here he was reading a bedtime story to Olivia. 

Olivia was excited to have her cousins sleep over in her room. 

Brinley's Rampage team had their first tournament of the season and they were the champions! This was Brinley's first championship. The most impressive of all is that they only had 9 girls for the entire day. They battled hard and won it all. They started at nine in the morning and the last game of the day finished around eleven at night.

The tournament day was extremely cold. Notice any similarities between mother and daughter. They never miss out on a chance to bundle up!

The girls getting some instruction from coach Trey. During the teams break in play we headed to Aunt Amanda's restaurant and had lunch. The kids really enjoyed the pizza!

Over the past two years I have been to a lot of football and basketball games, but we hadn't been to many of the other sports. Well, we decided to change that, and because the kids were more interested in the game now it made the experience much better. We watched some of the UK softball and baseball games one night. Now the kids have more knowledge of the game I am quizzing them about what they would do in certain scenarios.

Brinley at a scrimmage with mommy. She started the season playing second base and batting lead off. 

I was cheering on the UK women's basketball team in the SEC Championship and I couldn't believe it when they actually won it all! It was a fantastic comeback. I just wish that I had driven to Nashville to watch it in person.  

I'm not sure that this is comfortable, but if you're tired enough then anything will work.

St. Patrick's Day calls for some green clothing and some green food. We woke up and had green pancakes with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles.

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day with some green mustaches at work. Being at work will be the only joyous thing from this St. Patrick's Day because just a few hours after work I came home to watch the Peacocks basketball team knock the Wildcats out of the NCAA tournament in the first round. It was an absolute disaster that I still can't believe happened. 

Landon's baseball season started out with him hitting two home runs in his first scrimmage of the season. This kid has put in the work during the off season to get better and everyone can really tell. 

We were all very excited to help at the meal pack with our church. The kids are seasoned pros at this now and we were in a group with a bunch of first timers. The kids were both very good about switching and letting the new kids try out the different jobs. For the first time ever I stayed afterwards and was table captain. It was a lot of fun and we will be excited to sign up again next year. 

This year for lent (no we are not Catholic I just really like the concept) I told Jennifer that she could pick one for me. She chose two actually. That I had to be in bed every night before midnight and that I had to get rid of one thing a day for 40 days. I think this satisfied the requirements. I took a load of stuff to the church and donated it so that someone else could benefit from it. 

March this year was really interesting. I think it didn't have the same sports joy that it usually does because the CATS had their unexpected early exit from the tournament. However, it just seemed to be replaced with more time spent working with the kids at softball and baseball. Maybe it was for the better. There is always next year for us to capture title number 9! Thanks for reading and God bless!