The Polack is running for sheriff?

Green Beans!

At school this spring, Seeger started a seedling. He brought it home and planted it in my flower bed. That sucker has grown and grown and we finally picked all the green beans from it.

They're HUGE!

Unfortunately, Seeger doesn't like green beans.

All About Me

All About Me
by Seeger

My Family
Hello, my name is Seeger. I was born in Bloomington in 2004. I have 1 sister and 1 brother. We live in Bloomington, Indiana at North Cannon Court. I have some pets. One is a dog called Freddy and the other is a fish call Drago. My family was lucky enogh to travel many places like the stat of Mennesota and the beaches of florida.

My Interests
I have many intrests. Some of the hobbies are playing wii, movies, and ninjas. My favorite thing to play is wii. I really like to play outside. My favorite things to play outdoors are ninga, Hero Factory, and biking.

My School Life
I had three awesome, kind teachers at school. My kind kindergarten teacher was Ms. Lane. My awesome first grade teacher was Mrs. Killion. My awesome, kind teacher is Miss Scott. In school. I like to learn and learn and learn. My favorite subject is Litariture but i like them all!! I have learned bout many things buy one thing is about birds. Next year I really hope that I will learn about the solar system. In the library, I choose books about fantasy. I also like books about animals.

My Future
I'm not exactly sure what I want to be when I grow up but I definitly think I am going to be an engineer because I get to use a wrecking ball.

Stay tuned for scenes from our next book!



There are a few factual errors (including our address) but I am very impressed with Seeger's writing. He only misspelled a few words. Also, I don't think he remembers when we went to Minnesota nor the fact that we were only at the airport for a layover from San Diego.

Random Thought Wednesday

1.      I can’t believe how long it’s been since I did an RTT. I guess I’m no longer random. Or thoughtful.

2.      I was checking my blog stats that other day and I was reading the keyword searches that brought people to my blog. As always the top is Ricardo Lozano. But a few others have made their way to the top including county fair mousegame, Indiana penguin point restaurant, herbst braces, and lake George boat parade. I’ll use these keywords to provide you with some updates. (My blog stats show IP addresses of who looks at my blog. So I don't really know who you all are but only where you live. I have lots of readers from Bloomington, Fort Wayne, and Lafayette. I also have a regular reader from Tempe, Scranton, Kalispell Montana, Osaka (as in Japan) and Leonberg Germany. Who are you people?)

3.     County fair mousegame is in reference to the game I used to love playing at the DeKalb County Free Fall Fair (the last fair of the season and the BEST fair of Indiana!) You would put a quarter on a group of numbers and hope that the mouse would crawl in to a numbered hole that you had “bet” on. (When you google this phrase, my blog is the second post.)

4.      Penguin Point is a fast food restaurant. They had the best commercial growing up and I still remember all the words. (I also can remember all the words to the Brady Bunch but I only know part of Wonder Woman.) Last I knew there was still a Penguin Point in Auburn. This search comes up on the second google page. (Actually, I just checked and there ARE still Penguin Points in northeastern Indiana. And if you click on the Penguin Point link, you'll hear the tail end of the song from the commercial.)

5.     Herbst braces refer to the post I did about Nicklas needing a Herbst appliance. He’s had it for a few months now and it’s going pretty well other than the piece coming unglued from his tooth. I actually like him having the Herbst because it means he brushes his teeth more often. He will likely get his braces this winter and we’re not looking forward to it.

6.      And finally, the Lake George boat parade. We had so much fun doing the parade two years ago and I had hopes that we would do it again this year. The theme is super heroes and cartoons. Unfortunately, the parade takes place this year on July 7 and several family members won’t be there. Bummer. We’ll just have to watch from shore. I’m proud to say that my blog is the top result for this search. Woo hoo!

7.      We’re going to an Indianapolis Indians game tomorrow so that we can cheer on the Toledo Mud Hens. After the game, we’re driving to the Lake and we’ll be there for 10 days. I’m reconnecting with some high school friends during the week and I have a pile of Trixie Belden books to read.

8.      In other news, I spent last night hearing the sounds of four boys running around the house. Nicklas and Seeger had friends spend the night. I love a house full of boys!

9.      We bought the Polack a bike for father’s day. We’ve gone on a few family rides and he and I rode almost 3 miles yesterday. Three miles in our neighborhood is tough because it’s all hills. I only had to stop once though and once we keep at it, I know we can go further. We’re taking our bikes to the Lake this weekend and we’ll be able to ride pretty far without the hills to slow us down.

