November 2024

I stopped in after work to say Happy Birthday to McKinley. Nora didn’t care about the birthday singing, but look at her eyeing that cake and candle. 

Before we left for Columbus I stood outside in the cold for an hour waiting in line before the polls opened. I wanted to make sure that I did my civic duty and placed my vote. I knew that I had to work on Tuesday and it wouldn’t be likely that I could get away to vote. In my opinion if you don’t vote then you can’t complain about the government. 

We weren’t able to go up to Columbus for Olivia’s birthday so all of us siblings decided to pick a weekend to get together. The first weekend in November we all went up and met at the zoo to start off the weekend. The kids had fun seeing the animals and they even fed the giraffes. This was Nora’s first zoo experience in her life. 

Everyone even got to ride the carousel, well everyone that wanted to ride it. Nora’s first carousel ride with all the little kids riding. 

Landon came to Uncle McKinley’s house so that we could leave from his house to go to the UK game after I got off work. He had some time to play in the leaves with Nora while he waited for me to get off work. 

On the way home from Columbus weekend we stopped at Kings Island to ride a roller coaster. Yes, we stopped to just ride one roller coaster, Diamondback. Landon did a few trick or treat stations and then we got in the car and drove the rest of the way home. 

On Election Day apparently Landon wanted to do nothing more than play Monopoly. He got it set up and after I got home from work Jennifer and I played with him. I got the early lead because I got all the cheap properties and then bought a bunch of hotels on them. After about an hour and a half I was ready to call it quits so I gave Landon all of my properties. Also Jennifer looks terrified in this picture. 

I had a day off from work so I took advantage and spent some time smoking some meat. I did a pork shoulder and a rack of ribs. They were both delicious. The only bad part was that my smoker charger over heated and started to burn the plug. So I guess that I did it up right for my last time with this smoker. 

The kids had youth group so Jennifer and I took advantage and got in an alphabet date. This one was V. We first started by volunteering at church for meal pack. Then we headed across the street to Five (V) Below and we found some good finds. One being a Villians puzzle and the not so good Violet Crumble bar which was not good at all. Then we stopped at DQ for some vanilla ice cream with toppings, which some people call blizzards. 

The kids attend an after-school club called Wyldlife. It is a Christian based group where they have snacks and a devotion. They spent the weekend at Great Wolf Lodge. They had a good time at the water park and with all the activities they had planned. I was a nervous wreck sending my little kids off with some college kids that I had never met. 

The kids were gone on their weekend to Great Wolf Lodge so Jennifer and I went to the UK game together. Kentucky handled Bucknell pretty easily. I had a co-worker text me that she had an extra seat behind the bench. I decided to stay up top with Jennifer because I didn’t think she would appreciate being abandoned up top. 

Both the kids said they had a good time, but none of Brinley's friends actually signed up to go on the trip so she had to make some new friends for the weekend. Just like a Where's Waldo - see if you can find Brinley in the top picture. 

After the game we had our Y alphabet date. We went to Gumbo Ya Ya and I got something called a Yatwich and Jennifer got gumbo. Then we went out for some frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf. 

Jennifer and I were able to get another date in while the kids were gone on their overnight adventure to Great Wolf Lodge. This was our N date. We had North Lime Donuts, gNocchi and noodles for lunch at Pasta Garage, and Nothing Bundt Cakes. The fried lasagna was one of the most delicious things I have ever had here in Lexington. 

Nine weeks post op and I officially graduated from physical therapy. These guys really helped me get myself back to the closest I am going to get for now. I have run in the neighborhood, but it is going to be a while before I run any races. 

Landon randomly asked me about making oobleck. We had the ingredients, cornstarch and water, so we made it. He played with it for over an hour. Then later in the night got it out and played with it again. 

As I got to McKinley’s house after work one day I couldn’t go in to say hello and catch up. So, my consolation prize was these two waving hello to me. 

Landon and I went to catch a UK game together. We went down to see the players and give them a high five when they leave the court. There are a lot of really nice players on this team and they are really great ball players. They run a really fast paced kind of basketball, which was a spark of excitement we had been missing the past few years. 

