Zoo

Yesterday after school we picked up Ben's friend Joesph and went to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, which according to Family Magazine is one of the top ten Children's Zoos in America (I may not be right about the magazine that ranked it).

We got there at about 4:00, which is when it closes. Fortunately, they let anyone who is there when they shut down wander around until 6:00. Hardly anyone was there, so we went to the brand new African Adventure, which is usually so crowded that you can hardly breath.

We got to get mere inches away from one of the hyenas, and the monkeys gave us quite a show, swinging from their ropes and leaping from one branch to the next. Jacob loved the leopard, which was sitting right next to the sheet of glass that separated it from us. But in my opinion, the best part of the whole trip was the giraffes!

One of the many great things about the new African exhibit is that you get to feed the giraffes! For $1 you can feed a piece of lettuce to an 18 foot tall giraffe. Jacob kept on saying, "Go for a ride," and pointed to the giraffe, but unfortunately going for a giraffe ride wasn't one of the new features. It was amazing, standing less than a foot away from a giraffe and putting lettuce onto its gigantic blue tongue.

Once we were finished with the giraffes, we started meandering on back to the parking lot, but not before passing the zebras, wildebeests, and. . . oh yeah, the Canadian geese. I thought it was funny that you could find geese poking around in the grass beside zebras and wildebeests.

Pictures (sigh), coming soon. By now I could say that in my sleep.

NFL Preseason 2009

Aaron Rodgers has yet to be sacked or throw an interception this preseason. And to top it all off we beat the Cardinals 44-37. Need I say more? Go Pack!

First Day of School 2009

August 24 was the first day of school at Holy Cross. My brothers and I were finally roused from our slothfulness that we demonstrated over the short summer. Getting up late, exercising by moving from the couch, to the chair, to the computer, to a friend's house. But no more. Now I get my exercise by moving from Homeroom, to Literature, to Social Studies, and so on.

On the bright side, all my teachers are super nice. They really make school a lot more enjoyable. In fact, I don't even dread getting up in the morning like I used to. Well, I still dread getting up, but not because of school.

177 days until summer break! I'm desperate, aren't I.

More Island Pictures

We caught at least 40 of these tiny sunfish.

Sam, Luke, Aaron, and Mike jumping off Aunt Carol's Dock.

A great shot of one of the eagles.

Most of the cousins (Mark, Jacob, and Josie are missing).

My cousin Anna's hygienic, sanitary band-aid (Yes, you read that right, that is a band-aid).

Tin Caps Are Midwest League Champions!

The Fort Wayne Tin Caps finished their dream season by winning the Midwest League Championship 7-0 against the Dayton Dragons! The fact that this is the Tin Caps inaugural season makes the championship all the more extraordinary!

Once you get past the name, the Tin Caps are a really good team. In fact, my dad said that they have the best record of any pro baseball team. So in terms of stats, the Fort Wayne Tin Caps are the best team in all of baseball. Wow!

Brett the Viking?

This guy needs to make up his mind once and for all. He's driving me insane! I used to be on Cousin Brett's side. If he wants to play football, then he can play football (as long as he gets beaten by the Packers). But being a loyal Packer fan, the Vikings is where I draw the line!

It's not like he's in it for the money. He has plenty of that. No, Brett Favre is still playing football because he feels like it. Which really ticks me off.

I know I sound like a hypocrite. Last paragraph I said if he wanted to play football he could. But put into consideration that he is now playing for the Pack's arch enemies! He's turning his faithful fans against him! He's besmirching his good Hall of Fame name! If you can't tell already, I'm not that thrilled with Brett the Viking.

Warsaw 2009

Every year since 2003 (or maybe it was 2004), we have gone to this really cool park in Warsaw with our friends the Kirks and the Greys. Unfortunately, the Greys couldn't come this year.

Anyway, we had a really good time playing on the flooded playground (Warsaw got a lot of rain before we came) and swimming on the lake that it's on. The water was unbelievably warm, and we all went off the diving board about twenty times.

Afterward, we always go to the "Biblical Garden" that is right next to the playground. There's a huge fountain that we swam in last year, (this year there was a sign that said "No Swimming") a GREAT climbing tree, and several ponds with tiny waterfalls.

We had a blast, but it could've been better. For instance, we didn't go to Dairy Queen. Last year we went to a nearby Dairy Queen and the moms said we should make it a tradition. Tradition apparently meaning, "We'll do it every once in a while."

April Fools Day 2010

Happy April Fools Day! This year I didn't pull any pranks (and thankfully, I wasn't the victim of any pranks), but Google sure did! When I logged onto Google this morning (for academical purposes, I assure you), I found to my great surprise that, instead of the usual "Google" displayed in big, colorful letters across the top of the screen, the word "Topeka" was there instead!

