Vacation, All I Ever Wanted; Vacation, Had To Get Away

How about a little bit of Go-Go's to start this overdue post? I've been meaning to blog about our recent family vacation but I never feel like I have enough time to sit and dedicate myself to a super long post. I finally decided to do a bit at a time and even if it takes me a week to get through writing this, at least I'll finally finish it.

At the beginning of August, after moving into our new house and emptying our savings, we went on a family cruise to the Bahamas. Cuz, that's how we roll. It actually involved more than the cruise. Melissa, my sis-in-law, and I have been trying for two summers to find a weekend when our two families could spend a weekend at Lake George. The calendar Gods finally aligned and it ended up being the weekend before our family cruise. And just to make things more chaotic, we threw in a side trip to see a Tigers game in Detroit. We all met up Friday evening before the game to have dinner at the Elwood Bar and Grill just outside Comerica Park. We had heard family stories about $2 beers and wanted to check out the place. I'm not sure the rumor is true - my beer was $4 - but the food was good and view was awesome and the company was spectacular. Here's a semi group shot.

I'm bad about paying attention to baseball games. So when Seeger wasn't hanging out with cousin Ben, he and I ate popcorn together.

Nicklas DOES pay attention to baseball games. He stopped long enough to sorta smile at the camera. He loves going to Tigers games.

After the game Friday night, the group made the two drive to the Lake. We arrived pretty late that night but I think everyone enjoyed waking up and putting on their bathing suits right away on Saturday. The kids spent the entire day in the water. They stopped long enough to eat and take a pontoon ride. Matt and Melissa were excited to go on their first booze cruise. The kids liked driving the boat with Uncle John.

Here's my brother with his dog, Spots.

Aunt Kathy and Seeger.

The kids even went swimming AFTER their pontoon ride. My boys have never spent so much time in the Lake. Luckily it's more fun to swim with cousins. It's a proven fact, one I've verified with my own cousins.

We had a wonderful time together and decided that the cousins needs to spend more time together at Lake George. Afterall, it's one of the happiest places in the world.

Matt and his family left the Lake Sunday afternoon. Matt and Melissa were working part of the week before driving to Florida for the cruise. The Polack and I were planning on spending Sunday night at the Lake and leaving for Florida early Monday morning but when we realized we had left one of our suitcases in Bloomington, we made the trip back and slept in our own beds that night. We got up really early Monday morning to start our drive. We weren't out of Indiana yet before Nicklas started to feel car sick so just outside Louisville, we found a Huddle House that was open for breakfast at 5am.

We made it to Bob and Patty's, cousins of the Polack, late Monday night. Tom and Bobbie were already there and so was Aunt Judy. On Tuesday, we slept in, went shopping, went swimming, and ate an awesome meal of BBQ ribs. I thought I had a picture of the family dinner but I can't find it. Boo. It was a nice relaxing day. I didn't get to play Blokus but Seeger made me take a photo of the design he made with the game pieces.

Since the very beginning of the trip planning for the family cruise, I told the Polack that I wanted to take the boys to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It's the reason we drove to Florida a few days early. We were able to spend two days at Universal Orlando. Here are the boys, entering the City Walk.

We got to the park pretty early because I knew the Harry Potter lines are really long. Really, really long. I thought it would be best to get there as soon as possible, hoping to avoid some of the people traffic. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea. We had to wait for about 50 minutes to ride the Forbidden Journey (the ride inside the castle). Luckily, that was our longest wait. After the castle, we rode Flight of the Hippogriff, the smaller Happy Potter roller coaster. Here's a photo of the boys waiting for the ride.

It was pretty crowded in the Harry Potter land so we opted to skip the 30 minute line for butterbeers and we headed to the rest of the park. On the way out, I took some photos of Hogsmeade. Universal did an amazing job in creating the Wizarding World. I definitely understand why this is such a popular attraction.

Here are some more photos of our day at Universal's Islands of Adventure. The boys at Jurrasic Park.

Here we are in Dr. Suessland. I love this park of the park. It's very Suessical and fun for younger kids. I still made the boys visit, even if they don't appreciate it.

