We have a winner (and more chances to win)!

Cheeseandicecream, aka Nathan Miller! I think Nathan and I would get along very well. He can have the cheese and I'll take the ice cream.

Nathan's entry (which had no bearing on his win, as his number was chosen by Random.org) said this:

The greatest thing about baseball is how time seems to slow down and makes you realize how much you have and to appreciate the true essence of the game. I would love to take my and my finances family to the game that night. Thanks for the chance!

Nathan -- Send your snail mail address to me at 4thfrog70 (at) gmail (dot) com so I can have the Indiana Family of Farmers send out your tickets.


For those of you sad that you didn't win, fear not! There are several other Indiana bloggers hosting the same giveaway. Check them out here:


Redefining Perfect

Angel's Homestead

Family Fun in the City

Chaos is Bliss

Basilmomma

Kat's Cafe

GR-8 Indianapolis Indians ticket giveaway

I don't do a lot of giveaways, but from time to time one comes along that sounds like fun. This is one of those times. The Indiana Family of Farmers has invited me to take my family -- AND ONE OF YOURS -- to the June 11, 2012 Indianapolis Indians baseball game.

A lot of giveaways are set up for families of 4, which leaves someone out if you're in my family of 5. But IFoF is letting me give away 8 tickets to its Family Night at the Ballpark. That means even a big family can have a big night at Victory Field.

Gates open at 5:30pm with the game beginning against the Rochester Red Wings at 7:05pm. In addition to tickets to the game, the winner of this giveaway is invited to join IFoF for an in-game picnic that begins at 7:30pm. You can choose to watch the game from the Coors Light Picnic area or from Section 120 on the first base side of the stadium.

Sounds great, right?  

Here's what you have to do to enter:

Simply leave a comment with your favorite thing about going to a baseball game AND how many tickets you'll need. If you want all 8 tickets, great. If you only need 4 or 5, let me know that too and I can give the other tickets away to someone else. Be sure to leave your e-mail address or make sure your e-mail address is available on your profile.

For extra entries:

1. Like the 4th Frog Blog on Facebook and leave a comment below that you did.
2. Like the Indiana Family of Farmers on Facebook and leave a comment below that you did.

Entries will be taken until Friday, May 25 at 8pm. I'll use Random.org to choose a winner (or winners if the first person doesn't need all 8 tickets).

Good luck! I hope to see you at Victory Field on June 11!

Play ball!

Last night we went to an Indianapolis Indians baseball game. This was a special treat because I had been randomly chosen as the "Toyota Fan of the Game," just by signing up for a drawing at the game we went to on Charlie's birthday in June.

So when we arrived at Victory Field, we went to the will call box and checked in for what turned out to be the royal treatment! Laura from the Indians front office met us and took us underground to the corridor where the team locker rooms and groundskeeping staff are. She led us out to the field where we posed for a field-level family picture:

Then we went back inside to pose for a picture with Rowdie and the pile into a Toyota Tundra truck for a ride around the field to our front row seats!

In addition to the free, front-row seats, we were given $20 in gift certificates to spend on concessions -- and it was $1 menu night. $20 buys a whole lot of $1 hot dogs, popcorn and cracker jacks!

In addition to the excitement of the game, we were pulling for the Indians to hit a homerun. Not just any homerun. We wanted one that would hit the red truck behind the outfield fence:

If they did, we would win a new Toyota truck! So nearly every Indians at-bat, my kids were chanting "Hit the truck! Hit the truck!" (I'll admit to tweeting it once...) Annie even turned her baseball hat inside out, rally-cap style, for good luck.

Alas, no truck-smacking homeruns, but there were quite a few foul balls that went into the stands. One was headed straight for us. Mike and Charlie scrambled to catch it, while I covered my head and screamed like a little girl. Guess the volume of my screams changed the ball's trajectory because this little guy ended up with the ball:

We didn't win a truck or snag a foul ball, but we had a terrific -- and basically free -- night. Thanks Indianapolis Indians!

Apparently, "date" IS a dirty word

Last night I took Charlie to an Indianapolis Indians baseball game, tickets and refreshments courtesy of the rep from my printer at work (thanks Lorrie!). It was a beautiful night to be at the ball field.

Mike dropped Charlie off at my office and from there we headed to the downtown stadium. Charlie was beyond excited. He had his baseball glove with him so he could catch foul balls. (Never mind that the glove was wet because he'd left it in the yard during Wednesday's rainstorm.)

We parked and headed into the stadium. I could barely get him to the suite where our seats were located because he wanted to stop on the lower level to watch the game from under the bleachers. Once we got upstairs, Charlie gave a courtesy hello to Lorrie and then wasted no time taking a seat in the front row of the suite.

I, of course, wasted no time in getting some food, which Charlie couldn't bothered by for fear he might miss an errant ball. Before I'd gotten the tomato on my hamburger, Charlie burst in the suite again, yelling, "Mom! You just missed a double play!" The people watching the game from inside the suite were quite amused.

The whole evening was a lot of fun. I met some great people who are also clients of Lorrie's (shout out to Liz, Megan and Ashley). Charlie unknowingly entertained the crew in our suite with his impromptu hip hop/urban/breakdance moves to one of the songs played over the loudspeaker. We saw a homerun; well, I saw the running, not the actual hit because as luck would have it I was chatting when the batter swung.

The only downsides to the night were that the Indians lost the first game (not sure about the second, we left at 10pm) and that Charlie didn't catch a foul ball. That's all right, he did snag two hot dogs, about four giant cookies and who knows how much popcorn.

On the way back to the car, I put my arm around Charlie, gave him a big squeeze and said "Charlie, this was a really fun date!"

To which he replied, "Ewwww! Gross! Don't call it a date!"

"Well, what was it then?" I asked.

"It was mother-oldest-son-fun-time."

Apparently, unlike "grandma," "date" IS a dirty word, at least if you're 9 years old.