10.  The garage sale last weekend was a success. We earned some extra cash and got rid of a lot of things. Now I just need to pack up all the kids’ clothes and books and distribute them appropriately.

Ketuckiana Visit

For the past year, the Polack and I planned to attend the Kentucky Oaks for the first time ever. We’ve only been to a horse race once and it was such a great time that we decided the Oaks would super cool. My college roommate lives near Louisville and we planned to go with her and her husband. Unfortunately, I had a work event that prevented us from attending. I was super bummed but then Stacey suggested we find a weekend our the families to get together.

So last weekend, we drove to Floyds Knobs to stay with the Nance’s. Saturday evening we ate at Bluegrass Brewing Company in Louisville and then went to a Louisville Bats game. On the way back to the Nance’s, we stopped at Polly’s Freeze for ice cream.

Sunday was race day.

It was family day at Churchill Downs and we opted to pay more for the buffet in Millionaire’s Row. It was pretty hot and humid outside so I’m glad we chose to sit indoors. We were on the six floor and could stand outside on the balcony during the races. We were right by the finish line for the races. Here's family shot of us.

Seeger and Aynsley (who is the coolest 8 year old girl I know) are just a few months apart.

Nicklas really got in to the races. He was studying the guide and making different bets the whole day.

After a few races, it rained so it was cool to see the races in the mud.

Stacey and I met our freshmen year of college. We lived on the same floor of Willkie South Co-op and were roommates for three years. 

Nicklas with his winning ticket.

We went to the Paddock to check out the jockeys.

The Polack was pumped to be so close to Calvin Borel. He called out to Cal and became giddy when he received an acknowledgement and a wave.

We saw 10 races that day and had so much fun betting and cheering and hanging out with the Nance's. I won big during the first race so we started out well. I ended up ahead for the day which was good because the Polack lost almost every race. The boys had fun betting too. They came out even. I need to give a special thank you to the Nance's for being such wonderful hosts and for planning a great weekend. I hope we will do it again soon.

Best and Worst

Mike's worst - laundry
Seeger's worst - putting away laundry
Natalie's worst - miscommunication about who was picking up whom
Nick's worst - same as mom
Mike's best - made a pretty good meal and Natalie got to quilt
Seeger's best - family dinner and ice cream and spending the night at Ryan's
Nick's best - Nikesh coming over
Natalie's best - sleeping in and relaxing day

Chicago Visit

Several months back, my uncle offered us tickets to a Cubs vs. Tigers baseball game at Wrigley Field. We jumped at the chance to attend a Tigers game, knowing we probably wouldn't make it to one in Detroit this year. Around the same time, Meesha surprised us with a visit to Six Flags Great America. It was a thank you gift to us for letting her stay at our house the past four months. It was a great mini vacation. A few days before leaving, we went swimming at a friends house.

Nicklas played his last regular season game.

The next day, we headed to Chicago land. Six Flags was great. We love amusement parks and we especially enjoy roller coasters. Nicklas loves them! Seeger has never been a big fan of thrill rides but now that he's getting a bit taller, he's getting braver too. After all, he did the Cheetah Run at Busch Gardens in March. The Polack was bummed he missed seeing that but he was excited to be able to ride coasters with Seeger at Six Flags. Unfortunately, while waiting in line for the first coaster, Seeger complained of not feeling well and he said he wanted to go home. We realized this was nerves on his part so we decided to start off easy. We did some small rides and then took a ride on the train. Seeger never turns down a train ride.

We did a few of the smaller and wooden coasters. Seeger seemed okay riding coasters that didn't go upside down. We also rode some of the bigger coasters that Seeger isn't tall enough for by doing a parent swap. Nicklas loves the parent swap because I would ride with him while the Polack waited with Seeger. When Nicklas and I returned, then I would wait with Seeger while the Polack and Nicklas rode. So Nicklas got to ride all the big rides twice.

Here are some photos of the Six Flag's newest coaster - X-Flight.

Both boys wanted to ride Buccaneer Battle. It's a water ride where they shoot at other boats and those watching the ride.

The Polack and I watched (and shot at the boats going by.) Here's the Polack waiting for the boys' boat.

Waiting for yet another coaster.

We finally worked our way up to where Seeger felt ready to try an upside down coaster. He chose the Demon and decided he wanted to ride with his dad. I love the expressions on his face while waiting to leave. He was all smiles for the camera but when he didn't think I was taking pictures, he looked so nervous. And I love that they were holding hands.

We also rode the needle. The boys wanted to see the park from the sky. It's cool to see the roller coasters sprinkled throughout.