Outside the Marvel Comic area.

Nicklas loves roller coasters so he was excited about riding the Hulk. By late afternoon, the line was only 5-10 minutes long so he rode it about 10 times. Here he is after conquering the coaster.

Later that day, we decided to head back to Hogsmeade to see if it had calmed down some. The butterbeer line was short so we got one to share. The Polack and Nicklas thought it was too sweet but Seeger and I loved it.

Our last ride of the night was the big Harry Potter coaster, Dragon Challenge. Nicklas rode it three or four times. It was a great coaster. We also did some shopping in Honeyduke's and Ollivander's. I had told the boys they could pick out one souvenier. Nicklas chose to buy a wand from Ollivander's. Even though it's Narcissa Malfoy's wand, it's still really, really cool. Seeger chose to buy some dinosaur's figurines from Jurrasic Park. It was a great day!

The next day, we decided to check out the other park, Universal Studio's. The park was a lot less crowded and we easily did everything it had to offer. Seeger doesn't like big rides but he definitely enjoyed the Woody Woodpecker roller coaster. He rode it at least 15 times. We would talk him in to riding other rides by rewarding him with the Woody coaster.

Mike was cast in the Disaster! ride.

I didn't take nearly as many photos at Universal Studio's. We really enjoyed the ET ride and Men in Black. The boys loved the Simpson's and laughed several times. I liked the Mummy coaster. Seeger was a little freaked out by Twister. We had to keep reassuring him that it was all special effects. It sure brought up a lot of weather related questions.

We had been to Universal Studio's before so we were familiar with most of the rides. However, we hadn't ridden the new coaster, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. The Polack went to ride it with Nicklas while Seeger and I waited.

Here's a photo I took of the coaster. I definitely didn't feel like I needed to ride it. But as usual, the Polack talked me in to it so Nicklas got to ride it again, this time with me, while the Polack stayed with Seeger. It was super awesome. You get to choose which music you want to hear as your riding the coaster. They film you the whole time so you can buy a video of yourself on the ride. I'm sure my video was pretty entertaining as I was jamming to No Doubt the whole time.
By the time we returned to Bob and Patty's that night, the cousins had arrived. The kids where so excited to be together again. The next day, we headed to Cocoa Beach to watch a NASA rocket launch before boarding the cruise ship. We went to the beach but unfortunately, we didn't let the kids go swimming. They really wanted to get in the water but we only had a little bit of time and we didn't want them sandy and wet before boarding the cruise.

We let them put their feet in the water. It was torture not letting them get completely wet. I felt awful about it.

We waited and waited for the launch but it kept getting delayed. Finally, we left for Port Canaveral. On the way, we saw the rocket so everyone pulled off to the side of the road to watch. Mike took this photo from the car.

Finally it was cruise time! Here's a photo as we're arriving to our rooms.

Our first meal on the ship was lunch. We were hungry!

Nicklas said those french fries were the best he ever had.

Here are the cousins with Patty, checking out the ship.

Nicklas loved being in the top bunk.

Here's the Polack in our tiny room!

The cabin is great for family time, but not so much for couple time. At least I got some kisses from the boys.

The second day of the cruise, we were headed to Nassau. Tropical Storm Emily messed with some of our plans so we didn't get there as soon as we were supposed to. The ship did a pretty good job of entertaining us. So did Ben! Here's a photo from Bingo time.

We finally made it to Nassau. I loved walking arond and seeing the old Bahaman architecture. It was overcast most of the day and it rained some but luckily, we never got wet.

Here's the straw market. A little too close crowded for my comfort.

Here are the kids as we are heading back to the ship. Our ship is the first one in the photo. We chose Royal Caribbean and we have a rock climbing wall. The other ship is Carnival and they had a water slide.

In front of the straw market.

Some random shots...

Here is a photo of the kids, hanging out in Bob and Patty's room.

Nicklas and Anna did an awesome job on the rock climbing wall. Anna made it all the way to the top to ring the bell.

Goofy cousins.

