Expecting clouds, I was pleasantly surprised to see the skies were completely clear. It was chilly though, only 45 degrees. At the time only Olivia was awake and downstairs. She asked for some coffee. I made some but with mostly flavored creamer. She headed back upstairs to Bella’s room after a few short minutes. I headed off on my run around 810am. Because it was the weekend, I ran the usual 3 mile trail.
Back at the house Mindy was mid-breakfast. The bacon was done and she and Olivia were busy whipping up pancakes. Mindy had Olivia wearing Bella’s apron. Too cute! While Mindy put the finishing touches on breakfast, I added a few photos to my blog. After all the girls were fed, I enjoyed a couple pancakes and bacon. We sent Olivia upstairs to wake Jacob. He didn’t want to get up. I was off to the shower near 9am.
Jacob wasn’t too happy about the prospect of riding with a car load of girls to Skyzone. He pleaded with me to drive separately. Mindy, however, was having none of it. She was determined that we could all fit in the Pilot. Unless I’m mistaken, there were nine of us (Mindy, Jimmy, Jacob, Bella, Olivia, Lillian, Makayla, Alana, and Laurel). Two of the girls had to double-buckle. We left the house pretty much on target near 930am. Traffic was light around 270 but surprisingly heavy up route 23 north. Skyzone is up near Alum Creek, just south of Lewis Center Rd on the east side of rt. 23 in the Orange Point Business Park.
Our event was scheduled for 1030am but they requested we be there by 10am. As it was, we were there at 950am. Two more of Bella’s guests were already there with their moms waiting. While Mindy took care of the logistics I walked around scoping out the place. Pretty cool set up. Reminds me somewhat of Skate USA although cleaner, neater, newer.
For the sake of the trampolines, they require that all jumpers wear these special shoes, which look like rigid hi-top tennis shoes. All the girls were ready by 1010am but had to wait until 1030am to begin jumping. The plan called for one hour of jumping and then pizza, pop and cake in a private party room from 1130am to 1210pm.
They have three ‘jumping areas: an enormous primary jumping area, probably about 150’ X30’, a smaller jumping area about 50’X30’ used for dodge ball, and then a similar sized area where half is a foam block pit.
As soon as 1030am came the kids were turned loose in the main jumping area. Jacob stayed for just a short while before heading down to the dodge ball pit. I stayed with the girls taking photos and video. I was amazed watching Bella effortlessly bounce and fly around in there. She gets much higher than most others her size. Another unique feature of the trampoline pits are the walls, which are trampolines too.
The ‘life guards’ or ‘jumping patrols’ do a good job keeping the kids of similar sizes in one particular area of the large pit to reduce the risk of injury. An hour doesn’t seem like that long until you start jumping. The girls were red faced and sweaty after just 10 minutes. Somehow they managed to go at it for the entire hour going between the three different pits. The ‘jumping patrols’ have to police the dodge ball court and set time limits for groups of similar sizes.
By 1010am Olivia was done jumping and wanted some food. Little wonder, she ate next to none of her pancakes and bacon. She was persistent. I walked her down to the snack bar where we happened upon Mindy who was looking to get some coffee. She fetched Olivia a bag of chips to tie her over until pizza time. Most of the girls kept at it until their time was up. At 1030am sharp, they opened the pizza party room.
Natasha was our hostess. She served the girls, soda, pizza, and then cake. We had to do nothing. She was very efficient moving from one phase to the next. I didn’t really plan on having any pizza but last minute decided to go ahead and have a piece. It was good. I had only one along with some water. I passed on the birthday cake. Natasha had us wrapped up and out of there after our allotted 40 minutes. A glance out to the jumping area, there was a much larger crowd by then. Probably a good thing we booked the early time slot. At the time it was the only one available. It was 1215pm, we still had much of the day ahead of us.