I believe that you're never too old to ride a carousal. 

One of our last rides was the Superman. I'd heard this was a cool coaster and it didn't disappoint. It was our favorite of the day. (I had to take this photo during the Superman ride since I lost my first iPhone while riding a coaster.)

When you first sit down to ride the Superman, you think it's a regular hanging coaster but then the seats rotate forward 90 degrees. This means that you end up with your belly facing down - just like Superman flying. It's so cool!

We also did one of my favorite rides, the Log Flume.

Seeger bought a cape. He was super excited to be a Super Hero.

We had a great time at Six Flags. We were able to ride all of the big rides that day. I'm glad we didn't plan to do the water park because we wouldn't have had enough time. The park was a little dirty (which was more noticeable since there are signs everywhere advertising it as the cleanest park in America) but the staff were very friendly and nice. The rides were fun and there was plenty to do.

The next day was the Tigers game. It was a 1:00 start so were took our time in the morning. We stayed at my aunt and uncle's house and boys loved playing foosball and shuffleboard in the basement. We got to Wrigleyville early so we could look around and check out things out. I only took one photo but it's a classic.

It was a great three days in Chicago. The weather was perfect and we had a great getaway. I need to give a special shout-out to Uncle John for the baseball game tickets and Meesha for the visit to Six Flags. We are very blessed family.

Best and Worst

Seeger's worst - not getting his choice of dinner
Mike's worst - has taken two showers today and will probably have to take another one
Natalie's worst - was so restless last night that Mike had to sleep on the couch + doctor says thyroid is getting much bigger
Nick's worst - going to the doctors office
Seeger's best - sprinkler!
Mike's best - boys rode their bikes today
Natalie's best - family time and Nicklas meeting a neighbor
Nick's best - sprinkler

Movie Time

Yes the theater is old, smelly, and dirty. But the movies are only $4!

Recap

I haven't done much blogging lately so I thought I'd recap some recent activities. (Also, I finally downloaded photos off my iPhone so now I have actual material to blog about.)
Two weeks ago, the boys spent a few days in Lafayette with their grandparents. The Polack and I enjoyed just-the-two-of-us time. One night, I had some dog sitting duties. My friend just welcomed a Burmese Mountain Dog to her family. Ellie is six months old and she's HUGE.

Ellie's big brother, Duncan, has tumor so he's on lots of meds. He didn't feel like visiting with us.

While waiting for the pups to potty, we ate some Thai food. Yummo!

Did I mention that Ellie is HUGE!?

During the week, the second generation Kubat's all met up to see the Wailers (-Bob Marley, obvs) at the Bluebird. It was a fun concert but judging from the smell wafting around the place, I think the bandmates in the green room had way more fun than everyone else.

During Redemption Sounds, everyone got out their lighters in tribute. I started to use my iPhone Torch app but I realized I was one of the few in the room without an actual lighter.

(I tried to upload a video of the Wailers singing "Don't Worry" but stupid Blogger isn't cooperating.)

A few days later, Nicklas had a baseball game and he had his FIRST HIT of the season. It was an awesome hit! I just wish it wasn't his only hit of the season. Anyway, we were super proud and took him the the Chocolate Moose after the game.

Seeger had a rainbow snow cone.

The Polack had a banana shake.

I had a peanut butter and brownie Blizz.

Nicklas had a moose horn.

One reason for my extra business lately is that I've been in charge of the Jill's House Golf Outing raffle/auction. I had to make some boxes to collect the raffle tickets.

And decorate and prepare the items.

During the Golf Outing activities, the boys met their friends and went swimming at the Bloomington Country Club. Oh yeah, and they met Tom Crean.

I also recently drew a kick-ass comet on Draw Something. It's my best drawing yet, I think.

The boys had their annual check-ups. BOTH had to get shots.

Nicklas wasn't happy that he had to get TWO shots.

I also did some quilting. ('Bout time.)

Picked some flowers from the yard.

And spent time swimming at a friends house.

We celebrated the Polack's birthday this weekend with family and friends. One of his friends was driving to Michigan from Mississippi and stopped by for the evening. He's a friend from college so he wanted to do a quick walk through campus. He kept telling me how lucky I am to work on campus (I KNOW!) and he said it's probably hard to appreciate it (NOT AT ALL!) Then we met some other friends and went to see Hairbanger's Ball at the Bluebird.

(Somehow I didn't get any pictures from the birthday, campus tour, OR Bluebird. Rats.)

Tomorrow we leave for Chicago and then we're spending the weekend in Louisville so we have another fun week in store. I love summer!