Swimming at one of the pools. I have another photo of the boys posing in front of the pool but I like this one better.

Here is a photo of Nassau as we are departing from port.

The obligatory towel animal. The boys loved this. We were hoping for more but only received one during the cruise.

We were supposed to go to Coco Cay on our third day of the cruise but unfortunately, the storm prevented that from happening. We were very disappointed about not getting to spend time at the beach. We still had fun on the ship, especially at dinner. The kids loved being able to order anything and everything off the menu. I loved multiple desserts!

I tried escargots for the first time. I enjoyed it but I think I'd love anything with that much butter on it.

More photo's from dinner...

That's it for my photos. Whew, this WAS a long post. I still don't have a camera so all photos were taken with my iPhone. I definitely didn't take as many photos as I would have with a camera. I also didn't get any group shots with the rest of the family. We didn't all do everything together all of the time - which is the nice thing about a cruise - but we definitely did lots of things together. I wish I would have captured more of those moments. There were 14 of us on the cruise and it was great to spend so much time together. It was a wonderful vacation and we're looking forward to the next time we can spend time with the Turner family.

Random Thought Thursday

Whew, it's been a crazy week so far. I spent the last few days in Fort Wayne with my mom who had surgery to fix her out of whack kneecaps. We were in the hospital for three days and now she's with me, safe and sound in Bloomington. And me? Well, I'm trying to catch up on work and home life.

And blogging.

So let's get to it.

1. Speaking of my mom, have I ever told you her first name? It's Cherryl. But drop the L and she's Cherry. As in Sherri, not cherry the fruit. All her life, she's had to tell people her name is not pronounced like the fruit.

2. The first concert I ever went to was R.E.M. I was in 9th grade and my best friend was Melissa. Her brother took us and his friend to Indianapolis and we spent the night at the Hyatt. The brother's friend wore this cheap silver necklace that turned his neck green. I remember being really grossed out by the green ring around his neck. But it was like a car wreck... I couldn't look away.

3. This morning, I went to open a box of cereal and it was full of ants. Ewww, right? They were big black ants which is even more gross. Now I have to clean out my pantry.

4. My mom is currently taking percoset for her pain. Side effects are drowsiness and confusion and boy is she experiencing both.

5. A local high school is offering to strings lessons to the fifth and sixth graders at Nick's school. He doesn't really want to participate but the Polack and I have encouraged him to try it out. I think he's worried that it will be hard so we told him if he doesn't like it he can stop after a few weeks. He can choose to play the violin, viola, cello, or upright bass.

6. Landscaping is expensive. Really, really expensive. I wish my house would landscape itself, already.

7. On the route between Bloomington and Fort Wayne, off of Exit 78 of I69, there is a giant chicken that sits beside a gas station. I've always wanted to stop and get a picture of me with that chicken.

8. Last weekend was the first tailgate of the year. It was a really fun day with friends and family, despite advancing the Hoosiers to 0-2. Unfortunately, the bottom of our grill completely rusted out. When unpacking after the game, it fell apart and we won't be able to buy a new grill in time for Saturday's game. I told the Polack we should skip tailgating and eat at Mother Bear's. His mom suggested we just get a bunch of food from KFC. I don't think he liked either suggestion because he just asked me if we should go to the store tonight to get food for the tailgate on Saturday. I guess we're going to have to think of what to prepare that doesn't need cooked.

9. It's a bit chilly out today but the sky is blue and beautiful. I love campus during the fall - the mums, the changing colors, the students in their sweatshirts. Actually, I love campus in the winter, spring, and summer too.

10. I was asked to join a board for a local nonprofit. I want to accept but I also want to join the CASA program so I'm a little torn. The class I'm teaching starts in a few weeks and I don't know if I can do everything. The Polack already complains about being too busy as a family. We'll see how I work things out.

Well I'm off to enjoy the rest of the beautiful day. It's spaghetti night and I'm also going to make chili for tomorrow since I have an evening event to attend. I can't let my momma and the rest of family starve.
Have a great weekend everyone.