Jimaken was there for the party too. He and Jacob were going to the OSU Nebraska football game later that evening. Planning ahead, Jacob brought his suitcase so he could simply leave with his dad. As a consequence, there was one less for the drive home. We arrived home near 1245pm. Ashley texted just before we left Skyzone asking our ETA. She was coming to get Olivia at 1pm. Lindsey and the boys were at the house doing their laundry. All the kids headed out to play minutes after we got home. Olivia and Landon pleaded for me to push them on the tree swing. I really wanted to, but I had a bad case of the sleepies and wanted nothing more than to curl up in the family room chair for a little R&R. That didn’t stop the two of them, especially Olivia, from asking incessantly. They finally gave up after a few minutes.
Lindsey asked if we would keep an eye on the boys so she could go tanning and then make a stop at Target for Bella’s b-day gift. Mindy agreed. Ashley showed up around 115pm. She had Stephen’s sister, Brittany, and her son Carter with her. They didn’t stay too long, though Olivia tried unsuccessfully to get me to push her on the swing one more time.
I’m thinking that Lindsey was back around 215-230pm. She only had to fold one more load of laundry. She and the boys soon left. Suddenly our house was quiet again. It was just me, Mindy & Bella. Mindy and Bella left for a run to Target, Kohls and possibly Giant Eagle. While they were away I continued my napping ways. I took a three different naps while also watching college football, albeit passively.
Not sure the time when Mindy and Bella got home but I’m thinking it was near 5pm. I helped carry in the groceries, which most them were for Sunday’s family b-day party. Mindy’s stated goal was to get all the shopping done so she wouldn’t have to run out anywhere Sunday. Mindy asked if I was up for dinner out or in ahead of the 8pm Buckeye game. Still exhausted, I suggested we stay in, relax, and eat leftovers. Mindy liked the sound of that too, and commented that she was going to pour herself a beer.
Bella ate leftover pizza from her earlier party. Not sure what Mindy had, though I’m thinking it was leftover meatloaf. I wasn’t that hungry and did little more than snack on cheese, nuts, and a few chunks of the rotisserie chicken Mindy pulled for her chicken tortellini recipe. The three of us took Eiknarf on her evening walk together. It was a lovely evening for it. Sunny, yet cool. The ideal autumn evening. I poured a beer near 7pm – a Dog Fish Head Punk. Had it out in the garage for almost a year. Nevertheless, it was still quite good.
The Buckeye/Nebraska game kicked off just after 8pm. The Buckeyes offense was, well, offensive through the entire first quarter. I don’t think they managed more than about 20 total yards. We drew first blood, however, returning an interception for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. That lead didn’t last. Nebraska scored the next 17 points. Then thunder struck. The Buckeyes offense finally got off the schneid and scored two quick touchdowns and lead 21-17 about halfway through the 2nd quarter. But like most good teams do, Nebraska came right back and scored a touchdown to take the lead again. Our lead and joy were very short lived. Big plays were killing us.
From that point forward, something got into the Buckeyes offense. We reeled off two more quick touchdowns before the half to lead 35-24. Suddenly were playing like a top ten team. I was a little surprised when Mindy declared that she was heading to bed at halftime. That’s just something I can’t do, go to bed during a Buckeye or Viking game. We had a fire going in the fireplace too, by the way. I kept it fed throughout the evening. Bella was off playing in her room, so I had the entire downstairs to myself.
Nebraska came out after halftime and drove right down the field again with relative ease making sure we knew they weren’t rolling over and playing dead. Little did we know, the Buckeyes weren’t going to roll over and play dead, neither. Far from it. Over the next 12 minutes we scored three more touchdowns making it 56 – 31. All of the sudden it looked like a route. It was still hard to relax, especially after last year’s Nebraska come back. They were down by 21 points in the 2nd half and came back and beat us.
Nebraska looked beat but still managed a moderately late touchdown to make it 56-38. However, the Buckeyes were done. They were determined to rub salt on the wound. We scored a ninth touchdown to make 63-38. The stadium erupted. The game didn’t end until almost midnight. There was a record crowd in attendance, too – something like 106,621 folks.
At the same time the Buckeyes were playing, the Reds were playing their first playoff game in San Francisco. They were leading 3-0 last I saw. Just before I killed the TV and headed up to bed, I saw a 7th inning update. It was 3-1 Reds. Good night moon!
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