I tried to catch a picture of Landon as he was leaving lacrosse practice. He was carrying two backpacks, one on the front and one on the back. He quickly took the front one off when he saw me with my camera. 

Landon was eating a tootsie roll that his teacher had given him at school and while he was chewing he felt something hard. Turns out that it was his tooth that had fallen out. He told me why the teacher had given him the tootsie rolls. He was playing a game in social studies where it puts one kid against the entire class to see who can answer the most questions. Landon defeated the class and the teacher was impressed and gave him a handful of tootsie rolls for his achievement. 

These two love a good nap. Both like to curl up too. 

Not often does Brinley go to the basketball games, but I told her that I wanted her to go with me. We had a good time. We grabbed Goodfellas on the way into the stadium and then we stopped for blizzards on the way home. People in the arena are crazy for paying $7 for a regular ice cream cone. I took a picture of the number of 3’s the boys hit on this night - 17 of them. This is a really fun team to watch. 

Since we were going to be gone for Thanksgiving we decided to fix a big meal the weekend before. We invited the other Lexington Heflin's over to eat with us too. 

We celebrated a little early for Thanksgiving because we were leaving town on actual Thanksgiving day. The night before I asked McKinley if they didn’t have anything then they could come over and enjoy some food. Nora came and tried a couple of firsts with food. She loved sweet potatoes (maybe due to the marshmallows) but not a big fan of mashed potatoes. 

We took the kids to see the movie Wicked as a last-minute decision.  Brinley and Jennifer had seen the play over the summer when we went to NYC, but it was all new to Landon. Everyone enjoyed it even though we had to sit in the front row. Brinley had to keep telling me to quit singing along. Great movie, but very sad that we have to wait for part 2 to come out. 

One morning I made the kids some muffins for before school. Landon was the first to get up and he thought that someone left them out. He put them in tupperware and put them in the fridge. A very nice job, but then nobody else knew that they were there to be eaten. The next day I made some chocolate chip banana bread for them. I made sure to leave them a note telling them that they were for them. 

Dad and I had planned to go see our alma maters play against each other. It is the only time I have taken someone that is cheering for the opposing team, but I figured little Western wouldn't be that big of a problem. We made it to the game but not before Dad fell on the steps heading up to our seats. Just so happened that a man I had met a few weeks earlier at my bible study was there to catch and help him up. After we got up to our seats and dad caught his breath from all the events we had an awesome time. I told Dad about the over under game that I have started playing with the kids at the games. We both predicted what the other's team would score and then we had to decide if they would go over or under that score. Turns out I was spot on for the night. I picked that WKU would score 33 in the first half and 68 for a final score. I nailed both of them. It was really great to get some time with my dad. We laughed and talked the whole night. 

Over the summer when I was looking at times for us to go to Disney for the Christmas party I found some great tickets for Thanksgiving break. So we loaded up the car on Thanksgiving morning and headed to the airport. We were unsure what would be open so we packed a lunch for the airport, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Goes down as the weirdest Thanksgiving lunch I have ever had. 

Our first stop of the day was Epcot. In the morning at home I had booked a virtual queue for us to ride Guardians of the Galaxy. Our call back time was scheduled for around 11 am. When we arrived at 4 pm we decided to give it a shot and see if they would let us ride. In pure Disney fashion they let us ride without even questioning anything. We also started this trip off differently than all the others because I told the kids we were going to meet some characters. We met Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie. The kids enjoyed it, with the exception of the characters all wanted to give them a hug. I am not a big hugger myself so I get it. One thing that Brinley said for sure she wanted to see was the show Fantasmic so we headed over to Hollywood Studios to make sure we could catch that show. We ended the night with Thanksgiving Giordano's pizza - which just so happens to be my favorite pizza on the planet. 

Some of the pictures that the photopass people captured of my kids hugging Minnie. 