Texts from Nicklas

Now that Nicklas has a phone, he's started texting. So far, most of
his texts are coming to me and I love it! All too soon, he'll be
texting friends and other people. Who are not me.

In the meantime, I can enjoy sweet texts from him, like these.

Best and Worst

Seeger's worst - his sign in card at Boys and Girls Club didn't work
Nick's worst - probably that Dad was worried about if he got on the
bus this morning
Mike's worst - walking in to after-care and them telling him that
Seeger wasn't there after they originally said he was there
Natalie's worst - Mike driving all over trying to find Seeger
Cherry's worst - losing Seeger
Seeger's best - mom is finally home
Nick's best - mom and Grammy home and Survivor is on tonight
Mike's best - when he left the house the Tigers were down by three
runs in the 9th inning and by the time he got to the Boys and Girls
Club for the first time, they had won the game
Natalie's best - Seeger was found safe and sound
Grammy's best - coming to Bloomington to rehab

Thoughtful Thursday

Oh hello. Thanks for stopping by. I'm here to share some not-so-random-thoughts on a rainy Thursday.

1. Both my boys know how to ride a bike. For reals, you guys. Nicklas is 10 so I never thought the day would come. I had just about given up. It started with a Monday where we helped both practice and practice and practice. Seeger took off right away but Nicklas - my cautious, nervous, psych himself out, Nicklas - started slowly. On his bike with training wheels. I would get him started in the grass going down hill. The training wheels didn't last long. He'd be headed down the hill and one tiny wheel would go rolling the other way. I'm proud of Nicklas though because when we took off the training wheels, he kept trying. Sure, he couldn't pedal and steer at the same time and maybe he would use his feet to stop the bike because he couldn't get the hang of braking and yes, he did run into my car and fall off, but he kept trying. YAY NICKLAS! We worked every day after school and by Thursday, they both were riding up and down the street. We took their bikes to the lake this weekend and Nicklas and I took a 3 mile ride. How awesome is that?!

2. We've been wanting the boys to learn to ride their bikes for awhile now. We resorted to bribing them. We told Nickas we would buy him a phone and Seeger a DS. Both were pretty quick to remind us of this when they mastered the bike riding. Nicklas is pretty proud of his phone - I think he'll start texting people soon. He keeps wondering why he can't play games though. Since we are so proud of his determination and desire to keep trying, we told him that if he proves he's responsible enough for a phone (re: not losing it!) we would let him have an iPhone. He's thrilled. It's fun to be a cool parent (for awhile anyway.)

3. My mom is having knee surgery on Monday so I'll be making a trip up north to stay with her. She'll be in the hospital for a few days and then she's coming to stay with me until she starts physical therapy.

4. The other night when the Polack and Nicklas went out to do their fantasy football draft, Seeger and I decided to have a fun night with just the two of us. After he did his homework, we rode bikes together (which means I had to ride Nick's bike because my bike is still in Lafayette), took a long walk, and went on tractor rides. It's fun having the riding mower. I even let Seeger drive a little bit. He wanted to go faster but I was too nervous. Maybe when he's older. It was a really fun evening.

5. The Polack has perfected making a dessert he calls Brownie Surprise. It's SO awesome and I love it when he makes it. It's in my top 3 dessert options. (If you know me well, then you know red velvet cake is on the list too.)

6. When I was in elementary school, I read this book call Fortress. I loved the book and was shocked to find out there was movie made based on the book. I discovered this because back in the early-80's when my family owned our first VCR, my granddad used to tape movies from HBO and give them to us. I saw one labeled Fortress and popped it in to watch. By myself. It was a low budget HBO produced movie that SCARED ME TO NEAR DEATH! Yes, it was based on the book but it was way creepier. I loved it though and in the last few years I've asked people if they remember the book or movie. The Polack hadn't heard of it, my brother didn't remember it, my friends looked at me like I'm crazy, even the friend who GAVE ME the book to read. She has no memory of it. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. The Polack and I are in Louisville for the weekend and I'm reading a newspaper column where a writer asks about movie he remembers watching as a kid that's set in Australian outback and features a man in Father Christmas mask kidnapping a group of school children and their teacher and what was the name of that movie? Of course I was super excited about the mention of Fortress and haven't stopped thinking about this blast from my past. I've now purchased the book (found on some second hand used book website because it's no longer in print) and the DVD I bought from Amazon (which was released by HBO in 2006) is being shipped to me soon. I can't wait to watch it.

