Kate's Trip to Ames, part II

This blog has a guest writer for the 1st time in its history. Sarah has gratiously allowed her husband to take over this blog post. I had been putting in a lot of hours at work recently and had a meeting in Ames Friday morning. Uncle Mike agreed to watch Kate during this meeting and it gave Kate and I Friday afternoon & Saturday to take in all things Iowa State.

We'll start our journey with a picture of a urinal. Kate was mesmorized that it would flush automatically. That's right Kate, we're not in La Porte City anymore.

Then we decided to have lunch at one of Iowa State's new food service stations. I never had any real complaints about food service when I was a student, but this was amazing. They have six or seven different stations where you could get everything you could ever want. I saw quesadillas, tacos, a sub station, various noodles & breadsticks, pizza, cereal, fresh fruit, casseroles & fresh grilled sandwiches. The food is made right in front of you. I paid $9.50 for all you could eat and drink. Kate was free. I will be hauling Sarah and my family there and forcing them eat again.



Kate and I couldn't find a booth - that's right, they have boothes - so we sat down and had lunch among all the college kids. It was great to see at least 40% of them out of their pajamas by the time we got there. You'll notice no trays. ISU figured out there's a lot of extra washing and students take a  lot of unnecessary food if they just load it up on a tray. It's apparently cut waste significantly.  I settled in with a grilled chicken sandwich with pepperjack cheese, the best slice of chicken alfredo pizza I've ever had & onion rings. It was all restaurant quality. Okay, enough about food.

Okay, we're not quite done about food. The only thing more awesome than a toilet that automatically flushes is a conveyor belt that takes away your dishes.

Or a faucet that turns on automatically.

We were right next to my old dorm so we took a trip up there. I can confirm that not everything at ISU is new. It smelled just like my old dorm floor but with 12 years extra power. You'll also notice that the door window in the lower right is kicked out. Yes Kate, you'll get the opportunity to live in a place as wonderful as this some day.

After that it was a trip to the Jacobsen building where Kate took an early place next to other Cyclone Legends.

Then it was nap time at Uncle Mike's apartment. We pulled up and Kate was very impressed with the size of Mike's "house".

And we're out. For two and 1/2 hours. I got a chance to enjoy cable TV and I settled in on the Dukes of Hazzard Reunion movie. If you could go back in time and tell six year old Matt that he'd spend Friday afternoon at age 32 watching the Dukes of Hazzard, he'd think that I grew up into the greatest guy ever. If you did the same to 23 year old Matt, I may have looked for a rope and a tree to go along with about 1,500 sleeping pills.

Our biggest problem came when Kate discovered that we forgot her toothbrush. The thing Kate fears most in this world - cavities. Not a bad thing, of course, but the girl is not afraid of anything else. The boogeyman, pirates & Frankenstein could kidnap her and she'd be fine until she found out she didn't have her toothbrush. It all started when Grandma Smith got Kate ready for bed one night at her house. I have no idea what was said but am scared about what possibly could have put this fear in her.

Here's a quick story from the ride down. "Dad, when I'm 26, I'm going to move to my new house. I need you to help me to make sure there is no one else living there when I buy my new house. Because if there is people living there, I won't have room in the cup to put my toothbrush and then I will get cavities because I can't brush my teeth." The American Dental Association should hire Grandma Smith.

. . .

This is Mike's neighbor. Kate thinks it is the coolest door ever. Although I'm sketchy of anyone who still has Easter & Christmas decorations up. We won't even address possible reasons for "please knock loudly".

After that Kate decided it was time to play a round of golf at Dad's favorite golf course, Veenker. Luckily Dad had the foresight at 5:30 that morning to drive out and load up our clubs on the off-chance Kate wanted to play golf after nap during this 85 degree day.

This is hole #2. Kate is getting to be a fantastic golfer. That is her ball on the green by the hole. She hit it from where she is standing. She really seems to genuinely like golf and did get excited to play a golf course with 18 holes on it for once. You can tell by my shadow that when I play golf, I like to do so on stilts.  

Here Kate is on hole #7. Hole 7 is the hardest hole on the course. It covers almost 6 football fields and goes over two creeks. Arnold Palmer played Veenker three times in his prime and bogeyed this hole two out of three times. Kate and I kept pace with Arnold.  And he probably didn't have the Cyclone Marching Band practicing nearby. 

She can actually poke the ball out there quite a distance for three years old, so she can hit the balls into the trees. Which is her favorite part.

I told Kate we were going to Hickory Park for supper. She responded in the sweetest voice possible, "Do they have a park there?" No Kate, but they do have Indian statues and the tastiest meat around.

They also have ice cream. This was the "Merry-Go-Round" sundae. Mint chocolate chip ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts & a cherry surrounded by animal crackers. Kate recommended.

At this point Kate told me that she was so excited for Saturday. Why? "Because I get to go home and see Mom and CJ." Argh. How do you get a three year old to like you? Take them swimming at 8PM when their bed time is 8:15. "Dad, this was the best suprise ever!" Take that Sarah and all your awesomeness. 

This is supposed to be a picture of a star Kate saw. "Dad, when you wish upon a star, your wish will come true." "What would you wish for Kate?" "I'd wish I could be like you and Mom when I grow up because you two are the greatest." Awwwww, Kate you're so sweet. "No, I change my mind, I'd wish I could fly." Well, there's that too.  

We were a little peckish and here's what we found in Uncle Mike's refrigerator. In his defense, the beer was a recent gift. Not in his defense, the milk was expired.

Rather than drink her breakfast, Kate and I went to The Grove for the biggest, tastiest pancakes in the world. Kate knocked out 2/3 of her pancake.

We had some time to kill, so we went to the Memorial Union Bookstore which is Cyclone Heaven. I didn't see anything I really wanted and I had a gift card I had to use up so I let Kate pick out a present. She weaved her way through several sections of Cyclone stuff to the one lonely section of non Cyclone stuff. And looked what she picked out. Several geese distracted her during this picture.

Then we made our way to the Cyclone Basketbll complex where Kate got to sit in and watch the Cyclone Women's Basketball team practice. The coaches and players were very nice to her and she enjoyed some Gatorade and mimicked their stretching exercises. Her favorite players? Anna Prinns ("Because she is the tallest" - 6'7") and Chassidy Cole ("Because she has her pony tail on top of her head"). Well, okay then. 

After nap, it was time for the football game. Or the children's play area before the football game. Here is a picture of Kate going up the bouncy-tent obstacle course.

Climbing . . .

Climbing . . .

Splat.

And we're up . . . and in the bouncy tent. Kate was the last kid allowed in before they closed it down, which somehow made it more enjoyable to her.

Then it was gametime. Iowa State fought hard and lost a very close football game to Utah by the narrowest of margins 68-27. The 68 points is the most every allowed by Iowa State at home in approximately 110 years of football history. So we got to see a record setting night! Kate demanded to stay to the end, showing that crappy football doesn't bother her and thereby cementing her status as a Cyclone fan for life.

After a weekend of pictures, Kate wanted the camera to show Mom a little of what she sees.

Man, I'm good looking.

Uhhhhh . . . .

At 11:30 PM we pulled into the Craft driveway. Kate, thanks for a fun weekend. I love you very much. Just don't cheer for anyone other than Iowa State.