The next morning we started the day off at the Magic Kingdom. I got a virtual queue for Tiana's Bayou. Of course it called us back at 9 am and it was still a little cold outside. It was ok, but I think Jennifer and I both wish they had just kept the old Splash Mountain. After riding that we decided to try some beignets, which they put both honey and powdered sugar on them. I thought they were just ok. I prefer the ones that I make at home. Next we went and rode the Jingle Cruise which told holiday themed jokes. The kids both wanted some Dole Whip after we got off that ride. 

A big thing at Epcot is drinking around the world. Well, since we don't drink we decided to do something different and eat around the world. We stopped at every country around the world showcase and tried a food at every stop. Then we all put them in order of how we liked them. The above collage is how I ranked them according to my taste. The only think all of us agreed upon is that Canadian poutine is disgusting. Here are all the foods that we tried in my order: German - caramel butter cookie, Mexico - cheese empanadas, German - pretzel bread pudding, England - fish and chips, Japan - shaved ice with sweet cream, French - baguette, Italy - pizza, Norway - school bread and strawberry rice pudding, Canada - maple popcorn, China - potstickers, Morocco - cookies, and finally the poutine from Canada. 

Epcot celebrates Christmas through all the different countries. They also have an event called the candlelight processional. They sing and tell the story of Jesus by reading from the Bible. I had told Jennifer and the kids that I would like to see it. Well, it just so happened to be the very first showing of the year and it was jammed packed with people trying to see it. They have a guest reader and the opening act was Josh Gad, aka the voice of Olaf. We didn't make the seating for the show, but we watched from the back of the audience in the standing room only. We made it through about half of the show before the kids started complaining about their feet hurting. 

Some of our shots from the rides at Magic Kingdom. 

The kids fight non stop some days, but other times they are best friends. They were walking with their arms around one another and walking in step with one another. They were actually walking like the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus. 

Some more of our ride photos and a few photopass shots. My favorite picture is the Hollywood Tower of Terror picture. We talked Jennifer into riding with us and the picture was amazing. She hates this ride, but her picture brought the kids and I so much joy. She screamed like a little baby during the entire ride. 

I had read so many reviews that this little French ice cream shop had the best treat in Epcot. It is called a croque glace and it was a scoop of ice cream and chocolate sauce inside a brioche bun. I was super excited to try it, but was severely disappointed. It also didn't help that I was listening to the UK vs Louisville football game and we were getting smoked. However, the kids and Jennifer weren't impressed either. 

On the night of the 30th we had been to three of the parks for the day, but Jennifer and Brinley didn't want to keep going for the night with Landon and I. We dropped them off at the hotel and then the boys headed to the Magic Kingdom to complete our fourth park of the day. We rode Tron and a few other rides while the wait times were really low. I had a good time spending some one on one time with my boy. I let him pick anything that he wanted to do and we did it. 

Landon was pretty hungry and he wanted to eat a pretzel. Everything taste better when it is Mickey shaped. 

October 2024

I had seen some decorated cookies, and I told Brinley that we would try to make some. We made sugar cookies and cut them into pumpkins and triangles to make candy corn. Brinley and I sat down and decorated them for a couple of hours. We both had a lot of fun. 

I think they turned out amazing. Brinley made cute little designs on hers like the one up in the top right picture. She gave him a top hat and mustache. It was super cute. She did a wonderful job. 

Landon trying to let Nora ride on his shoulders. Nora didn't seem scared, but maybe she should have been. Landon doesn't look like he has a great hold on her. 

We were in the cookie making mood and I saw these s'mores chocolate chip cookies. It was delicious! There is a graham cracker, chocolate, and marshmallow underneath cookie dough. 

We had a weekend off from sports, so we met up with the Maitland's at King's Island. The little snoopy area was packed with kids for the trick-or-treating. Brinley and Landon showed the girls the ropes on all the rides. 

The kids also went with the girls on their very first roller coaster, The Great Pumpkin Coaster. I think they both liked it, but Olivia looked a little scared. The middle picture is Olivia's first big kid roller coaster, and she looks terrified in the photo. After it ended, she asked her mom, why did you let me ride that? I tried to hype her up and tell her she did awesome. Hope that she rides many more coasters over the years. Well, Olivia was in for one more frightening experience because she had told her parents that she wanted to go in a haunted house. I told Andrea that she wasn't ready for it and that we should just tell her that the scare zones around the park were a haunted house. Well, one ax wielding zombie later and she was terrified. That might be the last haunted house she ever does in her life. We were excited to spend the day with them and show them the ropes at King's Island. 