If you have read the book or seen the movie, please leave me comment and let me know your thoughts on either.

7. I got to buy a lot of fabric yesterday and I had a gift card so it didn't cost me anything. I'm looking forward to start a new project which will be a baby quilt for my cousin.

8. I volunteered to type up the directory for the boys' school. Let me type that again. I VOLUNTEERED TO TYPE THE SCHOOL DIRECTORY. What was I thinking?? I have to create a list and add every student, with parent names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails. EVERY STUDENT. With 500 students at the school, it's quite the project. It's really cut in to my sewing/reading/tv watching time.

9. Oh that tv watching... now that we have satellite tv, I find myself drawn to the couch more than I care to think about. And of course, even though I have 300 channels I seem to end up watching Friends reruns. Or Keeping Up With the Kardashian's. It's not healthy.

10. IU's first home football game is this weekend. We're tailgating with some friends and I'm looking forward to the season. Sure, we lost to Ball State last weekend, but I'm oh so hopeful for our next game. If we lose again, it will be hard to stay so positive so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! We've opened our home to those who want to come to Bloomington for a game. It's Hotel Casa de Kubatski and we're open for business. We're now taking reservations if you need a weekend getaway. We'd love to have you! We have some weekends already reserved by hey, the more, the merrier, right?

Random Thought Thursday

1. I'm not sure why I call this Random Thought Thursday. It's not like what I'm typing is very random. If I typed my real random thoughts, it would look something like this: love mexican so glad i had some oh chips and salsa salt makes me thirsty tony was helpful casa brava tired and should go to bed early won't though its mid afternoon i need chocolate but i never have chocolate around should i get a snack stupid vending machine 90 cents grrr peanut m&m's yum wait no pretzel totally want both.

2. I went to the movie's with a friend last night and someone in the group behind me took off his shoes. With stadium seating, his feet were pretty close to my head so I got a whiff of smelly feet for two hours. I finally got a piece of gum from my friend so that the mint would over power the smell. What's the proper etiquette for that situation?

3. And I totally don't know if it was a guy or girl but I judged the smell and assumed guy.

4. Eating chips and salsa for lunch always makes me thirsty all afternoon - no matter how much water I drink.

5. "These pretzels are MAKING me thirsty! These PRETZELS are making me thirsty! THESE pretzels are making me THIRSTY!" There's a little Seinfeld humor for you.

6. I would really like some chocolate right now. I sometimes visit the vending machine when I'm craving chocolate but they raised their prices and peanut M&M's are 90 cents now. I try to tell myself that I should pretend they're a dollar and it's buy 9 get the 10th free.

7. My senior year of high school, I had a class called Current Social Problems. It pretty much consisted of all the stupid conservative Republican boys beating up on my and my small group of social Democratic friends. We were definitely the minority. Now one of those boys is running for city council in my hometown and I'm doing everything I can to hold back on refuting all of his campaign promises via facebook.

8. The great thing about living in Bloomington is that I'm no longer the minority or seen as the extreme leftist. If anything, I border on moderate/almost conservative.

9. Seeger has started to going to the Boys and Girls Club after school. The bus takes him from school to the club. I'm a little worried - having worked for an after school drop in program, I've seen the clients who come from families where foul language and violence is common. I'm told this is unusual behavior for the Bloomington B&GC. I hope so but I will definitely be monitoring the situation.

10. Nicklas woke me up today at 5:45am. He was dressed and ready for breakfast. I asked him why he was up so early (his alarm usually goes off at 5:40) and he told me that he woke up and showered and got dressed and looked at his clock and realized it was only 2am. He laid down and went back to sleep - thank goodness! It reminded me of this incident.

Have a great weekend everyone. I'll be at Lake George - the second happiest place on earth.