For a while, I was convinced that "Topeka" was now Google's official name, but then I remembered that it was April Fool's Day, and assumed that by tomorrow this strange phenomenon would be over.

Also, here are some extremely late IU pictures.

Youth Group

Today about 15 teenagers from grades 9-12 came over to our house and ate chips and dip. Why? Because the Holy Cross Youth Group was having a backwards day. They ate dessert first, then the main meal, and then appetizers all in different houses. The appetizers part was at our house.

We mostly just played in the backyard, and we had a pretty good time until David got a bloody nose on the trampoline. And then, somebody broke our rope swing, which we've had for about 6 years.

It was a pretty sentimental ordeal, but we can still use it as a ROPE swing, minus the swing. We discovered that if you climbed on the side of the trampoline and held on to the rope, you could jump and go for quite a ride. Unfortunately, it increases the risk of hitting the notorious tree.

Anyway, it was a pretty good party (party in a very modest sense, seeing as we only ate appetizers).

Risha's Surprise Birthday Party

At 3:30 my family headed down the street to go to our friend Risha's 40th birthday party, which she just happened to not know about.

Unfortunately, I had to miss the "surprise" part of the surprise party, because I had to stay home with Jacob while he was napping and walk him down there when he woke up. It wasn't ALL that bad, because while everyone was gone and Jacob was asleep, I watched Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End for the billionth time. (Just kidding)

Anyway, when I got there, the boys were downstairs watching the newest iCarly (hilarious show), people were playing cornhole, the grill was going, and the adults (of course) were talking about boring stuff.

All in all, it was a pretty fun party, especially because the ribs and cake were so delicious! Happy 40th Risha!

Family Members

Unlike my numerous brothers, I can actually fold clothes and I usually get straight A's. Need I say more?

Our Christmas card picture for 2007. As you can probably tell, we had to try about, oh. . . 1,000,000 times thanks to the boys.

Jacob being his cute self.

Me catching in a baseball game. Look at that concentration. . .

My mom cleaning the kitchen (she doesn't usually look like that, but she's usually cleaning).

Luke being his weird self.

David showing off his guns at a water park in Indianapolis.

My closest sibling Benjamin.

A young(er) Jacob.

My poor dad with Luke and David.

Island 2009

This year's Island was very fun, but very unusual. Here's a list of the bizarre things that took place over the course of the week:

1) One of the two baby eagles that has always lived in a huge nest above the Green Cabin must have overeaten or something, because it was on the ground, walking around! You could literally get a foot away from it. Sadly, while playing a game of capture the flag, I found it lying dead on the shore, with its neck twisted against a boulder. My Uncle Pete and Uncle Tom put it in a bag and gave it to the DNR, who said the eagle was about three years old.

2) We never saw it, but my Uncle Tom said that Sasha got a nose full of porcupine quills. All week long we were terrified of getting attacked by a porcupine.

3) We caught three snakes and saw five!

4) The uncles chopped down a large tree that had been threatening to fall down since 1997. Even without its branches, it was still 60 feet tall, and it made a huge crash as it hit the ground.

5) During an intense game of capture the flag, my dad jumped down to the beach and landed hard on a rock, either spraining or breaking his ankle (we still don't know because he insists upon not getting an x-ray). Fortunately, he got injured on the second to last day, so he wasn't hobbling around the Island for the rest of the week.

6) We found a dead bat clinging to a tree. (See picture below)

Anyway, it was another great Island, with much swimming, fishing, ping-pong (Not to mention "scar pong", a new version of ping-pong we invented in which the winner of a volley gets to smack the ping-pong ball as hard as they can at the loser's bare back. We were all covered in angry, ping-pong ball-sized welts by the end of the week), and general relaxing and having fun. Also, Luke passed his swim test, and can now roam the Island without a life jacket! Here are some of the 400 pictures my mom took (more to come later).

My cousin Matthew catching some minnows. He caught AT LEAST 1,000 minnows over the course of the week. Not kidding.

A dead bat we found clinging to a tree.

Some of the cousins reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which, by the way, is hilarious) in the rec. house.

A chimney log adds some excitement to our fire.

My brother Luke with Sasha on the rec. house dock.

One of the loons that live on Clear Lake.

My Uncle Dan filleting a fish. Not for the faint of heart!

What About Maria?

I don't really know what I'm going to blog about, but I'm sure I'll find plenty of things to say about what goes on around here.

Well, I kind of just made this post to say, "This is my blog, don't expect to much because I've never done this kind of thing before," so I have to go now, it's super late.