The kids only slightly enjoyed the haunted houses this year. We only went to two of the houses this year. Landon said the second one almost made him cry. Both kids wanted a squishmallow. I won a total of five stuffed animals for all the kids. We gave three of them to Olivia and Eliana. 

Brinley and the Henry Clay softball team have been playing in a league at UK Softball Complex. Brinley has gotten to play a little in the field and bat each week. Apparently this girl that she is facing is maybe the best pitcher in the city. She has gotten multiple D-1 offers. Brinley stood her ground and got walked. 

Another alphabet date. This one was hard because not many things start with the letter X. We improvised and decided on things that contained the letter instead. During the afternoon we made homemade waX candles. Brinley came home and wanted to make one of her own. They were sugar cookie scented and ours was the greenish colored one and Brinley's was the blue one. Later that night we went to dinner at TeXas Roadhouse. 

Brinley's team played in their first fall softball tournament. They wore their breast cancer awareness shirts in honor of Mrs. Mandy (Ellie's mom). This fall looked a little different because three of the girls that played over the summer decided that they didn't want to play anymore. So, we were left with only nine girls. Brinley moved over from second base to shortstop. One of the moms took some awesome pictures of the girls during their one-day tournament. 

A few more pictures from Brinley's tournament. They ended up finishing the tournament as runner up. Some pretty bling for all the girls' hard work. 

UK vs. Vandy was an awesome night, well except for Kentucky losing the game. I was close to meeting the old basketball coach, Rick Pitino but instead he got taken away to an area so that he wouldn't be disturbed. Instead, I got to meet Coach Pope for the very first time. I also ran into Coach Skinner (volleyball coach) and Ray Davis, a former UK running back. I walked all up and down the sidelines looking to get the best views of the game. It has been pretty cool wandering around the sidelines all season. 

Landon ran in the middle school state championships. He was actually sick with a little cold and didn't feel very good. It was one of his worst races of the season, but he didn't complain or stop running the entire race, which is what he said his goal was with his sickness. Proud of him this season sticking with running and trying to get better each and every practice. 

Landon was the only family member that said they wanted to run in my work's fundraiser 5K. I still wasn't able to run post knee surgery, and the girls weren't interested. Landon had just run in the state championships the day before and he was battling a cold. He did amazing and finished 67th out of over 1,000 runners - mostly college students. He finished with a time of 24:37. I was so impressed with this little guy. 

Brinley enjoyed seeing Miss Nora at the Dance Blue race. Nora seemed intrigued by Brinley's headphones.

Another date night this time we had a K date. We went for lunch to K Pot - a Korean BBQ. It was the first time we had something like this. It was delicious and a really neat experience. Later that night while the kids were at youth group, Jennifer and I went to watch the first Kentucky basketball exhibition game of the Coach Pope Era. They absolutely killed Kentucky Wesleyan by 71 points!

Brinley's team had another fall tournament, and this one was Halloween themed. The girls all dressed up as Gatorade bottles. Brinley was the red Gatorade. I got to go watch her first game before heading back to Lexington for the football game. She is really starting to love the game which I think is awesome! She is batting leadoff for the Rampage and starting at shortstop. Her defense is great and if she could just stop stepping out while at bat, she would be a dominate hitter too! She is working on correcting that mistake. 

I enjoyed getting to see my girl having some fun out on the softball field with her teammates. 

Nora and I at her first UK game. I gave her parents my tickets and they were just going to wing it to get Nora in. Turns out the workers in the will call area just gave her a free ticket to get in. How could you tell this face no?

Nora's first football game was UK vs. Auburn. I spent most of the first half sitting up in the family section of the stands playing with Nora. She made it onto the big screen twice in her first game. I have been going for years and never made it up there. She had a good time and never got fussy even though the game started after her bedtime. I drove them back home a little before halftime in my golf cart. 

The DanceBlue students had a Halloween party for all the patients at my work. They always invite staff and families but not many really ever come to the events. I have brought the kids the last few years and they really enjoy it. I couldn't get Brinley to be Moana characters with Landon and I. She wanted to wear her Belle costume. 

We were extremely busy the weekend of Olivia's birthday so we didn't get to go up and celebrate with her. We Face-timed her on the 17th to wish her a happy 6th birthday!

Landon and I went to the second UK basketball exhibition game. There were not many people there so we sat down in the lower arena. Kentucky easily won the game. We are slowly learning the names of all the players. 

This girl woke up and grabbed a hoodie out of the dryer that she thought was hers, but actually it was mine. Jennifer informed her, but she said she was going to wear it anyway. 

We had a free Sunday, so we packed up into the car and headed to the gorge. We hiked Sky Bridge which was new to all of us. It was a pretty easy little 0.75-mile hike to a pretty awesome arch. You also got to walk up on top of it too. This was an easy hike to be my first since my knee surgery. 

More pictures from our hike at the Red River Gorge. Brinley built a little rock tower.

We felt good so we decided to go on another hike. We picked Rock Bridge Trail. It was a 1.5 mile hike that ended up being next to a little creek. The kids enjoyed playing in the water and then climbing on Rock Bridge once we got to it. It was a really great hike. We all had fun. 

More pictures from our hike at the gorge. Landon even peed in the creek. They climbed on trees, on rocks, and even played in the creek. Any people passing by us might have even mistook them for country kids and not city kids. 

We stopped at a little roadside restaurant, The Brick, for some ice cream. It was delicious after hiking, but the sun was going down and it was also getting really cool. The kids wanted to go sit in the car and finish with the heat on. 

The kids Wednesday night youth group at church had a dress up night. Brinley's group came up with an idea to be all kinds of Barbie's. Brinley of course was softball barbie. Landon said his group was all talking about being inflatable dinosaurs, but Landon was the only one that went through with it. 

We finally broke out the backstraps from my deer that I killed a year ago. I cut them up to make some filet and wrapped them in bacon. Everyone thought they were delicious. 

They had spirit week at school and I am so proud of Brinley for getting into the spirit. Picture on the left was dress like a teacher day and the right picture is tacky tourist day. She came up with these outfits on her own and she even made the camera herself out of cardboard. I am so glad that she got her creativity from her mother. 

During the kids youth group on a Wednesday night Jennifer and I got in an alphabet date night. This night was U - we had Udon Noodles from Koi Express and Upside down pineapple cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. 

Working in a children's hospital can be very difficult, but also comes with a lot of fun perks. One of those perks is celebrating Halloween with the kids. They had over 500 people come to do a reverse trick or treat. Our clinic decided through voting that we were going to be marketing mascots. We had over 30 people participate. I was Mr. Clean and I wore all white past Labor Day. I carried around the box of Magic Erasers so that people who didn't recognize me could see what I was going for. 

The kids picked out what they wanted to wear. Brinley came up with the design for Belle from Beauty and the Beast, from the beginning of the movie before she becomes a princess. Landon chose to be a blow up dinosaur. Both of these outfits proved to be frustrating for the kids. Brinley was routinely misidentified, mainly as Dorthy, Alice and Wonderland, Mary Poppins, and even a Cinderella. Landon's outfit proved to be difficult because of the rain. It protected him from the rain, but the build up on the outside of the outfit made the head droop and prevent Landon from seeing well. The tail also was so soaked that it dragged the ground and caused a little soapy trail to make a path behind him. I was bored after the kids went to bed so I organized their candy. I just am always interested to see what all they got.

Halloween night we walked over to meet up with some friends. Landon and Easton both when with the inflatable costume this year. Not the best weather for being an inflatable. 

We went over to McKinley's house after trick or treating. Unfortunately Nora had already gone to bed so we didn't get to see her in the flamingo costume. We celebrated McKinley's birthday a day early with some cobbler and ice cream.